NJ at the Nationals – Mt Morris Edition
Earlier this season we had to stretch a bit to record the success of NJ racers, but now as the series moves East we have an opportunity to focus more on NJ natives and NJ based racers. On to Mt Morris Pennsylvania and the High Point National.
Due west of New Jersey is the second longest running track on the national tour, second only to Red Bud, MI and over the years many NJ racers took the drive for national glory.
450 class – 2016 saw the return of Jeremy Smith (Marmora, NJ) and Joey Peters (Asbury, NJ) to the national tour. Smith finished up high school and will be making another run at points this summer, and despite a broken down truck the morning of the race Peters came out to show some speed. Both riders made the 40 man main event with Smith scoring the 15th fastest time in the morning qualifying session. He topped riders like Phil Nicoletti, Andrew Short and Justin Brayton with this great time. Smith finished 25th overall with 22-28 moto scores and Peters finished 33rd overall with 37-25 moto finishes. Look for these riders to improve as the series continues it’s East Coast swing over the next couple of weeks.
250 class- Rock River Cycle Trader Yamaha’s Luke Renzland (Hewitt, NJ) showed speed in the morning qualifying with a 15th fastest lap and went on to score 40-21 moto finishes for 32nd overall. Making his AMA Pro Motocross debut at Mt Morris was Mike Giovanniello (Manville, NJ). Mike has been the dominant Expert rider at Raceway Park recently and the #474 made a run at the top 40 in morning qualifying. Unfortunately, Mike was a little off the pace and could only manage 58th fastest, missing the main motos. Look for Mike to come back swinging at a couple more “local” nationals this summer and I’m sure he’ll get in soon.
The series continues this weekend in Tennessee followed by Michigan and then the return of “The Wick” in Massachusetts.
