Upon arriving at Rolling Hills Cycle Park in beautiful Reidsville, North Carolina Friday morning the attendance seemed to be a bit low, but I wasn’t too surprised as the weather stations were calling for thunderstorms all weekend. However, this weekend the weather stations were wrong and we were blessed with sunny skies most of the weekend with only a few short showers. Saturday brought more riders and they all made it a great weekend of racing. Many riders were local, but some made the drive down from up north or further down south to secure their spot on the gate at the prestigious Loretta Lynn’s race in August.

The pro class saw many talented riders as North Carolina and South Carolina has been known to breed a healthy crop of talent over the years. On Saturday it looked as if it was going to be all about York, South Carolina’s Les Smith as he had the speed and ability to come through the pack. However, he wasn’t all alone because Mike Mcdade is back at it again and thirstier than ever. Mike put in some good moto’s and in the 450 A class he definitely surprised a lot of people. Mike lead the entire race while Les had to work his way up from about fourth. The last lap Les found himself glued to the rear fender of McDade and made a pass by launching a single in the back and jumping past Mike. However, McDade wasn’t letting him go without a fight and he kept with Les and a few turns later he swept around the outside and made the pass back. With only two turns left to go McDade held on to take the win and the overall with a 2-1 finish in what proved to be one of the most exciting motos of the weekend.

On Sunday the pro class was stacked. A lot more pros came out on Sunday including Clinton, North Carolina’s Taylor Futrell. We all knew this was going to make for great racing as a few weeks ago at the NC State Championships Les and Taylor went at it all weekend, but in the end it was Les who came out on top. Taylor was back and determined to take it all home this weekend. When the gate dropped on the 250A/Pro Sport class Futrell jumped out front early and never looked back. When the race ended he had a comfortable lead over second place Les Smith. The second moto it was Les who got the start and Taylor was stuck back in about fourth. Taylor quickly worked his way into the second spot and set his sights on Les. He reeled him in and with one lap to go tried making a few passes but Les was relentless in his pursuit to an overall as he crossed the checkered first with Taylor right on his rear wheel. In the 450A/Pro Sport class Taylor put in two perfect moto’s giving him the overall on the day. Mike McDade and Cody Robbins had some good battles for second and third but in the end McDade took the overall second spot and Robbins followed in third.

Ryan Zimmer absolutely dominated the B classes this weekend. Ryan’s not a name you hear very often at the big amateur nationals, but you heard it a lot this weekend as he would grab every holeshot and begin to check out. He won all ten moto’s he competed in. With his start skills and his speed Ryan should be able to put himself inside the top ten this year at Loretta’s. Back in second and third it was the New Jersey boys of Nick Desiderio and Frankie Lettieri. Nick held on strong for the second place position in both the 250 and 450 B Stock classes on Saturday as Frankie had a little bit of trouble acclimating to the North Carolina track. Sunday, however, was a different story as Frankie had it dialed in and took second overall in both 250 and 450 B Mod classes.

South Carolina’s Maxwell Markolf is a new name to the amateur circuit, but we have a feeling he’s going to rise up quick. Max is not new to extreme sports and we aren’t surprised at how well he has done in only his first year of racing. Max was the man in the 65cc 10-11 class and even as small as he is on his 85  he makes it work and took home the overall in the 85cc 9-11 Mod class on Sunday with a 2-1 finish. Max is an awesome kid who has big things going for him. Check back later in the week for an interview with Max on his racing career so far and what other extreme sport he has made a big name for himself in.

In the 85cc 9-13 and 12-15 classes it was the three North Carolina boys of Cooper Webb, Jordan Smith, and Matt Burkeen all fighting for top honors. Cooper is a little bit older than Smith and Burkeen and that played into his favor as in most of the motos it was Cooper taking the win. However, they all had a good battle going in the 85cc 9-13 class on Sunday. In the first moto Cooper started out front but Jordan and Matt came on strong in the second and third positions. Jordan found his way around Cooper and Matt quickly followed. In the second moto Cooper found his groove again and checked out to take the win which gave him second overall with Jordan taking the overall in the class. Matt would finish up third in the moto and third overall. Each of these riders will be looking to find their spot on the podium at Loretta’s and we have a feeling the southeast will be represented well in the 12-13 classes.

Jarek Balkovic made the trip down from Pennsylvania and for not knowing the track he adjusted very well as he was up front battling with all the locals in most of the motos. In the 85cc 12-13 Mod class on Sunday he went 3-2 behind Cooper Webb taking second overall. Also in the Schoolboy 1 class he held a strong second behind local boy Tyler McSwain.

In the 50cc 4-6 stock class Rush Chapman rode two consistent and almost flawless motos, which paid off as he went 1-1 for the overall. Cruise Allen and Luke Noble followed in second and third.

That’s all from Rolling Hills Cycle Park this weekend, but be sure and check back tomorrow for a photo gallery of all the great action from the weekend.