Round Three of the 2017 NESBC series was held July 18th at Canaan Motor Club, and the riders who came expecting a rainy morning were instead greeted by a near perfect 80 degree sunny day instead. The Penguin NESBC events are track days that conclude with a series of six races at the end of the day featuring divisions for street bike riders, newer racers and purse-paying classes for racers on entry-level machines (Formula 300 and Motard bikes). Riders in all classes join together to compete in the NESBC Team Championship, which pairs together experienced experts with the new racers and track day riders.

The day began with the Kawasaki Formula 300 event, and series regular Dan Rosato pulled the holeshot with points leaders Chris Woodman and Phil O’Donnell close behind. Woodman, who struggled a bit with setup of his new KTM at the previous NHMS round, wasted no time in getting to the front. Behind the lead trio, Kawasaki mounted Roger Ealy Jr. recovered from a bad start and began to close on the leaders. By the halfway point Woodman had stretched out several seconds, and the hard-riding Ealy Jr. made some big moves on the brakes to work himself into 2^nd. Meanwhile, the 5^th and final money spot was being heavily contested by the Kawasaki’s of 14-year old Teague Hobbs and Roger Ealy Sr. As the laps wound down Ealy Jr closed to within half a second of Woodman, followed by a tight battle for 3^rd between the Yamaha’s of O’Donnell and then Rosato. Roger Ealy Sr won his battle with the younger (and 100+ lb lighter) Hobbs to take the final purse paying spot.

The Arai Intermediate A & Bazzaz Intermediate B classes went off next and saw familiar faces at the front. In the larger displacement A class Daniel Weems and Scott Briody has a tight race up front, with Briody leading the way and Weems making a pass on lap 3 to take over the lead. Not wanting a repeat of his self proclaimed “brides maid” performance of the previous week, Briody charged hard to the end but came up a bike length short at the line. The solid riding Chris Hall rounded out the podium with a lonely ride in 3^rd. In the B class Fletcher Rood was happy to be back at Canaan , where we won round 1 but then finished 6^th at round 2 at NHMS. The Stephanie Miskell and her SV650 got a fantastic start and led the field for three laps, but as the field took the haldway flag Rood used his agile Motard machine to make a move to the front that lasted to the end. To round out the podium Micheal Dimond won the battle of the motards with Chris Girard in a battle that was never separated by more than 1 second all race long.

The street bike classes had the race of the day, and tight competition throughout the field. The Hindle Street Bike 1 class was the race of the day, as the dualing pair of Laura Fuoco and Tony Wells had the crowd on the front straight on the edge of their seats. Fuoco nailed the holeshot but Wells latched onto her back wheel, making a pass on lap three to take over the lead. Undeterred, Fuoco made a stunning charge back with a tight but clean pass as the pair came around for the checkered flag and hung to win by a mere tenth of the second. Next up, a pair of GSXR’s fought for the final podium spot as Jim Bodkay rode strong all race long to get the better of John McClusky. Fuoco was awarded with a set of new Skullcandy headphones as the rider of the event for her efforts.

Dunlop Street Bike 2 had the largest grid of the day, and there was no lack of drama. A rider on the front row stalled at the start, but the field safely navigated their way around and all made it into turn one upright. Doug Hanks grabbed the holeshot, but the field stayed tight behind and by the end of the 2^nd lap the Ninja 250 of Micheal Vallante had moved to the front. Meanwhile the Husquvarna of Miles Allen, who started deep in the field, was moving forward fast. By the halfway point Allen had claimed the lead spot, followed by Vallante with a gap to the Honda CRF 250 machine of Matt Moreau. The pass must have woken up Vallante, to put on a wild charge on the last lap that had his bike visibly pushing sideways in a couple corners. He managed to pull out the win on track, but a technical infraction resulted in a loss of his points at the end of the race. His efforts were still appreciated by the crowd, and Vallante won a new Garmin fitness watch for the most entertaining performance of the day.

As is tradition at NESBC, the final race of the afternoon was the Firsttrax Motard race, and Penguin coach and top AMA Pro Shane Narbonne was the heavy favorite going in. When the green flag dropped Narbonne moved quickly to the front and was soon putting on a show with his sideways drifting style around the entire facility. Behind the Narbonne show, a you could throw a blanket over the pack of 6 riders that was engaged in a great battle. However, on lap two Honda mounted Eric Shaw pushed a little too hard and slid off the track. The ensuing mele split up the pack and separated the pair of Bill Morey and Eric Block from the pack. From there, Penguin Coach Adam Clark took advantage of some setup changes and put in the ride of the year, holding off the consistent Ryan Hobbs for 2^nd place. Block and his immaculately prepared KTM got back up to 4^th, just ahead of the Kawasaki of the ever-improving Lee Schmidt.

Going into the final round, it’s anyone’s game when it comes to determining the winner of the $1500 cash bonus at the end of the season. The top 5 teams are separated be a mere 24 points with 120 points up for grabs at the final round. Round 4 of the NESBC series is scheduled for Saturday August 26th at Canaan Motor Speedway. Information can be found at http://www.penguinracing.com/NE-Sport-Bike-Club