Hardrock !

Hardrock!
By Lane Sheppard
FTR Hare Scramble # 7 January 6 - 7, 2001
As demonstrated at the riders meeting, just the name says it all. With small rocks hard enough to completely lose grip over and large ones stout enough to smash cases and frames, the FTR Championship Hare Scramble Series benefit race returned to the unique MX and Mountain Bike facility after several years at Reddick. An extremely technical, but doable course for the Minis, was groomed over the last couple of months by members of the FTR Executive committee along with several veteran club members. The classic woods trails included the MX course, which has bunny lines, for a total of about 6 miles. Lap times for the leaders were in the 19 minutes range both Saturday and Sunday. Taking on all comers in the Saturday Super Vintage A and Sunday AA, the 'King of Hardrock', Mike Phillips, casually unloaded his Open Class Hondas to take wins in both classes. My permanent mental image of him was from Hardrock years ago as I was standing on top of a hill. With a roar from his 500 Honda he locked both wheels in a full lock slide and disappeared in a hail of rocks all going up hill! Saturday racing began in dusty but sunny conditions with Mini riders David Tripp, Logan Fleisher, and Kenneth Gallagher taking wins in the A, B, and C Classes. Beginner riders Josh Shaffer and Shelby Gunson took wins in their classes that they'll never run in again. A rather large, sixteen riders, Super Vintage A class was won of course by Phillips with Garrett Edmisten showing excellent MX skills fifteen seconds adrift. A small Vintage class was won by Rand Franklin. Nearly sixty Quad riders lined up to take on the axle bending last race of the day. Class winners were Steve Hesters, Charles Holzschulhex, Mark Bradley, Keith Brown, and Keith Knauss bringing home the Seniors. PeeWee riders enjoyed minute plus lap times on a very nice track by Mark DiPipi and friends. Class winners were Aaron Bass, Kurt Lucas, and Cristopher Fileger. Saturday night the track owner turned on the lights for MX practice for ten bucks. Sunday morning practice was a bit chilly as the frost was on the pumpkin along with clear and sunny skies. I had a chance to check out the course following Jenn in her first race back coming off a broken arm. Sure was lots of fun little hill climbs and tight trail before opening up to the huge MX section. In Vet A, local MX fast guy Flipper Page displayed awesome jumping skills as he easily won the class among other riders in the nineteen-minute lap times. Gene Brownlee took his first win ever in Senior C. In Women B Jenn Sheppard grabbed one of her classic hole shots to lead into the first turn with Sammy Broderick hot on her heels. In short order Sammy bumped past, (inherited skill), to take her third win of the season. Her Ma took third in Women A as she is coming back off of knee surgery. A huge crowd of spectators lined the fence all the way to the first turn when the fastest off-road riders in the Southeast lined up to do battle at high noon. Ten AA riders blasted off as Phillips led the way to the end with Bobby Moriarty and Joey Argentine rounding out the top three. Other A riders including Jeff Wingard, Garrett Edmisten, and Lee Daley showing good speed in the top twenty. This was the first race back for Lee as he tested his strength coming off a back injury from the first race of the season. The C classes were delayed forty-five minutes while David Settle got the Mule ride back to the pits. As of this time he is home and doing OK. Blankets of dust covered the trail when the packs of FTR's most determined riders tested their metal. With good twenty-two minute lap times, Brian Gerger in C 250 led everyone home for the win.
All in all it was a good weekend for the yearly benefit race. As usual the work got done in quiet excellence by the veteran FTR members along with a nice group of new faces. Thanks to all for another great event and special thanks to Randy at Hardrock for having us back.