MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN RACE

This last week was the 2X Promotions, Mammoth Amateur Motocross Race.    In the summer of 1968 a world class track was built up in the mountains at 8,000 feet.  This historic race is the oldest continuous running motocross event in the USA.  All of the top riders have raced the Mammoth Mountain event including Carmichael, McGrath, Windham, Stewart, etc.

The challenge of racing at Mammoth is the altitude because it is not only hard to breath, but the bikes have to have different gas and/or jetting to make them run like they do at home.  After we drove the 6 hours to our hotel my Dad got our bikes out and tried to figure out the correct formula to get my bikes to run at 8,000 feet.  We took over the hotel parking lot to work on dirt bikes.

The other strange thing about the race at Mammoth is that space is very limited.  Most years not all riders can fit in the pit area and some have to park outside the facility and shuttle their bikes into the race.  Because it is so important to have our tools and spare parts in a pit area at the track riders get up at 5am and earlier to get in line to enter the facility.  While we waited in line I tried to get more sleep.

When we got inside the facility and started to unload our bikes we saw a bear just above our pit area.  He was just walking around like he didn’t even care that we were there.  (Side note:  Several of our friends had there car’s broken into by bears at their hotels and the bears took food out of the cars….one was at our hotel.  So Crazy)

The first day was practice day and we really needed it.  My Dad worked all day to get the jetting right on my bike.  It is so hard because sometimes the bottom end was right but not the top or the other way around.  After a full day of practicing we finally had the bike good on both the top and bottom….It didn’t have the same power it does back at home, but at least it was running and I was ready for race day.

Because so many kids qualified for the event the racing is ran more like a supercross event than an outdoor event.  We had two heat races, an LCQ for the kids in the back of the two heat races, and then 1 main event for your finish result.  Mammoth runs all the races two times and then does an overall finish.

The track is so much fun!  It is a very high speed track with huge hills and it twists and turns through the trees.  My parents don’t like to watch me ride on it because most of the track is in the trees and it is very hard to see most of it.  (This is a picture taken by MYLUCASOIL when I was racing on my 85 bike)

Day 1.  I won my first 65 age heat race and I was able to get on the podium and thank all my sponsors and finished 3rd in the main event. (That is Dano Legere from Von Zipper and DVS doing interviews on the podium)  In the 65 open class I finished 2nd in my heat race and 4th min the main event.  In the 85 age race I finished 5th in both my heat race and in the main event.

Day 2.  I had a problem in my 65 age race.  I was in third trying to push to get to the leader and I hit a kicker that flipped me to the ground.  Once I got myself and my bike up and going I had dropped back to the back and finished the race in 25th.  In my 65 open race I finished the heat race in 2nd and the main in 4th.  In 85 age I finished the heat race in 4th and the main in 5th.

OVERALL: I finished 4th in the 65 open class and 4th in the 85 age class.  I missed out on an overall finish for the 65 age class because of the huge crash I had on the second day.  I finished out the weekend with 7 Bears and 1 Medal for winning a moto.

During the awards ceremony the announcer kept telling the winners they should kiss the trophy girl.  He said it over and over again throughout the entire awards ceremony but no one would do it.  Can you guess what happened when he called my name?

YEP!  I gave her a kiss on her check and told her to call me.  The place went crazy and everyone was laughing.  The announcer said he was going to give me $10 for being the only one that would give her a kiss but he didn’t. lol

Had a lot of fun racing at Mammoth!  

Now it is time to get ready to race in Tennessee at the Loretta Lynn Nationals.