HARPURSVILLE, NY

The Square Deal Riders won the AMA Club Of The Year award. One of the reasons that they won is that every year for the past 72 years, since 1937, this volunteer club has held a series of mud and snow races on the club-owned property that have drawn massive amounts of riders from all over the Northeast.

Two days after club president Gary Homanich accepted the award in Las Vegas, 150 riders showed up to the annual toy race. Once a year, riders bring a new kid's toy to be donated to a local children's charity, and in return the club waives the rider's signup fee. When club VP Andrew Balmer announced the news of the award at the riders' meeting, the response was overwhelming; riders and fans alike couldn't stop talking about it all day long.

It was nice to hear the stories throughout the day as people reminisced about their history at the club. "Big Harry" Boorum was telling a spectator how proud he was of his daughter Kayla out on the track.

"She's the third generation of Boorums to be racing this series," he said.

SDR also has a world-class short track on the property that runs about seven races a year, as well as the Larry Weiss Memorial, which is a vintage flat track that draws competitors from across the nation. Former National number 51 Craig Estelle heads up the flat-track series. He's proud that the club's events draw some of the top district riders, and even prouder that when the GNC pros have some time off, they show up at the lightning-fast quarter-mile to keep their skills sharp.

"The vintage race has become a homecoming race of sorts in the past six years we have had it," said Estelle, a second-generation club member. "All the elder statesmen, along with longtime spectators, make sure they don't miss this race."

Members Don and Peg Miller handle the promoting while the regular crew handles the racing activities. And what activities they are: Vintage races have included some very special guests; factory Triumph and Yamaha racer Don Castro attended the first one, followed by Gary Nixon, David Aldana, Woody Kyle and Jay Springsteen!

Life members Boots Oakley, Spud Williams and Spud's son Mike were warming themselves by a barrel fire in the swampy part of the track, watching more mud fly than snow.

"[The award is] a proud honor we all can lay claim to," said second-generation member Oakley. "Everyone works as hard as the others to make the average of 17 races run perfectly each year. If anything, knowing our members, they are gonna step it up a bit to see if they can make it two in a row. After all, it's a not-for-profit organization run by racers. When you throw a challenge at a bunch of racers, what else would you expect?"

Watch the club's website (www.squaredealriders.com) for the schedule and info. If you're in the area, make sure you stop by and see just what made them the AMA's Club Of The Year.

Results

MINI A: 1. Michael Maresca (KTM); 2. Mitchell Buchanan (KTM); 3. Jordan La Fave (Kawasaki); 4. Joshua Lee (Kawasaki); 5. Cainan LaBarre (KTM).

MINI B: 1. J.D. Coddington (Honda); 2. Nicholas Ferguson (KTM); 3. John Roys (Honda); 4. Andrew Gross (Kawasaki); 5. Tyler Gunn (KTM).

NOV: 1. Cody Whitney (Kawasaki); 2. Thomas Brown (Yamaha); 3. Alexander Short (Honda); 4. Daniel Baisley (Honda); 5. Michael Croft (Yamaha).

101-200: 1. Jake La Barre (Honda); 2. Colton Anderson (KTM); 3. Zachary Lupole (KTM); 4. Shawn Davis (KTM); 5. Scott Homanich (KTM).

201-OPEN: 1. Todd Pecka (Yamaha); 2. Brandon Kenyon (Suzuki); 3. Bobby Magee (Suzuki); 4. Chad Tierney (Yamaha); 5. Steven Welter (Suzuki).

S/OPEN: 1. Grant Maryott (Yamaha); 2. Tyler Nevidomsky (KTM); 3. Joseph Woosman (Yamaha); 4. Dale Wakefield Jr. (Honda); 5. Colton Anderson (KTM).

EX: 1. Grant Maryott (Yamaha); 2. Jared Jordan (Honda); 3. Bobby Raymond (Yamaha); 4. Brandon Woodmansee (Yamaha); 5. Tyler Nevidomsky (KTM).

WMN: 1. Britni Santee (KTM); 2. Aubrie Williams (KTM); 3. Kayla Boorum (Kawasaki).

VET A: 1. Jeffrey Hart (KTM); 2. Joseph Woosman (Yamaha); 3. Glen Davis (KTM); 4. Anthony Rafferty (KTM); 5. Jeff Gunn (KTM).

VET B: 1. George Newell (Yamaha); 2. Daniel Conway (Honda).

SR A: 1. Tadd Salton (Yamaha); 2. Russell Bauer (Honda); 3. Art Trombley (KTM); 4. Richard Anderson (KTM); 5. Craig Estelle (Yamaha).

SR B: 1. Brian Dean (Yamaha); 2. James Seanon (Yamaha); 3. Christopher Gross (KTM); 4. Timothy Myers (Honda); 5. Mark Kuehn (Yamaha).

S/SR: 1. Andrew Smith; 2. Johnny Nevidonsky (KTM); 3. Tim Ferguson (KTM); 4. Kevin Quick (Honda); 5. Jim Congden (Kawasaki).

UNSTUDDED: 1. Michael Maresca (KTM); 2. Zach Conklin (Honda).