Idaho State Championship Series: Round One, 21, 22 March, 2009.
This weekend I raced in the first round of the Idaho State Championship Motocross Series. The first round was held at Boise’s own, “Owyhee Motorcycle Club”. This is the first of eight, two day rounds that will have me traveling to various locations throughout Idaho.
The action started on Friday afternoon. Fridays are open practice day for all of the riders. This
allows us to get a few laps in on the track, test and tune and get some of the kinks worked out
prior to the first gate drop on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny and the track was is excellent condition. I was riding my 2009 Project Filter backed YZ250F. This was only my third ride on the bike so I spent the afternoon getting comfortable with the set up of the machine as well as studying the track. Everything went well and by the end of the session I was feeling really comfortable.
Saturday morning was an early start; the gates opened at 6:00 am and first practice was scheduled to begin at 7:00. This practice allows the riders to take a couple of laps, after the track
is prepped, to find out if there were any changes made and to get the blood pumping for the
day. It was a great turn out for the first round. There were right around four hundred riders,
some traveling from as far away as Salmon, Idaho.
We are seated into classes based upon how we sign up on our entry forms. The classes are
available and determined by, the size of bike that you ride, your age and your ability. In this case the four hundred riders were broken down into twenty two classes, or twenty two motos as they
are called. Once the schedule is set, we each prepare to ride two motos for the day. This is the
reason for the, “early bird”, start. With this many races, the events can run well into the evening
and they have to be over before it gets dark.
I was scheduled for moto #5, I like being in one of the first motos because I am always anxious to get the first one going and the track is always in better shape at the beginning of the program.
The butterflies were going pretty good as I worked my way to the start line. As I waited in the
staging area I had several people ask me about the Project Filter logos on the bike, which gave
me the opportunity to share some information about the program.
Before I knew it, the gate was up, the thirty second board was sideways and I was off and
running for my first race of the day. I came out of the first turn in second place, my Project
Filter Yamaha was running great. I was having a little trouble getting into the groove, I bought a
new neck brace and the helmet that I was wearing was not working well with the brace. It really
limited my maneuverability. My wife, Ann, told me after the moto that I didn’t look as loose
and comfortable as I usually do. I faded a little, to finish fourth. I was happy with the ride and
just figured that I needed to turn the heat up for the next moto.
Like I said, it is great to ride in one of the first motos but it all works out the same because
everyone has to wait several hours for the second moto. In motocross, everyone rides two motos for the day. A specific order is set and each class is ran through the first round of motos, a short
intermission is given to all the track workers and then the order starts over for the second round of motos.
For the second moto I made a few adjustments, changed helmets and came out with my race face on. My Project Filter Yamaha jetted me to the front of the pack right off the start and I led for the first two laps. The competition was fierce and the pressure was on. I ended up finishing
fourth in the moto. My combined score for the day put me in third overall for the finish. It was
a long day of racing, I left the enclosed trailer at the track and headed home for a hot shower about 7:30 pm.
Saturday evening Mother nature decided to open up the skies and let it rain. When I awoke Sunday morning it was pouring down. Motocross is a tough sport and events are very rarely
cancelled because of inclement weather. I arrived at the track about 6:30 am and discovered that the plan was made to run the winter track because the track that we rode Saturday was
completely flooded from the rain. The winter track is mostly sand, deep sand and sits on a South
facing slope which allows for riding and racing throughout most of the winter months. Practice
was delayed an hour for track preparation, which no one complained because it was needed. The
race order is switched on Sundays to give the classes that had to ride later in the schedule a
chance to ride at the front of the program.
Since I was in the fifth moto on Saturday, I was scheduled for the eighteenth moto for Sundays program. Mother Nature threw a little bit of everything at us; it was a quite a bit colder on Sunday and we had more rain, wind, a little hail and clouds most of the day. There were a few riders that threw in the towel, they loaded there toys and left but the SmokeFree83 Team was fired up and remained on scene.
My first moto got underway about 1230. The cement start pad was wet from the rain and I got
quite a bit of wheel spin out of the hole but still managed to pull a decent start as we barreled up
the 200 yard sandy uphill straight on the winter track. I felt good and it was a solid moto with a
firm fourth place finish.
The second moto came quickly; the races always seem to go faster on Sunday afternoon. I lined
up on the inside of the start gate, the sun helped us out a little bit and things were beginning to
dry up. I got a good start and avoided a major pile up as we headed up the sandy uphill. I was
running in second place and seemed to be closing on the leader, there were several of us that
were freight training around the track together. I came in to a tight, deep rutted sandy corner a
little to fast and as I hit the rear brake my timing was off. The bike stalled in the middle of the
corner. Two riders shot around me as I tried to restart my bike (four strokes can be a little
temperamental when they are hot). A full lap had almost gone, by the time I got back in the
action but I held it together for a fifth place finish, “That’s Racin”. I finished out the day with a
fourth overall. Round One is over and “WOW”, what an incredible weekend. I was proud to be
in representation of Project Filter and I am looking forward to a great season.
Round Two has the Smokefree83 Team traveling to Glenns Ferry, Idaho. It is said that the sun always shines in Glenns Ferry and I know that they always put on a great race so I am looking forward to it…….
This weekend I raced in the first round of the Idaho State Championship Motocross Series. The first round was held at Boise’s own, “Owyhee Motorcycle Club”. This is the first of eight, two day rounds that will have me traveling to various locations throughout Idaho.
The action started on Friday afternoon. Fridays are open practice day for all of the riders. This
allows us to get a few laps in on the track, test and tune and get some of the kinks worked out
prior to the first gate drop on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny and the track was is excellent condition. I was riding my 2009 Project Filter backed YZ250F. This was only my third ride on the bike so I spent the afternoon getting comfortable with the set up of the machine as well as studying the track. Everything went well and by the end of the session I was feeling really comfortable.
Saturday morning was an early start; the gates opened at 6:00 am and first practice was scheduled to begin at 7:00. This practice allows the riders to take a couple of laps, after the track
is prepped, to find out if there were any changes made and to get the blood pumping for the
day. It was a great turn out for the first round. There were right around four hundred riders,
some traveling from as far away as Salmon, Idaho.
We are seated into classes based upon how we sign up on our entry forms. The classes are
available and determined by, the size of bike that you ride, your age and your ability. In this case the four hundred riders were broken down into twenty two classes, or twenty two motos as they
are called. Once the schedule is set, we each prepare to ride two motos for the day. This is the
reason for the, “early bird”, start. With this many races, the events can run well into the evening
and they have to be over before it gets dark.
I was scheduled for moto #5, I like being in one of the first motos because I am always anxious to get the first one going and the track is always in better shape at the beginning of the program.
The butterflies were going pretty good as I worked my way to the start line. As I waited in the
staging area I had several people ask me about the Project Filter logos on the bike, which gave
me the opportunity to share some information about the program.
Before I knew it, the gate was up, the thirty second board was sideways and I was off and
running for my first race of the day. I came out of the first turn in second place, my Project
Filter Yamaha was running great. I was having a little trouble getting into the groove, I bought a
new neck brace and the helmet that I was wearing was not working well with the brace. It really
limited my maneuverability. My wife, Ann, told me after the moto that I didn’t look as loose
and comfortable as I usually do. I faded a little, to finish fourth. I was happy with the ride and
just figured that I needed to turn the heat up for the next moto.
Like I said, it is great to ride in one of the first motos but it all works out the same because
everyone has to wait several hours for the second moto. In motocross, everyone rides two motos for the day. A specific order is set and each class is ran through the first round of motos, a short
intermission is given to all the track workers and then the order starts over for the second round of motos.
For the second moto I made a few adjustments, changed helmets and came out with my race face on. My Project Filter Yamaha jetted me to the front of the pack right off the start and I led for the first two laps. The competition was fierce and the pressure was on. I ended up finishing
fourth in the moto. My combined score for the day put me in third overall for the finish. It was
a long day of racing, I left the enclosed trailer at the track and headed home for a hot shower about 7:30 pm.
Saturday evening Mother nature decided to open up the skies and let it rain. When I awoke Sunday morning it was pouring down. Motocross is a tough sport and events are very rarely
cancelled because of inclement weather. I arrived at the track about 6:30 am and discovered that the plan was made to run the winter track because the track that we rode Saturday was
completely flooded from the rain. The winter track is mostly sand, deep sand and sits on a South
facing slope which allows for riding and racing throughout most of the winter months. Practice
was delayed an hour for track preparation, which no one complained because it was needed. The
race order is switched on Sundays to give the classes that had to ride later in the schedule a
chance to ride at the front of the program.
Since I was in the fifth moto on Saturday, I was scheduled for the eighteenth moto for Sundays program. Mother Nature threw a little bit of everything at us; it was a quite a bit colder on Sunday and we had more rain, wind, a little hail and clouds most of the day. There were a few riders that threw in the towel, they loaded there toys and left but the SmokeFree83 Team was fired up and remained on scene.
My first moto got underway about 1230. The cement start pad was wet from the rain and I got
quite a bit of wheel spin out of the hole but still managed to pull a decent start as we barreled up
the 200 yard sandy uphill straight on the winter track. I felt good and it was a solid moto with a
firm fourth place finish.
The second moto came quickly; the races always seem to go faster on Sunday afternoon. I lined
up on the inside of the start gate, the sun helped us out a little bit and things were beginning to
dry up. I got a good start and avoided a major pile up as we headed up the sandy uphill. I was
running in second place and seemed to be closing on the leader, there were several of us that
were freight training around the track together. I came in to a tight, deep rutted sandy corner a
little to fast and as I hit the rear brake my timing was off. The bike stalled in the middle of the
corner. Two riders shot around me as I tried to restart my bike (four strokes can be a little
temperamental when they are hot). A full lap had almost gone, by the time I got back in the
action but I held it together for a fifth place finish, “That’s Racin”. I finished out the day with a
fourth overall. Round One is over and “WOW”, what an incredible weekend. I was proud to be
in representation of Project Filter and I am looking forward to a great season.
Round Two has the Smokefree83 Team traveling to Glenns Ferry, Idaho. It is said that the sun always shines in Glenns Ferry and I know that they always put on a great race so I am looking forward to it…….
