Outfitting the Finest With a Podium

By Jenn Sheppard

Of the 84 entries in Saturday’s ATV Youth race, the Cobra brand cleaned house in the 90 Modified (11-15) class. The Ohio rides of Seth Mumford and Dylan Bradford battled for the win all the way down to the checkered flag where Mumford took his second win of the season.

“It was a really good race,” Mumford said. “I had a decent start. Bradford got around me on the start and he just pulled away. I tried to catch back up and it evidently worked. I’m very happy about this one. The track is fast; it’s rocky and it’s a nice track. I just tried to pick up my pace every lap. First overall feels really great. I had a good ride out there and my bike was working for me. I have a brand new motor from Wiley Mods.”

The Youth ATV Podium. Sheppard photo

Bradford battled with bike problems to finish second, after winning five races already this season.

“I like this track,” Bradford said. “It was pretty fast. My bike just kept losing power and I couldn’t stay with him, so I figured I’d just take a second on the last lap. It’s pretty good. I’d rather have first, but my bike was losing power. If not, I think I probably could have won, or gotten pretty close.

West Virginia ’s Kyle Riley took third and the points lead at Somerset. “It was all right,” Kyle said. “I got a decent start and got stuck behind someone and it took me a little while to get around. By then, I just played catch up for the rest of the day. I didn’t have enough smoke to get with them. It’s a great track; it’s got all the obstacles. It’s got logs around it—everything. It’s just a perfect track. GNCC did a great job.”

Ohio ’s Walker Fowler rode into round nine with seven wins in the Youth Production (13-15) class, not counting the other six wins in Sunday’s Big Wheel (14-15) bike class. On Saturday, Walker took a third behind place Zachary Strong and Brandon Boso, respectively. “That was downright nasty; I didn’t have a good time at all,” Fowler said. “Between the seven and eight mile marker; my first lap was an hour and three minutes. I got lapped before I ever made half a lap, so it wasn’t a good race, but [Sunday] really boosted everything.” Sunday he had the track dialed taking first overall in the big wheel class and walks into the next race at Unadilla with the points lead in two classes.

West Virginia ’s Michael Benson took his first DNF of the season in the U2 class after major technical difficulties snapped his swing arm in half, before the end of the first lap! Benson still leads the points with six first place finishes and two seconds to his one DNF.

Mt. Pleasant , PA ’s own Cheyanne Shadron smoked them in 90 Limited (11-15) and took first place and eleventh overall on her Apex machine. “It was really rocky,” Shadron said. “There were a few mud holes, but it was all right because they splashed out after like the first or second lap. I wanted [to win] and I was hopefully hoping that I would get it.” On Sunday, Cheyanne took 14 th in Big Wheel (12-15). You go girl!

The winner of the 70 CVT (6-11) was Cranberry, PA’s Brayden Shick, who overcame the worst of luck to push his bike to the finish. “It was a tough race,” Shick said. “I got a good start, and I think I had a decent lead. Then over here, I broke down on the last lap and had to push it across the finish line.”

Out of 351 entries in Saturday’s ATV morning race, Pennsylvanian Jeremy Rice brought the brand-new KTM Sport ATV to light in the Sportsman class and took the overall win, a testament to the benchmark machine.

A happy Rice Burner on a non-rice burner quad. David Scearce photo

“The quad is awesome. It’s the KTM 525 XC out of the box and it’s bone stock. There’s nothing done to it. I threw some Tire Balls in it, I got the Maxxis Tires on it from the factory, the Ohlins shocks—the bike’s phenomenal. The motor is unbelievable; I’ve never ridden anything that powerful before in my life. The handling is above and better than anything out there. It’s unreal. I just got the opportunity to ride, come out and have fun on a brand new quad that hardly anybody has ridden yet. I feel very fortunate to have done so. I have my fingers crossed [ for the future]; hopefully something will come about. It felt good to ride again.”

Since the Sportsman class is not counted toward the overall, when Rice crossed the finish line and the checkers flew, three spots had yet to be determined. Two riders actually tied for second place after the adjusted time had been calculated; once again there was only room for Can-Am, but this time it was extra-special.

“We had a Can-Am sweep and a Warnert Racing sweep,” said Scott Kilby from the podium. “All three of us race for Warnert. I think it’s great, we need some pictures.”

Here's that picture! David Scearce photo

Three Can-Ams swept the podium in three classes, which is reminiscent of Snowshoe except Michael Swift took first overall in 4x4 Limited.

“Can-Am has the far best Utility for what we’re doing,” said Swift. “It kind of all boils down to race preparation. Warnert Racing and the guys there, we don’t see them do it and sometimes we probably question them, but it shows at the end of the day. They’re doing a good job and that’s the only reason these bikes prevailed today.”

“It just all come down to what happened out there in the rocks,” Swift continued. “I came off the bike a few times, but I pushed it through there. Even if you do [make the right choices], it still doesn’t sometimes work out for you. Scott and Cliff were both in front of me at one time, and we came into the rock garden about the same time. Somehow I had better luck than they did. They should have followed me. I’m pumped. This is my first win, so I’m pretty excited especially since there was no mud here. The track was wide-open and fast, and that’s the good thing about Can-Am. There’s just so much power, and the suspension, you just hold it.”

Cliffton Beasley tied for second in 4x4 Lites with Scott Kilby in 4x4 Open; despite the scores posted showing Beasley in third and Swift in fourth, both riders clocked a 1:45:26 adjusted time for the second fastest time overall.

Cliff recalled one second he could have shaved off to secure second overall. “Yeah, I got stuck out there in a mud hole right there at the end,” Beasley said. “There’s a little dude about 3’5” who’s out there covered in mud, and I appreciate his help. I don’t know where he’s at, but thank you much. It was all about the rocks. Everything else was good, easy and fun. It was just like you went out and ran as fast as you could back to the rocks, and then whatever happened in the rocks, happened. It was nasty and very tough, but a lot of fun if you got through it. If you didn’t, it wasn’t any fun at all.”

Scott Kilby remembered one section of the track to his dismay. “I got a little discouraged a couple times,” Kilby said. “There was a bad bottleneck out there. You didn’t know which way to go, so we started picking our way around. I thought I might as well just stop and wait, but I kept pushing through the rocks and the rough stuff and finally made it around. I guess that had become the line after a while. The whole track was pretty tough. I really enjoyed the fast sections in the fields. My slid plate is like folded down underneath, so I hit a lot of stuff and got hung up. In the rock section, those guys really need to pay attention when they start through; don’t get high-centered up.”

Kevin Trantham rounded out the top five overall with a second in 4x4 Limited and Richard Cecco took second in 4x4 Open and sixth overall.

Pennsylvania ’s finest, Angel Atwell, picked up her first win of the season in the Women’s class, in addition to seventh overall. Angel spoke of the training she endured over the summer. “I’ve been training for this all season,” she said on the podium. “I actually did a little bit more mental training to calm it down a notch. The track is a blast. It’s fun. It’s rough, I’m not going to lie, it’s very rough, but you guys will have a good time. It’s always fun when you win.” With just four races left, Angel is now tied for points with Traci Cecco, who finished fifth at Somerset.

The two-month break was just enough time to rest up, train harder and prepare for the elevation of 2,000 feet in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Twenty-three XC1 Pro riders gathered on the mountaintop amongst the 245 ATV afternooners. The American flag stood tall from the first corner as opening ceremonies calling for a 13-mile loop and a four-lap race, with three miles just like Snowshoe.

Even factory Kawasaki’s Josh Creamer crossed over from the first-ever AMA Pro ATV Open at Steel City to enter his first woods race.

When the green flag dropped, Chris Borich jumped off the line next to Matt Smiley, Duane Johnson and Adam McGill in route to the holeshot.

The ninety degree first turn claimed a few riders; Borich crossed the painted line first with McGill and Johnson hot on his heels through the super-fast straightaway and into the woods. Borich had the lead come around on the first lap with McGill still inside the leader’s dust. Bill Ballance held third, and Chris Jenks and Duane had top five for the time being.

Down through the rock-infested slop, Borich and McGill stayed close with Ballance hanging back while Bithell battled through the pack. Brent Sturdivant, Bryan Cook, Brandon Ballance and Chris Bithell battled behind the leaders, and Bithell went from eighth to fourth on the second lap.

When Bithell passed Borich and McGill for the lead, Ballance stayed third, McGill dropped back to fourth while Borich fought back to first. The checkered flag was ready flying and no one knew who to look for; the leaders were still battling for the top spot. Borich salvaged the win over Bithell only a few seconds back. Ballance had third with McGill and Smiley inside the top five.

“It’s just one of those things,” McGill said after the race. “You have to get luck to follow your way. Probably the twelve-mile marker, there’s a long downhill with some cross-ditches and stuff in it. I was leading; Borich was behind me with Ballance and Bithell in fourth. We were hauling down through there and the lappers were in front of me. I went to the outside to pass and when I [did], he cut to the outside, and I clipped his wheel, come up on the front end and the next thing I knew, I was going over. So, I threw the bike down to hopefully land on its wheels instead of barrel roll, and it [did] and [then] I see a bike right on me. Borich ran me over. So, I got the bike out the weeds and was taking off and hoping nobody passed me, but I lost all my time with that lapper so I ended up fourth. You know, fourth’s all right but fourth…Dude, it’s my time! Give it to me! I just want it to my day. I know what it takes. I got what it takes. I had the speed to run with these guys, I just need to get some luck. I just don’t know what it is. I’m tired of [this].”

Brandon Sommers wins again. David Scearce photo

In XC2 Pro Am, Brandon Sommers scored the lead from the holeshot, giving chase to Donald Ockerman, Mark Notman, Kevin Yoho among others. With Sommers out front, Ockerman fought off Yoho for second place, but Yoho made the pass by lap three. Tyler Lenig went from ninth to finish fourth after Ockerman, leaving Kyle Martin in fifth after Notman dropped from fourth to sixth.

Ohio ’s Sommers had one of the most impressive finishes at Somerset by leading every lap. Along with a win in the XC2 Pro Am class came seventh overall, ahead of seventeen pros!

“We went all year without a holeshot and I came through the second corner like, ‘I just pulled the holeshot, well, I hope I can keep going with it,” Sommers said. “I was afraid if I pulled the holeshot something would happen, but we had a good day. I caught up to some of the pro riders; I don’t know if they got off course or what but we caught a whole group of the front-runners. I ran with Matt Smiley all day. He gave me somebody to chase and picked good lines. I wrecked twice on the third lap and pulled it together and finished okay, I guess.”

Kevin Yoho went from fourth to second in Pro Am to finish fourteenth overall, just ahead of Ockerman in third. “I just rode smart,” Yoho said. “I only got stuck once, everywhere else I was just wide open. I could have been stuck a lot if I wouldn’t have just taken my time in some spots. I’ve had a lot of bad luck and I’m getting it going.”

“I fell off the bridge way back in the woods, and Kevin got around me there,” Ockerman said.” I was having a good race and just wanted to finish. I just put my head down and kept trying to keep a good pace going and fell off the bridge. I’m just happy to finish this race.”

This first time round for the Mountain Ridge Trails Resort will go down in Pennsylvania history as one of the only locations catered to the ATV Community. Adding proof to this, Saturday’s counted 98 more ATVs (for a total of 680) than the event at Snowshoe! See you at the races!