Sunrise - Dads Day Race Recap

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 June 2009 11:42 Written by Brendt Petersen Tuesday, 23 June 2009 08:36

Features - Sunrise Ski Park

The first race of 2009 to be held at Sunrise Park Resort is in the history books. The Dads Day DH-Apalooza put on by Joey and Steve-O at Smoken Spokes, gave Arizona gravity riders a chance to both show their stuff and test themselves with some last minute modifications to the usual courses (Thanks Steve-O and crew). With everything from low speed technical sections to scary fast, flat out meadows, berms and booters, the courses were set to compete against the riders as much as the riders were against one another.

 The format for this race event was a little different than the standard fare.  Rather than a qualifying run, then one run and done, racers were given time cards to get stamped at the top and bottom of the course.  Times were simply derived from what time you punched in, to what time you punched out, just like putting a day in at the office. This format led to some extra excitement, since you had to get your card stamped, get it into your pocket, then start your run. Once at the bottom, completely gassed from your run, you had to manage to get the card back out of your pocket and hand it to the timing official to be stamped again and have your time recorded.  I am sure many many precious seconds were lost in these transactions, but again it kept things interesting. Racers from each category were given 2 hours to get as many runs as possible and the fastest run was recorded.

The day started off with the "Couch Potato" class (Beginner) and ended up with some relatively new riders showing just how quickly progression can occur on a bike.  Racers in this class were presented with a relatively long course map of Fungus to Cartoon Forest and then a pass on the infamous "Nemesis" which all in all worked out to be nearly a 10 minute race run.

The Couch Potato results shaped up like this:

Number:Â	Rider Name:Â	Lap 1 Time:Â	 Lap 2 Time:	Lap 3 Time:Â	 Lap 4 Time:	 Best Time:Â	Placing:Â
 4	 Sam	 9:46:00	 9:28:00	 12:19:00	 9:58:00	 9:28:00	 1
 9	 Chuck Esslinger	 10:14:00	 9:41:00	 9:37:00	Â	 9:37:00	 2
 16	 Nicholas Gruman	 10:03:00	 10:05:00	 11:03:00	Â	 10:03:00	 3
 1	 Dan Ault	 11:03:00	 36:15:00	Â	Â	 11:03:00	 4
 20	 Resa Newton	 13:01:00	 12:16:00	 11:08:00	Â	 11:08:00	 5
 17	 Greg Gruman	 13:38:00	 11:50:00	 11:21:00	Â	 11:21:00	 6
 23	 Alex Greey	 11:34:00	 11:35:00	Â	Â	 11:34:00	 7
 2	 Ben Irwin	 12:17:00	 26:51:00	Â	Â	 12:17:00	 8
 10	 Steve Evans	 12:18:00	Â	Â	Â	 12:18:00	 9
 3	 Tiny Irwin	 12:42:00	 12:38:00	Â	Â	 12:38:00	 10
 11	 Etan Wissinger	 15:07:00	 15:15:00	Â	Â	 15:07:00	 11
 12	 Hunter Strombeck	 20:24:00	 20:29:00	Â	Â	 20:24:00	 12
 14	 Travis Ebert	 23:07:00	Â	Â	Â	 23:07:00	 13

Next up was the "Weekend Warrior" class (Intermediate).  With the fastest Couch Potatoes turning in times around the mid 9 minute mark, and basically the same course except for the addition of the Nemesis "B-Line" at the bottom, everyone was wondering how much difference there would be in times between the 2 groups. In the end, it turned out to be "not much".

In the end, the Weekend Warriors came in as follows:

Number:Â	Rider Name:Â	Lap 1 Time:Â	 Lap 2 Time:	 Lap 3 Time:	Lap 4 Time:Â	Best Time:Â	Placing:Â
 34	 Troy Robinson	 10:14:00	 9:16:00	 9:26:00	Â	 9:16:00	 1
 6	 Brendt Petersen	 9:38:00	 9:31:00	 9:48:00	 9:36:00	 9:31:00	 2
 15	 Brian Mugnier	 9:40:00	 9:32:00	 9:39:00	Â	 9:32:00	 3
 33	 Eric Johnson	 10:34:00	 9:43:00	 10:02:00	Â	 9:43:00	 4
 42	 James Van Horst	 21:00:00	 10:42:00	 10:01:00	Â	 10:01:00	 5
 19	 Ryan Grahan	 10:36:00	 10:29:00	 10:12:00	Â	 10:12:00	 6
 27	 Andy Sheier	 10:36:00	 12:07:00	 10:18:00	Â	 10:18:00	 7
 21	 Moses Cruz	 10:45:00	 10:20:00	Â	Â	 10:20:00	 8
 13	 Matt Schanen	 10:28:00	 10:21:00	 11:39:00	Â	 10:21:00	 9
 28	 Brian Leal	 10:50:00	 10:34:00	 10:32:00	Â	 10:32:00	 10
 31	 Matt Mercer	 11:24:00	 11:03:00	Â	Â	 11:03:00	 11
 5	 Stuart R.	 12:04:00	 17:41:00	 12:03:00	Â	 12:03:00	 12
 30	 Curtis Kieser	 18:11:00	 13:01:00	Â	Â	 13:01:00	 13
 37	 Brandon Long	 *Time Error	 14:20:00	Â	Â	 14:20:00	 14
 29	 Nate Purden	 DNF	 DNF	 DNF	 DNF	 DNF	 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally it was time for the "Ninja" class (Expert/Pro) who absolutely slayed it down Sticks N' Stones.  Early morning timing system checks were yielding runs in the mid 7 minute mark, so no one expected the times to pick up like they did. Rider after rider slowly brought the times down into the low 7's, then into the high 6's and then the unthinkable, a 6:08:00 on a course where the average was over 7 minutes.  In the end, the Ninja's lived up to their classification that made for some amazing racing along the way.

Number:Â	Rider Name:Â	 Lap 1 Time:	Lap 2 Time:Â	Lap 3 Time:Â	Lap 4 Time:Â	Best Time:Â	 Placing:
 24	 Adam Tuley	 6:56:00	 6:51:00	 6:08:00	Â	 6:08:00	 1
 41	 Mikey Mahowald	 7:09:00	 6:45:00	Â	Â	 6:45:00	 2
 22	 Tim Kostner	 7:05:00	 7:23:00	 6:58:00	 6:47:00	 6:47:00	 3
 32	 Matt Mawhinney	 7:19:00	 7:14:00	 7:17:00	 6:59:00	 6:59:00	 4
 35	 Palmer Nackard	 7:07:00	 7:13:00	 7:01:00	Â	 7:01:00	 5
 40	 Aaron Polly	 7:26:00	 7:05:00	 8:10:00	 7:02:00	 7:02:00	 6
 8	 Eric Friedman	 7:11:00	Â	Â	Â	 7:11:00	 7
 18	 Jim Beckman	 7:15:00	Â	Â	Â	 7:15:00	 8
 36	 Nelson Johnson	 7:36:00	 7:23:00	 7:21:00	Â	 7:21:00	 9
 55	 Jason Pasch	 7:35:00	 7:25:00	 7:30:00	 7:28:00	 7:25:00	 10
 39	 Mike Knowles	 7:41:00	 7:44:00	 7:35:00	Â	 7:35:00	 11
 7	 Tony Markos	 7:43:00	 7:49:00	Â	Â	 7:43:00	 12
 26	 Steven Wijatyk	 8:09:00	Â	Â	Â	 8:09:00	 13
 38	 Ben Ko	 9:37:00	Â	Â	Â	 9:37:00	 14
 25	 Terry Giles	 9:50:00	Â	Â	Â	 9:50:00	 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall it was an great day and an awesome event to bring DH racing back to Sunrise Park Resort. A HUGE THANK YOU to Steve-O and Joey and keep your eyes posted for more events from Smoken Spokes in the future!

To see the photos from the day, click here to view the gallery.