On a brisk Saturday night, track racers opened their season at the National Sports Center (NSC) Velodrome.  Sponsored by Chili's Restaurant and Summit Beer and DJ'd by "Millions-Billions" the evening was a rousing success for the 50+ racers and 200+ fans in attendance.

(Photo: Tim Franz)

 

In the hotly contested cat 1/2 Keirin final, Pete Hanna gapped the group early with James Tainter almost over taking him at the line.

 

The Women's Handicap race was exciting with newcomer Steph Sibet winning her qualifier easily. In the final, she gave Gwen Steel, Amber Koehler and Sara Brokaw a good run for their money, but Steel was able to reel her in to capture the win.

(Photo: Tim Franz)

 

In the cat 4/5 Unknown Distance race, 3 distinct groups formed late, with Tim Mulrooney, Alex Atherton and Dan Schueller pulling away from the chasing duo of Joe Johnson and Eric Ware to contest the sprint with Mulrooney taking the win.

 

The All-Category Points race at the end of the evening was a difficult affair with at least half of the starters getting lapped or dropping out. Tim Mulrooney and Brian Crosby jumped away from an early breakaway and lapped the field. Crosby and Winger were both players in almost every sprint, with the edge going to Crosby due to taking a lap with with Mulrooney. Doug Regester took several digs off the front, along with Winger who was looking to gain a lap to get back into contention. Pistol Pete Hanna and Skibby put in an attack with 10 to go but were overtaken at the line by Mulrooney securing second place with Crosby taking the win.

Racing continues every Thursday night throughout the summer at the NSC Velodrome in Blaine, MN.