UNCLE 71

I’m going to be an Uncle!  My sister Elyssa and her husband Nick are going to have a baby.  They told my that I am going to be Uncle Hunter and I told them that the baby will have to call me “Uncle 71.”  🙂

On Saturday we went with Elyssa and Nick to find out if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl.  I was hoping for a boy so I could teach him how to ride a dirt bike and play Xbox with me.

Before we went we all made a guess what we thought it was going to be.  I of course guessed both so I was sure to be right…..I don’t like to loose anything!

Soooooo IT’S A GIRL!  Which means instead of playing Xbox, I think I will have fun teasing her when she gets older.  lol

CONGRATS TO ELYSSA AND NICK!

GOING BACK TO CALI (5 of 5)

Right after the race was over we loaded up the truck and trailer to head back to Cali.  My Dad and Mom drove all night and we got back to our house at 5am.  We slept for 3 hours and spent the rest of the day cleaning the trailer and the bikes.  It was such a fun week!

CAMPING

RACING

PLAYING

THE PRO’S

THANK YOU HAILEY FOR CHEERING ME ON

THANK YOU DAD FOR ALL THE WORK ON MY BIKES

SOOOOO TIRED

GOODBYE WASHINGTON

65 RACE ON WASHOUGAL PRO TRACK (4 of 5)

For the first time in 40 years, the second day of the amateur race was ran on the “official” pro track.  Usually the back section of the pro track is not raced on by the armatures and a different starting gate is used for each race.  Because of the rain delay, they decided to “make it up” by letting everyone race the whole track.  I was so excited to try some of the lines I watched the pro’s race the day before.

30 KTM 65 bikes signed up to race the armature race on Sunday and  I had two pretty consistent races.  After passing for third I was taken out coming down the hill, I was able to get up and going fast enough to stay up front.  In both races, I was able to start in the front of the pack and battle for the front spots.  I was able to finish one race in 3rd and one in 4th for a 4th place overall finish.

Below are a few pictures from practice and the races:

The pro start has a huge sweeping turn that wraps around and goes straight into horsepower hill

This picture of horsepower hill was taken in practice.  You can see that several riders had a problem at the top of the hill and I had to dodge people down at the top.

After horsepower hill the track wraps around and drops back down into the middle

A few sweeping turns and a couple of larger jumps

A few more jumps leading towards the back pro section of the track

After several up hill jumps and winding left and right, it was back down the hill and out of the trees

A right turn and into a long section of large whoops

At the end of the whoops is the finish line…

or the track continues through more turns, a few step ups, a rhythm section and back around to the start

The track was really long and soooo fun!

WASHOUGAL PRO DAY (3 of 5)

Saturday was the Lucas Oil Motocross Washougal National race.  We got up early to watch practice, walked through the pits some more, and watched the races.  It was so fun to watch the pro’s and see what lines they were taking and I got some ideas for my race the next day.

We had a great spot to watch the races, and for the second race I managed to work my way into the Rockstar-Makita-Suzuki VIP tent.  It was the perfect spot to watch the race and I could watch the TV to see the parts of the track that were really far way.

FINALLY TIME TO RACE (2 of 5)

Friday morning we woke up and the sun was shining in Washougal Washington.  8am we started practice and the track was really muddy from the rain the night before.  I was racing my 50cc King Cobra and the track was so much fun!  After practice I had just over an hour till my race so I played xbox with my friends until it was my turn to race.

The Washougal Amateur National event had over 900 entries, and 32 of them were 50cc dirt bikes.

In the first race I slid into a rutt in the start and come out in about 4th place.  I worked my way to the front and was in the lead by the second lap.  On the last lap a lapped rider fell into me and knocked me off the track.   I was able to get my bike back on the track and going and finish the race in 2nd place.

In the second race I got the hole shot and stayed in the lead the whole race to win.  I got the 1st place overall win!

It was really cool to race because throughout the day some of the pro’s and their crew would come out to watch us race.

Since Ryan Villapoto is from Washington, the plaques we won had him on them.  I took my plaque into the pits and had Ryan sign my 1st place plaque and take a picture with me.

ME AND RV2

RACING ROAD TRIP (1 of 5)

Monday we loaded up the truck and trailer and headed toward Washougal Washington for an Amateur National Race.  We drove for about 10 hours and meet up with our friends in Oregon at Albany Raceway.  As soon as we got into Oregon it started raining and continued raining the whole night.  We went to sleep and when we got up in the morning it was beautiful outside.  We walked around the race facility and saw that most of the track and the entire starting gate was under water.  We loaded up and continued on our trip about two hours into Washougal Washington.

The goal is to get to the field early enough to get into line to entire the park.  The place is huge and not having a good camping spot would mean a ton of walking to and from the track.  We got to the field just after lunch and we were about 9th in line.  Trailers continued to load up the field all afternoon and into the night.  At 10:00 in the morning the grounds were open and we went in to claim our camping sites.  All of our friends took over a great section close to the track, we set up camp and headed up to get a look at the track.

Thursday morning was race time!  We got up early and began practice at 7am.  As practice started, so did the rain!  We got through the entire practice schedule and tried to start the races, but the rain was getting worse.  The race had to be cancelled and moved to Sunday, and it continued to rain until late in the evening.  We all huddled under our awnings and wondered if we would be able to race the next day……….

3 CLASSES IN ONE NIGHT

This weekend I raced all three of my dirt bikes at the 408MX night race.  I raced my 50cc, 65cc, and 85cc dirt bikes.

50cc:  On both my 50 races I got good starts and raced hard to stay out front and finish both races in 1st place.

65cc:  On my first 65 race I also had a really good race and finished 1st.  At the end of the race I had a bike problem and I wasn’t going to be able to compete in the second race.  My friend Dustin #00 let me barrow his bike for the second race.  We all have a lot of money invested in our dirt bikes, and it was very cool that Dustin and his family was OK with me riding on his bike.  We didn’t have any time to tape over the numbers, so the score keepers had to score us off the numbers on the back of our chest protectors. lol  I had an OK start and within a few turns I was able to get the hang of the new bike and battle up to the front.  I was able to finish the race in 1st and took the 1st place overall.

85cc:  In my first 85 race I had a really hard battle and was able to finish the race in 1st place.  During the second race I was in the lead and slid out on the last lap.  I was able to finish the race in 3rd place and got a 2nd place overall.

After the race was over my friend Justin and I thought it would be funny to battle each other on the top of the potium….then a few silly faces.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE RENTERIA FAMILY FOR THE USE OF THE BIKE!!!!!!!!!!

GOD MADE DIRT, AND DIRT DON’T HURT – YA RIGHT!

When I am flying through the air and land flat on my back…..THE DIRT REALLY HURTS!

This week during practice I was having some really good sessions, but just before the end of the night I tucked the front tire and got thrown into the air.  The next day when I dropped something on the floor my Mom said “God made dirt, and dirt don’t hurt.”  I reminded her about all the times I have fallen on my dirt bike and told her it hurts really bad.  lol

I know that anyone that has fallen on a dirt bike will agree that maybe God did make dirt, but dirt DOES hurt!  Thought I would share just of few caught in the act pics just for fun.

NOT MY BEST MOMENTS….BUT YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT THE GOOD WITHOUT MENTIONING THE BAD  -RIGHT?

MY NEW MOTOEFX GRAPHICS

MotoEfx has some really different cool designs for their dirt bike graphics, I just got mine on my bike and they look amazing! 

I have been looking for something different, fresh, and new and they totally nailed it.

The guys at MotoEfx have been doing wraps for the last 5 years and now have an awesome Motocross and ATV line.  They are totally easy to work with and gave me exactly what I was looking for.  There designs are top-notch and they use the highest quality materials.  Make sure you check them out……if you are looking for new graphics right now or not, you have to check out some of their pictures – they do great work!

They are a one-stop-shop!  It is great having two companies in one….MotoEfx does graphics for Motocross, ATV’s, Race Cars, Boats, Jet Skis, Race Cars, Go Karts, etc.  The sister company Wrapped Graphics, can get you to the event in style.  They do everything from small lettering to complete wraps, banners, signs, window graphics, wall graphics, floor decals, stickers and more.

Make sure you check them out on Facebook to stay in touch with the new designs they have coming.

Contact MotoEfx At:

Phone: (209) 649-5394

Fax: (209) 744-8149

www.motoeffects.com

www.wrappedgraphics.com

THANKS LARRY AND JOSH…..YOU GUYS ROCK !

408MX NIGHT RACE

Saturday was boys day for my Dad and I.  My Mom and my sister had plans, so my Dad and I went to a night race at 408MX in San Jose.

On my 1st 65 race I was in first when I fell over in a turn.  I was able to get back up and I fought my way all the way back to the front and was able to finish in 1st.  On the 2nd 65 race I was also doing really good and then my brakes went out.   I tried to race without brakes, but I couldn’t get slowed down enough to make the turns.  I wasn’t able to finish the race.

Both of my 85 races were also totally fun.  The 85 race was the best ever……I cleared the finish line triple over the top of another rider that doubled the jump, to take the lead.  It was so crazy that I could hear the crowed cheering and the announcer yelling while I was on the track.   I was able to work my way to the lead and finish 1st in both races.

FIRST TIME AT LAS BANOS

Saturday night we decided to go to Los Banos for the night race, when we got to the track it was over 100 degrees outside.

The track was like nothing I ever rode before and I was excited to see what it was like.  I wrote before about supercross-vs-motocross….. I do motocross and the track at Los Banos is supercross.

The track looked really different with a lot of rhythm sections.  It was a little hard to figure out how to go through the rhythm sections the fastest way with only 5 laps of practice…..then it was time to start the races.

At this track we have to put transponders on our bikes and they record lap times.  Practice went pretty good!  On my 65 I was the 2nd fastest bike and on my 50 I was the fastest bike on the track.

When the races started I did good on my 50 but had a bunch of bad luck on my 65.

Both of my 50 races I got the hole shot and was able to stay out front for the wins.  I had not practiced on my 50 in a few months and it was fun to ride it again.

My 65 races were both kinda a mess.  I had a really good start in the first race, I was in second and gaining on first when I made a mistake and fell down.  I got back up and was racing back to the front through traffic.  I was right behind second place going around a large sweeper turn and the rider in front of me went down…..I had no place to go and crashed right into him and flew over the front of my bike.  In the second race I had a good start again and was again in second place when I slide out in one of the turns.  I got back up and again had to fight through traffic back to the front.  As I was passing a rider on the outside of a turn, he drove straight and him and I both crashed over the top of the burm.

After all the regular races they had the Top Gun main event.  This was a race with some really fast riders all working toward the $1100 purse.  The riders started staggered around the track with the fastest riders about a lap down.  It was a really fun race to watch and congrats to Jessy Nelson for coming from behind to win.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Jessica Rankin is a photographer that has been taking a lot of pictures at some of the different race tracks.  She has caught a lot of great shots of my friends and I.  Her pictures are really good quality and very inexpensive.

Jessica is a sports and lifestyle photographer out of Martinez, CA. and does many different kinds of pictures.  She gets amazing shots and does just about anything sports, portraits, landscapes, etc.

Her contact information is below……make sure if you need some pictures, you give her a call.

And check out her sites, she might have already caught you on film!

Jessica Rankin contact information:

Email:   Jessicarankinphoto@yahoo.com

Phone:  925-383-2116

website for motocross is: http://jessicarankinphotography.smugmug.com

Facebook page for photography is: http://www.facebook.com/JessicaRankinPhotography

THANK YOU JESSICA FOR ALL THE GREAT PICTURES!