again took top honours for the day despite being denied a hat-trick of wins by defiant Buddy Joell yesterday at Coney Island.

Kemo Simons continues to dominate the 80cc class, after racing to three wins to stretch his overall lead while Chris Maxwell upstaged brother Leroy to win the 125 C class with Michael Burgess just a point behind in third place.

The day's racing was brought to a thrilling finish with Joell clearly determined to spoil Smith's hat-trick bid. As was the case in the first two races, Smith sped into the lead from the start and on the second lap held a three-second lead over Joell.

On the third lap Aaron Pace, the overall class leader, dropped off the pace to leave Joell to battle it out alone with Smith. Towards the halfway mark in the race Smith had started to overlap some of the other riders with Joell still in hot pursuit.

Joell, with a third and a second in his first two races, got the break he wanted towards the end of the race when he overtook Smith just past the `washboard' leaving Smith with some catching up to do.

In the second last lap, and with just a couple of bike-lengths separating them, both riders had a crash. However, leader Joell recovered quickly to keep the lead as Smith lost some ground and eventually had to settle for second place.

"We went down as both of us hit the corner, but he got up first and with just one lap left and with all my breeze gone I had to settle for second,'' said a disappointed Smith afterwards.

"I'm sort of disappointed because I knew I was going faster than him and could pull off that win. On the washboard after the turn I hit a post and it stalled the bike.'' Smith was riding in the 250 Expert class last year but, like Joell, has had to drop down to a smaller bike to keep up with the competition.

"I was dropped down to where the competition is,'' says Smith, who points out he came out late this season.

"You can't win them all,'' is how Joell summed up his defeat. "I've been sick with the flu all week and I wasn't able to practice yesterday.'' Pace had his lead cut as he could only manage second, fourth and fifth place finishes for 26 points for the day, compared with 42 by Smith and 37 by Joell.

Justin Belboda also collected a total of 26 points from his fifth and two thirds while Devon Moss, the other rider in the class, had two fourths and a fifth.

Simons was clearly too hot to stop in the 80cc, leaving Jaime Ford to overtake Jamel Hassell for second for the day with two fourths and a second while Hassell had two seconds and a 10th in the last race after bike trouble.

Hassell collected 25 points while Howard Paynter also passed him in the day's stakes after riding steadily for two thirds and a fifth.

"I wish I had a lot more competition,'' said Simons, 14, whose helmet and googles bring out an aggression that belies his polite and shy demeanour. He is one of the most promising and popular riders on the track.

The battle of the Maxwell brothers was won by Chris with 42 points from a second and two firsts while Leroy was second with a first, third and fourth. A point behind in third was Michael Burgess who added two seconds to his fourth in the first moto. College student Evan Lambert was the other rider in the class, finishing with two thirds and a fourth for 28 points.

Donnie Moss and Duprey Joell were the only riders in the respective 250 C and B classes, each riding in two of the three races.

The next race day will be on January 16.