The night before the big weekend packed full of family fun, it poured down rain. Everyone knows what that means- mud is going to fly, riders and spectators are going to get muddy. Let the Races begin!
Motorhomes and Toy haulers pile in the night before and stay all weekend. This year the line to get in early Saturday morning January 5, 2019 was a long one, traffic lined up and down Mondon Hill. Once you got in and as you were finding a spot to park your rig, you could smell sizzling bacon and coffee in the air. It’s a cool and cloudy day. The sounds of testing and tuning bikes and quads, people laughing and having fun reverberated as it got closer and closer for the first races to start.
Riders got to run a practice lap on the tracks and boy did they come back covered in mud. Quad rider Jacob Valentino, said that it’s important to take that practice lap, because it will let you know what your going to be up against, your safety is important. Jacob’s first ATV was battery operated at about 5 years old, he was hooked. Jacob also stated, “It’s muddy out there today, you got to watch where you need to go.” Jacob said that a rider was suppose to go to the left but went right and went straight into the lake. This year Jacob Valentino came in 5th place in his class C for quads, he looks forward to this race every year here on Mondon Hill Road.
Also this year in the Super Peewee Quads, 9yr old Austin Wilson came in 1st place. The riders have to ride for a full 30 minutes. Austin Wilson out of Avon Park, FL has been riding for 4 years now and this is his first win, his first few races were DNF (did not finish) which in Austin’s case were related to mechanical problems.
Some Results:
Bikes (mini & 65cc) top four riders: Korbin Dinkel, Mattias Peroni, Jimmy Moore, Logan Crawford
Bikes (junior & adults) top four riders: Kyle McAfee, Enrique Varela, Zack Muchard, Hunter Rich
Top four Quad riders: Adam Mcgill, Cole Richardson, Hunter Hart, and Walker Fowler.
Sunday AM Race: Kyle McAfee, Matt Lyons, Ricky Skaggs, Greg Melka
Sunday PM Race: Trevor Bollinger, Bryce Koster, Garrett Edmisten, Shawn Clark
There were many types of vendors- from getting your tires mounted, parts for ATV or bike, clothing and food and drinks. Heavy duty equipment was on hand when trucks with trailers and motorhomes got stuck in the mud.
If you come out to just watch the races you will get hooked on the sport, even the youngest of hearts get hooked. This event is put on each year by The Suncoast Trail Blazers which is a club of dirt bikers or you could get with Nature Coast Trail Blazer for Quads.
If you are interested in a FTR club, you could contact them on the website: www.Floridatrailriders.org
Suncoast Trail Blazers www.suncoasttrailblazers.com or Nature coast Trail Blazers: on Facebook
The Hernando Sun would like to thank Troy Stainbrook with Suncoast Trail Blazers for letting us again cover the 2019 Coyote Hare Scrambles at Mondon Hill.
