Props to Maryland’s Scott Clark for throwing down his patent scrub at the KROC in front of Matt Rice’s lens. Just crazy!

Welcome to Woz Up from a hotel room in Rockingham, North Carolina as I’m here with Matt Rice to cover tomorrow’s open house at the Club MX training facility in South Carolina.  The facility is home to some of the world’s fastest racers such as Zach Osborne, Justin Brayton and the JGR/Toyota/Yamaha team, and many others.  These riders plus New Yorker Phil Nicoletti and Eleven 10 Mods/Fly rider Alex Martin will be in the house for tomorrow’s open house.  With that ahead of us, it’s time to look back at the past week here on MXPTV…..

The last time MXPTV visited Club MX. (Matt Wozney Video)

The 36th annual Kawasaki Race Of Champions went down last weekend in Englishtown, New Jersey. And as it seems like with any big A/Pro Expert race in the Garden State, it has its share of drama and excitement.  It all started in the 1st moto on Sunday with a battle of the top 10 fastest A riders from practice.  Mike McDade and Dakota Kessler went at it in the one lap sprint with aggressive passes to get the $400 + Traxxas RC car prize, which McDade was the first to checkers on that.  It was on from there on as the riders would end up battling for a top 3 finishing position in the 1st Open A moto.  McDade ended up taking the Open A/Moto 1 win and the fuel was in the fire for the 1st 250 A moto, where it got serious after the 1st lap as Kessler got into it with young rookie Brady Kiesel in the turn after the finish that led Kessler to swing and land a punch on Kiesel as he picked up his bike.  CLICK HERE to watch the incident.

Dakota Kessler didn’t have the KROC he wanted. But that didn’t come without some drama.

I’ve been 50/50 on posting the clip but for where the incident happened, it wasn’t like anyone didn’t see it.  It occurred right in front of the tower and both grandstands, which is probably the most watched part of the entire track.  It was an intense moment and that’s what my goal was with the video.  I have zero intentions to make Kessler look like a bad rider but sometimes, riders have to watch themselves on how they act on and off the track.  But in the end, I understand the emotions that goes into working your way through the pack after a bad start.  It’s racing and that happens.  Kessler was DQ’d for that moto but you have to give it to him as far as his tenacity and heart he puts into his racing.

Josh Clark stayed away from the noise and took the Open A overall win at the KROC.

If you had to give a top overall finish out of both A classes, that would definitely go to Connecticut’s Josh Clark, who quietly lead the way out front for the Open A overall win and a strong 2nd overall in 250 A.  Triangle Cycle/Yamaha rider and New Jersey native Luke Renzland made a great showing sweeping the 250 A class motos in dominating fashion.  Renzland, who has had a very injury riddled year and has been off the radar almost entirely in 2012, made his presence known with a strong comeback ride topping some of the fastest A riders in the entire region.  If you have that extra eye available, keep that eye focused on the #43 Yamaha.  He looked very strong and consistent this past Sunday.

It’s safe to say that Luke Renzland is back and looking better than ever with his impressive sweep in 250 A. Keep an eye out for the #43 at a track near you.

There was also exciting racing in the thrilling Ironmac Classic exhibition race that had a 4-way battle between Josh Osby, Matt Toth, Bobby Piazza, and Alex Frye.  All 4 riders have been looking real good after Saturday’s amateur races and it was a showdown to see who stood on top in the B classes.  Osby had the start and the lead but small mistakes had Toth and Piazza ready to attack the #787 Honda.  Osby got passed by Toth and tried to come back in a tight, tight spot before the elevator that sent Toth off the track and looking for way back on the track.  Piazza would take over the #1 spot with Toth and Frye appearing into the front section with Osby pulling off with a disappointing DNF.  Piazza would hold on barely over the hard charging Toth for the big Ironman Classic win.  The win gives Piazza some great bragging rights but also a new 2013 Kawasaki KLX110 for his efforts.  A big and emotional win for the hard working Piazza.

JWTF rider Bobby Piazza calls up Jimmy Weinert to send the good news about his Ironman Classic win.

The Kessler Cup and Mini Cycle Shootouts were almost the yawners of the day compared to the crazy A class and Ironman Classic races as Austin Forkner continued putting the stomp on local Brandon Hartranft throughout the weekend with the Mini Cycle Shootout win.  Local Devin Kusmider took a solid start, a ton of home track experience, and the checkers in the Kessler Cup event.  This is the first Kessler Pro Suspension rider to win the cup as past riders such as Blake Baggett and some of the sport’s top pros have won this event in the past.

With rain all day on a track he’s never been to, Raceway Park and the fans were proud to have Jake Weimer come out for the day at the KROC.

Overall, the event went well as Jake Weimer made his first visit to Raceway Park in the rain and much respect has to be given to him and Kawasaki for making that happen, especially, since the event has been losing its flavor since 2000/2001 when Kawasaki’s pro riders were getting ready for the US Open and wanted to avoid any injury from happening (happened to James Stewart back in 2000 fresh on the 125s).  For all the video content from the KROC, check out the videos below:

For photo coverage, Matt Rice provided excellent photos from the entire weekend.  Check out the photos from FRIDAY, SATURDAY, and Sunday’s A CLASSES and EXHIBITION RACES.

I will be revamping my old Thursday Throwback feature each Thursday with videos I produced from when I started filming at the motocross track.  This week, I posted a video from my first year of filming at the Royal Mountain SX event in August of 2005.  Check it out below:

Stay tuned for more Throwback videos every Thursday on MXPTV!

Upstate New York media master Larry Wooster captured a WNYMA race action at Silver Springs last weekend.  CLICK HERE to check out the pics and words from the Wooster himself.

The Red Bull Stratos program almost went underway this week but due to high wind gusts, the launch that’ll propel Felix Baumgartner over 120,000 feet up to the edge of space and then, freefall back to Earth, the launch has been postponed until Sunday morning.  Check out for an updated live feed link this weekend.

Time to cut this short and get some editing done and get ready for tomorrow’s fun-filled open house at Club MX.  See ya at the fences!