5 Things We Learned at the JS7 Spring Championship on Friday

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While all competitors got themselves a good night’s rest, Mother Nature had other ideas. Not sure who angered her so much but when sun rose of Friday morning the damage was done. Rising the occasion, the track crew at Freestone sprang into action. Motos started an hour late and all second motos scheduled for this afternoon were rescheduled for tomorrow. Despite muddy conditions and cool temperatures, hardy racing folk were not bothered and the racing was fierce.

Fierce Battles at Full Pace: Open A Pro Sport

Moto 1:

Daxton Bennick has clearly been working on his starts and showed that practice makes progress when he sprinted out to an early lead and was not challenged after establishing a 5 second lead after lap 1. A seemly uneventful moto for the leader but behind him it was war. Completing lap 1 in 5^th, Preston Boespflug started grabbing gears on his KTM and charged to 2^nd on lap 4. After a strong start, Avery Long was unable to maintain the pace of the leaders. Mark Fineis was on the gas and was able trade lap times with Bennick down the stretch, but the gap accumulated in the early laps was too much to overcome. Both Ryder McNabb and Jett Reynolds took a soil sample on the opening lap and were only able to move up to 14^th and 15^th respectively which speaks volumes to the raw speed through the field. Parker Ross battled the entire moto after a 10^th place start and finished just behind Bryce Shelly, who came in a quiet 4^th.

Moto 1 Results:

Daxton Bennick
Preston Boespflug
Mark Fineis
Bryce Shelly
Parker Ross

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Moto 2:

In the softer conditions, Ryder McNabb showed exactly why he never passes on an opportunity to rip soggy practice laps with Derek Donald and the rest of his canuck friends back home in Canada. Early leader Parker Ross was a man on a mission until it all went wrong shortly after relinquishing and lead. Demonstrating consistent speed every moto so far, Mark Fineis was up to his old tricks again knocking down fast lap times on route to a 2^nd place finish in moto 2. Daxton Bennick wasn’t able to turn his first gate pick into another great start and as a result was in catch up mode the whole race. That charge was good enough for 3^rd and the overall. Jett Reynolds was able to bounce back after his first moto struggles with a 4^th and Bryce Shelly stayed consistent with a strong 5^th when the checkered flag flew. Crockett Myers proved the importance of consistency going 7-7 for 5^th overall.

Moto 1 Results

Ryder McNabb
Mark Fineis
Daxton Bennick
Jett Reynolds
Bryce Shelly

Overall Results

Daxton Bennick
Mark Fineis
Bryce Shelly
Preston Boespflug
Crocket Myers

Woman Warriors Fight Furiously Women 12+

Moto 1:

From the get go, Team Green Kawasaki’s Sophia Phelps showed that full time students can fly. Phelps and fellow Fox Racing athlete Kyleigh Stallings sprinted off to chase each other for the lead for what feels like to 500^th time. Both women running nearly identical lap times early in the moto as they built a gap of over a minute in just four laps. On lap 5, Stallings had an issue but was able to cruise to a 2^nd place finish. Brianna Scheltema made it an all Kawasaki podium with a strong and lonely 3^rd in moto. Alicia Goggel out of Florida managed a 4^th with a sizable gap over Zaia Ziganti in 5^th.

Moto 1 Results:

Sophia Phelps
Kyleigh Stallings
Brianna Scheltema
Alicia Goggel
Zaia Ziganti

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Small Wheels and But Battles 65cc (10-11)

Moto 1:

Easton Graves out of Walker, LA, was out front early in the moto but came up to the lead of Jackson Vick who made the pass on lap 3. Vick lead for just one lap before Graves was able to regain the lead and sprinted off with the win. Whalyn Ballenger fought through to top 10 to round out the podium. Braxton Kreglow played catch up after lap one but a 4^th was the best he could muster on the soft conditions. Austin Keller rode strong all moto and nabbed a top 5 finish. Following a blistering start to his moto Eidan Steinbrecher had issues on lap three which he was unable to overcome.

Moto 1 Results

Easton Graves
Jackson Vick
Whalyn Ballenger
Brayton Kreglow
Austin Keller

85cc 9-13

Heat 1:

When the gate fell for the 85cc 9-13 class, it a was a table set for 2. Tristan Prueitt and Darren Pine put their gloves on and met at the center on the ring. Trading lap times like punches, Pruiett made a pass stick for the lead but Pine kept the pressure on until the checkered flag. The entire top 4 separated themselves from the rest of the pack by logging nearly identical lap times. Tayce Morgan ran strong and calculated to finish 4^th. Team Green`s young gun Ryder Ellis was unable to keep pace with the leaders but was among the youngest riders in the top 5.

Heat 1 Results:

Tristan Prueitt
Darren Pine
Grayson Townsend
Tayce Morgan
Ryder Ellis

Heat 2 Results:

Brandon Eade led wire to wire while Carson Wood and the rest of the class gave chase. Following a great start, Nolan Ford was fending off the rest off the top 10 until the last lap where he ended up going down and losing 13 spots. Colorado‘s Colby Lessar grabbed the final spot on the podium just ahead of Ries Seeba and Noxx Lewin who finished 4^th and 5^th respectively. Brody Moss had a very impressive charge to 8^th making passes every lap following a 17^th place start. Similar and perhaps more impressive was Elliott Bowsher who put his head down changing from 25^th to a 9^th.

Heat 2 Results

Brandon Eade
Carson Wood
Colby Lessar
Ries Seeba
Noxx Lewin

Smell that? That’s the 125 class.. 125 (12-17):

Heat 1

With this many 2 smokers, you got to split ‘em up before letting them fight it out in the main. In heat 1, it was Tiger Wood out front leading an entire top 5 of GasGas machines. Wood was never challenged on route to a 9 second gap at the end of the final lap. California’s Nathan Abbott was able to fend off the Honda CR 125of Johnathan Yelton by just 1 tenth of a second… who was likely racing a motorcycle older than he is. Great to see the CR 1-2-5 out there.

Heat 1 results

Tiger Wood
Ryder Thompson
Trinnytie Batchelor
Jesson Turner
Nathan Abbott

Heat 2:

Klark Robbins was dancing on the shifter of his KTM 125 all moto long as we raced away with the victory. Landon Hartz rounded the first lap in 7^th but was able to charge forward and posted the fastest lap of the race on route to a close second. And #708 of William Canaguier relinquished the 2^nd place spot on thhe last lap to round out the podium aboard his husky. Texas born Kade Johnson ran strong in 4^th all moto. Adler Caudle put his Yamaha in the top 5 and opened up a sizable gap over the rest the field.

Heat 2 Results:

Klark Robbins
Landon Hartz
William Canaguier
Kade Johnson
Adler Caudle

Last Lap and Last Chance… 250 B (12+)

LCQ

When 17 riders lined up with only 8 transfer spots, there will be fight like no other. One of the tightest races of the day was just 3 laps for all the glory. Grayson Fair lead every lap but when the white flag came out, 4^th through 9^th were separated by just 3 seconds. The stage was set for some LCQ drama and the running order got put in a blender. Cutter Cross sliced his way to 6^th on the final lap after being on the outside looking into a transfer spot. Sage Powers and Bradley Williams were about to hang onto the final transfer spots leaving Texan Kyleigh Stallings in 9^th.

LCQ Results