PRICE CLINCHES SCMINIGP HONDA NSR50 CUP TITLE Fresh from his trip to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup tryout in Valencia, Spain, Drew Price clinched the SCminiGP Honda NSR50 Cup title this weekend at the first ever AMA sanctioned mini Grand Prix event, on the California Speedway cart track in Fontana, California. The Honda NSR50 Cup is arguably the most competitive class in the field as all bikes must be completely stock, even down to the tires. In a race that saw competitors coming from as far as Vancouver, Washington and Canada, the level of competition was very high. Price suffered a broken wrist at the last race but cut his cast off the night before the big finale at California Speedway. The very capable young Benny Solis was able to check out, leaving Price and the talented youngster Peter Lenz to battle it out for second place. Fans saw a great battle with Price and Lenz passing each other back and forth the whole race; Price dug deep on the last two laps and opened a small gap, just enough to clear the checkered flag by half a wheel. Price, a second year factory rider for Blata pocket bikes, finished second in the Pro GP Light class and third in the 50cc Shifter class on his stock Honda, racing against modified bikes. Price closes out the season with a podium position on all his classes and looks forward to moving up to a 125 next season. “This has been an awesome year for me. From everyone, even people I never met, coming together to help get me to Spain for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup tryout to taking first place in the Honda NSR50 Cup, I couldn’t be happier,” said Price. “My goal this year was to win the NSR50 Cup and show everyone what I was capable of; last year I finished second. Getting to accomplish what I worked so hard for all year and two other top 3 finishes for the season in my other classes and the trip to Spain, what can I say? It’s been a really great year. I plan to keep plugging away and develop my skills. Now that I’m moving up the full sized bikes, I’m hoping to attend a few race schools, if they’ll take me when I turn 16 in December. I’ll be racing USGPRU and WSMC if all goes well.” More, from a press release issued by ScminiGP: AMA-SANCTIONED MINIGP EVENT A SUCCESS SCminiGP, Southern California’s premier youth road racing program, officially hosted the first AMA-sanctioned miniGP-only event. Presented by Arai Helmets, the minimoto races created a national-like presence as it hosted riders from five states and Canada! More than 50 riders attended the event held at California Speedway’s kart track in Fontana, California. This AMA-sanctioned event included racers as young as 5 years old competing on Blata 2.6 pocketbikes and riders 9 years and up riding on advanced 65cc shifters categories, all the way up to 80cc. The spread of competition among locals and traveling racers was surprisingly even. No less than six different races were decided by less than a wheel-length, as youth and adult competitors demonstrated a high level of competition from a large geographic pool. In the premier minimoto classes, Rocky Morales took the win from season champion Benny Solis Jr. by one wheel in the 80cc GP presented by ASV Inventions. In the 50cc Lightweight presented by Vortex, Benny Solis Jr. took the win while a thrilling four-rider cluster battled it out for the runner-up spot. Austin Dehaven finished in second, followed closely by Peter Lenz, Rocky Morales and Drew Price, all finishing with less than two bike lengths between the four. The Honda NSR Cup presented by Bridgestone saw Benny Solis Jr. take another win while Drew Price scored second after a neck-and-neck battle with Peter Lenz was decided by inches. In the premier pocketbike classes, Peter Lenz swept the Semi-pro Jr. presented by MinigpX.com and Pro-GP presented by Dainese classes. Mark Renthrow held off Aaron Villasenor for the win in the Blata Cup beginner class presented by Blata USA. SCminiGP is a youth-based program which promotes road racing in four stages based on age and skill. Now entering its fourth year of operations, the program has helped develop up-and-coming riders, four of which are moving up to the 125cc level in the 2007 season. SCminiGP looks forward to the upcoming season and wants to thank all of its guests and the event’s presenting sponsor, Aria Helmets. For more information please visit www.scminigp.com AMA Mini Grand Prix California Speedway Fontana, California November 5th, 2006 (Unofficial Results) Vortex 50 Light Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 20 Benny Solis Jr., NSR100F 2. 56 Austin Dehaven, RS70 3. 45 Peter Lenz, NSR50 4. 60 Rocky Morales, DB70 5. 65 Drew Price, NSR50 6. 9 Dominic Contreras 7. 6x Bennie Taylor, Metrakit 50 8. 35 Lex Hartel 9. 71 Anthony Dehaven Pro-Wheel 50 Heavy Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 45 Joe Hylton 2. 21 Jason Paradez 3. 9 Donnie Grimes 4. 17 Robert Andrada 5. 5x Tayo Grasham 6. 67 Rick Tramell 7. 14 Alan Ryono 8. 71 Danny Selves 9. 138 Sam Shaw 10. 15 Jun Sercado 11. 13 Neil Bautista MiniGPX Semi-Pro Jr Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 45 Peter Lenz, BMS 6.2 2. 56 Austin Dehaven, BMS 8.5 3. 6 Bennie Taylor, BMS 8.5 4. 5 Aaron Villasenor 5. 55x Hunter Coffin 6. 77 Ben Hylton 7. 110 Zack Tupaz 8. 57 Anthony Dehaven 9. 749 Arianna Selves ASV Inventions Thunder GP Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 21 Jason Paradez 2. 21x Josiah Taulbee 3. 45 Joe Hylton 4. 8 Donnie Grimes 5. 5x Tayo Grasham 6. 73 Daryl Watts, DNF Smokin’ Pocketbikes Amatuer Sr Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 100 Tom Swirles 2. 20 Wee Tran 3. 20x Steve Kuhnle 4. 748 Danny Selves 5. 200 Erik Kuehn 6. 41 Joseph Guarneri 7. 80 Brent Smith, DNF 8. 73 Daryl Watts, DNF Spiegler USA 80GP Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 60 Rocky Morales, RS90 2. 20 Benny Solis Jr., RS90 3. 14 Royce McLean, YZ85 4. 56 Austin Dehaven, RS90 5. 216 Ken Bigler 6. 136 Mookie Wilkerson 7. 7 Deshon Thomas 8. 138x Doug Wexelberg 9. 138 Sam Shaw 10. 34 Saul Martinez 11. 505 Austin Musloff Rooster Racing Pro GP Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 45 Peter Lenz, BMS 6.2 2. 56 Austin Dehaven 3. 55x Hunter Coffin 4. 6 Bennie Taylor 5. 310 Joey Bernardo 6. 110 Zack Tupaz 7. 748 Danny Selves 8. 73 Daryl Watts 9. 916 Gary Kuhn 10. 8 Donnie Grimes, DNF 11. 21 Dominic Contreras, DNF Bridgestone Formula GP Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 45x Peter Lenz, KTM65 2. 14 Royce McLean, TTR125 3. 45 Joe Hylton 4. 21 Jason Paradez 5. 34 Saul Martinez 6. 505 Austin Musloff 7. 5x Tayo Grasham 8. 20 Benny Solis Jr., DNF Pro-Wheel Semi-Pro Sr Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 55x Hunter Coffin 2. 6 Bennie Taylor 3. 13 Neil Bautista 4. 14 Alan Ryono 5. 20 Wee Tran 6. 20x Steve Kuhnle 7. 77 Ben Hylton 8. 73 Daryl Watts 9. 200 Erik Kuehn, DNF Blata USA Blata Cup Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 7 Mark Rentfrow 2. 5 Aaron Villasenor 3. 26 Kai Blas 4. 749 Arianna Selves 5. 100 Jeremiah Duran 6. 69 Jared Dy 7. 75 Katelynn Long 8. 57 Anthony Dehaven DNF Dianese NSR Cup Position/Racer #/Racer Name 1. 20 Benny Solis Jr. 2. 65 Drew Price 3. 45 Peter Lenz 4. 17 Robert Andrada 5. 67 Rick Trammell 6. 71 Danny Selves 7. 14 Alan Ryono 8. 15 Jun Sercado 9. 35 Lex Hartel