Friday Night Track Report

The skies were dark, but the Joe Bar Verde shone bright last night at Marymoor as bunnies Ben and David made their presence known, with a with a brilliant WIN BY BEN in the first race of the evening! 15 riders started the first race of the evening, the mens cat 4 10 lap scratch race. After a mid race break was pulled back the pack set up for the finish. Note I didn't say slow down for the finish, as the pace was fast all night, with speeds maintained in the 27-31 mph range and a max speed of 34.2 MPH in the first race. Coming into 2 laps to go the bell range for a $10 prime. Ben, followed by David, started to follow Alden of Broadmark as he swept over the top of the pack in search of 10 bucks. Preferring points over cash, Ben backed off of Alden's ultimately unsuccessful, while David decided he simply lacked the go to follow. As the bell range for one to go and the pack came out of turn two and down the back straight, Ben made his move, carefully picking his wheels and perfectly timing his move into the front straight breeze to capture the WIN. Meanwhile David managed to find a little something in his legs, allowing him to pick throught the field to a 7th place finish.

The second cat 4 race of the eveining, a 4 x 5 points race (20 laps), started fast and never slowed, maxing at 33.4 mph. The bunnies went to work after the first points sprint, when Ben and Alden (Broadmark) launched a pre-arranged attack off the front while David positioned himself just above the redline to try to maintain control over the field. Unfortunately the combination of lack of horsepower (Ben confessed to being whipped after his victory) and conflicting interests of Alden (who was competing with Ben for overall omnium points for the evening) doomed the effort. David went to plan B, scoring points by taking third in the second sprint, and basically following Ben around the track to survive. At the end, Ben finished 5th in his attempt to be the highest finishing 0 pts rider, and David finished 7th or 8th, again trying to win the tie-breakers.

Regrettably, results were not posted before Ben and David left for the evening, so the final omnium standings are not yet known. It is fairly certain that Ben added to his count of upgrade points for the year. In the end, another good night for Joe Bar green!