TIMONIUM, MD

AMA Youth Rider Of The Year Brandon Price finally stayed upright for both the 65 and 85 finals as the Baltimore County Trail Riders and the Cockeysville Optimist Club brought the curtain down on the 16th annual Kevin McNicholas Short Track Series with its fourth and final round. As history has shown over the years, rain is going to occur at least in one event in this series. This round was the one: The day before the race (which was also round five of the Mid-Atlantic Short Track Series), the area was hit by more than four inches of rain, making even this track a little soft. And on race day, a light rain fell before practice, just to keep the dust down.

Price has competed in all four events and has won his share of finals, but his aggressive style has also put him on the ground a couple of times as well. In the 65 contest, Nathan Reichert grabbed his usual holeshot, leading Chase Smith, Price and Chris Thomas. Price took second at the start of the second lap and pressured Reichert, taking the lead off turn two on the fourth lap.

In the 85 event, Nathan Reichert (16, above), Brandon Price (1NE) and Cameron Smith quickly distanced themselves from the others as they fought tightly for the lead. Price ran inside of Reichert for more than a lap before taking the lead on the sixth lap. Smith challenged Reichert for second late in the race, but then fell in the final turn.

Smith topped the Youth 150 final after trading the lead with Ryan Dragunas several times in the 10-lap final, taking the lead for good off turn two on the ninth lap.

Two riders took their first class wins of the series on this night. Ken Godwin (84, above) got by Scott Mullen (behind Godwin) on the third lap to win the Over 30 contest, over Mullen, Jack Stedding and Albert Cook. Then, in the Open B final, Albert Cook (22, below) exited the second turn in front of Greg Lerch, Mike Sponseller and Anthony Crabbe. Cook added a little to his margin, while Sponseller tried the high line to get around Lerch. With two laps left, Lerch drifted high off turn two and Sponseller shot into second.

The name Mullen did appear in the winners' column. Scott was perfect in the Over 40, taking all four wins in the series. This time he led Brett Friedel, Don Mullen Sr., Stedding, John Henderson and Damian Kocovinos from the start. With the front two evenly spaced, the others traded third several times, with Stedding taking control of the spot late in the race.

Don Mullen Sr. (71, above) took his first Over 50 win of the series, with Jay Maher (behind Mullen), Bill Kraft and Henderson following him out of turn two. Henderson worked his way into second by the sixth lap.

The "regular" Mullen in the win column, National number holder Donnie, had an off night, by his standards. He finished second, behind Raun Wood, in the Dash For Gas Cards at the start of the finals. In the Open A final, Wood and Kayl Kolkman's heated battle for the lead put some distance ahead of Nick Henderson, Chris Klinefelter and Donnie Mullen, who battled closely for third.

Donnie Mullen redeemed himself in the final race of the night, the Open Sportsman contest, in which he took the lead from Wood, Kolkman, Jason Isennock and Klinefelter. Isennock took third starting the third lap.

Nicholas Crone and Jacob Gast won all four of their finals in the 50 Shaft Drive and 50 Chain Drive classes, respectively. While he didn't win all four races (due to the Amateur Nationals), Colton Smith won the three 125 finals he entered.

Results

50 SHAFT: 1. Nicholas Crone (Yamaha); 2. Alex Thomas (Yamaha); 3. Ethan Stroh (Yamaha); 4. Sam Maher (Yamaha); 5. Darrin Davis (Yamaha).

50 CHAIN: 1. Jacob Gast (KTM); 2. Ethan Stroh (Cob); 3. Jordan Bennett (Honda); 4. Rainey Pacis (KTM); 5. Barrett Henderson (Kawasaki).

50 SR (7-8): 1. Trevor Williams (Con); 2. Alex Thomas (KTM); 3. Jacob Gast (KTM); 4. Nicholas Crone (Cob).

65: 1. Brandon Price (KTM); 2. Nathan Reichert (KTM); 3. Chase Smith (Kawasaki); 4. Chris Thomas (Suzuki); 5. Dillon Curry (Kawasaki).

85 (7-11): 1. Brandon Price (Suzuki); 2. Nathan Reichert (Yamaha); 3. Chase Smith (Kawasaki); 4. Dylan Almony (Suzuki); 5. Cameron Smith (Suzuki).

125 2-STRK/150 4-STRK: 1. Colton Smith (Kawasaki); 2. Jason Cole (Suzuki); 3. Chris Kirkner (Suzuki); 4. Sean Simmons (Suzuki); 5. Jeff Standiford (Honda).

150 AIR-COOLED YTH: 1. Cameron Smith (Suzuki); 2. Ryan Dragunas (Kawasaki); 3. Chase Smith (Suzuki); 4. Jeremy Duggan (Yamaha); 5. Dylan Almony (Honda).

150 ADULT: 1. Matt Langrehr (Honda); 2. Joey Alexander (Honda); 3. Joe Dragunas (Kawasaki); 4. Albert Cook (Suzuki); 5. Jake Shoemaker (Honda).

250 B: 1. Colton Smith (Kawasaki); 2. Joey Alexander (Honda); 3. Samantha Bergman (Suzuki); 4. Anthony Crabbe (Suzuki); 5. Matt Langrehr (Kawasaki).

250 SPTSMN: 1. Joey Alexander (Honda); 2. Colton Smith (Kawasaki); 3. Samantha Bergman (Suzuki); 4. Matt Langrehr (Kawasaki); 5. Kade Keily (Yamaha).

OPEN A: 1. Raun Wood (Honda); 2. Kayl Kolkman (Honda); 3. Nick Henderson (Honda); 4. Chris Klinefelter (Honda); 5. Donnie Mullen (Honda).

OPEN B: 1. Albert Cook (Kawasaki); 2. Mike Sponseller (Honda); 3. Greg Lerch (Suzuki); 4. Anthony Crabbe (Suzuki); 5. Bill Kraft (Honda).

OPEN SPTSMN: 1. Donnie Mullen (Honda); 2. Raun Wood (Honda); 3. Jason Isennock (Honda); 4. Kayl Kolkman (Honda); 5. Chris Klinefelter (Honda).

OPEN TW/VINT: 1. Chris Klinefelter (Triumph); 2. Matt Langrehr (Bultaco); 3. Phil Miller (Triumph); 4. Jason Isennock (Triumph).

WMN 150: 1. Nicole Henderson (Honda); 2. Melissa Hildebrand (Yamaha); 3. Delaney Cadden (Honda); 4. Josee Stedding (Honda); 5. Taylor Tsirigos (Suzuki).

30+: 1. Ken Godwin (Honda); 2. Scott Mullen (Honda); 3. Jack Stedding (Honda); 4. Albert Cook (Kawasaki).

40+: 1. Scott Mullen (Honda); 2. Brett Friedel (Kawasaki); 3. Jack Stedding (Honda); 4. John Henderson (Rotax); 5. Damian Kocovinos (Honda).

50+: 1. Don Mullen Sr. (Honda); 2. John Henderson (Rotax); 3. Jay Maher (Honda); 4. Bill Kraft (Honda).