BUCHANAN, MI

Mother Nature was not friendly to the riders attending day two of the Loretta Lynn Mideast Area Qualifier being held at RedBud MX, as rains dampened "America's Track" in spite of the tremendous efforts of Tim Ritchie and his talented track crew. One rider who had little trouble with the wet conditions was a Loretta Lynn's Over 50 hopeful, KTM's own Mark Hyde (2, above), who was out for the day to qualify - which he did by running off with a big win.

The rains shortened the day to one set of motos, which was just fine by the players in the Over 50 class, because it was like going back to riding school, as three-time National Enduro Champion Hyde put on a mud-riding clinic. Hyde's background in the Enduro ranks was a good one, and it showed, as this orange streak was untouchable, winning the moto by a large margin. The runner-up was Richard Scheltema, who is now known as the dad of Miss Arenacross, Lindsey Scheltema, but who can still ride a scooter at speed and will now be on the gate at the Mideast Regional being held at Baja Acres MX. Dave Blauman was solid in third, outrunning both Dennis Maerkisch and Charles Koch, who rounded out the top five.

In the College B/C class, the Canadian contingent was up front, as Shane Colic (188, above), Ben Toye and Eric Jeffery were the podium boys; all of them hail from the Great White North.

Yamaha rider Andrew Socolovitch put himself in position to take the holeshot by timing the gate drop to perfection. However, he had company, as Colic was right there, as was Jeffery. Colic dived to the inside of Socolovitch to take the lead exiting turn two and then pulled the pack over the ski jump. Colic was the only rider with a semi-clean bike, as the speedy Honda pilot was out front and out of the roost. Toye and Jeffery locked into battle mode, and the race was on!

Jeffery was on the gas all over the track but a little on the wild side for these wet conditions. Toye used that to his advantage and was smooth and fast, taking the runner-up position and beating out Jeffery, who crossed the line in third. Eric Goodson was the first American to cross the line, in fourth; the Connersville, Indiana, rider was buried in the pack rounding turn one and fought through the pack without goggles to finish out the day in a qualifying fourth. Paul Jeffery was fifth.

The next RedBud MX event, on June 5 and 6, will be a great precursor to the Rockstar National MX weekend on July 2, 3 and 4, so come out in June for another great weekend at America's Track - RedBud MX!

Results

50 SHAFT (4-8): 1. Dagan Emert (Honda); 2. Dominic Felty (Yamaha).

50 JR: 1. Wesley Fryback (KTM).

50 SR: 1. Beans Tilma (Cob).

50 TRL: 1. Dagan Emert (Honda).

65 BEG: 1. Brayton Gross (Kawasaki).

65 (7-9): 1. Tyler Archambault (Kawasaki).

65 (7-11): 1. Jake Pinhancos (KTM); 2. Darius Comfort (KTM); 3. Jacob Sremba (KTM); 4. D.J.Christie (KTM); 5. Chandler Pitts (KTM).

85 C: 1. Justin Ruth (Kawasaki); 2. Morgan Beadlescomb (KTM).

85 (9-13): 1. Jordan Schaendorf (Suzuki); 2. Jacob Bansen (Yamaha); 3. Chandler Pitts (Suzuki).

85 SR: 1. Cody McCulloch (Yamaha); 2. Rody Schroyer (Suzuki); 3. Connar Troyer (KTM); 4. John Boyle (Suzuki); 5. Jacob Bansen (Yamaha).

S/MINI: 1. Jace Owen (Suzuki); 2. Cody McCulloch (Yamaha); 3. John Boyle (Suzuki); 4. Connar Troyer (KTM); 5. Conrad Stilwell (Honda).

125 B/C: 1. Rody Schroyer (Yamaha); 2. Lucas Buck (KTM); 3. Ben Spitler (Suzuki).

250 A: 1. Derek Langeland (KTM); 2. Phillip Harris (Suzuki); 3. Leevont Martin (Suzuki).

250 B: 1. Eric Goodson (Kawasaki); 2. Todd Krieg (Kawasaki); 3. Nicholas Velie (Yamaha); 4. Joseph Dalzell (Yamaha); 5. Austin Wagner (Yamaha).

250 C: 1. Myles Bartholomew (Honda); 2. Jacob Grzebinski (Suzuki); 3. Jeff Walker (Honda); 4. Dorian Yates (Yamaha); 5. Jeffrey Thode (Honda).

OPEN A: 1. Jason Quinn (Kawasaki); 2. Billy Larsen (Kawasaki); 3. David Compton (Kawasaki); 4. Jamie Ledin (Kawasaki); 5. Kurtis Manderscheid (Yamaha).

OPEN B: 1. Shane Colic (Honda); 2. Austin Wagner (Yamaha); 3. Cody Van Buskirk (Suzuki); 4. Rui Azevedo (Yamaha); 5. Nathyn Allen (Suzuki).

OPEN C: 1. Myles Bartholomew (Honda); 2. Jeffrey Thode (Honda); 3. Tanner Anderson (Suzuki); 4. Andrew Socolovitch (Yamaha); 5. Austin Morris (Honda).

WMN JR: 1. Mikayla Inman (Kawasaki).

WMN SR: 1. Bryce Martinez (Suzuki).

SCHBY 2: 1. Todd Krieg (Kawasaki); 2. Dillon Finley (Yamaha); 3. Jacob Berger (Yamaha); 4. Shaine Slone (Kawasaki); 5. David Howard (KTM).

CLGBY (17-24) B/C: 1. Shane Colic (Honda); 2. Ben Toye (Honda); 3. Eric Jeffery (Honda); 4. Eric Goodson (Kawasaki); 5. Paul Jeffrey (Honda).

14-24: 1. Cody Davis (Yamaha).

25+: 1. Dan Petrie (Kawasaki); 2. Jacob Skelton (Suzuki); 3. Jason Quinn (Kawasaki); 4. Dennis Dooley (Kawasaki); 5. Brandon Reed (Honda).

30+ B/C: 1. David Andre Jones (Kawasaki); 2. W. Robin McClain (KTM); 3. Darin Zaremba (Yamaha); 4. Richard Silvers (Kawasaki); 5. Mike Morrone (Honda).

35+: 1. Gary Lussier (Kawasaki); 2. Darin Zaremba (Yamaha); 3. Dennis Dooley (Kawasaki); 4. Brian Woodbury (Kawasaki); 5. Richard Silvers (Kawasaki).

40+: 1. Gary Lussier (Kawasaki); 2. David Andre Jones (Kawasaki); 3. Kenneth Koch (Suzuki); 4. W. Robin McClain (KTM); 5. Ed Hieftje (Honda).

45+: 1. Ed Hieftje (Honda); 2. Mark Harshman (Suzuki); 3. Vaughn Smith (Kawasaki); 4. Bart Newman (Honda); 5. David Blauman (Honda).

50+: 1. Mark Hyde (KTM); 2. Richard Scheltema (Kawasaki); 3. David Blauman (Honda); 4. Dennis Maerkisch (Honda); 5. Charles Koch (Honda).

60+: 1. William Stephenson (Yamaha).