The final race of the year at the Southwoods venue would be one to remember. There were 424 riders on hand to do battle for the last time at this venue. Carlo Coen was in attendance, as it was Honda contingency day. He would not disappoint his fans at all, winning overalls in the 250 Expert and +25 Expert classes. The "Jammer" Jimmy Weinert was also in the house, sporting the Ricky Carmichael T-shirt.

As the gate dropped on moto 1 of the 250 Expert class, it was Terry Finkle quickly out front aboard his J.J. Cassone Bakery/Hunter Racing-backed Yamaha. On his tail was the #807 Thor/JB Grafx/REP-backed Kawasaki of Drew Baier, with the veteran Carlo Coen on his back tire. Coen would quickly move past Baier dropping him into the 3rd spot. Dave Olsen on the #492 Kawasaki, out of nearby Rock Hill, NY, would move up right behind Baier on lap 1. Coen meanwhile has his sights dialed in on the #570 machine of Terry Finkle. On lap 2 on the sand hill, Coen would blast past Finkle and take over the lead. As this was happening, Tom Bruno on the Yamaha was busy dicing for position with Olsen for the 4th spot. Josh Seguine on the Stamford Motorsports-backed Honda also moved Olsen back a notch on lap 2. On lap 3, Seguine had moved around Bruno and was setting his sights on Drew Baier. Out front Coen and Finkle were running steady all race, Finkle was not catching Coen, nor was Coen pulling away. But the battle for 3rd was on by lap 5. Seguine simply motored past Baier and moved his Honda into the 3rd spot. Stamford Motorsports was now running 1st and 3rd, but they wanted more! Seguine was shaving the gap between he and Finkle with each corner. Seguine tried to put the move on Finkle on the sand hill with 1 lap to go, and they both went down after Finkle collided with squirrelly lappers. It took them quite a few seconds to remount, and by that time 3 riders had already got by Finkle. Carlo Coen didn't make many mistakes, as he would take the 1st moto handily. Drew Baier would finish up in 2nd spot, after being the benefactor of the Finkle & Seguine crash. Mike Spear would take home 3rd spot in moto 1. "Terrible" Tommy Bruno would take roll home in 4th position, with Terry Finkle able to salvage a 5th after his run-in with the back markers. Olsen garnered a 6th, and Chris Llykens aboard his Honda would take a lackluster 7th.

This being Honda day, everyone knew that Carlo would be looking for more moto wins, but could he do it?

The 2nd moto of the 250 Expert class would be just as exciting as the 1st moto. Terry Finkle would once again put his Yamaha out front, with the #6 of Mike Spear right behind him. Ken Blackwell, aboard a lightning quick Stamford Motorsports Honda would be in 3rd place, followed by the #807 Kawasaki of Drew Baier. Carlo Coen would get a worse start than the 1st moto, as he would be behind Baier in 5th. Coen has proven many times that he can come from behind, would this be another case? Spear would quickly take over the lead by the 4th turn, dropping Finkle to 2nd. As the green flag waived, Coen would leap by Baier on the second double and motor away up the straightaway. Coen still had plenty of time to catch the leader as there was 5 laps to go. Chris Llykens would get a better start in moto 2 and was running a solid 6th. As they entered the sand section, Carlo Coen blitzed past his Stamford Motorsports teammate and took over the 3rd spot. Then the rain began to start falling a bit harder. The younger Drew Baier would start to pressure the veteran Blackwell for 4th spot. Tom Bruno made his presence known as he moved into the 6th spot past Llykens. He would pressure Baier for the 5th spot, but could not seem to find the good lines. The sand seamed to be Carlo's friend, as he got by Finkle for 2nd place, with 2 laps to go. Coen would then proceed to dog Spear and get by as they took the 2 lap-to-go flags. Spear would not be detered, as he got by Coen in the 3rd turn. Coen was still flying around the course, and he wanted that 1-1 finish. Coen went bulldozing through the whoops looking like a rag doll, as the white flag flew. Coen passed Spear once again with an outside line over the double-double section. Spear put the power down on his Yamaha and once again would re-pass Coen going up the straightaway. Blackwell was having trouble as he dumped his Honda in the 2nd turn allowing Drew Baier around. Coen did not have enough at the finish to best Spear. Coen would settle for 2nd, Spear with the top spot on the podium for this moto. Finkle would come home in a lonely 3rd, about 10 seconds behind Coen. Another 10 seconds behind Finkle was the #807 Thor/JB Grafx/REP-backed Kawasaki of Drew Baier in 4th, with the "Tower of Power's" very own Tommy Bruno in 5th spot. "Jammin" Josh Seguine would take home 6th place in moto 2, after bad starts plagued both of his 250 Expert motos. Chris Llykens, making the trek from Lamar, PA, would finish in the 7th spot again in moto 2.

The overall win would go to Carlo Coen as he would make that Honda cash! The veteran Mike Spear took home 2nd spot, with his 3-1 moto scores. In his 1st race back since Unadilla, Drew Baier took home the 3rd overall position with 2-4 finishes. 4th overall would go to Terry Finkle aboard his Yamaha, with 5th overall going to the "Tower of Power's" very own, Tom Bruno.

The 1st moto of the 125 Expert class would be another barn-burner. The #570 Yamaha of Terry Finkle would dash out front with the holeshot, followed closely by the #492 of Dave Olsen. In the 3rd spot would be the Stamford Motorsports-backed Suzuki of Josh Gelber, and the #37 machine of Ray McLaughlin would round the 2nd turn in the 4th spot. By the time they reached the sand section, the #165 JB Grafx/Moroney's Cycle-backed Suzuki of Andrew Pingotti would move into 5th position, passing Joe Beatty on the #856 Honda. Mired in the back was JB Grafx' very own Justin Barnes on the #987 Honda. He was riding this race with a freshly painted lid, done only by JB Grafx. Darrell Bjorkland on the #713 Suzuki was also in the back, near last place. Darrell was riding his 1st race in quite some time. As the leaders entered the whoops section, Olsen was all over Finkle for the top spot. Olsen didn't have enough to overtake Finkle, but there was still plenty of time remaining in the race. Josh Gelber was fading away from the leaders as lap 2 wore on, and McLaughlin was still close behind him. Justin Barnes moved past Pingotti and into the 5th spot on his Honda. He would then begin pressuring McLaughlin. McLaughlin broke as the smaller Barnes smoked past him going up the sand hill. Bjorkland was less fortunate, as he was not making up any time on the riders in front of him. The battle between Josh Gelber and Justin Barnes was about to heat up, as Barnes closed up on Gelber's rear fender. Barnes would power away from Gelber over the doubles, moving him into the 3rd spot. Barnes is about the smallest rider in the 125 Expert class! Finkle and Olsen would pull away out front, with Finkle putting 8 seconds on Olsen by lap 6. Finkle would pull off a nice whip over the tabletop, and would blast through the whoops one last time to take the checkers. 10 seconds behind him would be the #492 Yamaha of Dave Olsen. Justin Barnes would take home 3rd in moto 1, and Gelber would settle for 4th. Andrew Pingotti aboard the fast Suzuki would take home 5th, after hounding Gelber for a few laps. Bjorkland would finish his 1st moto in a long time, in 8th position.

By the time the gate dropped on the 125 Expert class, the heavens had opened up! Only 6 out of the 11 riders showed up to ride this moto. Dave Olsen did not seem to mind, as he put his YZ 125 out in the front of the pack as soon as the gate dropped. Terry Finkle was right behind him in 2nd and Andrew Pingotti was in the 3rd spot. Ray McLaughlin, the veteran in this class would circulate in 4th position. Only a lap into the race, Terry Finkle had enough of Olsen's roost, as he blasted past him going into the sand section. As they came around the finish line area, Olsen decided to discard the goggles. This was not a wise decision, as Pingotti, on the JB Grafx/Moroney's Cycle-backed Suzuki would put tremendous heat on him. McLaughlin had trouble in the mud, almost biting it hard in the doubles section. The track had turned into an absolute quagmire. With 3 laps to go, Finkle had pulled his J.J. Cassone/Hunter Racing-backed Yamaha out to a whoop section lead over Dave Olsen. Pingotti took a soil sample on the sand hill, letting McLaughlin up into the 3rd position. A half a lap later, Olsen also took a bite out of the sand hill as he dumped the YZ at the bottom of it. He still had time to re-mount and hold down the 2nd spot. The 2 lap flags were out, and Finkle went bull-dozing through the whoops, with the throttle pinned. By now, the puddle at the finish line looked like a lake. Working his way from the back of the pack, #838 (#187) Andrew Lucas had closed on McLaughlin's rear tire, giving him something to think about. As they entered the sand section, Finkle had a whopping 20 second lead on Olsen, that equates to the whole sand hill! Lucas would put the power to the ground after the doubles, and get by McLaughlin with little effort. With the white flag out, and dollar signs in his eyes, Terry Finkle rode the last lap flawlessly taking the checkers with a 25 second lead. Local boy Dave Olsen would take home 2nd, with the hard charging Andrew Lucas in 3rd. Ray McLaughlin would take a solid 4th, with Andrew Pingotti in 5th. The Stamford Motorsports Suzuki of Josh Gelber would finish up in 6th.

The Hunter Racing crew had to be happy with Terry Finkle's 1-1 performance in the premier 125 class. Dave Olsen was also glad to take home 2nd overall with his consistent 2-2 moto finishes. Andrew Lucas would take home 3rd overall on a borrowed Suzuki, with Andrew Pingotti's 5-5 being good enough for the 4th spot. Joshua Gelber also made some money, taking home 5th overall, via 4-6 moto scores.

Notes:

In the Pee-Wee 4-8 year old class, the #56 Yamaha of Dominick Guastella took the overall win with 2-1 moto finishes. Local boy Connor Price on the #75 Yamaha would finish 2nd overall, as he took 1-2 moto finishes. Connor would also make his 60cc debut aboard a Kawasaki 60 , finishing 13th and 15th in his two motos.

Charles Fox on the #167 KTM would take the win in the 60cc 6-9 year old class. He would do it with little effort, taking wins in both motos. He also showed strong in the Jr. Mini class, as he piloted his KTM 65 against the bigger 80's. He would end up 5th overall with 4-5 moto scores, not bad considering the lack of power his bike had against those 80's!

Johnny Murphy would roll to an impressive 1st overall finish in the 60cc 10-11 year old class. He went down in moto one, but battled back to take a 1st.

His former main competitor, Corey Price on the #27 Kawasaki, got his cast off last week. He is itching to get back on the Kawi before the end of the year, but next season looks more realistic.

Dan MacMahon out of Wallingford, CT won both motos of the Schoolboy class handily. He had a tougher time in the 125 Amateur class, as the #817 Yamaha of Corey Lane would go 1-1 and win the overall. MacMahon would go 2-3 for 3rd overall, not bad considering the bad start that he had in moto 2.

"Jammin" Josh Seguine would overtake Drew Baier for the lead in both motos of the Collegeboy class, to score the perfect 1-1 finishes. Baier would take 2nd with the 2-2 finishes. Drew would donate his trophy to a lucky recipient, and his #1 fan, RP!

MotoEdge.com's own Chris Williams on the #89 Yamaha, would make the trek to Southwoods. He would go 13-3 in the 250 Novice class and take home 5th spot overall. The site that Chris runs is www.MotoEdge.com which has many cool things on it. Chris is also a test rider for the new Team Cannondale.

Mark Wesnofske on the #116 Honda would smoke the 250 Amateur class with the 1-1 moto scores. He is fast and will do well when he moves into the Expert class, which judging by his riding, should be very soon.

Art Hussey, aboard the #878 H&P Racing-backed Yamaha, would take home 13th overall in the +30 Novice class, after dumping his YZ in the S-turns during moto 2. I got to promote my boy! Look for him at Walden, August 20th.

Chris Clark aboard his Kawasaki, all decked out in Team Splitfire graphics, would take 1st overall in the +30 Expert class. Carlo Coen DNF'ed moto 1 with a pair of broken Renthal's. He would take moto 2, but Clark's consistent 2-2 would give him the overall.

"Papa" Joe Fritz, aboard the YZF 4 stroke, won the +35 and +40 Expert classes with ease, sweeping all 4 motos. His main competition was none other than Tommy "Gunz" Hall. Tom would finish 3rd overall in the +40 Expert class with 2-3 moto scores, and 2nd overall in the +35 class with 2-2 finishes.

Walden's President, Darrell Palmer took home 2nd overall in the +40 Amateur class, aboard his #18 Kawasaki. After winning the 1st moto, he could only muster a 3rd in moto 2.

The RP Report will not be taking the trek to Claverack this Sunday, as I will be attending the NASCAR race in Watkins Glen. Hey, free finish line tickets, and free pit access, who could pass an offer like this up? I will be back on August 20th in the "Tower of Power" at Walden Motocross.

Don't forget to check out www.racerxill.com to see all the happenings taking place at Loretta Lynn's. There will be an icon on there to see the daily update be Steve "TFS" Bruhn. Let's hope the boys, (McNeill, Leavitt, Mills, Weller, Nicoletti, Hendrickson, Waldele, Blizzard, and anyone else I forgot) bring back some BIG gold!