SouthEast Showdown
(Continued)
By Bobby Lewis


     The TT consisted of two right hand turns, three small jumps and parts of the short track and half-mile. Robert Hall led the shaft division from the green light and continued his dominance over the short track to win the class. Dusty Young finished in second on the day over Tristan Avery, Amia Brinkley and Cole Hahn.
     Tyler Tudor continued his winning ways in the 50-cc Junior class and also topped the 50 cc stocks.
     Nick McFadden remained unbeaten in each discipline with a run over the 50 cc Senior class. Jeff Lowery, Jacob Morris, Molly Terry, Kyle Vaughn, Hall, Luke Baird and Kenneth Brinkley followed him in order.
     Jake Lewis continued to dominate the 65-cc classes with runaway wins in both the DTX and modified. Ethan Gillim and McFadden filled the podium each time.
     Lewis totally dominated the 85-cc 7-11 year old field with a hole-shot that led to a full straightaway win. Haden Avery and Cory Richard swapped spots for second with Avery getting the position at the line. Ethan led Andrew Johnson, Kody Vaughn, Jacob Cunningham and Logan Demaa for fourth.
     Frankie Lee Gillim won another close battle over Cory Richard and Haden Avery in the 85-cc DTX class while Michael Johnson ran to his second win in the 85-cc 12-15 year old division.
     Jeff Carver looked extremely strong a he swept the 125-cc class. Payton Sassaman kept him honest in second over Nikki Spore, Nathaniel Vowell and Frankie Lee.
     Brock Schwarzenbacher put in solid rides to go to the front of the 250-cc stroke and 505-cc classes.
     Justin Hanna held Schwarzenbacher to second in the 450-cc division tightening up the points battle.
     Colby Chandler and Matt Weidman hooked up on the 250-cc machines with each winning a class.
     Aaron Ladd led the 450-cc Pro class for three laps until Kevin Varnes found the fast line through the right handers. Varnes used a deep drive to make the pass and carried it on for the win.


     Varnes made it a double by taking the Open-Pro class also. He led a close one over Jake Johnson, Matt Burton, Ladd and Clayton Riggle. Danny Stookesberry was next over Jon Goodwin, Bill Gruwell, Jason Goodwin and Alas Stay.
     As several tight points battles would be decided on the half-mile a handful of riders had perfect sweeps of their respective classes. Robert Hall, Tyler Tudor, Nick McFadden, Jake Lewis, Michael Johnson, Dakota Simmons, Jeff Carver and Colby Chandler all pulled the hat trick.
     Aaron Ladd led the Open pro class on the initial lap before Ricky Marshall took to the high line and swept to the lead. A lap later and Matt Burton dropped Ladd to third and closed to Marshall’s rear wheel. Burton put the pressure on but Marshall never bobbled to win by a length. A. J. Eslick held Clayton Riggle off for fourth.
     Ladd seemed to have the 450 Pro win in the bag until a flat tire put him on the side lines allowing Marshall to card an easy win. Alan Stay moved past Eslick for second while Kyle Whitis topped Lee McAnally for fourth.
     Brandon Robinson was impressive on the day topping the rostrum in three classes. He started the day by winning a close one over Brock Schwarzenbacher in the 250-cc 2 stroke final. Derrek Weber rode hard to third over Matt Weideman, Payton Sassaman and James Finnell.
     After taking top honors in the 505-cc class Robinson’s toughest final came on the 450’s. In a class that ended in a three-way tie Robinson’s win paid off big as he topped Derrek Weber for the win. Justin Hanna’ s third place placed him in the runner-up slot for the series barely nipping Brett Sassaman. Jeremy Anderson, D. J. Slosser, Schwarzenbacher, Colt Chebultz and Spencer Shoff rounded out the field.
     Cory Richard came from behind to win both the 85-cc DTX and 85-cc Mod classes. He worked past Haden Avery in the DTX class with Frankie Lee Gillim a close third over Andrew Johnson, Levi Mayer and Jacob White. Richard then passed Jake Lewis with two laps to go to top the Mod class as Avery moved through traffic to third. 65-cc DTX winner Jacob Cunningham was fourth over Ethan Gillim, Kody Vaughn and Johnson.