NESBC Round 3 at Canaan Motor Club

August 25-26, 2018

The final round of the NESBC Series at Canaan Motor Club, presented by the Brattleboro Auto Mall, featured two days of rider education and racing under perfect summer New Hampshire conditions. The Penguin School out of Winchendon, MA runs these events at the end of the day during Saturday school events at Canaan Motor Club. These events provide both an opportunity for street riders to experience “racing” in a fun, low pressure environment and to provide a pathway for other riders of all ages to gain experience before starting competition in the Loudon Road Race Series (LRRS). The Penguin events at Canaan have also quickly become a popular starting point for young riders, as this event featured seven fantastic riders between the ages of 12 and 16.

The opening race on Saturday was the Formula Ultralight class, which had the Kawasaki Ninja 400 mounted pair of Teagg Hobbs and Dan Rosato tied for the championship lead. The two points leaders came out of the first turn neck in neck, with Hobbs snagging the holeshot. Veteran racer Rick Doucette made his way to the front quickly, passing Rosato on lap to and closing up to the rear wheel of Hobbs by the halfway point. Rosato, who suffered a crash at the most recent LRRS event, was dropping back and was caught and passed by young gun Ben Gloddy on lap 6. The lead duo battled to the end, but Hobbs rode mistake-free and held off Doucette by a wheel to win both the race and the season championship.

The Hindle Street Bike 1 class was dominated by 18-year-old motorcycle and rider Tyler Raymond and his 2000 Kawasaki ZX6. The talented young rider rode away from the field and in the process secured the race win, season championship and NESBC Rookie of the Year honors. Behind Raymond, Robert Lewis Jr ran an impressive race in coming from his 5th row start to a clear second place. The battle for third was a 4-rider battle for much of the event and came to a last lap maneuver as Chris Trudeau overtook Andre Soares into turn one and held on to the finish.

Dunlop Street Bike 2 classes featured the largest grid of the day and featured new face at the front. Tobias Cooke overcame a crazy launch off the line that saw him wheelie his SV650 three times before finally getting the bike to settle into turn one in second place. Early race and championship points leader Roger Buzzell got the holeshot but his day ended early when he crashed (unscathed, outside of his pride) while pulling away from the pack, handing the lead over to Cooke. Behind Cook, 13-year-old Asher Rubright was cutting through the pack on his Ninja 300. Rubright passed the eventual 3rd place finisher and 2018 class champion Clayton Davenport by the halfway point, and made it to the rear wheel of Cooke by the finish but ran out of laps in his quest for the win. Rubright won the NESBC award for Most Improved Rider in 2018.

The Arai Intermediate class featured familiar faces at the front as Fletcher Rood grabbed the holeshot ahead of Scott Briody, John McIntosh and Kevin Calder. Rood battled valiantly on his Triumph Street triple, but was overcome by the 600cc race machines of the trio behind him and finished an eventual 4th place. Briody established himself as the clear leader on lap two and used his Kawasaki ZX6R to pull away in what was likely to be his last race as an Amateur with NESBC. Behind him the Yamaha R6 of McIntosh and 675 Daytona of Calder we engaged in a fantastic battle that had McIntosh edging out Calder for the race position and Calder securing the points to be crowned class champion for 2018.

The Bazzaz Intermediate B classes was clearly the race of the day. Young guns Ben Gloddy (13) and Eli Block (16) were tied for the championship lead and both hungry for the win. Mike Pydych grabbed the holeshot on his Ray’s Cycle Motard bike, but the young guns were not to be denied this day. Gloddy moved his Ninja 300 to the lead on lap 3, and Block followed hm through a lap later on his KTM 250 motard machine. The two riders passed each other back and forth several times – each rider out braking the other into turn one on sequential laps. In the end Gloddy held off the charging Block to secure the win and class championship, while 3rd place finisher Pydych earned the title of “Most Entertaining” NESBC rider with another of his trademark vertical wheelies across the line.

The final event of the weekend was the Fristtrax Motard event, which saw Adam Clark grab the holeshot on his Honda and lead the opening laps. Series points leader Bill Morey got off to a slow start and had his work cut out for him, and series newcomer Tyler Sweeney was charging hard from his back-row start. The day was to be Sweeney’s, as he made his way to the front by the halfway point and slowly drew away from the field. Morey capped off an impressive season with a second-place finish and the series title while the battle of the race between the Husqvarna of Lee Schmidt and KTM of David Gerleter for 4th place was neck in neck until the checkered flag, with Schmidt getting the nod for the position.

After all the individual championships were awarded, the points were then tallied for the AutoMall of Brattleboro NESBC Team Championship. This team award was designed to have riders in different classes work together towards a common goal of becoming better riders and to have Expert riders mentor and coach the Amateur and Street Bike riders on their teams. The 2018 winner of the team championship and $1000 prize was team MT wallet with team captain Eric Block and riders Eli Block, Ben Gloddy, Teagg Hobbs and Bill Morey. Congratulations!

Sunday’s event featured the Northeast dealer challenge, where motorcycle shops and businesses put together teams to challenge for the title of “Fastest Dealer in the Northeast” and the privilege of displaying the perpetual trophy in their showroom for the following season. There were 4 divisions of racing (LW Street Bike, HW Street Bike, AM/NOV racer & Expert racer) and dealers got to count the points for their best 4 finishers. The spirit of camaraderie throughout the paddock was amazing during this event!

The LW Street bike division was a tight battle won by Woodcraft’s Waylon Merwin over Manchester Honda’s Asher Rubright. A red flag interrupted the first start, and the young Rubright and his Ninja 300 was charging hard to start with the KXF450 motard machine of Merwin. In the end, Merwin eked out the victory with National Powersport’s Nathan Muscaro coming home third. The HW street bike featured strong riding from Andrew Soares and David Fries, who went 1-2 over the Ducati of Jeremy Smith on a pair of R1’s. The AM/Nov race was again the race of the day as friendly rivals Ben Gloddy from Team Woodcraft and Eli Block of Manchester squared off again in an epic battle for 2nd place behind the streaking ZX6R of Scott Briody of Team Computrack Boston. The two young guns traded positions back and forth and had the crowd gasping for air on several occasions. Gloddy looked to have the win in hand but a mis-step in passing a lapped rider left the door open for Block, who pumped his fist enthusiastically as he crossed the line ahead of his rival and friend. The final race of the day featured heavy favorite Shane Narbonne in the expert field, but the race turned upside-down when Narbonne low-sided out of turn two on the opening lap. He managed to re-start his bike 30 seconds behind the field and the crowd had their eyes on his progress throughout the event. The race at the front was settled early, with the Husqvarna 450 of Bill Morey running strong laps at the front ahead of GSXR mouned Anthony Furia of Adrenaline Cycle. Narbonne managed to slide, skid and push all the way back to 3rd place by the time he took the checkered flag, securing Manchester Honda just enough points to win the title of Fastest Dealer in the Northeast for the 2nd year in a row.

RESULTS:

FORMULA ULTRALIGHT BY KAWASAKI:

1. Teagg Hobbs (Kaw Ninja 400)

2. Rick Doucette (Yam YZF-R3)

3. Ben Gloddy (Kaw Ninja 300)

4. Dan Rosato (Kaw Ninja 400)

5. Phil O’Donnell (Yam YZF-R3)

6. Chris Woodman (KTM 390)

2018 Class Champion: Teagg Hobbs

ARAI INTERMEDIATE A:

1. Scott Briody (Kaw ZX-6R)

2. John McIntosh (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Kevin Calder (Tri 675)

4. Fletcher Rood (Tri 675)

5. Tony Wells (Kaw ZX-6R)

6. David Clemens (Duc 848)

2018 Class Champion: Kevin Calder

BAZZAZ INTERMEDIATE B:

1. Ben Gloddy (Kaw Ninja 300)

2. Eli Block (KTM 250)

3. Mike Pydych (Yam 450)

4. Miles Allen (Husq 450)

5. Kevin Wimble (Hon 450)

6. Chris Hall (Suz SV650)

2018 Class Champion: Ben Gloddy

HINDLE STREET BIKE 1:

1. Tyler Raymond (Kaw ZX-6R)

2. Robert Lewis Jr. (Kaw ZX-10R)

3. Christian Trudeau (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Andre Soares (Yam YZF-R6)

5. John Solomon (Duc Panigale V4)

6. David Fries (Yam YZF-R1)

2018 Class Champion: Tyler Raymond

DUNLOP STREET BIKE 2:

1. Tobias Cooke (Suz SV650)

2. Asher Rubright (Kaw Ninja 300)

3. Clayton Davenport (KTM 450)

4. Doug Cooke (Yam 450)

5. Nathan Muscaro (KTM 500)

6. Charlie Blumberg (Suz SV650)

2018 Class Champion: Clayton Davenport

FIRST TRAX MOTARD:

1. Tyler Sweeney (Hon 450)

2. Bill Morey (KTM 450)

3. Adam Clark (Hon 450)

4. Lee Schmidt (Kaw 450)

5. David Gerleter (KTM 450)

6. Mark Brown (Husq 450)

2018 Class Champion: Bill Morey

NORTHEAST DEALER CHALLENGE RACES:

STREET BIKE LIGHTWEIGHT:

1. Waylon Merwin (Kaw 450)

2. Asher Rubright (Kaw Ninja 300)

3. Nathan Muscaro (KTM 500)

4. Brianna McHugh (Hon CRF150R)

5. Bill Halberstadt (Duc 796)

6. Deane Rubright (Suz 400)

STREET BIKE HEAVYWEIGHT:

1. Andrew Soares (Yam YZF-R1)

2. David Fries (Yam YZF-R1)

3. Jeremy Smith (Duc 1100)

4. Brian Cheek (Apr RSV4)

5. Bryan Wandises

6. John Stavgard

AMATEUR/NOVICE COMBINED:

1. Scott Briody (Kaw ZX-6R)

2. Eli Block (KTM 250)

3. Ben Gloddy (Kaw Ninja 300)

4. Michael Tine (Hon 450)

5. Keith Beaurivage (Suz SV650)

6. Juston Torres (Kaw ZX-6R)

EXPERT:

1. Bill Morey (Husq 450)

2. Anthony Furia (Suz GSX-R600)

3. Shane Narbonne (KTM 450)

4. Eric Block (KTM 450)

5. Nic Petersen (Suz SV650)

6. Peter Kates (Suz SV650)

NESBC DEALER CHALLENGE:

1. Manchester Honda, 47 points

2. Woodcraft, 42 points

3. TIE, Computrack Boston/Adreanaline Cycle, 36 points

5. National Powersports, 28 points

6. Souhegan Valley Motorsports, 25 points