FERNLEY, NV (Jan.5) – The popular Sandbox Grand Prix returned due to the efforts of the Over The Hill Gang Reno Chapter. A huge turnout was blessed by mild weather supplied by Mother Nature.
The day began with a series of 30-minute races and before each start there was a sighting lap so the riders knew where the extended course was going to go.
Scoring was different as no transponders were used so the riders had a fender card on the front of their bike. Since the races were timed events the leader might not be the first one to take the checkered flag.
As a result three scoring chutes were used so as rider finished a lap they stopped so the card could be marked. At race’s end the cards were collected, sorted by class with the marks indicating a rider’s place so the one with the most marks was first.
Starting the day were the Pee Wee racers that ride 50cc bikes. Like the rest their race was 30-minutes long but they used a shortened course.
At the end Sean Pandora won the Beginner class while the Junior winner was (Sorry no first name) Vandover. The kids did their best and, unless they race in MRANN, this is probably their longest race.
The rest of the classes all used the long course, got a sighting lap but the only exception were the team races.
Next up was a combined race featuring the 65cc Beginners, 65 Juniors, 85 Beginners, Juniors and Intermediate. The Women’s A & B classes were also included although only three riders were competing.
After the checkered flag waved and all the fender cards were collected as well as sorted Broxton Potratz won the 65 Beginner while he brother Pierson Potratz was the Junior victor.
Moving up to the 85cc classes Nathan Rippii was the Beginner winner while Joshua Black topped the Junior class and Owen Bills was the Intermediate winner. Shami Potratz was the Women’s A winner while Jacie Levie won the B class.
Next came the first Big Bike Class the beginners. Now they were turning faster laps and like their younger counterparts found the final turn before the scoring chutes could be a real challenge.
It was very sandy and at low speed would be a handful. More than a few riders wound up on the ground trying to get around that turn.
This was the biggest class of the day as 30 riders made the start, which was different than most races as riders first lined up then one official waved a green flag to send them on their way.
With the speed of the riders and the length of the race the leader was soon lapping back markers. In the end however Austin Walker won the day.
When the Big Bike Junior field was sent off Cahse Cannizzaro took off like a rocket. In fact he left everyone in his dust and stormed to a clear victory.
There were so many Vets their race has nine classes in this event. Like the others it would be 30-minutes from the green to the checkered.
Two notables were in the field as former MRANN racer and now suspension specialist Gil Grieve and Carson City Flat Track race promoter Robert Hansen.
The winners were Josh Kent in 30 Beginner, Al McElroy in 30 Junior, Scott Pollan in 30 Intermediate, Gerald Luczyk in 40 Beginner, Paul Fell in 40 Junior and Chad Olson in 40 Intermediate.
Moving up to the senior citizen classes Kevin Steward was the 50 Beginner winner while Skip Thompson topped the Junior Class and Gil Grieve won in 50 Intermediate.
Next race would have the fastest riders, namely the pros and experts as well as some intermediate big bike riders. When the green flag waved the top three took off and began to leave the pack.
Later the top two then began to distance themselves from the rest. And after a while the leaders began to lap the slower riders as the race progressed.
In the end Ryan Ferris won the 30 Exp/Pro class while Rich Thorwaldson was the 40 Exp/Pro winner and Andy Segale topped the 50 Exp/Pro Class. In the Big Bike ranks Austin Serpa won the Exp/Pro Class while the Intermediate winner was Jacob Kinkel.
Now there was a break before the team races began and for those riders there was no sighting lap. After the start the first in the two-rider team did a full lap, exchanged a arm band with their teammate who took off for his lap.
This exchange went on lap after lap. The first team classes racing were 65 Beginner and Junior, 85 Beginner, Junior and Intermediate as well as four in the Woman’s A Class.
Unlike the first six races this team race was 60 minutes long. With the rider changes going on it would be a scramble to figure out just where everyone was.
In the end fender cards were collected after the checkered flag, sorted then the finishers were listed according to the marks on their cards. The scoring crew did a great job keeping everything in order.
The team of Lavezzo/Rassmussen won 65 Beginner while team Teninty/Berrington was the 65 Junior winner. In the 85cc classes team Kippi/O’Neil won in Beginner, the Junior winner was team Grubb/Kahabka while team Bills/Kahabka was the Intermediate winner.
In the Woman’s A team race Losey/Petrie won out over team Losey/Koch.
Now the big show was about to begin and this race the Sandbox GP had so many riders they formed a squared “U” and the riders were arranged in three groups that were sent off separately for the 90-minute race.
There were so many riders three scoring chutes were used and sometimes there would be a back up.
On the green Ryan Hansen took off and at the end of the first lap exchanged the wrist band with his partner Matt Manha. There were so many riders after a lap or two it became a blur of racers coming in and those taking off.
On and on it went until the checkered flag finally was displayed. After that there was a huge line up so the scoring crew could collect the fender cards.
While the riders began to put their bikes and equipment away the scoring crew separated the cards by class then counting the marks arranged them in the proper finishing order.
Unfortunately Ryan Hansen left but his partner Matt Manha stayed as they apparently were first overall.
“It went good being that Ryan and I are old vets that have raced together for the last 20-years,” Manha said. “We haven’t rode a whole bunch recently but things went good. It was kind of a for-fun thing and trying to get back into it after not riding for about a month. You know we really didn’t expect to win, came out, rode our laps and ended up winning.”
Of course with so many bikes racing the course could have been a problem.
“It got chopped up as there was a whole bunch of people on the course at the same time so the track kind of started to chop up or fall apart a little bit towards the end but overall it was still very rideable at the end but it was just kind of tricky to find those lines.”
Then he thanked partner Ryan Hansen, brother Ryan Manha, Robert Hansen, his father Mike, girlfriend Amanda and RMS.
At the start there were probably around 80 teams but at the finish 77 of them finished the entire 90-minute race. It was probably the largest turnout in the history of this event.
Now to the GP winners.
Team Liardsng/Kent in Vet.Beginner, Bradley/Fell in Vet Jr., Worrall/Chick in Vet. Intermediate, Mahna/Hansen in Vet Exp/Pro, Strange/Chapman in Big Bike Beg., Hutson/Mariscol in Big Bike Jr., Thorwaldson/Thorwaldsonin Big Bike Interm., Bittner/Ferris in Big Bike Exp/Pro.
Everyone seemed to have enjoyed this event and hopefully it will be repeated this or next year. Now the racers start preparing for the motocross event in the spring.
REPORTER’S NOTE: Since no bike numbers were listed and some had no numbers I’ll just show photos from the various races. There is a photo gallery at the end of this article where I was able to get shots of some of the winners.
OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Thursday from 5 until 7 p.m. Need2Speed indoor kart track is hosting Race the Police. A great chance to race in front of NHP and not get a ticket for it.
Should be a fun evening.
• Caliber Collision is hosting a free workshop from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday and there is a free lunch at the end of it. They are going to give a tour of the shop and let everyone know what to expect if they are involved in an auto accident. Only 15 seats are available so please call and reserve your spot.
• If you enjoyed this article please “like,” and share it as widely as possible. Comments are welcome.
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RESULTS:
Sandbox Grand Prix – Sunday, January 5
• Preliminary Races:
+ 50cc:
– Beginner: 1. Dean Panora, 2. Payeton Segale, 3. Chris Tully, 4. Talon Baker, 5. TeigenBiddle, 6. Lily Trotter, 7. Max Trotter.
– Junior: 1.Vandover, 2. Cord Hunter, 3. Stephen Worrell.
65cc:
– Beg: 1. Broxton Potratz, 2. Chance Hawkins, 3. Wyatt Berrington, 4. Riley Gentry, 5. Wyatt Larezzo, 6. Cruz Grant.
– Jr: 1. Pierson Potratz, 2. Garrett Berrington, 3. William Teninty.
85cc:
– Beg: 1. Nathan Rippii, 2. Archie Ervin, 3. Hugwafi Minder, 4. Zach O’Neil, 5. Sage Trebelhorn, 6. Colby Olsen, 7. Keith Stewart, 8. Wyatt Rankin, 9. Joey Decker, 10. Colin Loberg, 11. Colin Hatcher, 12. Emmitt Hatcher.
– Jr: 1. Joshua Black, 2. Wke Kunkel, 3.Doug Pena, 4. Landea Williams, 5. Hudson Losell, 6. Kadyn Morton, 7. Hub Losey, 8. Jovelan Maas.
– Intrm: 1. Owen Bills.
Women:
– A: 1.Shamie Potratz.
– B: 1. Jacie Levie, 2. Nina Wilson.
Big Bike Beginner: 1. Austin Walker, 2. Paul Pullen, 3. Jay Hoover, 4. Riley Moran, 5. C.J. LaCruze, 6. Brendin Pinkston, 7. Ridley Shakespeare, 8. Jason Chapman, 9. Lucy Moran, 10. Connor Hoovler, 11. Christian Strange, 12. Daniel Henneberger, 13. Travis Rummer, 14. Jessiah Sadler, 15. Lucas Evans, 16. Jerrett Gallagher, 17. Ryan Downing, 18. Chris Burns, 19. Michael Tully, 20. Josh Tocrett, 21. Tristen Strange, 22. Blair Rankin, 23. Austin Barker, 24. Jessie Sadler, 25. Jordan Brown, 26. Conner Gray, 27. Louie Mori, 28. John Hatcher, 29. William Johnson, 30. Arie Furlong.
Big Bike Jr: 1. Chase Cannizzaro, 2. Tsiidopi Minder, 3. Reile Cole, 4. Rich Thorwaldson,5. Preston Pheasant, 6. Seth Clark, 7. Ian Graham, 8. Ian Prince, 9. Holland Losey, 10. Dustin Burrell, 11. Josh Palley, 12. Colton Scudder, 13. Danny Rudd, 14. Cody Zimmer, 15. Johnathan Sawyer, 16. Hayden Losey.
Vets:
– 30 Beg: 1. Josh Kent, 2. Michael Harding, 3. Chris Burns, 4. Adam Blount, 5. Travis Smith, 6. Joey Trotter.
– 30 Jr: 1. Al McElroy, 2. Dan Rankin, 3. Jessie Gregg, 4. Justin Bradley, 5. Nate Rogne, 6. Patrick Griffith, 7. Nickk Petz.
– 30 Int: 1. Scott Pollan, 2. Kyle Fye, 3. Mike Haisten, 4. Kenny Fye, 5. Geoffrey Buscho, 6. John Levie, 7. Zach Howell, 8. Jason Shakespeare, 9. George Forbes.
– 40 Beg: 1. Gerald Luczyk, 2. Blair Richardson, 3. Robert Reed, 4. Curtis Tackett, 5. John Rychlik.
– 40 Jr: 1. Phil Fell, 2. Mike Smith, 3. Jason Kubero, 4. Chris LaCruse.
– 40 Intrm: 1. Chad Olson, 2. Chris Maas, 3. Aaron Bissell.
– 50 Beg: 1. Kevin Stewart, 2. Mark Lane.
– 50 Jr: 1. Skip Thompson, 2. Chris Shea, 3. David Siatto, 4. Keith Mansfield.
– 50 Intrm: 1. GilGrieve, 2. Troy Decker, 3. Mike Cullen, 4. Bob Wobbeking, 5. Robert Hansen.
Exp/Pro:
– 30 Exp/Pro: 1. Ryan Ferris, 2. Ryan Eager, 3. Ian Naccarato, 4. Matt Hall, 5. Ryan Hansen, 6. Brody Honea, 7. Matt Manha, 8. Ryan Manha.
– 40 Exp/Pro: 1. Rich Thorwaldson, 2. Tony Fagundes.
– 50 Exp/Pro: 1. Andy Segale, 2. Daryl Hanel, 3. Gilbert Chick.
– Big Bike Interm: 1. Jacob Kinkel, 2. Dylan Thorwaldson, 3. Kai Kapahee, 4. Russell Tonjum, 5. Mason Stone, 6. Austin Wilson, 7. Geoffrey Buscho, 8. Tristen Mathisen, 9. Kyle Zimmer.
– Big Bike Exp/Pro: 1. Austin Serpa, 2. Zane Roberts, 3. Dylan Galliett, 4. Dallas Serpa, 5. Stephen Helms, 6. Tyler Pfeifer.
• Team Races:
– 65 Beg: 1. Lavezzo/Rassmussen, 2. Hawkins Berrington, 3. Grand/Gentry.
– 65 Jr: 1. Teninty/Berrington, 2. Potratz/Potratz.
– 85 Beg: 1. Kippi/O’Neil, 2. Olson/Martin, 3. Stewart/Trdibelhorn, 4. Eklin/Lobekg, 5. Rankin/Leavitt, 6. Hatcher/Hatcher.
– 85 Jr: 1. Grubb/Kahubka, 2. Pena/Kunkel, 3. Williams/Ingram, 4. Maas/Mortan, 5. Losey/Minder, 6. Decker/Losey.
– 85 Intrm: 1. Bills/Kahabka.
Womens A: 1. Losey/Petrie, 2. Losey/Kock.
• Sandbox GP:
– Vet Beg: 1. Liardsng/Kent, 2. Luczyk/Rychlik, 3. Blount/Reed, 4. Richardson/Potratz.
–
– Vet Jr:: 1. Bradley/Fell, 2. Segale/Segale, 3. Lavezzo/Gregg, 4. Russell/Parise 5. Beck/Danata, 6. Searcy/Miller.
– Vet. Intrm: 1. Worrall/Chick, 2. Skender/Jean, 3. Levi/Maas, 4. Olson/Wilkins, 5. Fye/Fye, 6. Forbes/Rubero, 7. Cullen/Trotter, 8. Mansfield/Decker.
– Exp/Pro Vet: 1. Manha/Harrisen, 2. Manha/Rogne, 3. Thompson/Shakespeare, 4. Stillmock/Petrie, 5. McElroy/Brink, 6.Shea/Baker.
– Big Bike Beginner: 1. Strange/Chapman, 2. Hoover/Hoover, 3. Farlong/LaCruze, 4. Pullen/Hennderber, 5. Wilford/Wilford, 6. Bergman/Whitney, 7. Moran/Moran, 8. Pince/Henderson, 9. Tackett/Tackett, 10. Martin/Brown, 11.Shakespeare/Conningham, 12. Rodriguez/Rodriguez.
– Big Bike Jr: 1. Hutson/Mariseol, 2 Minder/Clark, 3. Stapleton/Cole, 4. Thompson/Cannizaro, 5. Graves/Kaigh, 6. Ray/Mayo, 7. McPartlon/Ford-Allison, 8. Rudd/Burrell, 9. Pheasant/Fortanez, 10. Harvey/Williams, 11. Linderkugel/Fischer, 12. Mattison/Devries, 13. Maler/Sawyer, 14. Rassmussen/Rassmussen, 15. Losey/Potratz, 16. Scudder/Swade, 17. Paley/Rummer, 18. Strange/Tenink, 19. Jones/Cunnalle.
– Big Bike Intrm: 1. Thorwaldson/Thorwaldson, 2. Gunn/Mathisen, 3. Kinkel/Walker,4. Rodgers/Panelli, 5. Fagundes/Fagundes, 6. Zimmer/Zimmer, 7. Losey/Stone, 8. Minadrd/Howell, 9. Arrate/Koch.
– Big Bike Exp/Pro: 1. Bittner/Ferris, 2. Eager/Polan, 3. Galliett/Roberts, 4. Serpa/Heftle, 5. Kapahee/Wilson, 6. Stone/Johnson, 7. Serpa/Brazil, 8. Pfeifer/Hall, 9. Honea/Jonjum, 10. Evans/Evans, 11. Helms/Ruskin, 12. Jepsen/Swasn.
Photo Gallery:
The Pee Wee racers got the honor of starting the racing day. They also used a short course for their 30-minue race. 
Vet Intermediate winning team of Mikey Chick and Michael Worrell. 
Big Bike Pro winning team of Ryan Ferris and Taylor Bittner. 
Father-son team of Rich and Dylan Thorwaldson won the Big Big Intermediate class. Before the Grand Prix began there were so many riders they formed a “U” shape around the starting line. 
Big Bike Beginner winning team of Christian Strange and Jason Chapmen. 
The team of Lian Rassmussen and Wyatt Larezzo won the 65 Beginner Team class. There were so many riders for the Grand Prix that they started with three groups. Here the first and fastest one makes the first turn. Final 30-minute race was for the Expert and Pro riders. Here they are tearing through the first turn after the start. The fifth race had several vet classes racing and here is the first group’s start. The Big Bike Junior field rips into the first turn. The Big Bikes charge away from the start of their race. When the Mini Bike/Women race began the 85cc riders were sent off first. When the Mini/Women’s team race began the 85cc riders were turned loose first. The scoring crew at the chutes were very busy marking fender cards. 
In the prelim race the 65 Beginner winner was Broxton Potratz.
