Round Nine – Frackville, PA: October 10, 2021
Author: Joshua Schucker
Photography: Nolan Matthews
After a successful inaugural event in 2020, the accomplished
competitors and event coordinators from South Penn Enduro Riders (SPER) once
again welcomed the Mid-Atlantic gang back to its stomping grounds outside
Frackville, Pennsylvania. The racers were greeted by a picturesque fall day
with leaves starting to begin their seasonal color change and temperatures
settling into the low sixties. Looking north, the scene was dominated by a
large pile of culm blanketing the horizon reaffirming the history of this land
and its striking features. Everything was in place for a spectacular start to
the series’ penultimate event. It is remarkable to think that forty-eight hours
ago we weren’t supposed to be here…well, not this exact “here” anyway.
If the previous round in Ohio had to deal with a last-minute change of venue, the folks at SPER had to deal with a last second change in Frackville! You see, the event in 2020 was held across the street from where we’ve set the stage for this event. And, all of that event’s layout and acclaimed trail from last year was all set-up, trimmed, and marked as a repeat in 2021 until SPER was notified by the land’s management that, due to an unforeseen communication lapse, the event would NOT be able to commence as planned. The SPER team had to quickly leap into action to salvage round nine.
Thankfully, the club also has access to the land south of the blacktop road and is intimately familiar with its topography through years of hosting modern hare scrambles events there. So, with only Saturday to work with, SPER leveraged its knowledge and willing manpower to connect existing trails, cut a bit of fresh trail to reroute some areas for vintage friendliness, and just get the site in general ready for the incoming racers. A serious amount of coordination and effort went into relocating the event to the southern side of Morea Road in such short time, but amazingly the SPER team was able to make it happen with no sacrifice to the experience. Anyone unfamiliar with the tribulations that occurred would not have known the event wasn’t intended to be in this spot from the start…that’s high praise in itself!
Ultimately, the course was a blast with a combination of
existing and fresh trail with the requisite number of exposed roots, rocks, ruts
and mud puddles, all connected by old access roads, and with an occasional view
of the unsuspecting traffic hustling by on Interstate 81. A few rock gardens were
encountered, with the shortest route arrowed, while some nice elevation changes
came courtesy of fresh trail through abandoned mining pits. Huge thanks to
series’ regulars, and SPER members, Mark Hummel, Steve Bowman, and Sandy
Quickel, who with many more volunteers, too numerous to mention here but
equally appreciated, made this event happen.
Vintage Races:
Josh Zerance jumped in front early to take the overall and
AA class lead, but he ran into trouble on lap three as Dave Kutskel was able to
squeeze his Yamaha MX360 past for the overall win. Zerance’s Can-Am fell to
third behind Brett Reichart before Josh put on a last lap charge past the Puch
of Reichart to take the AA win (second overall) while Brett hung on to third
overall. Sandy Quickel (Penton) secured the Classic Expert class victory along
with fourth overall. Jay Parkins had no answer to Ed Weger’s performance as
Weger led from the start and relegated Parkins to the runner-up position in
Vintage 50+ Intermediate. Ryan Horan would finish just ahead of Parkins in the
overall standings as he put in an impressive ride for a novice; however,
Brandon Rowe would outclass Horan and take top novice honors. Both novices
would take their respective Vintage class wins with Rowe topping the Open class
and Horan the 200 class. Charlie Walker scored his first win of the season in
Vintage 60+ Expert class over Randy Marshall (Husqvarna).
Post Vintage Races:
John Ashcraft (CR480) laid down the fastest lap times
throughout the middle race in claiming the overall and AA win over fellow AA
rider Mike Blackwell on an IT175. SPER’s Mark Hummel would hang close to
Blackwell on his Husqvarna but was unable to make his way past in settling for
third. Hummel was able to win the competitive Post Vintage Open Expert class as
Adam Stelmack and Dane Brownawell followed Hummel closely across the line going
two-three in class. Father and son IT175 pilots dueled in the Post Vintage 200
Intermediate class with the elder Merrell, Sam, taking runner-up as his progeny
Sylas steadily pulled away in a convincing victory. Eric Rupp made a last lap
for third and completed a trifecta of sky-blue Yamahas. Nick Patterson, also
riding an IT, would nail down the Novice win in Post vintage 200. Craig Shenigo,
making his series return after a rib shaking crash at Coyote Run, proceeded to
chase down early leader Eric Weiland to make the pass for the Post Vintage 50+
Expert win on lap four. Joe Cole was able to hustle his Husqvarna past Weiland
on the last lap to take second with Weiland sliding back to third.
Disc Brake Races:
John Ashcraft’s overall win put an exclamation point on his
domination for the day with another show of blistering speed besting runner-up
Michael Cramer by nearly a minute per lap. Mark Hummel secured another third in
the overall standings and a class win in Early modern Open Expert with the KDX
of Roy Miller and Brain Schwein’s YZ250 going two-three. Fellow SPER member
Steve Bowman took fourth on his CR250. Joe Wallace (expert) and Brian Turk
(intermediate) took the wins in the Pre-Modern 200 classes. The KDX200s of Ken
Wagner and Greg Kemp took the top two spots in “KDX Battleground” Early Modern
200 Intermediate.
As always, thank you to the Mid-Atlantic region’s volunteers and the sponsors that support the regional events; Potomac Vintage Riders, Preston Petty Products, Stainless Cycle, Vee Rubber, Grove Printing, KMI Printing, Horizon Homes, and Works Enduro Riders. The complete results from this event and the upcoming schedules can be found at https://www.ahrma.org/ahrma-mid-atlantic-region
