Mullen’s da Man at Timonium ST!

Kevin McNicholas-Gary Nixon Memorial Short Track Series
Round 2: Maryland State Fairgrounds

Story and Photos by Len and Ben Breech
TIMONIUM, MD, AUG. 3, 2012

Under typically hot and humid skies, and with thunderstorms in the area, Donnie Mullen showed why he is the king of the small multiple-use racetracks that are becoming more common in this area by taking two wins on his Shenandoah Honda/ Triple J Racing Honda at the second round of the Baltimore County Trail Riders/ Cockeysville Optimist Club-promoted Kevin McNicholas-Gary Nixon Memorial Short Track Series.

In the Open A final, the race winner from the opening race, Colton Smith, took the lead, over Mullen, Nick Henderson, Mike Poe and Joey Parks. Mullen took the lead off turn four on the second lap and started to pull away, leaving Smith, Henderson and Poe to battle for second. After some swapping of positions, Poe tried to get under Smith as they entered turn three on the eighth lap, with both riders going down.

The 450cc Sportsman victory was a more typical win for Mullen, as he took the lead off turn two and waved bye-bye to the others – this time Smith, Poe, Parks and Henderson. In the tightly bunched field, Parks took second on the second lap, but Smith took second going into turn three on the third lap. Poe took third in the late laps.

With an extra $200 added to the purse for the Adult 150 final, there were some added riders – Mullen among them, riding the Triple J Racing Honda. Nick Henderson took the lead from Cory Texter, Mullen, Chris Klinefelter and Joey Alexander. Mullen was riding the wheels off his ride, taking second on the third lap, but the machine was sputtering a bit and Texter retook the spot. Once he figured out he’d left the choke on, Mullen did get quicker, but by then it was too late to put any pressure on the two front-runners.

Roy Miller jumped in front of Colton Smith, Brandon Price and Cameron Smith at the start of the 250cc Sportsman contest. Miller and Colton put several bikelengths on Price and Cameron’s battle for third. Colton pressured Miller throughout the race, finally finding a sliver of space off turn two on the final lap and taking the lead.

Earlier, Miller had easily taken his second Over 30 win of the series, over Steve Lerch and Damian Kocovinos.

Brett Friedel again topped the Over 45 class, taking the lead from Bill Kraft, Lowell Wherley, Jim Blair and Dave Smith. After scratching from last week’s race when his wife showed up, Mark Stambaugh made sure she stayed home on this night and, after a slow start, he took fifth on lap four and put his Honda XR200 into fourth on the last lap.

Tyler Scott showed up and showed why he has won two National 50cc-class titles in each of the last two years by dominating the 50cc Shaft-Drive and Chain-Drive classes. In the Shaft-Drive contest, he took the lead from Evan Batts and Britney Thomas coming off turn two and lapped up to third place by the end. In the Chain-Drive class, Ethan Stroh stayed close early on, before Scott won by a straightaway.

Nathan Reichert again topped the 65cc and 85cc classes. In the 65cc contest, he took the lead right away from Robert Wheatley, Jacob Gast, Matt Scibek and Ethan Stroh. As Reichert pulled away, and Wheatley stayed comfortably in second, Scibek and Gast battled over third, with Stroh joining in after halfway. Scibek fell on the sixth lap and Stroh took third at the start of the final lap.

Reichert had to work for the 85cc win, as Wheatley and Karl Wheeler led Reichert at the end of the opening lap. Reichert took second as they entered turn one on the second lap, and with Wheatley running a tight inside line, Reichert moved to the outside, gradually inching his way into the lead at the end of the fifth lap.

Josh Owens took the 125cc Two-Stroke/150 Four-Stroke lead, over Chase Smith, Jason Cole and Jeff Standiford. Smith took the lead at the start of the second lap, but the top three ran nose to tail for most of the race. Cole tried to get under Owens going into turn three on the last lap, causing Owens to fall, and collecting Ryan Dragunas in the incident.

In the 250cc B final, Anthony Crabbe got his usual quick start, over Brandon Price, Jeremy Duggan and Cameron Smith. Price took the lead going into turn one on lap two, while Smith moved into third to pressure Crabbe. Crabbe fell in turn two on the fourth lap. Price kept a safe distance over Smith to the finish.

Crabbe also took the Open B lead, over Samantha Bergman, Sean Simmons and Bill Kraft. After getting a bad start the previous week and running out of laps to catch Crabbe, this week Bergman had almost the entire race to catch him. She took the lead as they entered one on the fourth lap.

Maryland State Fairgrounds
Timonium, Maryland
Results: August 3, 2012 (Round 2)

50 CHAIN DRIVE: 1. Tyler Scott (KTM); 2. Ethan Stroh (Con); 3. Ethan Lewter (Hon).

50 SHAFT DRIVE: 1. Tyler Scott (Yam); 2. Evan Batts (Yam); 3. Britney Thomas (Yam); 4. David Batts Jr. (Yam); 5. Tyler Cunningham (Yam); 6. Wyatt Batts (Yam); 7. Victoria Johnson (Yam); 8. Dylan Cunningham (Yam); 9. Kayla Yaakov (Suz).

65 (7-11): 1. Nathan Reichert (KTM); 2. Robert Wheatley (KTM); 3. Ethan Stroh (KTM); 4. Jacob Gast (KTM); 5. Karl Wheeler (KTM); 6. Makayla Batts (KTM); 7. Nick Crone (KTM); 8. Matt Scibek (Kaw).

85 (7-11): 1. Nathan Reichert (Yam); 2. Robert Wheatley (Hon); 3. Matt Scibek (Kaw); 4. Karl Wheeler (Suz); 5. Joshua Johnson (Kaw); 6. Kyle Fitz-Maurice (Yam).

85 (12-13): 1. Brennan Beach (Hon).

125 2-STROKE/150 4-STROKE: 1. Chase Smith (Suz); 2. Jason Cole (Suz); 3. Chris Thomas (KTM); 4. Ryan Dragunas (Kaw); 5. Austin Tippett (Kaw); 6. Elizabeth Fitch (Yam); 7. Brennan Beach (Hon); 8. Joshua Owens (Hon); 9. Blake Ickes (Hon); 10 Jeff Standiford (Hon).

150 PRO A: 1. Nick Henderson (Hon); 2. Cory Texter (Suz); 3. Justin Owen (Hon).

250 B: 1. Brandon Price (Kaw); 2. Cameron Smith (Hon); 3. Jeff Standiford (Hon); 4. Chase Smith (Kaw); 5. Marcus Lyons (Kaw); 6. Jeremy Duggan (Hon); 7. Anthony Crabbe (Suz); 8. Jon Batts (Yam); 9. Tyler Eggleton (Hon).

250 SPORTSMAN: 1. Colton Smith (Kaw); 2. Roy Miller (Suz); 3. Brandon Price (Kaw); 4. Cameron Smith (Hon).

450 SPORTSMAN: 1. Donnie Mullen (Hon); 2. Colton Smith (Kaw); 3. Mike Poe (Hon); 4. Joey Parks (Hon); 5. Nick Henderson (Hon); 6. Joey Alexander (Hon).

500 2-VALVE: 1. Cody Bauer (Yam).

OPEN A: 1. Donnie Mullen (Hon); 2. Nick Henderson (Hon); 3. Joey Parks (Hon); 4. Joey Alexander (Hon); 5. Matt Schwartz (Suz); 6. Mike Poe (Hon); 7. Steve Lerch (Hon); 8. Colton Smith (Kaw).

OPEN B: 1. Samantha Bergman (Hon); 2. Anthony Crabbe (Suz); 3. Sean Simmons (Hon); 4. Bill Kraft (Hon).

OPEN TWINS/VINTAGE: 1. Mike Poe (Tri); 2. Chris Klinefelter (Tri); 3. David Batts (Yam); 4. Joshua Batts (Yam); 5. Jake Batts (Yam).

WOMEN 150: 1. Courtney Blevins (Suz); 2. Elizabeth Fitch (Yam); 3. Melanie Siegel (Hon); 4. Delaney Cadden (Hon).

YOUTH 150: 1. Jacob Gast (Kaw); 2. Courtney Blevins (Suz); 3. Brennan Beach (Hon); 4. Kyle Fitz-Maurice (Hon); 5. Melanie Siegel (Hon).

ADULT 150: 1. Nick Henderson (Hon); 2. Cory Texter (Suz); 3. Donnie Mullen (Hon); 4. Chris Klinefelter (Yam); 5. Colton Smith (Hon); 6. Joey Alexander (Hon); 7. Ryan Dragunas (Kaw); 8. Samantha Bergman (Suz); 9. Jason Cole (Suz); 10. Tyler Eggleton (Hon).

30+: 1. Roy Miller (Suz); 2. Steve Lerch (Hon); 3. Damian Kocovinos (Hon); 4. Sean Simmons (Hon).

45+: 1. Brett Friedel (Kaw); 2. Bill Kraft (Hon); 3. Lowell Wherley (W-R); 4. Mark Stambaugh (Hon); 5. James Blair (Kaw); 6. Dave Smith (Rtx); 7. Jack Stedding (Hon); 8. Patrick Johnson (Yam).