Spectro Oils Thunder on the Mountain 3 Memorial Day Weekend Draws in Hundreds of Riders over 2 Days of Racing

With thunder, winds, and down-pouring rain rolling in on Friday May 22nd at 3:15pm, it looked like the Spectro Oils Thunder on the Mountain 3 had a chance of not happening. Prior to this, there was 8 inches of rain that had hit the Travelers Rest Speedway track in Travelers Rest, South Carolina over a course of 5 days, putting a huge question mark on the Memorial Day weekend and the return to racing for the 2020 Flat Track Futures series. Despite the 1.5 inches of rain that came down in buckets on Friday right before the evening open practice was to begin (which then was cancelled), the Travelers Rest Speedway and Flat Track Futures crew knew they had a weekend of racing ahead and wouldn’t let the rain put a stop to that. With minimal racing across the USA, Travelers Rest Speedway became a home for many racers this Memorial Day weekend, providing two evenings of racing under the lights for not only the fastest amateur and youth riders in the country but also the fastest professional flat track racers in the world. Teams such as Factory supported Estenson Racing Yamaha, Factory KTM, Factory Indian, Factory Harley Davidsons, Roof Systems of Dallas Texas & HCRR racing efforts plus an additional 50 plus experts/pros made up of over 450 entrees for two days of racing on the fast 3/8th mile oval at Travelers Rest Speedway.

With hours of track preparation, plus managing the predicted forecast all day, the track became live on Saturday just minutes after the riders’ meeting, with the Pro Twins taking the track first and testing the surface before we started the youth, amateur, Astro and Hooligan early-evening program.

Our Flat Track Futures’ riders in the PW50 - 85cc classes in the youth program had non stop battles all the way throughout Saturday evening every time on-track. Taking 1st place in the PW50 class was number 14, Jace DiMatteo, with a strong performance on his PW50 around

this 3/8th mile oval. Tucked in like a professional on a mile track, Jace DiMatteo from New York took home a controlling win. In his first flat track ever, it was Jack Sipes #64 from Kentucky on the Cobra 50 (son of “The General” Ryan Sipes - known for racing all forms of motorcycles at the top level) who took the win in the 50cc 4-6 year old main event. Landon Wilson from Florida on the #12 Cobra took the lead and won his first race of the weekend in the 50cc 7-8 year old main event.

Braxton Ragan from Illinois, who retired his 50cc after the Flat Track Futures races in Florida last fall, has now jumped to an all-new Yamaha 65, and has returned right to his winning ways taking the 65cc 7-11 main event. Styling and extremely fast Bradon Pfanders #88 was downright fast all weekend on this KTM 85. The Pennsylvania rider showed speed all day on a moist race track, trying multiple lines throughout the day to finally settle into place while dropping his lap times lap after lap. Taking the 85 7-11 yrs old win, Bradon showed that a longer off season hasn’t slowed his focus and motivation down.

Flat tracker turned road racer, Tyler Scott, returned to flat track this weekend with a win in the 250 amateur class. After a mechanical in staging, Tyler was forced to switch to his back up bike and had to start on the back row in a 16 rider field. Working his way through the highly

competitive 250 amateur class, Tyler took over the lead and got the win on his KTM 250F. With 7 heat races for the Open Amateur class, the class was truly the class to watch all weekend. Riders from nearly every region of the country came together for the 16 rider main event and

after 3 LCQ’s were needed to set the field for the main event, it was Washington states’ Kody Kopp who took the win on his KTM 450 over 14 year old Chase Saathoff #6 on his Husqvarna 450. A surprise of the Open Amateur main was Tyler Scott taking a 3rd place finish on his 250F

against a stacked field of open bikes.

With over 45,000 views on the PitRow TV Live Look preview over two days of racing, fans of the sport were able to tune into flat track racing action for one of the first times this season. There was over $14,000 in purse money thanks to Roof Systems of Dallas Texas and HCRR,

and over $5000 in contingency between Honda Racing, Tucker Powersports V TWIN Power, and Goon Glass and Rubber to be taken home for the Amateur, Expert, Hooligan and Vintage riders this weekend. It was Factory Indian rider Bronson Bauman on the #37 FTR750 that

showed he was ready for the 2020 professional season to start up. Bronson took a controlling win and the claim of his share of the $4000 Expert Pro Twin Purse donated by Roof Systems of Dallas Texas and HCRR. It was a rare experience for the Flat Track Futures riders to see so many of the best riders in the sport on the same track on the same night as them - walking through the pits with 4 factory racing rigs, and other top teams pitting right next to the future stars of the sport.

The 450 Expert Production class on stock frame 450s featured some highly anticipated top runners for the 2020 season - including Dallas Daniels #32, Henry Wiles #17, Mikey Rush #15, Ryan Wells #94, Shayna Texter #52, 2019 AMA Sports Dirt Track Horizon Award winner Trevor Brunner #211 and amateur/expert rider Kody Kopp #43. At the point, it was Estenson Racing Yamaha rider Dallas Daniels that took the lead and the win over veteran rider Henry Wiles who is making his return to the 450 class this season. It was rookie Trevor Brunner on the #211 Honda 450 that took an impressive 3rd place finish. Notable finish was also 15 year old Kody Kopp, who also took a 4th place finish home over top professional riders. In the 30+ Class it was Chris Boone on the number 13 Suzuki, former national number and past X Games Hooligan competitor, taking the win. A shortened Hooligan main event had Wisconsin rider Jeremy Deruyter on the #1 Harley taking the win, and Lance Jones took home the Class of 79’ Astro Cup win on the #23 Bultaco Astro.

Sunday was an all-new race day, with 80+ degree temperatures and clouds surrounding the area all morning. The track crew at TRS decided the best chance to provide a fast, safe race track was to fix the areas last night that they felt were an issue - water - and pack for a firm base incase rain came. Following the riders meeting at 2:30pm rain showers tried to stop the fun but thankfully it stopped there. Riders were on track by 3pm for their first practice and the Sunday program ran fast. The track formed a more visual groove as less moisture was added

throughout the day because of the chance of rain in the area, leading to a faster race track than the night prior.

It was Sammy Halbert on a FTR750 that took the early lead in the Open Expert/Pro $5000 Purse main event. Sammy checked out during the 25 lap main event while logging the fastest lap time of the weekend. As Halbert rode a flawless race, it left the Estenson Racing Yamaha

450 teammates Mikey Rush and Dallas Daniels battling for 2nd. Daniels wasn’t able to challenge Rush towards the end and Rush finished 2nd with Daniels taking 3rd. Double winner of the day was Bradon Pfanders #88, taking both the 85cc 7-11 and Supermini main events on his KTM 85. The Pennsylvania rider looked right at home on the blue groove throughout the day. Carson King #17 and Jack Brucks #13 swapped results in the two classes both taking home a 2nd and 3rd place finishes putting on some get battles throughout the day. The Tucker V TWIN Power Hooligan Class saw a full field again, roaring around the track on 400+ pound bikes. It was Terry Vestal #27 taking the win and the Goon Rubber and Glass top award over David Kilkenny #35 and Josh Young #71.

In one of the biggest and most competitive classes of the weekend, the Open Amateur, it was once again Kody Kopp #43 taking the win, but the battle to keep your eye on was from 2nd to 16th. The 2020 Open Amateur talent level is at a long time high in the sport. The average age of these riders in this class is about 15 years old and they are the future of the sport in the coming years at the top level. These are the riders that will be going for the 2020 Nicky Hayden AMA Sports Dirt Track Horizon award this summer that has been won by riders such as Trevor

Brunner in 2019, Dallas Daniels in 2018 and even riders like Jared Mees, Briar Bauman, and Flat Track Futures’ founder Johnny Lewis. With Kopp taking the win and the $200 bonus from race fan Scotty Taylor from Charlotte North Carolina, he was followed by Ezra Brusky, Chase

Saathoff, Tyler Scott, Zack Bailey, Logan McGrane, Bobby Lupica, Ian Wolfe, Jared Lowe and Logan Eisenhard rounding out the top ten.

The 50cc 7-8 saw a new winner on Sunday, Liam Benoist #26p. Liam took the win in a high wide and handsome form, running the high line off the racing groove. The Goon Rubber sponsored Open Vintage class was won by Dave Singleton #16c, while the Wildcats 80-200 4

stroke class was won by Pennsylvania rider Aaden Johnson #5. The 2020 Spectro Oils Thunder on the Mountain 3 ended with the 65cc 7-11 final and it was a spectacular one as Saturday’s winner Braxton Ragan #84 and Cody Mishey #26 came together off the start crashing, leaving Gabrielle Pfanders #83 with nowhere to go - launching her off both of the down riders’ bikes. All riders rebounded for a restart, and it was Jack Brucks #13 taking the early lead, but Braxton Ragan #84 put in a strong performance and worked his way around for his second 65cc 7-11 win of the weekend.

Double winners of the weekend include Kody Kopp in Open Amateur, Braxton Ragan in the 65cc 7-11, Bradon Pfanders in the 85cc 7-11, Tyler Scott in 250cc Amateur, & Jace DiMatteo in the 50cc 4-6 class.

 

A special thank to our Flat Track Futures sponsors Including:

Spectro Performance Oils

Roof Systems of Dallas Texas

HCRR

Sunoco Race Fuels

Tucker Powersports

VTwin Power

Bike Master

Pro Taper

Scotty Taylor

Boswell Hooligan Racing Team