Here we go with installment number three for the Chili clan at the races. First of all If I am going to continue with these reports I'd like to put a name to my son (Troy) and his buddy (Cody) instead of continually referencing who they are in my posts.
This weeks race was at Shadow Valley Raceway which is one of my favorites tracks here in Manitoba, built on the side of an large hill it offers a couple of nice elevation changes and some interesting terrain we don't see on some of our tracks here.
Troy had asked if I would allow him to run the Supermini class as well as the 80cc 7-12 yo class and I agreed so he would get two more moto's a week to further his riding/racing experience. We had a spectacular day for weather if you like it sunny and hot!
First up for the boys in the morning moto's was the Supermini class and it had a gate of 43 riders, 3 riders had to start behind the line based on a draw, guess they figured this was a better idea than having qualifying to eliminate 3 riders, For staging Cody drew #40 and got the last gate Troy drew #43 and got to start behind the line. Both boys got off to unspectacular starts but rode steady races and other than Troy stalling it twice in 3 laps at the exact same corner a muddy uphill right out of a tight 180 they faired better than we expected for the first foray into the supermini with the older kids, Cody finished 36th while Troy Grabbed 38th. Troy attributed his stalling issue with the fact he had looped out on this same spot the week before practicing and wanted to spare me the cost of yet another set of bars, he's so considerate :)
The 80cc 7-12 yo class was next for the boys and both ran even better in this class with no crashes or stalls, Troy managed 26th while Cody got 28th from a 37 rider gate.
The morning moto's stretched well into the afternoon with several delays waiting for the ambulance to return from taking downed riders to the ER and as a result the afternoon moto's were cut in half to try to get them in by nightfall.
In the afternoon Supermini moto Troy got his best start to date and made it into the first turn in about 15th spot a huge pile up then ensued in the whoops and Troy ended up at the bottom of the pile while Cody managed to avoid the pile up with some adept moves and quick responses. Troy came out of the crash dead last by a large margin and appeared to be destined to finish there since the class had been reduced to a two lap race. Well what happened next was the biggest shock of the season so far for me as Troy rode like mad and appeared determined not to finish dead last and was reeling in bikes like I've never seen before. He managed to get back up to 34th and almost caught Cody for 33rd at the finish line. The even more interesting part of this race was watching how "into" the race he was as he continued on and did a 3rd lap because he didn't notice the checkered flag after lap two :) don't think the 125 junior class was thrilled to watch his parade lap delay their gate. Troy's 38/34 gave him a 37th place overall while Cody's 36/33 gave him a 35th for Supermini.
In the 80cc 7-12 yo afternoon moto both boys got decent starts and made it through the first turn and whoops without incident and then the "Incident" happened on the step up jump on the big uphill climb Troy got a little squirrely on the sandy landing and laid it over before he could react another bike plowed into him on landing sending that rider over the bars and his bike cartwheeling. What an awful feeling as a father to be sitting on the sideline trying to decide if you jump the fence and charge onto the track or stay put and try to convince his mother to resume breathing. The paramedic was at him almost instantly as he was positioned one section over and I could see him trying to convince Troy to sit down and not continue. While he was limping pretty badly Troy wanted to continue and somehow not only convinced the paramedic to let him continue but got him to kick his bike over because his leg was too sore, must be some salesman in that boy somewhere :) Troy managed to finish albeit dead last and his 26/37 gave him a 31st overall while Cody raced a nice race and added a 26th to go with his 28 in moto 1 for a 25th overall.
Fellow DRN member Zook250 who I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to in the pits also put in a nice showing in the 250 Beginner class going 6/2 for a 4th overall.
As for Troy's injury he's got a pretty good charly horse and is black and blue from knee to hip but seesm he will be fine other wise.
Well that's another weeks installment in the books and it's nice to see some definate signs of improvement showing in both Cody and Troy's racing even after only 3 weeks of racing.
This weeks race was at Shadow Valley Raceway which is one of my favorites tracks here in Manitoba, built on the side of an large hill it offers a couple of nice elevation changes and some interesting terrain we don't see on some of our tracks here.
Troy had asked if I would allow him to run the Supermini class as well as the 80cc 7-12 yo class and I agreed so he would get two more moto's a week to further his riding/racing experience. We had a spectacular day for weather if you like it sunny and hot!
First up for the boys in the morning moto's was the Supermini class and it had a gate of 43 riders, 3 riders had to start behind the line based on a draw, guess they figured this was a better idea than having qualifying to eliminate 3 riders, For staging Cody drew #40 and got the last gate Troy drew #43 and got to start behind the line. Both boys got off to unspectacular starts but rode steady races and other than Troy stalling it twice in 3 laps at the exact same corner a muddy uphill right out of a tight 180 they faired better than we expected for the first foray into the supermini with the older kids, Cody finished 36th while Troy Grabbed 38th. Troy attributed his stalling issue with the fact he had looped out on this same spot the week before practicing and wanted to spare me the cost of yet another set of bars, he's so considerate :)
The 80cc 7-12 yo class was next for the boys and both ran even better in this class with no crashes or stalls, Troy managed 26th while Cody got 28th from a 37 rider gate.
The morning moto's stretched well into the afternoon with several delays waiting for the ambulance to return from taking downed riders to the ER and as a result the afternoon moto's were cut in half to try to get them in by nightfall.
In the afternoon Supermini moto Troy got his best start to date and made it into the first turn in about 15th spot a huge pile up then ensued in the whoops and Troy ended up at the bottom of the pile while Cody managed to avoid the pile up with some adept moves and quick responses. Troy came out of the crash dead last by a large margin and appeared to be destined to finish there since the class had been reduced to a two lap race. Well what happened next was the biggest shock of the season so far for me as Troy rode like mad and appeared determined not to finish dead last and was reeling in bikes like I've never seen before. He managed to get back up to 34th and almost caught Cody for 33rd at the finish line. The even more interesting part of this race was watching how "into" the race he was as he continued on and did a 3rd lap because he didn't notice the checkered flag after lap two :) don't think the 125 junior class was thrilled to watch his parade lap delay their gate. Troy's 38/34 gave him a 37th place overall while Cody's 36/33 gave him a 35th for Supermini.
In the 80cc 7-12 yo afternoon moto both boys got decent starts and made it through the first turn and whoops without incident and then the "Incident" happened on the step up jump on the big uphill climb Troy got a little squirrely on the sandy landing and laid it over before he could react another bike plowed into him on landing sending that rider over the bars and his bike cartwheeling. What an awful feeling as a father to be sitting on the sideline trying to decide if you jump the fence and charge onto the track or stay put and try to convince his mother to resume breathing. The paramedic was at him almost instantly as he was positioned one section over and I could see him trying to convince Troy to sit down and not continue. While he was limping pretty badly Troy wanted to continue and somehow not only convinced the paramedic to let him continue but got him to kick his bike over because his leg was too sore, must be some salesman in that boy somewhere :) Troy managed to finish albeit dead last and his 26/37 gave him a 31st overall while Cody raced a nice race and added a 26th to go with his 28 in moto 1 for a 25th overall.
Fellow DRN member Zook250 who I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to in the pits also put in a nice showing in the 250 Beginner class going 6/2 for a 4th overall.
As for Troy's injury he's got a pretty good charly horse and is black and blue from knee to hip but seesm he will be fine other wise.
Well that's another weeks installment in the books and it's nice to see some definate signs of improvement showing in both Cody and Troy's racing even after only 3 weeks of racing.