Author: Joshua Schucker
Photos: Lorena Walker
As the surrounding woodland that housed the majority of the established trails remained in property owner Mark Carlson’s name, the AHRMA bunch continued the legacy of using the Rocket Raceway name while the motocross area took on an alphanumeric moniker.
Fast
forward to the present, and we find that the MX track has once again changed
hands and reverted to calling itself Rocket Raceway, which just “sounds right”.
The new ownership was gracious enough to cooperate with Mark and series’
coordinator Dave Kutskel for the race weekend and allow a record number of competitors
to return to the spacious, flat, parking area from years past as well as use
some of the trails that lie on the MX property that were off limits the past
couple seasons. Many thanks to the owners of Rocket Raceway for the
accommodations!
"Not in front of the photographer Johnny B!"
The Mid-Atlantic group has been using this facility for many years and curated a fine batch of possible course layouts. The 2022 course was typical Rocket, with a tremendous variety of terrain and elevation, plenty of entertaining single track, roots, and rocks, and enough open or two-track mileage to sneak past the bike in front of you. With the series’ trail boss extraordinaire Mike Zdybak on the shelf learning to harness the powers of his new bionic shoulder, Brock Kutskel stepped in to handle a lot of the burden of clearing the winter’s leftover downed trees and ensure a clear path.
A good amount of consideration was given to avoiding areas that tend to become bottlenecks due to water and mud, which is important considering the recent history here. You see, while springtime weather in general is a gamble, if you had to spin a roulette wheel of “wet” or “dry”, I’d bet it all on “wet” when it comes to spring at Rocket. Of course, this year held true to fashion with a week full of rain leading up to the first green flag of the year. But the careful layout selections paid off, and with just enough clear skies in the hours preceding, the course was far better than expected. Certainly, there were spots where water had to be crossed and the inevitable mud and ruts formed. In general, traffic was able to move through without too much drama. Awesome, competitive racing ensued…despite the frigid temperatures and occasional snow squall (told you the weather is a gamble!).
Vintage Race:
The future of the sport of vintage off-road racing was on display in the morning’s race. Not long ago the duo of Logan Holley and Brock Kutskel would have been making tracks in the youth racing scene held in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic’s efforts, but the two have now begun to make some noise on the big stage. Logan set the pace early and didn’t look back as he pulled away for the overall and AA class win.
Brock made a last lap pass on Brett Reichart to take the runner-up position and the class win in the Vintage 200 Expert ranks. Darrell Wassil followed Brock in third overall while Brett held on for fourth. Jacob Williams took the second spot in the Vintage 200 Expert class behind Kutskel and was also solidly in the top-ten overall. Daniel Zell held the early lead on his Suzuki in Vintage 200 Intermediate action but was unable to hold off the charging BS Holley who took over the top spot on lap two and eventually take the checkers with Zell behind.
Kyle Warner returned to his
winning ways in the Vintage 100 Expert class on his screaming Yamaha while his
brother Larry took a hard run at the top spot in Vintage 50+ Expert. Larry’s
Yamaha fell a minute short of catching winner Joe Cole’s Husqvarna. Greg
Barratt rounded out the podium on his Maico. Jim Laird was number one in
Vintage 50+ Intermediate on his newly acquired MX250 with Tim Spigelmyer
hounding him all race. Tim fell just twelve seconds short of the top spot as he
and Ed Weger went 2-3 respectively.
Post Vintage Race:
Fresh of the win in the first race, Logan Holley was about
to get a lesson in speed from arguably the fastest guy in the series. John
Ashcraft took charge of race two and pulled a five-minute lead on fellow fast
guy Mike Blackwell for the top two spots overall. Logan hung tight to Mike for
third with their pair of ITs only seconds apart. Craig Shenigo took charge of a
competitive Post Vintage 50+ Expert pack with a win over Jon Brant. Joe Cole
filled out the top three on the only non-Yamaha IT in the class. Darrell Wassil
and Geoff Kemp went 2-3 in Post Vintage 200 Expert behind Holley while another
youngster with emerging speed took the Post Vintage 200 Intermediate win when
Joey Spayd II made a late race pass for the lead on his XR200R in a tight ten-rider
class. John Brunnett had no intentions of turning over the Post Vintage +60
Expert class win with a wire-to-wire performance on his SWM. Jack Petrilla and
John Zellam diced for the runner-up spot all race with Jack topping John at the
finish. Eleven riders took the green flag in Post Vintage +60 Intermediate
action with Yamaha pilot Doug Kurz besting the Can-Am duo of Tommy Tippett and
2021 class champion Glenn Hershey. Robert Radcliffe took home the top trophy in
the Novice +60 class.
Round #1 is always a little on the wet side.
Disc Brake Race:
After being introduced in 2021, the third race on the schedule has continued to grow. The series has made an additional investment in 2022 by adding several age classes to the event to increase participation. With 43 bikes on the line for race three, the efforts have proven to be worth it! Brett Reichart flirted with the lead on lap one, but John Ashcraft was merely one second behind at the first pass through scoring. John made the pass soon thereafter and took the win while Ethan Waddell hustled his YZ250 to keep him in sight for the second spot in the overall results and AA class.
Brett and his
KX250 held on for a hard-fought top-ten finish in the overall ranks. Sean
McKinney survived a last race push by Grant Reichart in the Pre-Modern Open
Expert class, but Sean was able to clear Grant’s KDX by less than ten seconds
at the checkers for the win. Kelly Ashcraft took the Pre-2K Women’s Expert
class in her debut in the third race on a KTM.
Twelve riders entered the various age class in the disc brake race with
Craig Lowery setting the pace with a 50+ Intermediate win and top-15 overall.
Other winners in the age classes include Dave Kutskel over Steve Sachetti (+50
Expert), Brad Waddell over Jack Petrilla (+60 Expert), and Tommy Tippett on an
ATK over Doug Kurz (+60 Intermediate). Interestingly, Kurz competed on what
appeared to be a hybrid steel tank Yamaha TT with custom modern suspension.
Rocket Raceway never disappoints in delivering a great experience to kickoff a fresh season of fun in the Mid-Atlantic. There’s lots more fun to come in the 2022 season with several full weekend events, an entirely new venue in late summer, and a revamped Mid-Atlantic motocross series that will be a companion to the cross-country schedule for most of its dates presenting even more opportunity to race vintage motorcycles and hang around some truly great people.
Thank you to Rocket Raceway, Mark Carlson, and the AHRMA Mid-Atlantic volunteers under the tutelage of Mr. Kutskel for making this possible. Please continue to support the sponsors that make the effort to ensure the success of this great series: Potomac Vintage Riders, Preston Petty Products, Stainless Cycle, Grove Printing, KMI Printing, Horizon Homes, and Works Enduro Riders.
The 2022 schedule and complete results from this event can be found at https://www.ahrma.org/ahrma-mid-atlantic-region. Follow the series’ Facebook page @ AHRMA Mid Atlantic Cross Country for updates and news throughout the year.
See ya at the next round....
