“When was the last time you had this much fun at a local race?” That was the question we kept asking ourselves all weekend long. The answer? Honestly… we can’t even remember. We have a hunch it had something to do with the nostalgic, old school feel of Honor Farm MX as a whole. Everything from the vintage-style track layout, to the laid back atmosphere, the camaraderie between riders, the gathering of families, the laughs with old friends and strangers alike felt like the good times we remember from the track days way back when. You remember, right? The no pressure, good vibes only, lend a helping hand type of time we used to have weekly. Those were the days, and it sure was something special to relive them this weekend at The Honor Farm MX in Pueblo, CO for Round Three of the 2020 RMRA Series.

Of course, none of it would have been possible without all of the hard work from the promoters, RMRA, and everyone else who pitched in to pull off such a successful weekend. Here’s a huge THANKS from us to you before we move forward with the recap. We appreciate you and your effort to keep the true culture of motocross alive!

The pre-race activities on the schedule for Saturday night were totally what set the tone for an upbeat, fun-filled race weekend. It started out with some Limbo Contest bar draggin’ by the state’s top pros like Bobby Fitch, Todd Bannister, and Austin Rogers; some up-and-coming youngsters like Ryan Hadley, Ryan Boutilier, and McKayden Fitch; one of Colorado’s lady rippers, Malisa Brauch; and more! The crowd that showed up to watch everybody get low was rad and the laughs we had watching the funny fails and insane saves were unforgettable. Fitch and Rogers tied, but the tie breaker left Rogers in the dirt and Fitch with the win. The four classes of pit bike races that followed on the little track up until the sun went down were just as crazy and the carnage was real. Sure it was a little janky with a yellow flag being used in place of the checkered and 50cc riders doing endless victory laps until spectators physically pulled them off the track, but it was made for a good time no doubt.

By Sunday morning, we were SO ready to have a blast watching riders go at it where it really counts. Our loyal readers voted for coverage of the 2-Stroke B/C 14+ and Women 12+ Novice classes this weekend, so let’s dig into those first.

2-Stroke B/C 14+

Our stoke level skyrocketed when we heard the machines in the 2-Stroke B/C 14+ class screaming down the very, very long start straight at the Honor Farm. In Moto 1, it was the #96 of Noah Reed who got out front first. By mid race, the rider from Parker, CO had established a dominant lead, meanwhile the #95 of James D. Slife ran in the second spot with the #421 of Chris Snider staying right on his tail to keep the pressure on. Behind them, Damon Strobel, Blayne S. Olson, and Thomas M. Rikli rode a race of their own for fourth, fifth, and sixth.

The second moto looked a little different, this time with Snider landing the early lead, until Reed doubled into the roller section during lap one to take it away from him. Strobel and Slife battled hard behind them at first, but by the end of the second lap, Slife left Strobel in the dust (yes, if you were there, you know I mean actual dust and a lot of it. We’re still cleaning it out of our ears) to land himself in yet another battle with Snider. Slife made the pass on him by mid moto and Snider kept up with the pace until the last lap when he fell off a bit which allowed Slife to get a clean break for second.

Your Top-Five Overall:

Noah Reed 1-1
James D. Slife 2-2
Chris Snider 3-3
Damon Strobel 4-4
Thomas Rikli 6-5

Women 12+ Novice

This women’s class was made up of nine riders hailing from towns all over the state like Westminster, Carbondale, and Montrose to name a few. In the first moto, Ally Welch lead the pack from the get go and holy moly did she check out quick! At the checkered, she had won by a landslide and Ciearra Headley came across in second as Cassie Lard had a late last lap tip over in a corner that left her with third.

Moto two saw Welch come out front early yet again. That girl was untouchable all day long! Wendy Jones, who finished with a fourth in the first moto, found herself in second during this one. She was followed by a heated battle for third between Lard and Headley. Those ladies threw down for the entire race and it grew especially close throughout the white flag lap when Headley was able to sneak past her and into the top-three.

Your Top-Five Overall:

Ally B. Welch 1-1
Ciearra Headley 2-3
Wendy Jones 4-2
Cassie M. Lard 3-4
Mercedes L. Goff 5-5

450 A

Leave it to the old Colorado pro to win at this old Colorado track — but it was barely by the skin of his teeth! In the first moto, actually, it was Cody Gray who came away with the win. At the start of the race, he had a commanding lead as they ripped around the sprawling track. Todd Bannister might have been somewhere up front too if it hadn’t been for a gnarly crash early on that left him feeling so sick he had to pull off the track before lap one even came to a close. Instead, it was the young gun Bronson McClure who picked off 2nd place Austin Wagner during lap two to make his way for Bobby Fitch, which he would spend the rest of the race doing. Those top-three riders checked out from the rest of the pack before we could blink and, in the last few corners of the race, McClure put a final charge on for Fitch, but couldn’t quite make the pass happen.

Moto 2 saw Old Man Fitch start the race out front with Gray and Bannister in tow. The last moto’s guy to watch, Bronson McClure, came through lap one barely within the top-five, so he definitely had his work cut out for him. In no time, Cole Shondeck, Bannister, and McClure all found themselves riding a close race. At one point, McClure nearly passed them both in the same corner, but ended up only making it stick on Bannister. In the end, Fitch landed a comfortable win, Gray maintained second, and Shondeck earned third for the moto and for the overall.

Jr. Mini 85cc 9-11

We’re going to be honest here. The racing here was so intense and fast-paced that it was HARD for anyone to keep track of this class. So, for factual purposes, we’re not even going to try to decipher which riders were in which position and when since it left our notes looking something between that of a doctor and a toddler who can’t hold a pen. Why? Because the racing was THAT close every time these young rippers came by. How the scoring people did it, we have no idea. Kudos to them. What we do know is that all of these kids absolutely tore up the track together and if you didn’t see the tight racing that went down during, you missed out big time. Shout out to Collin Clark and Keagan Hutchens for being a couple of the only kids in the entire class to come away with consistent moto finishes!

Here are your top-five for reference:

Collin Clark 1-1
Keagan J. Hutchens 2-2
Carter Cochran 5-3
Tanner S. Pike 3-5
Brody McCue 7-4

Sr. Mini 85cc 12-15

Guess who’s back, back again, Carter’s back, tell a friend. That’s right. Carter Malcolm lined up to race his first RMRA race of the year and to no one’s surprise, swept every class he raced from holeshot to checkered flag! We have never seen anyone check out from the pack as quick as he did every time. If you haven’t seen his exclusive GoPro lap with us on IGTV, go check it out!

The other dudes in his class were on rails, too, don’t get us wrong, and the battles that resulted had us on our toes! Each lap they came around, it looked as if positions two through five-ish had been shaken up in one of those Yahtzee cups and dumped out on top of each other in the same corner.

Here are your top-five for reference:

Carter Malcolm 1-1
Jace Hinrichs 3-2
Reid Genty-Schultz 5-3
Maddox D. Brown 4-5
Ryan Boutilier 6-4

The previous points leader, Ryan Hadley, went 2-8 moto finishes for 6th overall, which could have an impact on his points standing against the Other Ryan (Boutilier) who was neck and neck with him for the season, as we alluded to in our IMI race recap article here.

65cc 10-11

As always, these kids were on rails. The #20 of Mason Brown and the #14 of Tanner Pike went at it during the beginning of Moto 1, until Brown was able to slightly pull away for some breathing room by mid race. Things stayed the same for the second moto, too, only this time it looked as though Pike might have been able to reel the leader in close enough for the pass by the end. (But by Brown’s celebratory no-footer over the finish line jump and the echoes of his supportive cheering section against the fence, you know that didn’t happen.) Brown got the overall, Pike grabbed second, and Brendan Schwartz grabbed third. It’s worth noting that every single rider in this class had the same Moto 1 and Moto 2 finishes, which is pretty much unheard of. Talk about consistency!

65CC 7-9

In the younger of the 65 classes, McKayden Fitch, Riley Ward, and Eric Keene displayed the same consistency as their older counterparts did, riding consistent first, second, and third finishes both motos on Sunday for top-three overall finishes in the class. Once we saw Little Fitch’s skills during the Saturday night Limbo Contest, we knew it was foreshadowing what would come during the time it mattered most on the track!

Class 4 50CC (4-8 OPEN)

Chance Ulberg grabbed the holey in Moto 1 of this class, but the lead was briefly taken over by Steven Street until he tipped over in the sweeper before the finish table and could not get the bike started for what felt like nearly a lap. The water truck had just soaked the hard packed dirt before these little dudes went out, so luckily parents were already out picking the kids up and Street was one of them. By the end of lap two, Ulberg was running away with a MASSIVE lead, Cole Massa was holding onto second place, and the remaining top-five were all riding bar-to-bar as they tried to work through downed and lapped riders. Before we knew it, Street made a comeback all the way to second place. Wow. In the end, it was Ulberg with a huge win, Street with an impressive second, and Massa in third, closely followed by Logan Quinn and Nash Duncan.

Moto two saw Chance Ulberg up front early yet again and he instantly started checking out from the rest of the field. In fact, he checked out so far that he almost caught the stray C rider left on the track from the moto before them. Duncan was in a distant second and Kahne A. Paulsen followed. Keeping with his Moto 1 trend, Steven Street began making his was up front from the back of the pack but this time was only able to make it to eighth place. For the overall, it was Ulberg with the W, Duncan in second, and Quinn rounding out the top-three.

Thanks to everyone who made this race happen. We need more races like these in the series, that’s for sure. Can’t wait to see everyone at the next one!