June 7^th dawned a beautiful cloudless day at Jefferson, PA- site of the AMA Pro Hillclimb opener for the 2009 championship series. By the time the racing started, a near-record crowd had already gathered to see the spectacle of men (and this year, a woman) and their machines attempt to scale the heights of the White Rose Motorcycle Club’s famous hill. A large field of 30 riders and 44 bikes turned out to vie for a spot on the podium.  

The day offered some interesting firsts...

Nate Redmann, from Rochester MN, in his first appearance on the Dr. Bob’s Racing Factory Yamaha R6-based hillclimber took the top spot in the Xtreme Class. Ryan Thibault of Tiverton RI, riding a Honda, held the lead after the first half of the race but on his second run up the hill, Nathan edged Ryan out by less than three tenths of a second. Matt Luna of Muskegon MI took the third podium spot on his Kawasaki. 

Todd Libhart, older brother of Xtreme Class National Champion Phil Libhart, made his first appearance in Pro Hillclimbing as a rider. Todd has been a member of his brother’s pit crew and has helped build his brother’s bikes for years, but now he’s riding in the Xtreme Class against his brother (no sibling rivalry here- they’re on the same team). Todd finished in 12^th place on the day, but crested the hill on both attempts. He rode well and looked very promising. Todd said his day was very exciting and better than he expected. Both Todd and Phil ride hand built, show-quality, nitro inject vintage Triumph twins for the Kreeger and Sons Pro Hillcilimbing Team with main sponsorship coming from Worely and Obetz and AmeriGreen BioFuels. 

In the Unlimited Class, it was Phil Libhart all the way. He put in a smokin’ fast time of 7.556 seconds on his first attempt- just barely faster than Ryan Thibault’s 7.607 second ride. Phil sat out the second half waiting to see if anyone could beat him- he never had to defend his standing and finished on the top of the podium. Ryan Thibault and Alex Benner, both on Hondas, took second and third place respectively. Less than two tenths of a second separated the top three riders in the Unlimited Class. 

In the ProSport Class, we finally saw a real turnout of riders- six guys and a girl trying to get the top spot on the podium. Returning National Champion, Robby DeBusk of the Dr. Bob’s Racing Factory Yamaha team was there to defend his title against a host of new riders. Bryan Rusnak of Portage PA took the top spot on his Kawasaki. Amanda Campbell’s riding was mm mm good enough (sorry, I couldn’t resist) for second place. Amanda, of Sissonville WV is Scott Campbell’s wife and an accomplished rider in her own right. Brandon Novak from Summerhill, PA took third on his KTM. Scott Hoke, Spring Grove PA, Cody Clark, Muskegon MI and Jamie Sweitzer, York PA rounded out the field. 

Another first in Pro Hillclimbing- Phil Libhart gave an exhibition ride on his girlfriend Shannon’s Worely and Obetz/AmeriGreen BioFuels Yamaha ProSport machine. Shannon is waiting for a broken arm to heal before she can start competing in the ProSport Class (wow, another girl!). Even more amazing is the fact that this bike runs on E85 Biofuel!! We’ll see more of this bike, hopefully with Shannon onboard later in the season. 

The next race is at Freemansburg (Steel City), PA on June 14^th hosted by the Bushkill Valley Motorcycle Club. See you there!