Alepuyo takes top billing at Cowtown

Ton-Ton Alepuyo was a man amongst men at the Cowtown Raceway Park over the weekend as he piloted his four-wheeler to a first place finish during the Marianas Racing Association’s second points race of the season in Marpi.

Alepuyo took advantage of his fellow riders’ misfortunes to rack up 47 points with first and second place finishes in respective Big Boys ATV heats, but he didn’t take the tape based on luck alone.

Early in the first heat, Chris Alepuyo was leading the pack and putting on a string of aerial displays and confidence in his machine, but he was denied a finish when his ATV conked out midway through the race.

From there, Henry Camacho looked to be in control, but Ton-Ton Alepuyo never let him get too far ahead. At one point during the race Camacho injured his hand and kept him, from attacking the jumps and turns with the same tenacity that he employed in the opening laps.

Ton-Ton Alepuyo never missed a beat, and picked up his first win of the season with marked consistency. Camacho took second on the day with 42 points, while Chris Alepuyo rounded out the Expert Class with a first place finish in the final heat to take third place overall with 25 points.

Manny Celis was the only novice in the bunch, and gained 50 points toward his advancement, but the points were not as important as the experience he gained racing alongside some of the four-wheel vets.

The two-wheel sages provided plenty of the same excitement as once again, the most seasoned riders were all left to chase Steve Sablan, as the undisputed champion of the Veteran’s Class twice took the checkered flag while airborne over the table top.

Sablan added another 50 points to his cache and is working hard to reclaim the title he surrendered last season, but he will have to make all of the events in 2006 if he plans to do so. Melvin Cepeda was twice the runner-up to Sablan, as he repeated last month’s outcome with a pair of second place finishes to trail Sablan by 14 points two races in.

Dave Berger took a step forward by placing second and third to snag 42 points, while Kiki Ada, and Eric Cruz finished fourth and fifth on the day.

The guys on the smaller bikes also kicked up dust around Cowtown as “Pretty Boy” Floyd Dela Cruz racked up another day at the races with another first place finish and another 50 points by taking both heats of the 125cc Expert Class.

Last time around Ellery Cruz was hot on his tail all, but Weng Yap gave chase all day on Sunday with a pair of second place finishes to earn 44 points. Glenn Pangelinan picked up 38 points to finish in third place, while Cruz and Dave Celis rounded out the class with respective fourth and fifth place finishes.

Megan Cruz added another 50 points to her total in the Novice Class by leaving Greg Sablan and Greg Camacho in the dust. While each of the Gregs earned 42 points, Camacho finished second overall and Sablan was third.

Cruz continued to ride with pride atop her smaller bike in the Power Puff division, as she twice beat Sheanna Sablan and Rosa Camacho to take a pair of black and whites over the table top.

Sablan earned 44 points with two second place finishes while Camacho picked up 40 points with back-to-back shows.