I 70 Eastbound from Denver must rank as one of the most boring drives in the world.
Stillwell Performance Pro rider In Blythe and I were barreling down the interstate headed for Round 2 of the National EnduroCross Series in Guthrie, OK just outside of Oklahoma City.
I had been warned that Oklahoma in the late summer could be hot and humid, but we were just not ready for the blast furnace that hit us when the van doors were opened! Man it was hot, and the humidity had you feeling like you were living in a sauna.
We were stoked for Round 2, Ian had put in a very solid ride at the first round to take 3rd overall in the Open class in his very first National EnduroCross. We had learned a lot from the first race and were anxious to see what we could do to improve our finish.
Adding to the excitement were brand new KTM 350 & 250SX-F’s in the back of the boxvan. KTM Racing and Fay Myers Motorcycle World have stepped up to support the Stillwell Performance team for 2010 and 2011 and we had just taken delivery of the 250 on Thursday. Ian had picked the bike up, went straight to the track for break in then right to the shop to race prep the bike.
We had already tuned on the 350 suspension over the past 2 weeks, so we took the revalved forks and shock and swapped them over to the 250 for the race. The new SX-F’s are linkage bikes and this would be the first off road race for us with the new design. We had raced the 350 at a local MX race with our other Pro Eric Decker the weekend before and had been happy with the bikes development as Eric brought home a pair of 4th overall’s in the Pro class.
The Lazy E Arena is huge by EX standards, almost twice the size of the first round in Las Vegas. In addition to the normal minefield of off road obstacles, there were enough high speed MX jumps and whoops to make it interesting. The guys with motocross backgrounds could have a bit of an advantage here.
Ian rode both the Open and the Expert/Pro classes. The Open class has it’s own main event in the evening if you make it through the elimination qualifiers during the AM. The Expert/Pro races also whittle down the field in the AM-if you make it to the night program you get the chance to line up against the factory boys.
Practice went well, the 250SX-F is a perfect fit for his riding style and our suspension setup was good right from the start. We fiddled with shock adjustments during practice but in the end stayed with our original setup.
The open qualifier was his first race. The top two transfer straight to the main event in the evening. Ian got a great jump off the line and scored a perfect holeshot. He rode flawlessly and gapped second place by 5 seconds to take the win! The bike was working great and we went into the afternoon “hot lap” session feeling strong.
Hot laps are my favorite part of the schedule. All the riders (the morning qualified guys and the top 20 factory supported riders) get one lap by themselves as fast as they can go to see who can log the quickest time-which also determines starting pick for the night qualifiers. Ian had a relatively clean lap and ended up just inside the top 20 overall times-pretty good for a kid in his second event!
We worked on the bike during the break, my good riding buddy Tony Atkinson was there to help in the pits and that was a big plus. Aside from the super hot temps and the humidity all was good heading into the “Big Show”!
Ian’s Open Main Event was the race right after his first Expert/Qualifier, which had Factory KTM rider and current EX Champion Taddy Blaziuak and Factory Kawasaki rider Ricky Dietrich in it. Our strategy was to ride the EX/Pro race hard if he was in a position to transfer, if not then take it easy and find some good lines for the Open Main. Ian was running third for a bit behind the factory duo until a collision with another rider knocked them both down, and put us out of qualifying position. Ian wisely backed it down in preparation for the Open Main.
We were pumped for this main-out of ALL of the Open riders Ian had turned in the fastest qualifier time, which gave us first pick on the gate for the final. We lined up far inside, he got a so-so jump and came around the first couple of turns in 5th. Ian made some really quick passes and moved into 2nd before the soon-to-be infamous rock turn, CARNAGE CORNER! Before carnage corner there was a long straightway with a 9ft. tire jump and a loose firewood section that was giving everybody fits all night. Ian got alongside the leader and went to cut inside of him in the rock corner. The leader tipped over, dropped his bike on Ian’s front wheel just as the pack plowed into him from the rear. What ended up was a 5 bike pileup that would make a NASCAR driver cringe. Ian ended up on the bottom of the pile with almost everyone getting away. First to last in less than a lap! Major bummer! Ian caught a few guys by the finish but was out of the fight.
The night went downhill from there. Ian had eaten something before the night races that didn’t quite agree with him and spent the time after the open main getting rid of it at the corner of the pits, if you know what I mean. He crashed a few times in the Expert/Pro semi, finishing out of a transfer position and our night was over.
All in all it was a successful race. A qualifier win, and the overall fastest Open time is a great accomplishment in just two tries.
Ian has a chance to ride and train with National #2 Geoff Aaron (who lives close by) leading up to the next round in Indy and is pretty excited about that.
We’ll be back!
Keep It Pinned,
Alan