Friday night under the lights was the 1st round of scored Pro-Am racing out at Santa Clara PAL. Being that were trying to run a complete series we will be now keeping track of everyones finishes and points total for year end awards and prizes and good ol fashioned bragging rights. The turns were soft and the air was cold but 7 guys knew that it was well worth the $10 to make a 1 lap for the cash run at some much needed dough and some peace of mind knowing that the recent rains havent slowed them down. After the typical Al Roybal rollout things were about ready to kick off when Al set the minds of a friendly race into a free for all with a cash incentive that the best finishing amateur would recieve a crisp $100 bill for their efforts. This announcement fell onto the ears of Niko D'Zapo and Zach Reissen who were looking strong in practice as well as Nick Valencia who was happy to be starting from lane 7 because the insides of the turns werent going to help tonight. Also in the hunt for the cash was Kevin Zondervan who was looking to take his fresh new gear onto the podium and take 2 lovely Red Bull ladies to dinner with the rest of the cash! Rollouts were all done and the 2 pro's in the gate were a duo of Lee's as both Austen and Kenny would represent as crowd favorite Mike Hughes once again decided to duck the competition, along with the has been Alexis Vergara who was no where to be found.
Gate hit the deck and Austen Lee showed the boys that he doesnt have a problem switching from aba cadence to random as he was the first one to get a small lead. On the inside Niko D'Zapo was working his way to the outside ro keep a solid fast line through the turn. Austen Lee blew a pedal and dropped from 1st to mid pack and was trying to recover. Nick Valencia took full advantage as he now had the lead and closed off all comers into the first turn. Apparently he thought the race was mixed with a jumping contest because he skied the triple as the rest of the pack took the faster approach and manualed underneath him. D'Zapo was in prime location to take things over down the 2nd straight and was close to the $100 amateur prize. Austen Lee was stll working his way through the pack with passes left and right. As Niko took over the lead tragedy struck and he too lost a pedal at the worst time ever! He went from 1st to mid pack as well. All the while Nick was getting swallowed up like Jonah by a whale and the pack was making moves at every angle. Valencia looked gassed as he fought off Zack in the 2nd turn, but a patient Riessen was setting up a last turn move that might just work. All the while dicing with the leader for the win Austen Lee had moved into 3rd and was on the move quick. Valencia shuts the door on Riessen but Lee plays it perfectly rails the turn and lays down some last straight ponies to snag the win. From nearly last place to grab the overall win. If you have ever seen the Yvan Lapraz lap beating JB for the junior men win in Canada it was the nor cal version. Valencia cashed out $100 for the best amateur finish and top honors went to Lee who pocketed some hard earned money... Look for full results and a point structure in the next few days. Thanks goes out to Jump2Jump for supplying the cash and Al Roybal for the great announcing. Santa Clara PAL and the volunteers for giving us a place to ride and make things happen! Alot of people took pics so lets see em! dawgincnorcal@aol.com if you have anything :)
Bandit Racing had $100 cash to toss in the pot as well but the rider count must hit 17 entered guys for this to come into play. Everyone in the main made at least their $10 back so come on out and see where you rank against nor*cal's top amateur and pro riders on a local stage!
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