SORCS Round Fourteen 2008

Bryan Cook wins the Battle
Richie Brown wins the War!

Round Fourteen of the SORCS series was held on a cold sunny day at Aonia Pass Raceway Park. With rain falling before the race, everyone was hoping for a race free of dust and vision problems. Everyone got their wish, the track conditions were almost perfect. The track at Aonia turned out to be one of the best courses of the entire series. No dust, plenty of super-tight technical sections, open grass track, a little mud and more technical sections. Plenty of spectator vantage point made for great photo ops.

The Big Guns turned out for the Pro class including Bryan Cook, Richie Brown, Kaleb Nichulson, and John Mullaney. With 12 entrants in the Pro class, things were lining up for a great final race of the season. Everyone knew that Richie Brown and Bryan Cook would be doing everything possible to take the last win of the season. When you throw Nichulson and Mullaney in the mix as well as the regular SORCS pro lineup, you had twelve serious competitors aiming for a single slot. Richie Brown naturally wanted to win the race, however, he needed to finish the final race to insure the 2008 Championship. Who knows what was on his mind. It was clear after the first lap that Richie was throwing caution to the wind and going for it! When the flag dropped, it was the Big Four up front, Nichulson grabbed the holeshot, with a tight pack following closely. The excitement started early when Scott Rogers came off the line in last place, and Max Seagraves got a terrible start as well. Then in the second turn, Zach Lovell tangled with two other riders. When the Pro class came by our pits, it was Richie in first, Bryan in second, I think Nichulson was in third and Scott had worked his way up to fourth! Cam was charging through the pack after a bottleneck slowed down his momentum. Zach was charging trying to make up time from his early problems. Blake Strickland was running in fifth place.
The competition in this race was unbelievable, everywhere you looked you could see a battle going on. Scott and Blake were glued to each other, Richie and Bryan were battling early on, while Cam and Zach were charging through the pack. As things settled down up front, with Bryan, Richie, Scott and Blake up front, Cam and Zach settled in to the job of charging to the front. It was truly fun watching them race. They were riding like men possessed. I think they were nose to tail the entire race. I saw them making passes in the woods and it was so much fun to watch. Cam has won races and finished higher than he did in Aonia, but I think the last two races (Rock Crusher and Aonia) have been his best races to date. He rode hard, never let up and charged the entire race. His efforts were rewarded at the completion of the race.
Scott set a great second lap and was running a good pace and then he got personal with a tree. It took his bumper halfway off, so the stopped to remove it. Getting back in the race in fifth place, he started trying to make up time. Then, while running down a fast stretch of track, one of the lady competitors crashed hard in front of him. She crashed hard and Scott stopped to check on her. She was hurt pretty bad and her quad was twisted up too. Scott stayed with her until she was able to get on the quad and get going again. I think Scott lost about five minutes on this lap. Back at the pits we were getting a little worried, but when the other riders came past us, no one yelled out any info about Scott being injured. Michael Tatum set out to look for Scott and a little while later he came by running a pretty good speed, but way behind and without a front bumper. By the way, we would like to thank the people that brought Scott's bumper to the pits, we really appreciate it!

When the checkered flag dropped, it was Bryan Cook taking 1st, Richie Brown was 2nd, Blake Strickland came home 3rd, running a great race. Max Seagraves finished 4th with Cam taking a well earned 5th place. Right behind Cam was Zach Lovell finishing 6th, and Scott finished a respectable 7th place. Michael Hayes finished 8th, Trevor Schrantz placed 9th, with John Mullaney rounding out the top 10. Kaleb Nichulson finished 11th, with Brad Thompson finishing 12th. The pro class was very competitive with some great racing. Congratulations go out to Bryan Cook for taking an impressive win, for Richie taking 2nd, and to Blake Strickland setting a blistering place finishing 3rd. It was especially nice watching Cam and Zach battle for a majority of the race. Even though Scott finished 7th, he had a good couple of laps and we know he did the right thing by stopping for the injured rider. We also want to especially congratulate Richie Brown. By our calculations, Richie captured the Pro Series Championship! Congrats Richie!!! Good job. Two big thumbs up goes to Blake Strickland for finishing 2nd in the Championship. Of course these results are not official and we will have the official results as soon as SORCS releases them.

Results for other classes were:
Senior class win goes to Michael Newsom Sr, with David Aman taking 2nd. The Quad Utility class went to Shad Martin, and Damon Gentry took 2nd. The Quad Vet class went to Heath Worlock and Brian Schrantz finished 2nd. Kristy Fortenberry won the womens class and Kristen DeLoach took 2nd place. Kendall Taylor was 3rd, Kelly DeLoach finished 4th and Shanna Mello took 5th. The Quad Beginner winner was Kile Cox, with Levi Scott finishing 2nd. Chuck Norris took first in the Quad A class and Tommy Jenks won the Quad B race, with Brett Sane 2nd.

After the race several of the teams gather at Ryan's for a great meal before hitting the road. It was a fun race and a great day. We were able to visit with our friends have a great time and enjoy the wonderful, if not just a little chilly, weather. Brenda and Roxan trampled through the woods to get some great pics! Check out the CSR Racing Gallery for over 500 photos. Brenda even let me take a few pics this time. We hope you enjoy them. CSR Racing would also like to thank our great sponsors!

Check out our sponsor page and click on the links to visit their sites. They are a great group of people and we really appreciate them. We really can't thank them enough for all the great support that they give us throughout the year.

Well, now the racing season is over, time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Plus, we gotta get working on rebuilding all the bikes! Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see everyone during some of the winter races. Besides, next year will be here before you know it.

In the mean time, take care, God Bless, later..........

2008 Alabama Fall Team Race

Rogers and Strickland Win Again!


On October 25th, Blake Strickland and Scott Rogers with Wally and Susan Strickland, headed to Alabama for a Endurance Team Race. With heavy rains falling the day before, they really did not know what to expect, however they already had a goal for the race, win the team race and win big!

Luckily the previous days rain was just right. The entire race was run with no dust, a few water crossings and perfect conditions. The race was a fifty mile endurance race ran on a five mile course, with open sections, woods, plenty of rocks, log crossings, and water. With their plan mapped out, Blake Strickland lined up for the start of the race. The plan was for Blake to jump out to an early lead and he followed the plans perfectly. Blake got a great start on his KTM World sponsored KTM 525 XC taking the holeshot and leading the first lap. He quickly handed the race over to Scott with a good lead. Scott set off to on lap two charging hard and attempting to extend the lead. Scott was setting a blistering pace when, after landing from a jump his tether switch shut down his Shamrock Honda, Moose Racing, Bearden Race Fuel, GT Thunder sponsored TRX 450R. He quickly restarted the bike and continued on.

Blake and Scott maintained a healthy lead until lap four. On the fourth lap, they opened it up and started setting an unbelievable pace. They were in a groove and hitting all the marks spot on! Every lap they were putting distance on the rest of the field. Wally and Susan Strickland were handling pit duties and they had everything set and ready to go. The race swaps were handled like clockwork. As the laps built, the lead increased until at the end of the race, Blake and Scott had a 9 minute lead on second place, setting some of their fastest laps as the race drew to a close.

Things were going so well they didn't want the race to end. But end it did, with the team taking the checkered flag and first place!
CSR Racing would like to congratulate Blake and Scott on a great race win! On and off the track, these two competitors represent their sponsors in a very professional manner. They compete hard, race hard, and raise the bar to a very high level. They take the competition seriously but have a great time doing it. Brenda and I would also like to thank Susan and Wally for pitting for Scott and for your wonderful hospitality. Scott would also like to thank his sponsors. We feel that CSR Racing has the best sponsors in the business and are proud to be representing them. We invite you to visit our sponsor page and check out the sponsors web sites. We use these products because they work and have proven to be able to handle the rigors of cross country racing.

Soon we will have some sponsorship news for the 2009 season. Stay tuned.

Take time to visit the photo gallery for some great pics.

Hope to see you at the races soon! Take care, God Bless, later...........