Gracyk Tears Up The Wilderness........ 
By Rupert X Pellett 
Buckeye State Motocross Championship Series - Round 5 
Ohio County Fair Motocross Championship Series - Round 22 
Wild Wilderness Raceway 
LOGAN, OH SEP 3

Motocross is big in Ohio, very big. And one of our big amateur stars and future pro riders, Gavin "Speedy G" Gracyk - made things extra special as he romped off with three class wins at this topsy-turvy track in South-Central Ohio. Not only was this a huge event due to the contingency money offered up from the manufacturers through the Buckeye State Motocross Series - this was also a round of promoter Tab Thompson's Ohio Fair Race Series - so points for two different series were being distributed and a whole bunch of potential money, prizes, series awards, trophies and prestige were on the line. With nearly five hundred racers and their families and friends in attendance, the pits were awash with anticipation as racing commenced under sunny skies with balmy temperatures. Gracyk, fresh off a victorious week of activity in Tennessee - with his capture of two Amateur National AMA Motocross championships - was eager to showcase his stuff here in the lazy hills of Hocking county. With French-Canadian mechanic Stefan in tow, Team Green's Gracyk gave no quarter on this rollercoaster circuit - not always getting the best of starts - Gracyk promptly would blow by fellow B racers as if they were not in contention . Magnolia's Matt Barnes on his KX-125 gave Gracyk a look here and there early on in both 125 B moto's - yet Gracyk would stretch out a lead and leave the battle on for second place, where Barnes would eventually finish overall. Nick Carroll and John Wisenbarger also pulled good starts in 125 B and tried to run Gracyk's pace, but it was all for naught as Gracyk was simply running at pro speed. The 250 B class would witness some great starts by the impressive "Andy-Man" Willard, Willard on his RM-250 was able to hold off Fairborn's Corey Smith for second - but quite a ways back from Gracyk. The 16-24 class would see excellent starts by Wisenbarger, yet Gracyk, once again, would quickly sort things out and move into the scout position - reaching new areas of the track well before the pack arrived. While Gracyk was the prince of the Intermediate classes - all the money belonged to the king, as the feisty Chris Whitcraft of Pickerington, Ohio, on his Ronnie Rehmert tuned, F&S Suzuki sponsored RM's, was out of  this world. Whitcraft lay low at the start of each pro class, making his dad cringe and his mom visibly upset as he picked poor gate positions and was often near the back of the pack at the start of the 125 and 250 races. Jason Frecker had the majority of the A rider holeshots on the day - as the electrical worker and student timed things perfectly to install his number 729 Hondas often to the top of Wild Wilderness' loamy start hill in first. In fact, Frecker, the "Prince of Pomeroy" showed many that he is still one of Ohio's great riders, he ran out front early in the motos prior to fatigue setting in. When all was said and done, Whitcraft, having to come up from behind most times, won both classes - with Chuck "Farmboy" Reed and his number 36 F&S Suzuki, taking second place money in both the expert divisions. Reed also chose to compete in the 30 plus (A) class - where he ran off with the win. Of note - Mike Morgan, who might have challenged for the overall - went down hard in moto two after "King" Richard Robinson and him became entangled in a rutted corner. Morgan, ever the hard-charger, picked up his bike dead last, put his head down and steamed through the pack, eventually placing second. Mike Blair, of Marietta, placed a well earned third in 30A - after whipping up on the 25 plus A class with a tasty win. "King" Richard Robinson slung his throne of choice - a Honda CR-250, in for the elderly 40 plus class crown - giving second place to Elizabeth, West Virginia's Jamie Burton, with the "factory mechanic", Ronnie Rehmert, holding up the podium, in third. In novice class action, Columbus' Chad Zaiser continued his massive assault on district eleven's C classes - handily screaming his way in to first on his CR-125 in the 125 C class. Pennsylvania's Dustin Wyne, from the mighty burg of Monongahela, whipped his KX-250 in for the 250 C class win, snapping up some lime green Kawasaki contingency money in the process. Laurelville's Colin Thomas, another great local rider recently home from a terrific ride at Loretta Lynn's - was on the gas in the Pee-Wee 50 class, whisking his silent Yamaha in for the win in the 4-8 division. Proctorville's Ryan Brumfield, yet another quick district eleven mini rider, sailed his Suzuki home first for the title in the 80 "Extra" class, while Levi Kilbarger kicked the 65cc division - aboard his KTM SX65. Kilbarger would go to war against Fairborn's Kyle Smith in the Mini-Junior division - where the two eleven year olds - both having competed at Loretta Lynn's as well, went at it. Smith would garner the victory though, with Kilbarger second. Circleville's J.T.Turner increased on his reputation as one of Ohio's fastest younger 50cc racers, stinging his LEM in for first in the 4-6 year old category. The mighty King Cobra with "Sir" Walker Brightwell aboard, snapped off yet another in a string of victories for the youngster from Cincinnati, as he sailed his yellow machine in for the 7-8 year old, 50 class win. For the scholarly folk, it was Matt Barnes and his Kawasaki KX-125 screaming in with the Schoolboy title, with Kyle Preston and his Suzuki in second and Nick Carroll in third. Owning the Open class locally of late, Chris "Led-Man" Ledbeater Jr. ran off from all the other big bikes, besting second spot's Mark Kiser from Waverly and third's Jeremy Barnett, hailing from Hamden. Cooling the day down for his competition, was Chad "Ice" Walker - the Canadian Amateur Vet Champ stormed through for two class overalls in 25 and 30 plus. 

125A: 1. Chris Whitcraft (Suz); 2. Chuck Reed (Suz); 3. Jason Frecker (Hon); 4. Jason Saunders (Yam); 5. Bub Thomas (Yam).
250A: 1. Chris Whitcraft (Suz); 2. Chuck Reed (Suz); 3. Mike Morgan (Suz); 4. Jason Frecker (Hon); 5. Mark Roop (Yam).
125B: 1. Gavin Gracyk (Kaw); 2. Matt Barnes (Kaw); 3. Nick Carroll (Yam). 
250B: 1. Gavin Gracyk (Kaw); 2. Andy Willard (Suz); 3. Corey Smith (Yam). 
16-24: 1. Gavin Gracyk (Kaw); 2. John Wisenbarger (Yam); 3. Jared Wolfe (Yam). 
25+A: 1. Mike Blair (Suz); 2. Mike Morgan (Suz); 3. Mark Roop (Yam).
30+A: 1. Chuck Reed (Suz); 2. Mike Morgan (Suz); 3. Mike Blair (Suz).
25+B: 1. Chad Walker (KTM); 2. Mark Kiser (Yam); 3. Ty Walke (Suz). 
30+B: 1. Chad Walker (KTM); 2. Mitch Warrens (Kaw); 3. Tony Brown (Yam).
Schoolboy: 1. Matt Barnes (Kaw); 2. Kyle Preston (Suz); 3. Nick Carroll (Yam). 
40+: 1. Richard Robinson (Hon); 2. Jamie Burton (Suz); 3. Ronnie Rehmert (Suz). 
Open: 1. Chris Leadbeater Jr. (Yam); 2. Mark Kiser (Yam); 3. Jeremy Barnett (Yam).
80 extra: 1. Ryan Brumfield (Suz); 2. Joey Leadbeater (Suz); 3. Jesse Gustafson (Kaw).
80(12-15): 1. Michael Willard (Suz); 2. Zach Ames (Suz); 3. Pat Massie (Kaw). 
80(7-11): 1. Kyle Smith (Suz); 2. Levi Kilbarger (Suz); 3. Ryan Brumfield (Suz). 
65: 1. Levi Kilbarger (KTM); 2. Shawn Rife (KTM); 3. Jacob Ray (KTM). 
50(7-8): 1. Walker Brightwell (Cob); 2. Zach Mahoney (Cob); 3. Bradley Minnard (Pol).
50(4-6): 1. J.T. Turner (LEM); 2. Egan Rosell (Cob); 3. Justin Witteman (Cob). 
50(4-8): 1. Colin Thomas (Yam); 2. Ethan Scarberry (Yam); 3. Shawn Thompson (Yam).
125C: 1. Chad Zaiser (Hon); 2. Tim Haning (Hon); 3. Ben Rogers (Hon). 
250C: 1. Dustin Wyne (Kaw); 2. David Maynard (Yam); 3. Jason King (Hon).