Kittanning Park Hosting Outdoor Racing Series

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Thursday • September 8, 2016
The Kittanning Paper
18 Franklin Village Mall
Kittanning, PA 16201
724-545-9066
www.essnextier.com
(724)
548
7117
Mon
6PM - 9PM
other hours by app.
[email protected]
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724-545-2408
724-543-1776
of Brick Church –, to race dirt
bikes.
Crissman has placed as
high as 16th overall - during
the Fourth of July weekend at
Fantasy Whitetail in Boyers
(Butler County).
“I just love to ride - once
you go race, you don’t want to
quit. I just have a blast doing
it,” Crissman said.
Pitting will also be on Clyde
and Laura Brown’s property
next weekend.
A $15 gate fee will be assessed through the weekend or
$50 per household family.
Spectators six years of age
and younger will be free.
Stiller hopes Kittanning
firefights can sell food during
the event.
The racing season will conclude October 8-9 in Patton
(Cambria County) at a 6,000acre off-road park.
Kittanning Park Hosting Outdoor Racing Series
by Jonathan Weaver
Kittanning has held racing
through the water this summer, so it’s only fair that the
area also has racing through
the dirt and mud.
The American Woods Racing Championship Series has
a new course for next weekend’s round: Kittanning Community Park.
Nicknamed “The Coal Miner,” the race in Community
Park and other private properties owned by Snyder Bros.
and Walt Houser is sure to
bring hundreds of families and
bike and all-terrain vehicle
(ATV) racers of all ages to the
center of Armstrong County,
said series co-owner Steve
Stiller.
“We’re really family-organized. We have over 200 kids
racing and over 400 adults,”
Stiller said. “We’re the second-largest series on the East
coast.
“We normally bring (a total of) 1,500-2,000 people
through the gates.”
Stiller and wife, Amy, purchased the declining racing
circuit – which is thought to
have been formed in 1998 in 2009 and the family have
held races in the tri-state area
within two hours of Pittsburgh
BILL
RUSH
AGENCY
(724)
548
-7337
www.billrushagency.com
ever since. A similar race two
years ago was held at Scrubgrass OHV Park in Templeton
and a similar race was held to
kick off this season in Parker
at the end of April.
“Since it was at Scrubgrass,
the series has grown 22 percent in `15 and about a 25
percent growth in `16. We
contribute that to the family
values,” Stiller said. “When
I bought (the championship
series) in `09, there were 17
kids that raced – now, we’re
over 200.
“(In 2009) the series was going downhill. You’d be lucky
to get 200 racers total.”
Steve, who raced both bike
and ATV since 1982 and was
classified as an “expert A”
racer at racing championship
series events, helped the circuit from 2000 until the family bought it. He now refers
to it as a “mini vacation for
families.”
Turney Luke, of the 700
Shop, is sponsoring next
weekend’s race after the business partnered with the racing
series in the past.
“We want to share our passion for motorcycles – and the
best way to do that is through
the youth so they can stay out
of trouble, learn how to ride a
Restaurant
FRANKLIN VILLAGE CENTER
from the new
FALL MENU
Harvest cakes, bacon & eggs
HARVEST COMBO $6.49
Sept. 4 to Sept. 10
bike, race and do constructive
things rather than things that
are harmful to them,” Luke
said.
Typically, the 700 Shop
gives out prizes for the racing
series winners.
Luke used to dirt bike but
now has a road bike.
Luke’s nephew, 19-year-old
Mason “Racin` Mason” Atherton (of Clarion-Limestone),
has ridden since he was three
years old.
“He’s wicked fast as far as
I’m concerned,” Luke said.
“He’s a good young man. I
think motorcycling has put
a lot of positive things in his
life.
“It’s more popular than people think it is.”
Caige Crissman, 20 of Brick
Church, - a “B Class” rider
- has ridden four-wheelers
throughout his life but just
started racing last weekend.
He will compete in Kittanning.
“In 2014, I decided I wanted
to hit a (championship series)
race – I did the last round of
the year and got hooked on it,”
Crissman said. “Here I am two
years later racing full-time.”
A 2014 Lenape Tech graduate, Crissman also inspired his
cousin, Austin Hankey – also
During last weekend’s American Woods Racing
Championship Series race in Wellsville, Ohio,
dozens of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes raced
at Coal Hollow. Brick Church ATV racer Caige
Crissman placed second in his class and 20th
overall last weekend, and will be back to race
again in Kittanning next weekend during The
Coal Miner. (photo used by permission)