When I was asked to announce at the West Michigan Sand Dragway (WMSD) ATV Bash over the weekend of June 21-23, my first response was, “Do I have to?” I am not an ATV guy, so to speak, and in past years I used the ATV Bash weekends to catch up on home projects, family time, and even trips to check out other tracks. I had pretty much equated an ATV-only race on equal ground with a sport compact or tuner car show; I only have so much time on this earth, and to waste it attending one of those was not high on my list of priorities. Truth is though, my son Dylan could use some more seat time on his quad as he gets back into the Mighty Midget Point Series race and I could use the $$ to do some more racing myself. So, I agreed to announce over the weekend. Dylan and I headed off to the track Friday morning. I am the first to admit when I am wrong about something, and I was wrong about this race. While I won’t be selling the Bronco and buying an ATV, I could see how it would be really easy get caught up in ATV racing. The format for Friday was like this; Test & Tune went from 9-11 am, with registration and time trials then eliminations after that. Friday was also all heads-up racing with 5 heads-up classes and one Open Pro bracket class. Friday’s winners were follows:
Class 1 3.50 and Faster
1st Billy Page, Douglass KS
2nd Scott Strei, Goodyear AZ
Class 2 3.50-3.79
1st Scott Strei, Goodyear AZ
2nd Billy Page, Douglass KS
Class 3 3.80-3.99
1st Scott Strei, Goodyear AZ
2nd Jeff Guillot, Gilbert LA
Class 4 4.00-4.49
1st Steve Bartinicki, Antioch IL
2nd Rayce Muchmore, Salt Lake City UT
Class 5 4.50 & Slower
1st Josh Goodale, Grandville MI
2nd Rich Wood, Dimondale MI
Open Pro Bracket
1st Shawn Roth, Allendale MI
2nd Tex Andy English, Olive Hill KY
As you can see, the out of town guys really know how to race. There was a lot of close racing; I counted 5 hole shot wins over the day so everybody was hitting the tree too. Scott Strei flat out dominated the top 3 heads up classes with just a red light start in the Class 1 final round preventing him from winning the top 3 classes on 3 different bikes. Scott is a rider for the A&S Racing team out of Michigan. Not to be out done, with 1 class win and 2 runner-up finishes was the K&T Performance/ Barn Guys Racing team of Billy Page and Rayce Muchmore. I did not stick around for the Gambler’s Race after eliminations, but I heard there was around 30 entries before I left so there was some good $$ to be made there also. There was a $300 bonus to the winners in each class provided by Village Motorsports, Cajun Trailer Sales, and David Allen Racing, which was on top of the regular class payout. Most of the racers stayed around and returned to race on Saturday, so the racing was equally as close and more racers showed up Saturday morning to run the brackets. There were 2 Sportsman tree brackets, 2 Pro tree brackets, a dragster bracket class and a junior bracket class.
Sportsman 14.49 & Quicker
1st Kevin Beckett, WV
2nd Brian Bond, KY
Sportsman 2 4.50 & Slower
1st Michael Stacy, WV
2nd Eddie Epling, KY
Pro 1 4.49 & Quicker
1st Shawn Roth, MI
2nd Corey Martz, MI
Pro 2 4.50 & Slower
1st Buddy Hammett, MI
2nd Roger Ferguson, WV
Quick 8
1st Jeff Guillot, LA
2nd Billy Page, KS
Juniors
1st Kyler Guillot, LA
2nd James Adkins, WV
3rd Dylan DeHaan, MI
The racing was really good on Saturday, too, with 3 perfect (.000) reaction times and even a tie in one of the races. The guys from West Virginia really know how to get it done, with 3 of them taking home checks. That ride home had to seem shorter than it was. It also should be noted that Nikki Morgan had one of the perfect reaction times in her tow truck during the tow vehicle race, which she also won. Also, Mike Goodale made a return to the winners circle in the Golf Cart race, along with co-pilot Dave Earle, after his horrendous crash at Little Sandy last fall. As a dad, I was really proud of Dylan taking a 3rd place finish as he was the youngest rider in the class, and seems to have figured out how to slow down at the top end if he is way out in front.
Just a couple of final thoughts from the ATV bash; it was great to see the support of the racers at this year’s Bash, especially the out of state guys that came for the weekend. This kind of support should ensure that the ATV Bash should continue for years to come. Second was the fact that there was not one problem with the lights this weekend. That should be assuring for all racers thinking of coming to WMSD. The track looked great and the staff stayed on top of it and the dust which made for a better race weekend for all. Third, and last, it was absolutely spectacular to see Mike Goodale’s Brand X bike roll out of staging, with Travis Prater at the controls, all fixed and looking great. After Mike’s crash last fall, I assumed that the bike would find its way to a scrap heap somewhere, but it made a grand return this weekend looking as good as the first time Mike ever brought it out. Kudos to Mike, Josh, Shawn Roth and whoever else made that possible, it was great to see. I also want to make mention of the sponsors again, Cajun Trailers of Gilbert LA, Village Motorsports of Grand Rapids, MI and David Allen Racing of Silver Lake MI. Without them, the ATV Bash would not have taken place, and it was a great weekend.
In closing, I had an unexpected great time all the way around and I won’t pass up another opportunity to attend the next ATV Bash. If you like close racing and something a little different than what you are used to, I would suggest you check it out also. Until next time, I’ll see you in the staging lanes.
Isaac DeHaan ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )