Old man madness!
June 23
By Rolfe Otterness
Harold Gooch flys up the first up hill during Round 2 of the Racer X Vet Series.
Round 6 of the Spring Creek Super Series combined with Round 2 of the Racer X Senior Championship which was aptly titled “Old Man Madness” presented by Frescados. So along with the series regulars there were a number of older riders from neighboring states there to take advantage of the Spring Creek terrain. That was possible as the weather was decent for the day and John Martin and crew were able to retrieve a rideable surface after the wet weather of the preceding days and cancelation of Saturday’s practice. The track came around pretty well with the sunshine eventually drying it to the point where watering was needed.
One of the out-of-state riders competing in the Old Man Madness classes was Missouri’s Jack Lambert, whose name should be familiar to long-time competitors. Lambert jumped out front as the 60 Plus class was dropped onto the circuit for moto one. Local competitor David Spizman latched onto second with Wayne Welzien and William Zeisk in serious pursuit. Spizman made a pretty challenge in the early laps but Lambert edged away a bit in the later part of the race to take the win with a safe lead of about 5 seconds. Zeisk dropped Welzien back at around mid-moto but ended up with a DNF due to unknown problems. Illinois’ Dale Innis also challenged Welzien and held onto third at the flag. Jerry Rose followed Welzien in for fifth.
Lambert roosted into turn one to lead the pack in moto two. Spizman hammered out a few strong laps to keep Lambert close but again Lambert prevailed, pulling a gap in the later laps to take the win with a about 8 or 9 bike lengths. Welzien had a better race this time out and was solid for third. Rose took fourth after holding off Jack Parenteau to take the checkered by a small margin.
Josh Boaz was back for the weekend after some of the national pro series races and he snapped up the lead as the Open A class took off. Brandon Espe-Tiegs and Nick Jackson provided early challenges for the lead but Boaz was ready for the challenge and when both Espe-Tiegs and Jackson had big problems mid-moto he ran off for the win. Dawson Kaub, riding out of Kansas, put in a nice ride to take second with Noah Miesen third over Cole Harrington.
Espe-Tiegs was apparently out for a bit of revenge after taking seventh in moto one and pulled the holeshot over Boaz in the next moto, not an easy feat as Boaz is a master of the start. Espe-Tiegs held on to the lead for the first lap with Boaz pressuring him hard as they crossed the line. Boaz took over the lead on the next lap but Espe-Tiegs kept the pressure on for the next couple laps while dropping back just a bit. Late in the moto Boaz pulled out a bigger gap as he appeared to break Espe-Tiegs’ will and the lead at the flag was up to about 7 seconds. Miesen took third with Harrington again fourth and Kaub taking fifth.
Jada Murphy shot into the lead of the first moto in the Women’s class with Luka Marble quickly slotting into second. Murphy was strong out front and built a good sized lead while Marble held on with Jazmin Jonas running third for the duration of the race. Murphy cruised in with a nice 6 second lead for the win over Marble who was trailed at the flag by Jonas and Sophia Johnson. Murphy roosted to the win in moto two while Jonas improved for second with about 8 or so bike lengths over Marble when they hit the finish line. Johnson was fourth once again with Emily Weig fifth.
Results:
