Big Buck GNCC

The Fourth Round of the GNCC Racing series, in South Carolina, turned out to be a great race! Each week it seems as though I have been continuing to make improvements at the GNCC’s. I was happy to finish 5th Overall for the day. That is my best finish to date! The day began with a good start for me. I had 17th pick in starting position and I made it work from the far inside. I was sitting in fourth on the first lap and was able to get around Strang on a hill when he bobbled a little bit. It felt good to be running with the front pack. Charlie, Kailub, and myself all put some time on the rest of the field. I had to make a pitstop early and dropped back a little bit, but was still in third with half the race underway. The track was progressively getting rougher as each lap went on, but the conditions were actually really awesome! The dust was minimal and there were some really fun flowing sections. There was even a tight enduro like section near the end of the course! Strang started picking up the pace and came by me like he was on a serious mission. I felt a little laggy about halfway through and made myself drink more out of my Hydrapak. That seemed to help out a good bit and I felt rejuvenated. It was long though after Strang made the move that Buttrick would close the gap on me as well. We rode together for a good couple laps, but I never really could get close enough again to challenge him for position. My first goal was to get a top five, and now a new goal is to get a my two stroke up on the XC1 Podium. Thanks to the FMF/KTM team for the support, Allen Gravitt for the pit, and my pops for the good line selection before the big hill!! On to the National Enduro in Tennessee this coming weekend.

Lonestar National Enduro

It was a definitely hot and long day for me at the race this weekend near Lubbock Texas! Every year it seems that dehydration can sneak up on you out there, because it is so dry and you don’t feel like you sweat that much. Although that wasn’t my only problem. I struggled all day with the terrain being extremely hardpack and full of powder. Making smooth transitions through the corners and finding traction just didn’t seem like it was going to happen for me. My bike ran great, but I think I could have had a much better setup with suspension. It was really tough to get around people in all of the dust. There were a couple times where all you could do was to take an added risk and blitz it out into the cactus and rocks to try and make a pass! Halfway through the day we ran a section of the race called “Rambo” and it kicked my butt.. It was so tight and turny that you felt like you were on a rollercoaster some of the time and I think that it actually made me kinda sick to my stomach. The rest of the day went about the same too. I tried a tire change searching for something extra, but it didn’t do too much. Both the Dunlop 71 and 51′s worked great. It was me that couldn’t get in a great groove. At the end of the day I finished 4th. I have generally struggled at this race before and am happy to still come away with the points lead. I am looking forward to the TN round that is coming up in two weeks! Thanks to my buddy Cole Kirkpatrick and his family for being so hospitable, FMF/KTM Team, and dad for the great support.

1st Place Cajun Classic National Enduro

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The second round of the AMA National Enduro Series took place this past weekend in Forest Hill, Louisiana. It was a bit warm on race day, but the track conditions were great! I had raced at this venue two previous years and both times managed podium finishes, but this year I would be able to ride nearly mistake free and take the win. The Arcadiana club put together a great race and layed out some really fun trail. Most people would consider the race to be a little bit faster than most enduros, but I thought it still had enough tight stuff to keep it more than interisting. The ground is a mix between a loamy sand and a loose hardpack in places. Some of the sections take place over old military campgrounds and you actually race across some of the cement patches from foundations. The first section would have the most of that and I was glad to get that out of the way. It seemed as the day kept progressing the better things were going for me. Charlie, Cory, and myself all had really close times the entire event. Mullins would win the first three tests and I won the last three sections. It came down to the final test as I had a one second margin over Mullins. It turned out to be a pretty fast flowy test with a nice tight section towards the last bit. I made a little time and was able to win. I’d like to thank my family and team for all their support leading up to and during the event. The FMF/KTM team took a podium sweep and is making a strong start in the beginning of the series

2nd Place Aligator Enduro

Yet another year goes by that I didn’t get the top spot of the podium at the Aligator Enduro! That race is one that has given me fits ever since the first one I ran. The race itself had prime conditions as the rain the night before packed down all of the Florida sugar sand. I really had a great race and actually had fun when I was riding most of the race. The first couple sections were the best and seemed to have a good flow to them. The ground was super sticky and you could brake as hard as you wanted. As the race progressed more of the palmetto roots came out and the leaves were covering the trail as usual. I felt like I rode to my comfort limit and it was obvious that Lafferty was better suited in a couple of the sections. He pushed hard and made up the time on me that I had put on him in the early parts of the race. David Knight came over to test it out and put a good run in early, but didn’t finish due to a petrol issue.. The race was ran the old style with only two emergency checks out of the five special tests. It would have been intersting to see the total time from all of the tests together. Nick Fahringer also put in a good ride rounding out the podium. All in all it was a solid ride for myself and I had a pretty much lite race with minimal fatigue and set me up well for the GA GNCC this weekend!

Sandlapper Enduro National Enduro Win

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This past weekend was the first AMA National Enduro for 2011 and it was a great race to kick off the series! I rode an awesome race and put my FMF/KTM out front and finished that way. This weekend definately didn’t come easy as I had my own problems during the week prior. While practicing on Tuesday I crashed on a moto track and knocked my self unconscious. Donny Macan was out with me and said I was out for 10 seconds, but I lost memory for the next 6 hours. I just remember driving to the track and waking up in the hospital. Needless to say it wasn’t the way I had wanted the week leading up to my first National to go! The following days after the crash I had to do some serious recovery and see my chiropractor for my back and ribs, my dentist for my chipped tooth, and a neurologist for his input. After I had all of that sorted out I put my focus back into what I had planned on doing in the first place. Going and putting forth 100% effort into the weekend. My headaches slowly went away and the aches and pains dissolved before Sunday. My new mechanic Tanner Harding got my bike dialed in for the race and it ran awesome and performed solid! I chose to run a Dunlop 51 front for the the hard base under the top layer of sand in pelion and a MX 31 rear for digging. The day went on to be a super fun course with flowing fast and tight sandy singletrack. There were some sections with tight pine thickets, but most of it just felt like all the corners connected really well. I had some trouble in the 4th special test and lost some time to Brad and Mike, but they also put in a killer ride in there. Mike also put in a great ride in the 5th special. I would come back with a strong final section that was a combination of the previously run 2nd and 3rd special test combined. It was well beat and you could charge as hard as you wanted. I was extremely happy with the results when the day was over and was really just happy to be healthy and able to ride. My mom and dad helped me out at all the pit stops and were a big support in getting me through the weekend. Congrats to Brad and Mike for great rides and a thanks to the club for a great race!

First Place at Round One OMA National

February 20 marked the opening round of the 2011 OMA National Series. The race took place in Tuscumbia, AL and was a perfect day with the temperatures in the mid 70′s. The trail was approximately 8 miles long and was a truly an offroad race! The terrain consisted of lots of technical rocky sections and a ton of fresh singletrack. We rode right next to a huge rock bluff and even between a rocky ravine that was really interesting. Mark Kariya took some great photos at the race! As for the actual race, I got off to a good start grabbing the FMF Holeshot award and went on to lead the entire race. Although, it was definately not the easiest of races I had done, because I had the former champ Paul Whibley right behind me the entire race!! We remained within 5-15 seconds apart all day. The track was relatively tight and was a tough course to make passes on. I managed to ride the lines I pretty much wanted to all day. I did have a couple biffs and fell down twice, but got up quickly enough to maintain the lead. Donny Macan aided me with a great pitstop halfway through the race and from there on kept the lead to the finish. Hats off to Whibs for a great ride and also Jordan Ashburn for rounding out the podium with a great ride! Overall it was a great day and an awesome weekend and looking forward to the National Enduro this coming weekend!

AMA National Harescramble Season Opener!

We raced today in Elko, GA for the first East Coast National Harescramble. There was a crowd of fast riders out to get a pre season run for all of the other major series about to start up! I have been coming to this property to race since I was a kid doing Poker Runs with my dad. I have always really liked the terrain there and the Johnson family always put on a great race as well! It was nice having a race so close to the house as I could just wake up and drive down the same day. My dad and I had some last minute issues right before the start of the race when we noticed we had a leak in my new gas tank. We quickly changed it out and made it to the starting line with only a couple minutes to spare. I got off to a descent start, I let the clutch out a hair to early and missed getting the holeshot. The course was 11.5 miles long and had some really fun fast sections and some technical muddy sections too. Steward Baylor got out to an early lead while Brad Bakken and I cruised the first lap in second and third. Then I made a move on the second lap to put me into the lead. From there the lead would change several more times!! Steward would lead for a bit, then I would take over, and then Thad Duvall would come in and mix it up as well! We were back and forth for the entire 3:16 minute event! My Dad, Mom, and Donny Macan helped with my two pit stops and they went relatively well. After the second pit Thad put in a good charge and gapped Steward and myself by a little. We ended up finishing out the race in that order. I felt good after the race was over and know a couple things that I will be working on in the future. The KTM team along with Factory Connection will be doing suspension testing over the next few days and I am looking forward to improvement to be made with that as well!