MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN RACE

My first big race back from my accident was this week.  The race at Mammoth Mountain is like a mini Loretta Lynn race, everyone goes to this race…. and this year was the 50th anniversary so it was bigger and better than ever.  We had to drive all the way around this year because roads were still closed from all the snow that we got this year.  We stopped for some fun in the water and snow on the way to and from Mammoth…. it was really cold!

The next day was Father’s Day and my Dad spent the whole day working on my bikes and getting everything ready for the race…. He is the best!

I tested my bike on the road a few times just to make sure we got the jetting the best we could.  The elevation is so high on the mountain we have to change all of our settings from what we run at home.

Practice day went well.  Worked on getting my flow down on the track and fine tuning the motor.  I couldn’t wait to get on the line and race!

I was really lucky to have Josh Boykin with Boykin Suspension spend a few days with my family and I and make sure my bike was ready for each race.  Josh worked with Dom and I before each moto and my bike never felt better.  I really appreciate all your help and hard work Josh!

I had a lot of my sponsors at the event to support me… Thank you Yamaha, 2X Promotions, Fly Gear, Scott Goggles, and so many others that I didn’t get pictures with like Leatt, Dunlop, Mylucasoil, Americoresmx, Addictionindustries, Mika, etc.

The first day of racing I was in the top 3 in every race.  It was really cool to be on the line with so many awesome racers and be able to battle up front with them.  The track was awesome, and I was really happy with my results because I feel like I am still getting back up to speed.  I finished day 1 with Heat race 1st and 2nd and main event 2nd and 3rd place finishes.

Day 2 the track got a little more rough and my lap times got a little faster.  I didn’t have better results but had even better battles than the day before.  Finished the Heat races with two 2nd place finishes.  I finished one main event with a 3rd and the second main event I got the hole shot and was out front but crashed really hard.  I crushed my pipe all the way in and my throttle was totally broken.  I was able to battle back from 26th to 8th place.

After my races my family and I did a video testimonial for Leatt.  They wanted to have myself and my Mom and Dad talk about my accident when I broke my back and how because of the neck brace and chest protector I was able to get back on my bike and ride this race.  I’m not too sure how the video is going to turn out.  I did my part and told them what happened on my bike.  Then when my Mom and Dad told their part, both my parents cried which made all the film crew and Leatt reps cry, which made me cry.  I didn’t realize my parents were so upset about everything.  And my parents said that it was really hard to talk about because they have never told the full story out loud before…. and it has only been two months.  I guess I will have to update you all and let you know how that turns out. lol

I also did a video shoot for Yamaha up in the trees.  I always like to talk about how much I love my bike!

I also want to thank the Vacarello family for letting us share a cabin with you.  Always fun hanging out with friends.

Now it’s time to get ready for Loretta’s!

 

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.

 

2 WEEKS OF RACING

In the last two weeks I have went to two races that were both ran by 2X Promotions.  The first race was a Loretta Lynn Area Qualifier and the second race was a Mammoth Qualifier. The race two weeks ago (The Loretta Lynn Area Qualifier) was at Porterville.  I had never been to Porterville before and I was excited to race on a new track.  Practice day was great and I was able to learn the track and find some good lines.  Just after practice it started to rain, and rain, and rain.  Normally when it rains here we cancel races, but because this was a qualifier for Loretta Lynn it had to be ran the next day.  In the morning the track was completely soaked the starting line was under a huge puddle of water. After several hours of working on the track racing started to begin just after lunch.  The track was still very muddy and many big bikes were getting stuck in the middle of the track and not able to complete the race.  They decided to have all little bikes race on a back supercross type track that didn’t get as wet.  It was really crazy because we all lined up side by side and had a flag start instead of a gate start. The track was really tight and we were able to go fast and have some great racing.  It was totally different and really fun.  I was able to pull out the overall win in my 65 class.

This last week the Mammoth qualifier was at Hangtown and it was an awesome event.  A ton of people showed up and all the classes had big gates and really good racing. The track got really rough and it was super rocky.  The start was really important because if you had to pass someone you would get hit with huge rocks and it really hurt.  I had a couple bad starts and because of it I had huge bruises on both of my arms.  It was hard to pass on the track but much easier when I was able to get out front.

In my 65 class I was able to race for two overall 1st place finishes.

In the 65 race I got a 3rd place finish and a 4th place finish which gave me a 4th overall.

(love my new Fly Racing gear)

Lucas Oil was at the event and gave out products to all the winners.  They have been at all the 2X racing events and my Dad loves not only the oil but all the products they have. Now it is time to get ready for the next race.

MAMMOTH QUALIFIER AT COMPETITIVE EDGE

Last weekend I went to LA to race the Mammoth qualifier at competitive edge.  The weather was really nice and I was excited to race.

The first round of racing was a little rough for me, but thankfully I was able to turn it around for the second round.

FIRST ROUND:  In the 65 Age class I didn’t get the best start off the line but I was able to quickly move through the pack and as I was passing for the lead I crashed pretty hard.  I was able to get up and going but could only finish in 3rd place.  The next race was the 85 Age class.  All day the starting gates were delayed and several riders throughout the day would get stuck in certain gates.  As I started my 85 race my gate didn’t drop and I got stuck.  I was really far back by the time they got my gate to drop and I was able to fight back to 3rd place.  In my last race of the first round I had the 65 Open class.  Everything started off great and I was pretty far out front when my tire clipped over a jump and I crashed really hard.  My bike was stuck on me and the pipe burned my arm.  After someone came and helped me get the bike off me the handlebar was stuck in my neck brace.  I was finally able to get up and going again and got back to 4th place.

SECOND ROUND:  The second round of racing I was ready to put some solid races back together.  I finished all three races in 1st place!

My finishes for the day was:  65 Age Third and First for an overall 1st.  85 Age Third and First for an overall 2nd.  65 Open Fourth and First for an overall 2nd.

I want to thank the 2X Promotion team for their help and support throughout the weekend!

MY….ROAD TO MAMMOTH 2012 (part 2 of 2)

Now that I was able to get to the track I was really excited to ride. Practice went well and I quickly learned the track. The track has a concrete start and right out of the gate you start a small climb that leads right into a huge up hill and then a really fast down hill. It was a really fast track and throughout the day it got really rough and I had to make sure I picked good lines.

Then it was time to race. Throughout practice my Dad worked hard to get the bike jetted correctly because of the high altitude. Although the bike got better, it wasn’t 100% and I struggled a little with top end power and then low end. I got really good starts and I was able to battle but with my motor not as good as the other riders I was able to pull out a fourth and a first in my class with gave me a second overall. In the open class, out of a full gate I finished fifteenth and thirteenth. My Dad spent the afternoon working on my bike and we know that I would be ready to go for day two.

The next day of racing my bike was running a lot better and I was ready to ride. My Dad and i worked on different sections of the track and i got ready to race.

In the first race I didn’t get the best start and I battled to the front and finished in a very close second. In the next race I made sure to make the pass to take the lead to finish in first and it gave me a first place overall finish in my age class. In the open race I finished in ninth and eleventh which gave me a tenth place overall finish. In all of my races I had pretty good starts, had great battles with really fast kids, and I was able to finish each race on two wheels

 
I finished the race in first place and as I was coming off the track I was stopped to give a TV interview. It was my first ever race interview and I was very excited to be able to thank my sponsors and tell them about my race. I was interviewed for TV twice during the races and it was really cool!

I was able to get to the podium four times winning two little bears and two big bears. I got 2nd place from day one in my age class, 10th place from day two in the open class, 1st place from day two in my age class, and 1st place for the overall Road To Mammoth race in my age class.

 
I GOT INTERVIEWED ON THE PODIUM EACH TIME AND IT GAVE ME A CHANCE TO THANK MY SPONSORS!

THANK YOU
MOM, DAD,AND MY SISTER
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA
51 FIFTY ENERGY DRINK
ME – MOTO EFX
BOSS SUSPENSION
DRAGON GOGGLES
CYCLE GEAR
INTERO
I COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT     ME-MOTO EFX    AND    51 FIFTY ENERGY DRINK

MY….ROAD TO MAMMOTH 2012 (part 1 of 2)

A few months back I raced in Los Angeles and qualified to go to the main event race in Mammoth Lake. The Road To Mammoth, two week event, is the oldest running continuous running motocross event in the USA. The track is located 8,000 feet up in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range and the track is only utilized for this one event each year.

We loaded the family into the Moto van and headed to Mammoth. We were all really excited because we had to drive right through the middle of Yosemite and none of us had ever been to Yosemite before. We had a really nice drive through Yosemite, but the ride was cut a little short… The transmission went out on the van and we were stuck on the side of the road with no cell phone service. My Mom had to walk down the road about five miles to get cell phone service to call AAA. Thankfully my parents found Tim that gave them a ride back to the truck and we waited for the tow truck…..thank you Tim

Finally the tow truck arrived

 

 

We had about a two hour delay, we arrived in a tow truck, but we finally made it to our condo in Mammoth.

Our van, bikes, gear and parts were now at our condo but we had to be able to get ourselves and my bikes to and from the race track each day. Luckily Tre and Kai came by our condo and picked up one bike to take to the race for us. Anthony and his Grandpa Ray moved things around and were able to fit my other bike, my riding gear, and my family in their van and we were able to get to the race track. I CAN’T THANK YOU GUYS ENOUGH FOR HELPING ME GET TO THE RACE TRACK. Now it was time to race.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED…..