PLEASANT VALLEY - It was mission accomplished for Hayden Dennis Sunday in Pleasant Valley.
The 12-year-old Truro resident dominated both 85cc 7-11 class motos and padded his points lead during Round 2 of the CMRC Atlantic Fall Series. He sits atop the division with 100 points after also winning the opener a week earlier in Riverglade, N.B., giving him a 12-point cushion over Adam Hilling of Antigonish.
"It's my home track so I had to show them how it's done," Dennis said jokingly. "But I was really determined to come out today and get some good results."
It was sweet redemption for the racer, who could have done the same thing in the spring championship had he not broken his foot in a crash on Father's Day and missed six weeks of action, leaving him sixth in points. The CMRC crowns a point champion in both its spring and fall regional series.
"I'm pretty pumped about the results so far in the fall series," Dennis said.
He wasn't the only one. Several Colchester County riders used home field advantage Sunday to push themselves into the thick of championship battles.
Mitch Cooke dominated on the track owned by his family, taking three wins in the Pro GP class to top the table with a nine-point gap. The 28-year-old Brookfield resident also added a victory in the Plus 25 category.
Debert's Luke Geldart left the circuit second in the Junior GP class thanks to a class win Sunday. He also sits third in Junior MX2 points after a pair of second-place finishes.
Pleasant Valley's Scott Fraser is second in points in the Plus 40 category with a win and a runner-up finish Sunday and Truro's Brett Lynds posted the same results in the Beginner GP division to also sit second in points.
"It feels really good to get my first win this year," Geldart, 17, said. "Ever since the start of the season I've just been improving and I'm up at the front now and it feels good."
The Yamaha 250F rider made up plenty of ground on Junior GP points leader Reid Chapelle after crashing on the final lap of last week's opener and finishing 17th.
"I just pushed hard and everything seemed to go my way (yesterday)," he said.
Although he was victorious in Junior GP, it was his Junior MX2 race that had everybody talking. After leading most of the race, Geldart made a mistake opening the door for points leader Isaac Nice to challenge. The pair became involved in an intense last-lap battle, trading the lead several times before Nice was able to grab the checkers.
"It was probably one of the best races of the day I've been told," Geldart said. "It was a nail biter right to the end."
Sunday's results have both Geldart and Dennis aiming for a championship at the end of the season and both feel like they've got momentum on their side.
"It's definitely a confidence boost for the next race and I'll just go from there," Geldart said. "For sure I want to be top three but a championship would definitely be nice. After (yesterday) I think I have a chance."
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