Story by: Jim Edgar
Photo’s by: Kevin Edgar

The 5th Annual Vortex National Vet Motocross Champion rolled into Motocross of Marion County in Reddick, FL. on February 24, 2008. Once again Lou Whitney of ProSports USA and the Blackburn Family of MX of Marion County provided the riders with a fining tuned race track and great racing program.

The event is the kick off of Bike Week and every year the event grows with attendance this year right at 300 riders. Riders come from all over the US and Canada as well as riders from Poland, France and Belgium.

Mark Beamer (Hon) put his CRF450R out front at the start of the +40 Pro Senior class followed closely by Barry McCarty (Kaw), Wayne Benjamin (Hon), Brad Bonin (Hon), Al Matarazzo (Hon) and Craig Cooler (Hon) with the rest of the field in tow. The battle quickly brewed between Beamer and McCarty as they took off and gapped the field on the opening lap. The running order stayed the same until the half-way point in the moto when McCarty finally made a pass on Beamer in the tree-line straight using raw horsepower and determination to make the pass stick on Beamer. The front two riders left the balance of the field to fight over the final podium position. Matarazzo was not content with his position and as the laps closed he made a pass on Bonin the made quick work of Benjamin to secure the final podium position. On the final lap McCarty had a 12 second lead over Beamer and a full 30 seconds over the rest of the field. When the checkers came out it was McCarty, Beamer, Matarazzo, Benjamin and Bonin

Moto two saw McCarty get the holeshot with Beamer hot in his shadow with Matarazzo, Benjamin and Craig Cooler (Hon) in the lead group. McCarty did not want a repeat of moto one and ran and hide from the field to leave Beamer and Matarazzo to battle for second place. By the half way point McCarty was cruising out front with Beamer in a comfortable 2nd with Matarazzo styling in 3rd with Benjamin in 4th. Cooler had 5th wrapped up but, a tumble on the anthill opened the door for Bonin to take over the spot. When the race ended it was McCarty whose hard work had paid off as he took the lions share on the purse money with Beamer, Matarazzo, Benjamin and Bonin taking the final spots.

The +45 Amateur class was one of the largest classes of the day. When the gated dropped on moto one it was a tight battle with Greg Howard (Hon) taking the point with Thomas Allenbaugh (Hon), Jeff Beerbower (Hon), Will Vanderhoof (Yam), Dwayne Marks (Yam), Guy Anderson (Kaw) and Levon Buchakjian (Hon). Howard wasted little time in establishing himself as the man to beat in the class. Beerbower quickly moved past Allenbaugh on lap two for 2nd with Vanderhoof, Anderson and Buchakjian following. At the half-way point Howard had turned the throttle to the stop trying to leave the field however, Allenbaugh was having no part of that as he closed the gap on Howard. Vanderhoof had made his way around Beerbower for 3rd place. When the moto closed it was Howard with Allenbaugh hot on his rear fender with Vanderhoof in 3rd with Beerbower and Buchakjian wrapping up the top five. The battle between Howard and Allenbaugh set the second moto up for the final showdown between these two.

Howard knew he had to get the holeshot to avoid a showdown between him and Allenbaugh. As the riders came out of the first turn it was Howard out front with Allenbaugh nowhere in sight. Howard was followed by Beerbower, Buchakjian, Jim Badgett (Kaw), Vanderhoof, Anderson and Jeff Sherrod (Yam). Allenbaugh was well outside the top ten. With Howard already setting a fast pace out front Buchakjian had made a move on Beerbower with Badgett in 4th place and Vanderhoof following. On the final lap Buchakjain was all over Howard but, Howard kept it on two wheels for the moto win and the overall. Final running order was Howard, Buchakjian, Beerbower, Badgett, Allenbaugh and Vanderhoff.

Tom Bragg (Hon) of Avon Park, FL proved again to be the old guy to beat. He came in with 7 titles to his name and added 3 more this year to his credit. Bragg’s in undefeated in the +55 class winning this class every year since the vet national began and if you watched the race you would have seen a 60 plus year old rider jumping every jump on the track.

In the support classes it was Javier Hernandez taking two class titles.

The top five riders in every class were eligible to participate in the generous VORTEX contingency program. In addition VORTEX provided handlebars and sprockets to those riders getting the holeshot in the second moto. All trophy winners also received product contingencies provided by Answer, MSR, Pro-Taper, and Maxima.