2009Race10

Moonlight Moto Closes 2009 VMX Season
By Steve Caro, Photography by Kathryn Caro, Perris, CA. Nov. 7th.

\

The 2009 California Vintage Motocross club season ended in grand style under the lights of the popular Perris Raceway. 115 riders produced nearly
200 entries for the final race of the year. 2009 was a banner for the club and its members. Record numbers of riders and entries proved even in a
struggling economy, the love of vintage racing would prevail.

The course at Perris was in excellent condition for this event. Specially configured for the older machines, it was plenty fast for the post vintage
machines and tailored correctly for the original vintage machines, the pre-1974 era bikes.
Probably one of the most exciting highlights of the season was Katherine Wood’s dominant performance in the season long Ironman competition.
Switching to a pristine CZ this season, Wood absolutely dominated the Vintage Novice class throughout the season. Her smooth style took her to
numerous victories and ultimately the season championship. Proving her skill was no fluke, she was also dominant in the women’s division which often
saw her defeating much newer machines on her CZ.

An extra bonus was the first time visit of multi-time Motocross and Supercross champion, David Bailey. To say Mr. Bailey was impressed with the
vintage racing scene would be an understatement. He said he was amazed so many riders would turn out for a night time event, especially one being a
vintage only event. He spent the night reminiscing about the days of working on his Bultaco, seeing machines from a bygone era and generally
soaking up the positive atmosphere that is CALVMX racing. He remarked that as he traveled through the pit area the memories of his early racing
days came flooding back. He commented that seeing the various brand of machines brought back virtually forgotten memories of all the little
modifications and things riders from the early days of American motocross had to do to keep their machines running. Bailey remarked that modern era
riders have no appreciation how easy they have it today with the ultra-high tech machines that comprise modern motocross.

Bailey amazed listeners with his near photographic memory of courses such as Mid-Ohio and the many races and riders he competed against. In a
sign of class that seems to be a common denominator amongst past motocross champions, Bailey made himself available for anyone wishing to have
an autograph, photo or conversation about his career and motocross racing. He also commented that vintage racing was keeping a part of the sport
from past eras alive. He said he would hate to see vintage racing go away.

At the end of the night he graciously stayed to sign the plaques of the class winners. Bailey was heard to say he would definitely be back for more
CALVMX events and planned to have his son compete in the modern support class. Special thanks go out to Scott “Burner” Burnworth for inviting this
truly class act of a man to the CALVMX event.

On the track, Open Age GP Intermediate racing witnessed a dominating performance by Maico mounted Chuck Murphy. In the first moto, 20 riders
comprising novice, intermediate and expert divisions launched into the Perris night with Murphy emerging as the leader of the intermediates. Trailing
Murphy was Doug Reyes (Hon) and Dee Tryon (Mai). Throughout the moto, Reyes kept the pressure on Murphy as he drew to within two bike lengths
of the leader. By the white flag lap, Murphy put some distance over the pack and held it to the checkers. Reyes took second, with Charlie Connelly
(Yam) working his way through the pack to capture third.

Murphy laid down his law in moto two as he rocketed into the lead shortly past the first turn, with Reyes slotting into second followed by Tryon. With the
temperature dropping and fog rapidly approaching, Murphy never waivered. His lead went unchallenged and he easily sped to the overall victory.
Reyes clinched second, with Tryon in third.

The G.P.2 250 Intermediate division saw good, close quarter, competition between Doug Reyes (Hon) and Rich Antles (Yam). Moto one saw the bullet
quick Bultaco of Ron Baker nabbing the holeshot, followed closely by Antles and Reyes. Midway through the second lap, Reyes and Antles powered
their way to the top two positions, followed by the Maico of Jonathan Brayley. Reyes kept the power on and extended his lead over Antles and the rest
of the field throughout the motor. At the checkers, his fire engined red twin shocked machined had carried him to yet another moto victory. Antles
grabbed second, with Brayley in third.

With the track lighting casting a ghostly glow over the course, the second moto roared out of the gate in a cloud of two-stroke smoke. Reyes emerged
out of the mist on the back half of the course with the lead, followed by Antles and Baker. Reyes kept the throttle pinned throughout the moto. By lap
four he had a formidable lead over the pack. Antles rested comfortably in second with Baker screaming his Bul close behind. For the final two laps,
Baker edged closer to Antles but came up short at the finish. At the checkers, Reyes clinched the overall, with Antles second overall and Baker in the
third slot.

The sport of vintage motocross would not happen if it were not for the volunteers behind the scene who keep the whole sport going. CALVMX had
outstanding people such as Erica and Astrid Schleif who spent many an hour sitting at the side of track scoring EVERY rider who passed by them.
They also pulled double duty by helping with sign-ups. Scorekeeping would have been more difficult without the stalwart service of Julie Miller. She
spent hours tabulating scores for every class on a race day. She was also the lady who made last minute changes when a rider decided five minutes
before the start of racing he wanted to change classes.

Mark Aquino, Peter Vrettas and Art Leva deserve special acknowledgement for their invaluable service in running the starting gate area. How many
hours these two spent dodging roost and breathing exhaust fumes is beyond comprehension. Thanks guys!

The next two CALVMX events are the November 21st practice, followed by the year end practice and awards ceremony at Barona Raceway. After a
few weeks for the holidays, the 2010 season roars into life January 17 at Glen Helen Raceway.