DISCLAIMER: This was originally posted on the Skipper’s Party:

“I don’t know who will be new this year but I would put my money on any outlaw kart driver that runs. Sean Becker, Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, Mason Moore, Keith Bloom and many more have paved the road and have PROVEN that Outlaw Kart racing is the place to cut your teeth. Any car owner that wants to run up front needs to pay more attention, take some lessons from the Vertulos 83v. In my opinion they are the true definition of what a car owner should be. Some of ya might want to make some Red bluff or Cycleland races and make your picks…

Race ready
- Brian Southers
- Dillon Silverman

1 more year
- Tyler Seavey
- Cameron Bartlett

2 more years
- Jake Morgan

There are lots more, to many to mention…..”
Link: http://www.theskipperpartys.net/phpBB_3.0.1/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1260&sid=4326bdfa95743e5c0d413e369dcf8bb2

Further comments on the post include:

“More Names to Add:
James Edens, Casey McClain…… These are just a few off the top of my head and I apologize to any I didn’t mention, but the point is Outlaw Karts are getting it done!

These kids are extremely honed in there respected fields and should be looked at as serious professionals! They are our beloved sports future! I hope this gets forwarded to all the Sprintcar Owners we all know, so we can keep the amazing talent of these kids growing and the spectating exciting! Come see these kids… YOU WONT be disappointed!!!

 
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2009 Red Bluff Yamaha Perpetual Trophies !

Open Division – Rowdy McClenon
Sportsman Division – Scott Burgess
250cc Division: Chase Hill
Box Stock: Brian McGahan Jr.
Beginner Box Stock: Michael Kofoid
New Video Added – Jan. 29, 2009 – Sportsman Main Event from 01-10-09
Complete Results – Click Here
Photos now available – Click Here

Perpetual Trophy Racing at its Best
Red Bluff, CA Jan 17th, 2009
Think about it, just how many people get the opportunity to win a 6 foot tall trophy? Relatively speaking, very few on the planet. But that was exactly what each of the 136?? drivers that showed up to compete for the 2009 Red Bluff Yamaha Perpetual Trophy on Jan. 17th did. For more than a dozen years one driver from each division wins the A Main Event and thus the honor of taking home the giant piece of hardware and keeping it till the next year’s event. Each winner’s name is engraved on a plate and fixed to the trophy base and each year we all marvel at the names on the trophies of folks who have gone on to great careers in racing. The excitement at a race like this is palpable. Racers who only compete occasionally and racers who make long tows from their home tracks to run the race arrive early in the day and begin work on their karts before the start of qualifying sessions.

Qualifying is uniquely important at Red Bluff especially important in the Open Division and Sportsman classes who only get a single chance to get around the track the faster than everyone else. The points awarded for qualifying can be a significant part of a day’s potential points totals. This year 42 drivers signed in to run the Open Division. Long time veteran Ryan Foster made the quickest lap during the qualifying round at only 8.647 seconds. Foster is slated to race this coming weekend in the NASCAR Grand National Toyota Showdown at Irwindale. He will be competing against some of the top names in racing including Ron Hornaday and Brian Ickler. Foster’s qualifying time earned him a 6th place spot in the lineup for the Trophy Dash race. Ahead of him were Kenny McArthur on the pole, Sean Becker, Dean Bare, Derek O’Bannon and Steven Gannon. Six karts, six laps and Gannon passed them all to take the win. Gannon is another Outlaw who has made a successful transition to asphalt, winning championships in just about every division at local tracks , as well as a NASCAR Local Track Champion at Shasta Raceway Park.

Like last week’s race, there were 5 heat races mapped out to get everyone in order for the main events. Heat One was topped off by the #48 “Tornado” Tyler Harris. Zach Mason, a former full-time RB Outlaw who has moved up to a very successful career in sprint cars, ran in this field as well and took a respectable 4th place finish. Heat Two had some heavy hitters in it with Sean Becker taking the win over last weeks A Main winner Jake Park. Sean is already preparing sprint cars for this summer’s season of racing. With numerous sprint car track championships and the title of King of California already to his credit he is again primed to be one of the brightest stars in the coming season. Heat Three saw another longtime veteran, Beau Perkins take the win just edging out Rowdy McClenon. Coincidently, Perkins and Foster both started their careers the same year in the Box Stock Division at Red Bluff, that was 20 years ago. Perkins also went on to pilot a sprint car for many successful seasons and always returns to the Outlaws to compete in the series. Tyler Ritcheson took the win in the fourth heat over Pete Johnston and Derek O’Bannon while Gannon held off Daniel Thorson to take the checkered in the fifth race. The Thorson’s, Daniel and his brother Chirs Rytting, drive in from Nevada every week to spend the weekend racing and having fun spending the night socializing with friends and family.

The four main events were, as expected, fantastic displays of Outlaw Kart racing. Only six drivers from each lower mains will transfer up to the next race. Dean Bare won the D Main event. Returning to the karts was Michelle Mootz sitting in for Mackena Bell who took an exciting opportunity to travel to Washington DC to attend the Presidential Inauguration. It has been 5 years since Michelle strapped into a kart, and she did very well, finding her lines and marks with ease. The C Main was packed with 16 karts all vying for the 6 transfer spots. Kenny McArthur, ironically from McArthur California, took the win over the roaring 4-stroke #19 kart of Tyler Wolf. Shortly after Zach West, another sprint car driver hailing from Chico, won the B Main over Andrew Cumpton. But it was the next race that everyone came out for.

On the pole was rookie Rowdy McClenon. Outside him was long time vet Steven Gannon. Gannon, known for his stealthy and rocket like starts would be a formidable challenge for the 14 year old McClenon. As the green flag dropped Rowdy got the edge on Gannon and held the lead for an unprecedented flag-to-flag, caution-free 25 laps. McClenon who got started his racing career in 1/4 midgets where he earned many championships made the tough transition to dirt just 2 short years ago. His father, Steve McClenon, couldn’t have been prouder. Rowdy’s primary sponsor, Hot Rods to Hell Custom Car Shop, is own by Steve and he and Rowdy spend most of their time working on cars and karts.

Twenty-four racers qualified in for the 250cc Division competition and of those Mason Millard once again set the fast lap of the night with an 8.701 second turn. Millard, another Nevadan who camps out with his family at the track on the weekends, has turned quick times several times this season. Three heats were slated for the class with ‘Bombshell’ Mallorie McGahan taking the win over Jeremy Doss in the first. Tanner Thorson, incorrectly titled “The Reno Rocket” in the past, as he actually resides in Minden, NV, held on for the win over super-smooth James Edens in Heat Two. Heat Three pitted winner Tony Rossi against Jake Morgan, last week’s A Main winner and Chase Hil, whose night was only destined to improve. The Rossi are another clan that tow in each weekend to spend time with friends and make memories that will last a lifetime. They make the 4 hour drive from Santa Rosa where father, John, owns Rossi Auto Body. John and Rossi Auto Body help sponsor many, many karts with spectacular paintjobs. Not only

The Box Stock division has always been one of the most competitive classes in Outlaw Karting, and this season, with the finalization of the spec motor rule, the racing is better than it has been in years. And this week it was all about Brian McGahan Jr. The day started out with a double set of qualifying for the 27 drivers that signed in. Of those drivers Chase Majdic made the fastest lap on the track with a time of 9.714 seconds. Majdic has had many qualifying fast times this season. Coming in second was Michael Call and Jake VanBoekel, Morgan Sandhagen, Colby Cate and McGahan rounding out the top six, each guaranteed a spot in the trophy dash. As the afternoon progressed the division ran 4 heat races with Brenna Johnson taking the honors in Heat One, Chase Raudman, son of SRL superstar Craig Raudman, winning his first dash of the season in Heat Two, Michael Ing held off Jake “The Snake” VanBoekel to win Heat Three and Tyler Rockwell took the first position finish trailed by Morgan Sandhagen and Ryan Robinson. This set the fields for the B Main and all but the 5 transfer spots for the A Main.

One of the highlights of a day of racing at Red Bluff is the Trophy Dashes run for each division. Brian McGahan started on the pole for the Box Stock Trophy Dash and finished at the front of pack after 6 super-fast laps of box stock action.

The B Main top pole sitters have both celebrated first-time A Main Event wins this season. For this race Brad Hysell drove as he worked to stay ahead of Zachary Rushing who tagged in a second place finish ahead of third spot Emily Williams. This set the field for one of the biggest Box Stock battles of the year: the run for the Perpetual Trophy. All these drivers were competing for the honors of getting a plaque with their names on it affixed alongside those of some the top names in Outlaw Karting that come before them on that giant 6ft. trophy. And it was again, Brian McGahan who won this historic race. It seems to run in the family. Brian’s father, Brian Sr. won the Perpetual Trophy in the Open 500 Division several years ago when he was a competitor at the track. Now, there will be forever engraved on the Perpetual Trophies the names of two McGahans. . Behind him Colby Cate fought hard to not only catch up with McGahan but to take a late race 2nd place spot from Justin Bradway. Bradway was super fast in his 1x kart the whole day as he used both his experience racing the bullring and his father’s experience wrenching on top-running dirt cars and karts.

As mentioned before, a green to pole yellow-flag-free race is a rare thing indeed, even rarer on Perpetual Trophy nights and even rarer still in the Beginner Box Stock division. But, this year’s group of Beginner Box drivers are some of the most talented we’ve ever seen, so talented in fact, that they have run several yellow-free A Main events this season including this week’s Perpetual Trophy run. You have got to admire how fast these kids have learned how to control their karts, how quickly they have mastered driving in close-quartered traffic and how to avoid accidents and slower karts. This week’s racing started out with 2 sets of qualifying for these youngsters. Michael Kofoid, who has been the fastest several times this season again set the fast lap at 10.655 seconds. Rookie Brad Dolin came in second place followed by Tyler Brown, Angelo Cornet, Colton Abel and Derek Stone. These six top seeded drivers were automatically slated into the Trophy Dash.

Four packed heat races were laid out for the running. Hollis Shane Thackeray won the first, Blake Johnson took the second, Tanner Carrick in his CVC Construction sponsored ride won the third heat and ‘Smilin’ Dustin Heath was victorious in Heat 4. The preliminary Main Events, the B and C, were great races. The energy and determination of these youngsters is only matched by their burgeoning skills at handling these slick machines on the unforgiving dirt oval. Colby Johnson made a great showing for his tow up from the south by winning the C Main Event over Bailey Martin and Ryan Puckett. And Tyler Rogers had a super run to win the B Main over Mr. Abel and Cornet.

After a short break, the trophy presentations and the singing of the National Anthem, the Box Stock Trophy Dash was run. Derek Stone held off hard-charging Colton Abel and the 55x kart of Angelo Cornet to take his first Trophy Dash win of the year. The A Main as mentioned earlier was a Green-to-Checkered masterpiece of racing. All divisions should look at how these youngsters not only show skill, patience and thoughtfulness, but respect as well. And it was Michael Kofoid, current point’s leader, who went home with the massive trophy.

Last, but certainly not least, we come to the Sportsman Division. Here is a group of drivers who organized their own class, met to agree and on rules, regulations and standards and who quite successfully govern themselves in a very efficient way. One of the originators of the class was also the winner of the night’s most prestigious race. But first lets talk about Qualifying.

This class, unlike start-up classes in the past, has maintained a very strong base of racers. For this race 22 drivers signed in to compete. Brandon Williams currently running second in points, set the quick time for the group with a 8.974 second run. Close behind him was Andy Cumpton – a name familiar to the Red Bluff Outlaws, who has returned to race this division fulltime this season. Following him in third was Todd Boyd. Boyd started his season by winning back to back Main Events. Three heats were run to line up the Mains with Scott Burgess starting his night off right with a win in the first heat, Jasen Webb taking the win over Eric Pettinger in the second heat and former sprint car driver Greg Yannazzo wining the third heat. Trophy Dash time saw long-time Red Bluff Outlaw Richard Weststeyn take the win over David Flaus and Demo Mittry. The B Main was one thrilling race as the “One-Armed-Bandit” Chad Hembree battled with Dave Lewallen and Scott Campbell to come in second behind race winner Lewallen. But it was all about Scott Burgess in the A main. Burgess has been enmeshed in the Red Bluff Outlaw scene for many, many years. His wife, Jamie (nee Becker) was one of the pioneer women racers in the sport when she took to the track to race with her famed brothers Sean and Daniel Becker. Through too many cautions to count, Burgess kept his eye on the prize and never let the determined Todd Boyd get a nose under at any point. Knowing he not only needed great restarts, but also smooth calculated laps to be able to hold off super fast Boyd for the grueling 25 laps, Burgess took his kart to the ragged edge in a spectacular run to the flag. During the trophy shots after the race Scotty stood proudly with his son, Blake Danger Burgess, in his arms with wife Jamie and newborn alongside. Truly a racing family.
Next Week !! – NAPA NIGHT !!!