Hurricane Hills Motocross track in Clifford brings many to our area

PAGE 8- THE FOREST CITY NEWS, FOREST CITY, PA 18421 * WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016* PHONE 570-785-3800 * email fcnews@nep.net
Hurricane Hills Motocross track in Clifford brings many to our area
By Art McLain, John P. Kameen, Zach Striefsky
Located on Route 106 at
the bottom of Finch Hill
in Clifford on the side of a
hill is the Hurricane Hills
Sports Center. Every few
weeks the mountain comes
alive and a small village
develops in the otherwise
sleepy countryside.
You
can hear the buzz of the
bikes and quads on race
weekends and if you didn’t
know better you might
think a swarm of bees were
coming at you.
This is the spot for what
is known as Motocross racing in this area. Motocross
racing bikes, please don’t
call them “Dirt Bikes”,
come in various sizes and
thus they participate in races based on their size from
small 50cc machines up to
the powerful, and expensive 450’s. So the 85’s don’t
have to compete with the
125’s, and the 125’s don’t
race the 450’s.
Hurricane Hills, though
not well known to many
area residents, has been
here for a number of years.
The Fritz Family, who own
it now, are not the original
owners but have brought
the motocross racing scene
to life and elevated it to a
high quality of racing. On
the weekend of July 29,
there were 31 different
classes of racing specific to
gender, age and skill level
of the racers.
The track is approximately 1 1/4 miles long. With
names like the Ten Commandments and the Elevator, the jumps and bumps
and changes in elevation
supply the fun and challenge for the competitors.
A race takes approximately
10 minutes and the racers
are awarded points for a
finish in the top 10 during
the race. Each class of racer
races in two races and the
points are added together.
Trophies are presented to
the top winners.
The majority of racers are
in the Class C or novice division. This is a chance to
develop their skills and to
try racing to see how well
they like it. If they win
enough points in Class
C they can then move up
to the Class B or amateur
class. The best racers are in
the Class A or expert class.
The Class A racers can compete for cash prizes.
A big national Motocross race was being held
the same day as the Hurricane Hills event at Loretta
Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee
where the Rocky Mountain
ATV/MC
AMA Amateur
National Motocross was being held.
Motocross racing is a
family affair.
Many of
them come to the track, and
to other tracks in the East,
with campers and motor
homes. Others just bring
their bikes in the back of
pickups or on tag-a-long
trailers.
At the track we talked
with racing families including Jason and Kim
Fiske from Monroeton, PA,
near Towanda, a two hour
drive.
They were there
with 9-year-old racer, Tayton Fiske, who began riding
at age 4, but this year is his
first on the racing circuit.
Accompanying mom and
dad was 7-month-old Branson, who probably has a
racing career ahead of him.
One of the top racers at the
track, taking two 1st place
trophies, and a 4th place
trophy that day, was Jack
Baldwin Jr., from Wharton,
NJ. He is 13-years-old and
has been riding since age 4.
His father, Jack, pulls their
full service camper for their
over-night stays at the various tracks. He is a retired
firefighter and is a security
consultant. Young Jack’s
mother, Joy, doesn’t go to
all of the District 34 tracks
on their circuit with the two
Jacks, but comes along and
enjoys eating out at restaurants like the Crystal Pines,
at Crystal Lake, which she
lists as one of her favorites.
Not having to travel too
far to Hurricane Hills was
13-year-old Mike Cornell,
of Carbondale, there with
his dad, Mike. The teenager has been racing for 9
years and has two bikes, a
KTM 85 and a KTM 112cc
super mini. They race at
the following tracks from
April to October: Broome/
Tioga, NY, Miles Mountain,
PA, Walton and Unadilla,
NY, Pagoda, Dutchman and
Evansville, all in PA, and
Tomaha, West VA. They
put lots of miles on during
the racing season.
Another local racer is
13-year-old Zach Striefsky,
who comes from Browndale with his dad, Brian,
who raced dirt bikes when
he was a kid. Zach races
a Kawasaki KX85 and was
able to register a 2nd and
a 6th place finish in that
day’s races. This is his second year of racing but his
season started out with a
broken leg in his first race
in April. This was his first
race since getting his cast
off.
Two friends from Wyalusing, PA, were there together but each have very
different careers.
Ridge
Sollick, age 21, has only
been racing his Honda bike
for a few weeks. Vincent
Latini, age, 26, has raced
his Yamaha for six years.
One racer who was not at
Hurricane Hills that weekend, but has been a 1st
place finisher all over Eastern United States for the
past years was Danny Congdon, age 15, of Browndale.
He is the son of Dan and
Kathleen Congdon.
This
time it was not because he
was racing at another track
but was due to the fact that
he is recovering from a
double fracture of his arm
suffered in a race at Palmyra, NY He hopes to be
back on the track in a few
weeks. He and his father,
who also once was a bike
racer, travel to tracks over
much of the Eastern United
States. His trophy rack is
heavy from the trophies he
is accumulating.
And finally, not every
racer is in his teens or twenties. A real veteran of Motocross is Douglas Henry,
age 57, a business executive
with a home near Lake Ariel. His powerful KTM 450
race bike is one of the tops
in the Motocross line. He
started at age 16 but took 15
years off, so he’s been doing this for about 25 years
and continues in order to
keep himself physically
and mentally challenged.
In addition to the health
benefits, Doug says it’s a
great stress reliever.
Track owner Joe Fritz,
who operates a construction company in New Jersey, has been a Class A
racer for over 40 years. Although he had not raced at
Hurricane Hills previously
he had heard about it. It is
part of the District 34 in the
AMA (American Motorcycle Association) series and
after seeing the track, liked
it enough to buy it.
Fritz, who can be found
driving dozers and water
trucks around the track prior to race time, describes
the operation of the track
as his therapy and even
though he says it is only a
hobby, the quality of the
track and racing events is
very impressive.
The entire Fritz family is
involved in racing and Mrs.
Fritz describes the loyal
racers as being a kind of
family.
Most of the racers seem
to arrive in pickup trucks
or an RV, towing their bikes
or quads behind in a trailer. Admission is charged
and, after a release form is
signed, racers can practice
and sign up for their races.
It is very important that
all people entering the
track, whether a racer, family member or spectator,
sign a waiver form absolving the owners of responsibility and impressing upon
the contestants and public
that bike racing can be a
hazardous sport.
Samantha (Sam) Fritz is
an expert racer and also a
very good instructor to the
other racers. Sam is like a
golf pro, since from timeto-time, racers find that
having a good instructor or
coach to check their fundamentals can help improve
their racing performance.
Sam also keeps the points
standings and maintains
a really great website at
www.hhmotocross.com.
The schedule of racing, results and point standings,
with much more information, is available on the
website.
The track has a very
handy refreshment stand
run by Jamie and Tia. You
can get a breakfast or a
hamburg, hot dog or chicken sandwich, along with
fries, drinks, ice cream or
other snacks.
There are also vendors on
site to aid in the mechanical conditioning and repairs needed by the bikes.
One of them was Iannace’s
Cycle Shop with headquarters in Catskill, NY. Owner
John Iannace, says he loves
bike racing because, first
of all, it keeps lots of kids
out of trouble. He says that
bike racers are “one big
family,” which is very evident to anyone who visits
the track. Many vendors
do repairs and provide nuts
and bolts which may have
jarred loose, and don’t even
charge for it. Iannace said
“we do it because we love
it.”
Hurricane Hills does not
race every weekend because the racing schedule
is coordinated with other
tracks in the Tri-State area
of District 34. Racers and
the general public are treated to fireworks displays
at times during the season
and really awesome displays are predictably part
of the holiday weekends.
In addition to the excitement of the racing, local
and area businesses enjoy
an increased amount of
business on racing weekends. As stated previously,
many of the families look
forward to eating out while
camped out overnight.
On Saturday and Sunday
this reporter talked with
many folks who had visited, or were planning to
visit, the Clifford Firemen’s
Picnic just down the road.
Many also bought gas and
other motor products at
area businesses and also
shopped in the area grocery
stores for food items they
prepare in their campers
and motor homes.
Also mentioned previously, a number of participants talked about favorite
restaurants they visit whenever they are at Hurricane
Hills. Those without campers or mobile lodging take
advantage of local motels
for their overnight stays.
One of the largest crowds
ever to visit Hurricane Hills
was on the recent July 4th
racing weekend. Area motorists passing by probably
wondered if even one more
vehicle could be squeezed
into the hillside venue. Of
course, in addition to the
fun and competition, area
businesses profited from
the influx.
Their next big racing
event will be Saturday,
Sept. 10, for practice sessions and then race day on
Sunday, Sept. 11.
Races
start at 10AM with trophy
presentations when racing
ends in the afternoon.
If you want to know more
about Motocross see them
on their website www.hhmotocross.com or stop by
on either day.
It can be mighty exciting at the start of a Motocross race
which begins with what is referred to as a “hole shot” with
all bikes lined up at a starting gate across the track. The
skill is to get the best start out of the gate and make it to the
first few starting places by the first turn.
Douglas Henry, age 57, is one of the veterans of Motocross
racing. He started racing at age 16 but took 15 years off. The
business executive lives near Lake Ariel. He races his KTM
450 bike for the health benefits and to release stress.
Jack Baldwin, age 13, from Wharton, NJ, with his father,
Jack Sr. and mother, Joy. Jack won 1st place in two races
and 4th place in another race at Hurricane Hills on July 31st.
He has been riding since age 4 and racing since age 10. They
have visited many tracks during their career in Motocross.
Mike Cornall, age 13, and his dad, Mike Sr., from Carbondale, compete at about nine of the race tracks in District 34
of the American Motorcycle Association, racing almost every
weekend. He has two bikes, a KTM 112cc super mini and a
KTM 85. His father works heavy equipment for T. Brennan
Construction.
Shown on the track bulletin board are the winners and race
statistics for the last race at Hurricane Hills. Samantha
(Sam) Fritze, daughter of track owner Joe Fritze, schedules
the races and compiles the results and point standings.
This section of track is called the “Ten Commandments”
designating a series of ten jumps in the 1 ½ mile Hurricane
Hills race track.
Samantha Fritze and her mother collect the admission and
race entry fees, and get the required signatures of everyone
entering the track. They also sell Hurricane Hills t-shirts.
This sign indicates that Motocross racing is not for the
faint of heart and is a risky undertaking for both racers and
spectators.
Jamie and Tia operate the snack bar at Hurricane Hills
where you can get breakfast, hot dogs, hamburgs, fries, sodas, ice cream and other snacks.