February 25-26, 2006, Devore California, Glen Helen Raceway, Fly Racing Presents CMC Golden State Nationals, Final Showdown
 Stu Peters was the 2005 Edison Dye Lifetime Achievement award winner but not one to rest on his laurels he continued with the 30th Annual Fly Presents CMC Golden State Nationals. This two-day extravaganza is known as “The Final Showdown.” The Golden State series has three regional series, the Southern California region, North California region, and the Pac-West region in the Oregon/Washington State area. The leaders from each region come in with same first place points, second place the same points, continuing through the rankings. Let’s take a ride into CMC’s Final Showdown.
Day One:
 Xtreme Team Green’s Austin Stroupe seems to have become one with the big bikes as evidenced by his sensational performance at the Showdown. Stroupe was a NSC (non series title contender) but this did not keep him from putting in a historic CMC record setting performance in the event. Teaming up with his mechanic Eddie Laret, Stroupe moto’ed to win, after win after win. Gating against racers like Travis Baker, Travis Freistat, Tanner Langham, Trent Pugmire, he would take a two second lead more often than not in each moto, and then slowly march away. His final undefeated tally for day one were a combined ten moto wins in 125 Open, 125 Intermediate, 250 Intermediate, Schoolboy, 4-Stroke Amateur, and topping that with a sizeable amount of contingency money from Kawasaki. Honda of Houston racer Pugmire was a NSC but raced to a respective second in Schoolboy (2-2) and 125 Intermediate (2-2). Philip Thorstensen was also a NSC but busted through for a second in the 125 Open (2-2) and a third in 125 Intermediate (4-3).
Series title contenders Baker and Freistat were both in the running for multiple titles, going toe to toe in Schoolboy how ever, Baker had the lead with seventy-seven points to Freistat’s and Nick Brown’s sixty four points. Brown and Baker were both out pointed by Freistat in moto two, Baker now held a one point lead over Freistat, and five points over Brown entering day two.
 The 250 Junior class had NSC Erik Line, Tevin Tapia, and Brent Bohanon in the ring again series contender Adam Enticknap. In moto two Line took an early lead with Tapia shadowing, Kyle Davis in third, Enticknap, and Bohanon close behind. Line held the lead as Bohanon made it by Tapia who was now in third, as Enticknap secured fourth, with that order all the way to the checkers. Line (2-1) took the overall, Tapia (1-3) second for the day, Bohanon (4-2) third, and Enticknap (3-4) in for fourth. More importantly Enticknap’s results allowed him to go into day two with a twelve point lead over Adam Ylinen for the series title. Tapia sharpened his spurs in the 125 Junior trading lines with title contender Joey Rossi in moto one and was off to an early lead, Rossi executed a squared block on him on a wide flat left hander moving into the lead at the races mid-point, Tapia re-passed him to take the lead, and the moto win, Rossi came in for second, Line for third, and title contender Dakota Tedder fourth. Rossi (2-1) won moto two for the overall, Tapia (1-2) was second for second overall, Tedder (4-3) third overall. Rossi went into day two with a firm twelve point lead over Tedder for the 125 Junior title.
 Jake Canada, Nick Paluzzi, and NSC Michael Leib put on ferocious hard fought races, moto after moto. Leib (1-2) came out on top in the Supermini after Canada (4-1) got a fourth place finish in moto one having to settle for second place and Paluzzi (2-3) in for third. Leib and Canada again traded plastic in the 85 Open with Leib (1-1) taking the overall, Canada (2-2) second, and the younger Paluzzi (3-3) third overall. Canada (2-1) was finally able to secure box top with his win in the 85 (14-16), Leib (1-2) had to settle for second this time and Tapia (3-3) taking third. Paluzzi swept the 85 (12-13) motos for the win, Zach Peddie (2-2) was a torrent around the track coming in for second, Keith Robinson (3-4) third.
Andrew Frankos and Brandon Scharer put on their own mini battle in the 65 Open class, Frankos was challenged by Scharer along with NSC Conner Mitchell, but he was able to pull away slightly eliminating any battle to the end for most of the motos, Frankos won both motos for the overall, Mitchell (2-2) second, and Scharer (3-3) took third. This overall put Frankos thirteen points ahead of Scharer in the title chase. Things were a little sketchier in the 65 (9-11), Frankos came into the Showdown with a three point lead over Scharer. That lead was negated with a fourth place finish to Scharer’s first in moto one, Frankos responded with a first in moto two to Scharer’s second, Scharer went into day two with a hair line lead of one point.
 The Women’s point’s leader Tatum Sik, had a podium in every round of the series prior to the Showdown and odds on favorite to take the crown. Despite having a severely injured right leg, Sik (1-1) put the pain aside winning both motos with a sizeable gap. Ayla Cabus (3-2) has made an exemplary growth in skills blowing through a speedy group with a second overall for the day, while Jackie Ives (2-5) finally looking like her old self after multiple shoulder injuries came through with a third overall. Sik carried a thirteen point lead into day two over Cabus, and fifteen points over Ives.
Day Two:
 The Pro class was adorned with NSC Yamaha/FMF/Whipple MX School racer Josh Hill. Replicating his winning efforts from Saturday, Hill was back at it in CMC’s one moto twenty minute format. In the 125 Pro Hill was hounded by Ryan Beat initially, the polestar of his racing this weekend was to gap and go, and that he did wielding the throttle he opened up an insurmountable lead. Riding in his first complete series, Beat was able to put some distance between himself and third runner Adam Metzler, Team Green racer Tyler Keefe was in fourth but on a charge. Beat floored the pedal in an effort to keep second while Keefe made it past Metzler. Beat was a fox on the run as the snarling hounds of Keefe’s Kawasaki was hot on his scent. The space between the two was three seconds, then two seconds, then three, the white flag waved and here comes Keefe in the final battle for second. Desperation reined while Keefe narrowed the gap close enough to feel the tiring Beat’s exhaust. Two turns before the finish it looked like Beat might lose it, but expertly guarding the back doors he led to the finish with Keefe in his wake, 125 Pro overall for day two, Hill, Beat, and Keefe locking up the podium.
Keefe sensed redemption in the 250 Pro moto taking the lead with Metzler, Hill, and Vet racer Austin Squires in fourth. Hill made it past Metzler, Squires moved into third. Hill quickly moved into position for the pass on Keefe, getting by him for the lead and away he went. The positions remained the same with Hill locking up the win, Keefe came away with second and Squires in for the third. The 250 Pro GSN title went to
Matt Tedder due to his sheer tenacity and perseverance. To conclude the 125 Pro notes, Beat rode outstanding producing many hole-shots and leads throughout the series against racers with deeper pockets and more on track time. Taking two lengthy breaks throughout his career to focus on school and other sports, he returned from a two year hiatus, turned Pro this past December after one race and his just getting on track, and Beat is your 2006 Fly/CMC Golden State 125 Pro Champion.
 Stroupe was at it again, it was rumored that portions of the track were smoldering because he was so hot. Stroupe was tracking solo in the 250 Intermediate for most of moto one, Urquhart of Kent, Washington was able to hold off Tanner Langham and Freistat to the checkers, the four finshed in that order respectively. Moto two was Stroupe (1-1) to the checkers for the overall, Urquhart (2-2) second in the moto and overall, Freistat (4-3) third to the checkers and third overall. Freistat locked up the GSN 250 Intermediate title. The 125 Intermediate race was Stroupe repeating his (1-1) from day one taking the overall, Justin Workman (3-6) took advantage of the inconsistent placings of other racers snagging second, Freistat (7-3) stepping it up a notch was third overall. Baker (6-5) was the man for the GSN 125 Intermediate title coming into the moto with a tie secured, he raced to a fourth overall to take home the title. Stroupe went on to another undefeated day with wins also in 125 Open, Schoolboy, and 4-Stroke Amateur. That is a two day total of twenty moto wins, and ten overalls. Baker locked up the Schoolboy title for his second and Freistat closed the door on the 4-Stroke Amateur title, also his second series crown.
 The day two 250 Junior podium peak belonged to Bohanon (2-1) after he won moto two over Line (1-2), with Line taking second overall. The big money went to third place over and GSN 250 Junior Series winner, Enticknap (3-3). Enticknap kept his calm doing what was required to truck away the title. The 125 Junior title seem to be a wrap for Rossi, but his hopes ended with a fifth gear get off on the Talladega turn after tangling with another rider, having to be hospitalized, I am happy to report he is now back on the bike. The door swung open for Dakota Tedder and he stepped right through with two moto wins and a forty-one point win over second place and the GSN 125 Junior Series Title. Clint Dyreson came through for second place in the title chase with one of his best rides of the series, edging out Bobby Youngs by one point.
Canada and Leib continued their rut war fare on day two. The Supermini moto was typical of their line switching; block passing, drag racing weekend battles. The two So Cal mini giants, switched the lead a few times, and it seemed to come down who had the nerve to hold the throttle wide open closest to the turn. With Leib in the lead in a Supermini moto, the two were lean back full tilt drag race to the turn before the log cabin jump, Canada made it to the turn first, Leib re-passed for the moto win, Canada (2-1) won moto two however for the overall, Leib (1-2) second, and Paluzzi (3-3) third. Canada had a very successful GSN series, finalizing three GSN Series Titles in the 85 Supermini, 85 Open, and 85 (14-16), becoming the top racer in the series. Paluzzi had Canada in his way in the 85 Supermini, and 85 Open, finishing second to him in both series point standings. He did win the 85 (12-13) in superb fashion however, seldom being challenged throughout the series.
 Frankos held a thirteen point lead over Scharer in the 65 Open, and closed out the series title with two first for an undefeated weekend in that class. He also came back with two more victories in the 65 (9-11) to edge out Scharer for the series title, not done he went to take home the 85 (7-11) title, that is three GSN titles for Frankos, making him along with Canada, the most highly crowned GSN Champion of 2006.
It’s a Wrap:
 To close the weekend, Women’s racer Sik rode in excruciating pain all weekend, requiring other people to start her bike, having to deal with the resurgence of Ives and the increasing speed of Cabus, nonetheless she emerged out of the heat with four straight moto wins and the GSN title, Ives had one of her best series in recent history with a second in points.
Northern racer Gavin Tomberlein racing the 50 (4-6) came into the showdown with first place, and put himself in a position to take the title by winning both his motos on Saturday. He out pointed his closest competitor, Hayden Von Almen for the 2006 GSN title. Ryan Surratt had a good GSN run in 2005, and came back stronger than ever in 2006. On Saturday Surratt was second to Conner Mitchell in both the 65 (0-8) and 50 (7-8), he won both classes on Sunday and took himself two 2006 GSN titles in the same classes for his efforts.
Vet racers Chuck Penny and Vernon Poole were riding like teenagers, not forty somethings. The two were separated by three points going into day two, with Penny in the point. Penny went on to win moto one on day two, and had a an eight point lead going into moto two, finishing third to Poole’s second. Penny took the title by six points over Poole. Poole fired back in the 30+ Intermediate winning the title by five points.
 Notable racers were Nick Brown winning the GSN 125 Open Series Title, second ion 125 Intermediate, and third in Schoolboy points. Zach Peddie had a string of seconds to Paluzzi in the 85 (12-13) and finished second in points, he was also third in points in 85 Open. Sorry to say we are out of space, I give a giant thumbs up to all racers and participating tracks for an enjoyable and successful Fly CMC Golden State Nationals, and thanks to all the moto folks that helped me with this report, long live MX!!
Saturday Results | Sunday Results | Final Showdown Results |
