Well, once again my son and I ventured to the Arkansas state border to compete in the Thunder Series at Ascot Park. We had to leave a little early to stay in front of the storm line that was coming down from Kansas. I was looking forward to the drive down because mx547 and his daughter were going to join us. But that wasn’t to be, mx547 called me and PM’d me on the Friday before to tell me that he had to go back to the hospital due to some complication with his recent surgery. I think he is OK; I am sure he will respond to this post and let us all know. We stopped at the go-cart track on the way down and had some competition this time. This stop at the go-cart track is almost as much fun as MX racing… …almost…
The track was in awesome condition, much better than the previous round. The rain had not yet hit and the rain held off all night! The track operator had changed the whoop section to a small double/double/single section. This was much better then the 30” tall whoops (6 total) at the last round. He also put in a finish line double and built up some of the other jumps.
My 11 year old son had a great start in the first moto. He came out of the first corner in third place. He was on the gas and had a very aggressive riding posture. Well, he was so pumped that he fell on the first lap and could not get his bike started. When I heard the announcer say that #44 had fell, I was in a dead sprint to the location, in my boots! I did not see his fall and he later told me he pulled a wheelie coming out of the corner after the double/double/single section and lost control. He said that he almost got it back, but bailed at the last second. When I got to him he was breathing very hard and I asked him if I could start his bike for him. He handed me the bike, I got it started in one kick and got him on his way. He finished in 8th place in that moto, but his riding was awesome! He was getting air on all the jumps trying to catch back up and his riding posture was much different then the previous races. He was in the attack position the entire moto! His second moto was good as well. He got a fourth place start and was in fifth place for the entire last lap before being passed at the finish line jump. He had 8/6 moto finishes for a 7th OA finish. He was very tired after the second moto. He told me that he was not going to quit when he fell in the first moto, he wasn’t going to give up those points in the series. He said he wasn’t going to be a quitter. I think that statement made me the proudest that night.
I (once again) finished 5/4 in +40 for a fourth OA. I was (once again) happy with my motos. I was getting the hang of the double/double/single section toward the end. I did not have good starts, but I can always gain a few positions in the first straight-away when everybody bunches up on the inside. I held off Dion in the second moto till the 4th lap. He was talking to me on the uphill straight when he went for the pass. That is the first time I have had a fellow racer talk (yell?) to me during a race. Kind of weird…
The track was in awesome condition, much better than the previous round. The rain had not yet hit and the rain held off all night! The track operator had changed the whoop section to a small double/double/single section. This was much better then the 30” tall whoops (6 total) at the last round. He also put in a finish line double and built up some of the other jumps.
My 11 year old son had a great start in the first moto. He came out of the first corner in third place. He was on the gas and had a very aggressive riding posture. Well, he was so pumped that he fell on the first lap and could not get his bike started. When I heard the announcer say that #44 had fell, I was in a dead sprint to the location, in my boots! I did not see his fall and he later told me he pulled a wheelie coming out of the corner after the double/double/single section and lost control. He said that he almost got it back, but bailed at the last second. When I got to him he was breathing very hard and I asked him if I could start his bike for him. He handed me the bike, I got it started in one kick and got him on his way. He finished in 8th place in that moto, but his riding was awesome! He was getting air on all the jumps trying to catch back up and his riding posture was much different then the previous races. He was in the attack position the entire moto! His second moto was good as well. He got a fourth place start and was in fifth place for the entire last lap before being passed at the finish line jump. He had 8/6 moto finishes for a 7th OA finish. He was very tired after the second moto. He told me that he was not going to quit when he fell in the first moto, he wasn’t going to give up those points in the series. He said he wasn’t going to be a quitter. I think that statement made me the proudest that night.
I (once again) finished 5/4 in +40 for a fourth OA. I was (once again) happy with my motos. I was getting the hang of the double/double/single section toward the end. I did not have good starts, but I can always gain a few positions in the first straight-away when everybody bunches up on the inside. I held off Dion in the second moto till the 4th lap. He was talking to me on the uphill straight when he went for the pass. That is the first time I have had a fellow racer talk (yell?) to me during a race. Kind of weird…
