Race Will Go On… For Now

With storms in the forecast for much of the St. Louis area today and tonight, many of you are wondering about tonight’s session of the Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series. At this time, the races are still on, says race director Ralph Pfremmer.

Posting on his blog, “The Ralph Account,” Pfremmer describes the process as follows:

The rule is this. First, Castlewood is a flood plane, kay? It tends to recover from the multitude of floods each year. Also, the winter and spring bring out those riders so motivated to cross the line on a daily basis, putting ruts in the trails and then freezing over. This is not that. This is a little moisture that will, unless torrential, make the surface tacky. The silt is the dust that you see. There will be no rutting. I am worried about the grassy areas, that which will leave an imprint on the park for several days if there is significant rain. I am not wanting to do that. So we will likely shorten the staging area today.
We will also visit with the Ranger in order to determine the conditions. This will take place a couple times during the day, and towards race time. If it appears that damaging conditions exist, it will be a no go. Let’s not forget a couple times last year when we got caught in the middle. Yes, it was messy for the bikes and kits. No, it did not do significant damage to the park. (however, my group went back the next day and seeded and put hay down to fix the field).

So it is game on for now. Stay tuned. Will post periodically.

We’ll pass along any new information as it comes up during the day.

Preliminary Results – July 1, 2010 Alpine Short Track Dirt Crit

Photo gallery from July 1 races is available here.

1-Jul-10
“A” Race
Place Name Team Bib
1 Chris Ploch DRJ 574
2 Daniel Miller Team Seagal 575
3 John Matthews DRJ 584
4 John Rines Big Shark/Pfoodman 595
5 Bob Arnold DRJ 571
6 Tom Albert DRJ 562
7 Dan McCarthy 599
8 Scott Ogilvie Dogfish 578
9 Drew Black Mesa Cycles 583
10 Greg Santknop Team Seagal 597
11 Jeff Yielding Revolution 565
12 Stu Robson Ghisallo 588
13 Douglas Davis Gateway 587
14 John Peiffer Ghisallo 579
15 Dan Young Big Shark/Pfoodman 566
16 Dave Neis Bike Surgeon 570
17 Todd Holtmann Ghisallo 568
18 Paul Krewet DRJ 585
19 Kevin Koch DRJ 569
20 Jeremie Meitz Big Shark/Pfoodman 564
21 Peat Henry Team Free Awesome 576
22 Scott Mortimer DRJ 572
23 Pete Goode Red Wheel 577
24 Craig Thrasher Big Shark/Pfoodman 596
25 Bob Crow Dogfish 563
26 Craig Hoeflinger 573
27 Matt Grothoff Team Seagal 567
28 James Nelson Big Shark/Pfoodman 591
29 Ryan Lemmon Mesa Cycles 589
30 Mark Hasler 582
31 Mark Bauer DRJ 586
32 Patrick Gribbon Ghisallo 593
33 Dave Smith Hub 594
DNF Ralph Pfremmer Big Shark/Pfoodman 598
DNF Rock Wamsley Hub 592
DNF Matt Struckman Big Shark/Pfoodman 561
“B” Race
1 Stewart Munsen 641
2 Cody Jones Grand Slam 629
3 Mike Bubelak Sr. 615
4 Lee VanNorman 618
5 Adam Rybar 638
6 Darin Marlow Mich Ultra/Big Shark 607
7 Kevin Bonney Mesa 648
8 Steve Friedman Wheelsports Bike 628
9 Will Grumke 619
10 Scott Bertelsmeyer Big Shark/Pfoodman 613
11 Rich Pierce ICCC 627
12 Ethan Johnson HUB 649
13 Scott Melies ICCC 637
14 Christian Chellus 663
15 Ben Tierenbran Dogfish 630
16 Loreen Mattson 658
17 Zach Tangeman 655
18 B.J. Keane Momentum 634
19 David Krajcovic HUB 610
20 lars Valin 650
21 Craig Seibert BORC 645
22 625
23 Stephanie McCreary Big Shark/Pfoodman 600
24 Roberto Barrios Heckawee 602
25 Marc Pauly Trek STL 636
26 Mike Bufka 617
27 Jay Marvin 608
28 Walt Steines Gateway 654
29 Brian Roggeveen Momentum 635
30 Ben Erschen 647
31 Blake Christo 612
32 John Reimbold Heckawee 603
33 Rob Ballou 604
34 Alex Petkus Big Shark/Pfoodman 626
35 Michael Humphries Heckawee 601
36 Daniel Tirado 660
37 Christine Ford Mesa 652
37 652
38 759
39 Carrie Sona Alpine Shop 609
40 Jim Klages Mich Ultra/Big Shark 643
44 Phillip Hussey 659
47 Karen Holtman 653
40+ Ben Menasne 662
40+ Sammi Powell 651
40+ Shaun Turnbull 611
40+ Paul Miller 614
40+ Gabrielle Renner 616
40+ Jeff Brueggeman Munchkin 605
40+ Jim Bellen 639
40+ Cory Hoots Maplewood Bicycle 640
40+ Matt Kelsey 642
40+ Curtis Denham 644
40+ Mary Piper Momentum 646
40+ Joel Maisenheldei Ghisallo 624
40+ Justin Neely Specialized 631
40+ Cory Redmond Mesa 632
40+ Susan Kiona Ghisallo 633
40+ Jeff Sona Alpine Shop 606
DNF Drew Kramer 656
DNF Andy Prunty 657
DNF Jim Davis 661
DNF Keith Weinkein 664
DNF Patrick Gribbon Ghisallo 593
DNF Dave Smith HUB 594
“C” Race
1 Alex Boekholt 753
2 Peter Miquelon 735
3 Dan Maners 756
4 Suzanne Renner Team Revolution 701
5 Drew Kramer HUB 765
6 JD Pfeiffer Ghisallo 763
7 Mike White 740
8 Tim Conway 752
9 Kipp Seifert Slomotion 742
10 Ben Bamet Mesa 762
11 Denis Hawyman 714
12 Erik Illies 707
13 Claire albert Rockwood Swim 712
14 Ryan Gibbs 761
15 Clinton Rice IL 4000 for Cancer 750
16 Matt Behrens 736
17 Jason Bridwell 754
18 David Conley Lone Wolf 711
19 Kyle Fuller Slomotion 744
20 Tyler Redmond Mesa 730
21 Danny Gleason 758
23 Greg Schwarz 764
24 Nate Davidson Slomotion 743
25 Kyle Mawkirson 719
26 Evan Hrevus PRJ 717
27 Bryan Niehas 760
28 Jon Rinehart 716
29 Zach Kroupa 718
30 Traci Berry Team Revolution 704
31 Alex Ferguson Team Revolution 705
32 Ryan Beeler Ghisallo 715
33 Matthew Bathon 739
34 Wendy Davis Team Seagal 751
35 Bart Berger Lone Wolf 747
36 Kelly McGuire Bike Surgeon 703
37 Kevin Kroupa 732
38 Amy Strayhan Big Shark/Pfoodman 749
39 Casey Carter Mesa 737
40+ Alec Spielman Ballwin Schwinn 746
40+ Britt Whisenand Team Rev 748
40+ Michael Kuehnel 755
40+ Emily Korsch 757
40+ Bert Berla Big Shark/Pfoodman 759
40+ Sam Broalhueler 731
40+ Joe Stryjewski Alpine Shop 733
40+ Lisa White 734
40+ Tim Lawson 738
40+ Rick Fessler 741
40+ Sally Struckman Big Shark/Pfoodman 700
40+ Mike Bubelak Jr. 702
40+ Patrick Pigeon Team Revolution 706
40+ Mike Wise 708
40+ Tim Schweiss 709
40+ Brad Winchester 713
40+ Paul Hyde 766
40+ Brian Haas 745

Chris Ploch Notches First Win of 2010 Short Track Dirt Crit

Following the same script he used to dominate last year’s Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series, Chris Ploch took the lead during Thursday’s opening Elite level race in the second lap and never trailed again. Cheered on by a large crowd at Castlewood State Park in Ballwin, Mo., Ploch easily took the first win of the Series as well as the new 2010 Off-Road Racing League.

Ploch, a state champion mountain biker, took advantage of his competitors’ slow speeds through a creek crossing on the course to open up his lead.

“I saw how slow everyone went through the creek,” Ploch said. “And second lap, I got in front and tried to get a gap on them and stick it.”

The Alpine Short Track Dirt Crit Series includes five nights of racing on each Thursday night during the month of July. There are three races each night featuring the elite-level racers, the sport-level racers and the beginners. The course is a short mile-long combination of single-track, a creek crossing and a maze of corridors in a park meadow. All racers, regardless of skill level, are welcome and embraced.

Full results will be posted as soon as possible.