2017 NATIONALS.. TO GO OR NOT ???

Since I got back from Mammoth I have been training hard for Nationals at Loretta Lynn’s.  During my training I fell on my bicycle and broke my collarbone.

10 days before my first race at Nationals I went into surgery to plate my shoulder.

After my surgery my parents cancelled our trip to Tennesse but I kept telling them I was going to be able to race.  I worked really hard and did everything that Doctor Ting said so I would have a chance to still race.

Dr. Ting had me do Chryo therapy, arm therapy, lazar treatment, etc.

Two days before sign ins Dr. Ting told me that the plate was good and that if I ride I will be in pain but won’t hurt my arm.  I really wanted to try to race and knew I would be able to fight through the pain.  My parents were not as convinced as me but they decided to try to get another room in Tennessee and that they would drive me out.  We hit the road and drove 34 hours straight to Tennessee and got to the track just in time to sign in.

I was very excited to be at Nationals!  I got my #71 Bib and my bike and my gear was looking amazing!

 

After getting signed in my Dad did some finishing touches on the bike and I tried to do some fishing in the river…. I didn’t catch anything.  Then I went to the pool to get cooled off and to do a little more therapy on my shoulder.  It was fun to hang out with friends and get ready for racing the next day.

 

When I was in my first race I tried to focus on my laps.  I started off OK but I did start to fade back as the race went on.  I was able to finish my first two races in the top 10 which wasn’t bad for only being 10 days out of surgery.

In my third race I started with a great start out front.  I was in 2nd place and putting down great lap times.  I jumped when I landed in a cross rutt I wasn’t able to hold on and when the handlebar ripped out of my hand I went down.  With my handlebars bent and mud in the throttle cable I wasn’t able to finish the race.

That night I rested my shoulder and the next day I to race but my shoulder was hurting too bad to continue.  My parents and I decided that it was time to call it.  I wasn’t able to compete up front and I didn’t want to do any harm to my body so I decided not to race in my last motos.  It was a really hard decision but I was happy I was even able to race at all.

I have the most amazing sponsors!!!  Everyone is always so supportive of me and my racing.

YAMAHA  –  FLY  –  LUCAS OIL

SOBMX  –  2X PROMOTIONS  –  JMS  –  GRINDSTONE COMPOUND

WES KAIN MAFIA – MOM AND DAD – BILLS PIPES – LEATT

51 FIFTY ENERGY DRINK – WIENERSCHNITZEL – SCOTT GOOGLES – DUNLOP TIRES

CANDACE – JOHNNY – DR. TING

So many other sponsors that were not at the track but they help me throughout the year.  I wish I was able to compete up front like I should have been but happy I was able to make it in the top 10 twice considering.  After the races my family drove straight back home so I can start high school on Monday.

Every year Yamaha has a dinner for all the riders and families.  We get to take a team photo and every year Yamaha picks one person that wins a prize.  This year they called my number and I won a Yamaha pressure washer.  It was so cool, I have never won a raffle.  My Dad was SO excited!!!!  He can’t wait to use it.

Can’t wait till next year!!!!

HANGTOWN PRO RACE

Last week was the pro motocross race at Hangtown.  My family and I were excited to get to the track, see everyone and watch some amazing races.

First I saw my friend Kelly at the Wienerschnitzel pit.

After practice was over I went over to Yamaha to hang out with the guys on the Yamaha team.  I was able to visit with a lot of my friends walking by.  The team had me help them dial in Coopers bike…. your welcome!

Then it was time to get a seat for the main event.  Lucas Oil gave my family some really awesome tickets.  It was really cool of them….BUTT….. does their pit area have to be at the top of the tallest hill?  Good thing I brought my own 51 Fifty Energy Drink, or I might not have made it to the top.

The Lucas Oil spot was an awesome spot to watch the races.

LORETTA LYNN REGIONAL RACE AT WASHOUGAL

Because I was hurt a few months back I wasn’t able to qualify to race in the Los Angeles Loretta Regional race.  So, this last weekend my parents and I drove to Washougal Washington to try to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s.

We parked right next to the track and we watched all the different classes riding on the track on practice day.

It had rained in Washington during the week and the weather was in the 90’s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so the track was very hard and slippery throughout the weekend.  They kept putting water on top of it because of the heat and people were having a hard time getting through the track and especially on the whoops.

On Saturday I raced 85 7-11 Limited which is a stock 85 class.  There were 26 bikes in that class and to qualify I had to get in the top 4 for the day.  In both my races on Saturday I had really bad starts.  See…

I had to work my way through a lot of racers to try to get up to the front.  While I was passing people the front racers were stretching out and I was doing my best to work through as fast as possible.  I was able to finish both races in 3rd place which gave me a 2nd place overall finish.  This is a picture of me in the top 5 tent after the race.

On Sunday I raced 85 7-11 Mod.  After the bad starts I had on Saturday, I was ready on Sunday to get great starts and be up front battling for the lead.  I came off the line in the first race and had a great start I was in 3rd place going up the hill and then my bike jumped into neutral and I almost went over the bars.  I put it back into gear and kept racing around the turn in 4th gear and then the bike went into neutral again.  I wasn’t able to jump any of the jumps or go too fast because the bike would keep going into neutral and I didn’t know if the bike was going to go forward or stop.  I finished the race but with each lap I would get passed by riders that were clearing the jumps.  Something had broken in my transmission and my hope to finish in the top 4 was over in that class.

I was super upset that I wasn’t able to qualify in the mod class and very excited that I was able to get a ticket in the stock class and will be able to race at Loretta Lynn’s.

When I got home from Washington it was like Christmas……I had deliveries from Von Zipper Goggles, DVS Shoes, Lucas Oil, and 51 Fifty Energy Drink.  Thanks for all the great swag, I have the best sponsors!!!!!

See you next weekend at the races!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day….and say Thank You to all past, present, and future military!

I know that Memorial Day is to honor the people who have died serving our country and it is very sad that there has been so many.

Now that I am older, and my brother-in-law is in the Army and my sister lives in another state, I know a little more about the sacrifice everyone in the military makes.  It is sad that so many great people died to protect our country.

A FEW RED, WHITE AND BLUE PICTURES

 THANK….

YOU…

FOR…

YOUR…

SERVICE !

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

BLUE PARTY!

This week my parents threw me a Blue Party.  It was a party to celebrate my new Thousand Oaks, Yamaha contract and all of my other sponsors for the 2015 race season.  We had so much fun and a ton of my friends and family came to the party.

We had so much fun and a ton of my friends and family came to the party to celebrate.

We had a blue cake and a blue chocolate fountain… it was really cool.

Many of my friends were able to come over and we ran throughout the house, it was so much fun.

My Dad and I also messed around a little.

Huge THANK YOU to everyone that showed up for the party and to all of my 2015 sponsors!!!

LETS GO RIDE!

 

THE ROOTS MX DIGITAL MAGAZINE

The people at Lucas Oil have put together a really amazing digital magazine.  After the race at Mammoth Mountain I spoke with them and we discussed an article they were writing for the Mammoth issue.  The magazine is really awesome and the things you can do with the magazine is so cool!  Because it is online and digital you get way more from it than any traditional magazines.

The magazine has over 100 pages of pictures, articles, videos and information about everything dirt bike racing.  The pictures are awesome, the articles are really cool, they have videos you can watch right in the magazine, and links that can take you directly to other sites.  As you look through the magazine just run your mouse across the magazine and the links are highlighted that will take you to hundreds of different websites.  With the way they put in videos and links, the magazine is totally interactive.

In the last ISSUE #3 MAMMOTH MOTOCROSS they have a featured article about me.

Issue #3 on Page 84 and 85 is an article that I wrote for the magazine.  Although I won one of my other races at Mammoth, the article is specifically about the race I finished in second place and the pass/battle for the second place spot.

You have to check out TheRootsDigital.com to view all the past issues of the digital magazine.

To see my article go to HunterCrossArticle for issue #3 to read about my race at Mammoth on pages 84-85

On page 113 of issue #3 make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the next issue of The Roots Digital Magazine!

Thank you My Lucas Oil for putting so much time into giving us the amazing digital magazine.  Can’t wait to see what is coming next.

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.

 

CALIFORNIA CLASSIC AMATEUR NATIONAL RACE

This last week I raced at the California Classic Amateur National race at Glen Helen raceway.

The event was ran by 2X Promotions and was a lot of fun.

This event was run different than most races because it was a 3 race format.  instead of racing each class only two times, it was the best out of three races.   Glen Helen is famous for the “Talladega” first turn and the “Mt. St. Helen” hill.  (Picture of me on the starting line looking up the Talladega turn – picture thanks to MyLucasOil.com)

When the races started I found that my mod bike was not running the way other bikes were on the track.  I decided to run my stock motor in all classes because that motor pulled more where I needed it to.  Because I had already raced the first race on the mod bike, I had to continue the other races in that class on that bike frame.  After each race my Dad had to switch the motor and suspension from my stock frame to my mod frame so I could race the correct bike frame in the correct class.  First my Dad had 6 races between my classes to make the switch and then after that race he only had 4 races to make the switch back.  My Dad worked so hard each day switching my bike back and forth so I could race.

My Dad had some help a few times he had to make the switch.  Ryan Cuhna let my Dad use his work area to make the switch, Pax engines and Nost suspension also gave my Dad a hand with the switch.

On the second day I finished first in my race and I got to put my bike on the podium and get interviewed.  Because my Dad only had 4 races to make the switch he had to take my bike to get started and Wes Kain (the announcer that interviewed me) put me on the bike stand for the interview.

…..and my Dad was back working on my bike again.

I was able to finish every race on both my 65 and my 85 classes in the top 5.  I was under the tent after every race.  My 85 races were totally fun also….  my old bike didn’t get the best starts but on a hard passing track I was able to make moves, ride hard and finish consistently for 3rd.

The last day of racing I was in first or second going into each of my 65 races.  Whoever finished each race in front would take the overall.  Although I rode as well as I could, I just missed the overall finishes I needed.   My bike was not running well and because we had to switch motors so quickly we didn’t have any time to actually work on the bike to see what was wrong.  When the races were over my Dad found that my power valvue was broken which meant that I was really down on power.  With the huge hills that they have at Glen Helen, I am thinking I am lucky I was able to finish each race where I did.

I ended up overall            2nd – 3rd – 3rd – 4th place finishes.

Jimmy from Fly Racing has been at each of the national races I have been at and have watched and cheered me on at every race.  Thank you for helping me look FLY and for the continued supports.

Lucas Oil was there supporting all of us riders.   If you are not already using their products, you have to get some!  My Dad says it is awesome.  Go to http://www.mylucasoil.com

2X promotions did an awesome job at the event!  I loved the medals we got for each win, they were so awesome and the trophies were also different.  Always cool adding different trophies to the collection.

Thank you to all of my sponsors, friends and family that cheered me on from home and support me consistently.  And of course the 51 Fifty Energy Drinks were flowing…..