Funny that people get so worked up over a little scuffle at the mx track while people are murdered nightly in every major city (and some not so major cities) in America and I never hear a complaint about that. I didn't think this was a big deal, but leave it to mx journalism to spin it into something big. This sport is getting more soap opera-like every year.
Anyway, I had a great weekend. The fast youngsters were blazing fast. Chris Aldridge, Justin Hill and Justin Bogle were putting on clinics. Justin Hill had the fastest lap of any pro on Sunday and Bogle absolutely handled Ryno in the 450 pro race. Bogle and Hill are the real deal. No if's, and's or butt's.
I spoke with Justin Bogle after his win and he was such a nice and well spoken kid that I am an instant fan. I cant wait to see what he does at Unadilla when he starts his AMA pro career. His aggression in the corners is amazing. He was railing the horse shoe turn so hard I thought his roost was going to take the fence down.
Justin Hill looked like a carbon copy of his brother Josh on the bike. Jersey flying out the back and super smooth style. I was heartbroken for the kid when his KX250F gave it up during the 250 INT final on Sat. He had his redemption on Sunday though by winning the 450 INT by a large margin. I also talked to him and his parents after the awards ceremony and they're very cool people. Talked about Josh's injury, Justin's career, the fast kids in the PNW and their battles with neighbors and Clark County years ago.
I also really liked some kid named Tilford. He was riding for Vance & Hines Yamaha and Alan Olson was truly giving the kid fantastic support. In fact, Olson was still was tuning on Tilford's bike while the 30 second card was out and the race officials had to remove him before he got drug down the start straight. He is one dedicated individual and his ethic rubs off on the riders.
Here's a quick clip of one of one of Tilford's starts:
ZipTy had a great pit presence and excellent location. I was super impressed with Lanza's ride in the 450 race. He started a little slow, but by lap 5 he had it dialed and was hauling ass. His last corner pass on the last lap had me jumping and screaming and almost tumbling down the hill. The kid is super fast for sure. It did appear that the Husky's were getting pulled on the big hill. The bikes appear to work amazingly well, but they appeared to be down on power vs. the heavy hitters. Hate to say it, but it is what it is..... hope they can find some more power in the new motors.
I heard quite a bit of complaining about Hernandez, especially from the guys staying next door to us whose kids have to race againts him. Hernendez is 21 y/o racing against 16 & 17 y/o kids is the word I heard.
I forgot to bring CF cards for the nice cam (duh), so I had to settle for the point n' shoot.
I wanted a view of the track so I headed up the north hill. I was searching for the perfect spot and then I found a sign. Looks like this is supposed to be my spot!
Standing on Husky rock and enjoying my reward for hiking through manzanita's and sagebrush in my shorts
Lanza on top of the hill
And styling over the last table on mammoth freeway
I had a blast and am going to try to make this a yearly event. I'll try to get up early next year and try to make it into one of the practice sessions as the track is absolutely moto heaven and I'd sell a kidney to ride it.
The smokers were representing too. Someone got 2nd on a KTM250 in the 450 JR class (I think) and was challenging for the win. It was 125 vs 250F's and 250 vs. 450F's... even though I thought amatuer racing was cc vs. cc., I guess not this race though. Got a few more vids uploading, but the internet here is pretty slow. I'll update later.
