Alan Stillwell & I pinned it out of Colorado way too early on Friday morning and cruised into Vegas 12 hours later. I had no idea how hot it was getting outside until I reached for the air conditioner to turn it up and I realized it was already on max! We rolled into the Orleans Arena and found out pit. Many thanks to Lance Bryson (EnduroCross marketing director) as he set up the Stillwell Performance Team in an amazing spot-front and center next to the Factory KTM boys. My teammate Nicole Bradford and I unloaded our bikes and I decided to make sure our jetting was spot on- I found that it is in fact possible for your eyeballs to get hot when the air temperature is 113 outside, and that was at 8 AM!
After the track walk and riders meeting early Saturday I lined up for the first practice. I was entered in two classes, Open and Expert/Pro. I would need to qualify through the elimination rounds in the morning in order to make it to the main event(s) Saturday evening-the Big Show!
Open practice went well, I was clean through all of the obstacles and I was confident that I could improve my speed. First Expert/Pro Class practice I tried pushing a little harder but crashed and backed things down a little. We shot video of practice and Alan & I made some minor suspension changes that really made a big difference. The second practices were timed to determine gate pick and I ended up with the second fastest Open time and the third fastest Expert/Pro class time in my groups. We were stoked!
From start to finish, every time I went onto the EnduroCross track it was a learning experience. In the Open race I was trying to go fast, but in the wrong places. I am learning that, for me time is gained on the small obstacles and the corners and whereas I was focusing on coming into and through the large obstacles faster, that just resulted in me getting the worst arm pump of my life! I like to think I am in pretty good shape and at the end of an 8-minute qualifier I couldn’t even pull in the clutch! I finished 3rd, one spot out of a direct transfer so I would have to do the Last Chance Qualifier. I ended up winning the LCQ, which put me into the main event for that class. In the Expert/Pro Class qualifier I got a good start and ran near the front the entire race. I finished third which sent me directly into the night program but it was obvious that I needed to find some sprint speed.
The night program for me now seems like a blur! I finished 22nd fastest in the Expert/Pro hot lap competition, you ride one lap as fast as you can and your time is compared to all the top factory guys to determine gate pick. My Open main event was the very next race after my Expert/Pro class qualifier so while running 7th in that I decided it might be a good idea to relax a little and save myself for the Open final. The Open main was so much fun and for sure the best race of the night for me. I got a decent start and was running 3rd battling with 2nd and 4th. The guy in first place had a few seconds on us early in the race. I was a little slower than the guys I was battling with but I didn’t make any mistakes and it seemed like they were crashing left and right. On the final lap the leader crashed in the matrix section with only a quarter of a lap to go, this gave me an opportunity for the win after I had passed for second a lap earlier! However where he crashed balled me up and I lost a couple seconds. Just enough time for second place to come in and slam me in the rock turn! I had made a poor line choice and you can bet I won’t do that again. So I fell in the rock turn last lap giving up first and second and finishing in 3rd place! Classic EnduroCross. I think I almost gave Alan a heart attack, but the whole team was really excited to finish on the box!
The Expert/Pro class semi was a few minutes after the Open main so I had some time to catch my breath. I had a bad starting position and a bad jump off the line. They took the top 3 to the main and I believe I was running 5th for a portion of the race, battling with Factory Husaberg rider Nathan Woods. I don’t remember exactly what happened through the race but Woods had a spectacular crash in the matrix right in front of me! I finished 7th and failed to transfer to the LCQ so my night was over.
I am definitely pumped for the next round in Oklahoma and I plan on being well prepared. 3rd overall in my first EnduroCross race ever is not too bad and I think I have some potential at this type of racing. We headed home on Sunday morning and I am spending the next two weeks preparing for WORCS week in Washington! I won the 450A class championship there last year and I would sure like to do it again. I will to let you know how it goes!
Ian #107
Thanks to my sponsors:
StillwellPerformance.com, ThumperTalk.com, KTM, Fay Myers Motorcycle World, TheORC.com, OffroadChampions.com, Motorex, Rhino Stand, Fly, AXO, Bell, Easton, Topar, Rekluse, Race Tech, Carbon Raptor DLC Coatings, Enduro Engineering, Steve Hatch Racing, Mapleton Hills Orthopedics, Harris Used Parts, OrangeJuice.com, IMS, FMF, ZLT, Rampart Drywall, Aactive Satellite