Ballard 2 Race Reports

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shredder
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Ballard 2 Race Reports

#1 Post by shredder » Sun Jun 29, 2014 8:46 pm

I arrived Friday and set up. I looked out the back and Dan had some old woman pinned to the ground and lots of very LOUD, .....uh talking let's say. I finally figured out it was mother nature when her face turned red when Dan had her in a 1/2 Nelson and she tapped out. I knew we would run the race now. After she left it just poured down in buckets and then stopped. One drop more however and I don't think it was going to happen.

I got a bad start. Dead last ( only thing I was best at today ). I chugged it at the start. My video goggles wouldn't turn on so I gave up and just put them on, adjusted my glasses underneath and BOOM, last off the line. Lap one I messed up an uphill line and got pinned for a bit and finally figure out a way to crawl out down hill. Seth Thomas shows up on the scene doing sweep and together we got the bike up. Already overheated I removed my goggles, which I regretted later. (stay tuned).

Once up I had to go off road for about 40 feet to get back on the track and spun out on a log and once again fell downhill. I ran to prevent falling but the second step I took was just air. I did a front somersault and fell six feet into a creek bed ravine and landed on my feet. It hurt my back some but I didn't have time for that. I took a second to digest what happened, turned around and see a solid limestone wall facing me. I'm thinking is this for real? I look up at Seth and my bike still running on it's side, gas pouring out all over me through the vent tube. I found a small hole in the small cliff face and only with Seth's help was I to get back up and over the sharp cliff edge. I'm six feet tall and Seth's feet were at least 12 " above my head. Totally a Grizwald moment. Dan jinxed me. (You can't make this stuff up!)

I get going and running hard and start picking them off. Did ok till that greasy section that never tacked up. A guy wipes out and blocks the path. I refuse to wait because I have a lot of ground to make up so I give it more throttle, hit the hill and go to the right and around the pine tree. The front wheel takes care of everything low, I duck and a branch grabs my visor and glasses and pulls me back. I noticed at that moment the sun was trying to break through the clouds as I looked skyward. It shredds my face and eyelids and they still sting even as I'm typing this now. Ouch.

I keep pushing and make it in to do one more lap. My wife Stacey at scoring says "go get him...you can do it, go". I turn my head and feel absolutely nothing, so I stop and look back one more time, "you can do it....GO!" ...I turn around and my body finally behaves and I was able to catch up to a classmate and pass. Kept going and HOLY COW!! DON'T SELL THE FARM YET CAUSE I SEE OL JORRAY! Holy moly it's on now. He is riding well balanced and coordinated but not aggressively. I stay back a bit and dang it we saw each other in a tight turn and he hits the afterburners. We go and go and battle like the pink slips are on the line and work on waiting and finding a way to get past him. Great feeling for sure. He hesitated and bobbled slightly and I pulled the trigger and the coveted 4th place was mine....off I went.

I thought he was long gone but no! I caught him so close to me he was either checking the carbon build up in my muffler or he was drafting me! As we continued our down hill decent he kept maintaining his speed which I knew would be a mistake when we hit the bottom at the hard left hander. I can't shake him. At the downhill off camber turn in the greasy section so I go long and use the berm and Jorray took a chance with nothing to loose and got up on his tank and just squeaked by taking all those slippery roots by letting his bike drift down without loosing momentum. Nice pass man and well executed. He did have a lot of mud on his boots and myself being such a tidy man (keep my wife outta this - don't be asking her ANYTHING!) I tried to knock off some his mud with my tire but I just couldn't get in there. Rode him hard! Even got on the back of his bike and tickled him but he stood solid. I couldn't get into his head and make him screw up. He can race. I freight trained him to scoring for 5th. Way to go sir! Now that's racing!

Jadan end - uh oh ed AGAIN (quit scaring me ok?) and got some epic creek bed water skiing thing going at one of the crossings and I can't wait to see pics of that and glad your ok.

Seth I owe my race today to you. To look up at you from the bowels of hell in a gasoline shower I can't believe only the two of us got that situation fixed and me racing again. Danno owes you double dividends for that. I know I must have pulled your arm out of socket getting that old man back up on top. thanks.

Got a knock on my door and met Aaron - the guy I got tangled with at last race. I thought he moved over because of my scorched earth riding style but he said....nope, flat rear tire. I was all over and I saw you so I moved over like I did for everyone else... well poop. .. (what an ego deflater...oh well). Great guy and I saw him at this race on my comeback but this time I was very, very patient and passed so cleanly that my dentist would have been proud.

And I'm sorry but someone has put time limits on my posts now and the music is starting to play.... so I gotta go but Today Mr. Stickney kept it clean, made very few mistakes, kept moving and pulled out a second place! Good work my man!

Well I gotta go and figure out what to put on my face to stop the stinging. Any expression about anything breaks the now forming scabs and I look like I tried to break up a switch blade fight between my sister and my Mom! (ouch!) :wink:
Last edited by shredder on Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Dennis Tschirhart - #1000 something


If your going to scuff it, scratch it, crack it or break it, always do the best job you can!

Btrigg88
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#2 Post by Btrigg88 » Sun Jun 29, 2014 10:40 pm

740's chauffeur didn't quite make it. We were down for the count about 50 minutes away. It's an extra crappy feeling knowing everyone is lining up while you are standing on the side of the highway.

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Brian Trigg
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shredder
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#3 Post by shredder » Sun Jun 29, 2014 10:45 pm

Oh man, that sucks. I'm sorry. I was looking hard to find you and bs a little. If I parked any closer to Dan he woulda had to pull his canopy in to make room for me. I knew Id find you if I was parked at scoring. Now I know. :wink:

It's all good!
Dennis Tschirhart - #1000 something


If your going to scuff it, scratch it, crack it or break it, always do the best job you can!

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Pumpkinpatch
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Ballard 2 Race Reports

#4 Post by Pumpkinpatch » Mon Jun 30, 2014 10:28 am

Wow. I'm going to keep this really short so that I don't come off like the proudest bragging papa ever.

"My kids" did awesome this weekend.
Jared won the B class, 10th overall. The kid is flat hauling.
Jeremy won the A class, 5th overall. He might be bleeding orange now. He earned that win. Both he and Ryan Grun looked toasted at the finish.
Lauren rocked the Roger Lerette 300XCW Rekluse beast and got 4th out of 16, 36th overall!
Brad watched me fall on my face and ran at the front of B after that.

What a cool outing.

Me? I'm still around.
I holeshot the B class then performed a digger about 3/4 way around the first lap while running behind Scott and Jared who'd exercised the proper "ahem.... get out of the way old man" earlier in the lap. Of course the whole class rode around me. I had to pick my way back up through.
The 250 2 stroke worked a lot better than my 350 at that place.
I chugged my way around and finished 5th in class, 17th overall.

Big thanks to Letko Cycles. We had the factory look with the new canopy and the two new bikes to display.
Dan pulled off another great event. You are indeed "the man". Thank you sir.
Mark Shafer
Rider #511 FMHSC
Proud Papa of #60 & #5

Thanks to #pumpkinpatchracing, Letko Cycles, MSR, EVS, DeCal Works, Atlas, 100%, Motorcare, HeavyD, DT1, Mika Metals

E.A.
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#5 Post by E.A. » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:43 pm

My RACE = bike locking the motor up on starting line. :(

Guess 250+ hours on the stock stuff was a little to long to go. :). Looks like the piston or exhaust valve came apart.

Matt yates c-vet adv rider was kind enough to let me ride his bike for a lap. Just so I could not get a DNF, and feel a little better about making the drive. Thanks so much man!


Don't know if I can get it fixed by Friday :( oh well that's racing.
2015: #tbd
2014: #609 C (1st)
2013: #801 Sportsman (1st)
2012: #913 Trailrider (10th)

2001 Honda CR250r
2012 KTM 300XC

2014 KTM 250SX-F (Sold)
1999 Kawi KDX200 (Sold)
1982 Honda CR125r (Sold)

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jstr244
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#6 Post by jstr244 » Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:26 pm

Thanks for the shout-out, Mark. That was one of the most difficult races I've ever competed in. First through third didn't get separated by more than about 15 seconds around the entire 6 mile course from start to finish. We all led a lap, and we all made mistakes which costs us spots. Not only was it physically tough, you had to be in it mentally every lap as well. Nice job to Ryan and the new A-classer, Logan who almost whooped us both with two flat tires.

The race started great with the 300 pulling another holeshot, I just got to the first corner before Logan and the rest of the field. With the lead my main focus was in trying to keep a good pace while staying upright. That lasted until about 3 miles in when I got hung up and nearly went down on a tree root that was across the trail (you all know... that one tree root that was at a 45 degree angle to the trail... :lol:). That let Logan and Ryan get around me before I got going. We ended up finishing the first lap with that same top 3.

About a mile after the finish I was able to close up on Ryan and Logan. Ryan was putting the heat on the Logan and forced him into a mistake at the 180 turn around the gate. Logan lost the front end and went down, he was quick to have the bike back up and going but not quick enough as Ryan and I made our way around him. We finished lap 2 in that order, Ryan leading with me and Logan close behind.

Lap 3 was like lap 2, only I was trying to put the heat on Ryan as he led. It took a few miles for him to make a mistake. Ryan took a bad line through the brush and I was able to capitalize and snuck around him on the outside which set me up for the inside of the next corner. I made sure I had a wheel on him and held off his counter. There was still a lot of racing to be had, but I wanted to try and break away from Ryan and Logan as quick as possible. Needless to say, that didn't happen.

Laps 3-6 were rough, I'd pull a small gap on Ryan/Logan only to have them close back up on me a littler later in the lap. I was fortunate to not make many mistakes while they were close enough to strike, the other classes we came up on were doing great at sliding off the trail and didn't hold me up much, and I was able to hold on to the finish for the win.

Thanks to everyone for the cheering and motivation. Also, thank you Tony for pouring some cool water on me through scoring.

The second race was a blast to watch as well! Got to see part of Shredders race report in his last place start :P and my wife, Lauren rip around on Rogers 300XC-W (w/Rekluse) to a 4th place finish! Thanks Roger! Now we know for sure what bike is next for her!

As always, a special thanks to Dan Johnson, the Smiths, and land owners for putting on a wonderful race and dealing with the elements of mother nature along the way!
Jeremy Stretz #244
'13 KTM 300 XC
Thanks to:
PumpkinPatchRacing
Malcolm Smith Racing (MSR), Dunlop Tires, EVS, 100%, Maxima Racing Oils, Letko, Donnell's Motorcycles, Cycra Racing, & Decal Works

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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#7 Post by KaseoDip » Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:59 pm

Alright Jeremy talked me into doing a race report. First off we got to the race around 9 o'clock and went on a practice lap and oh boy was it slick! I instantly knew I was going to struggle throughout the race.

The first lap was awesome! Got a terrible start (stupid 4 stroke) but managed to pass both Thomas Mack and Brandon Ladd before we even cut across scoring right off the start. Shortly after you go blasting down that straight away, I passed Jaydun Johnson after he managed to go over the bars. I was pumped! Of course Macon was already gone and I never saw him again. I was just happy to be running 2nd overall but I could tell I was a little sketchy. Jadan passed me and I followed him the rest of the lap.

The second lap was a little stressful. Passed Jadan back right off the start of the lap but Brandon was right on my tail. I could tell by how fast he caught up to me that he was on rails. I tried keeping him behind me but I stalled my bike and he got around me.

The third lap was just a boring lap riding by myself.

The fourth lap was AWESOME! Had my first ever head on collision with a guy who was going backwards. And of course it was on a straight away so I couldn't have been going much faster when I hit him. Luckily we are both ok.

The fifth and six laps were both pretty boring. Nothing exciting happened. I really thought the track conditions on the last lap were PERFECT. Would have been cool if it started that way. I'm just happy to have gotten a top 3 overall position the last two rounds.

Sorry for any typos . On my phone

Working Drexel but BRING ON CHANUTE!
Kasey Oehlert
It's QuesoDip. Like the cheese.
2012-A Class: #210
2013-A Class: #8
2014-A/AA Class: #20/111
2015-AA Class: #3

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Pumpkinpatch
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#8 Post by Pumpkinpatch » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:57 pm

Nice report kaseeeee.

Also, to continue the theme of I'm proud.
Jared....leading points.
Lauren.....leading points.
Jeremy....yup. Leading points.

Cool beans. What a year so far.
Glad to be back in KC to be first hand witness.
Mark Shafer
Rider #511 FMHSC
Proud Papa of #60 & #5

Thanks to #pumpkinpatchracing, Letko Cycles, MSR, EVS, DeCal Works, Atlas, 100%, Motorcare, HeavyD, DT1, Mika Metals

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shredder
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#9 Post by shredder » Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:58 pm

Pumpkinpatch wrote:Nice report kaseeeee.

Also, to continue the theme of I'm proud.
Jared....leading points.
Lauren.....leading points.
Jeremy....yup. Leading points.

Cool beans. What a year so far.
Glad to be back in KC to be first hand witness.
Hey bartender.....give me a double of whatever they're having....double quick too... :wink:
Dennis Tschirhart - #1000 something


If your going to scuff it, scratch it, crack it or break it, always do the best job you can!

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Laurentheracer
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Re: Ballard 2 Race Reports

#10 Post by Laurentheracer » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:16 pm

Thanks Dad and hubby for the shout-outs! I'm proud of my family and friends who did so well at Ballard last weekend.

It was awesome watching the first race. When all was said and done, everyone convinced me it wasn't slick anymore and I'd be fine. Go race. So, I did. I raced Roger LeRette's 300 XCW. Thank you Roger! I had a pretty good start, 3rd into the woods. I was able to keep that spot for a while until I made a mistake or someone else made a mistake. I remember seeing the guy who wears the sleeveless shirt stuck in the mud section. He was stuck there for two laps. :shock: I came in 5th on the first lap and pushed my way forward again to 4th. 3rd place let me by on the last lap but, unfortunately, I made too many mistakes that took away my energy and I gave it back up. I really don't have a great race report but I just wanted to thank those that pushed me to race. I was worried it would be too slick, things really tacked up but it was still a little slick.

Thanks Dan for putting on another great race. This will be the last tight woods race for a while. I'm going to be needing a 300 on Friday at Drexel to get my ripping down the soccer fields!
#80
Thanks to my sponsors: Jeremy Stretz #244, Mark & Jonette Shafer #311, Motocross Ladies, Letko Cycles, 100% Goggles, Maxima Oil, EVS Sports, Fly Racing, DeCal Works, Gaerne Boots, Bell Helmets, Atlas Brace, DP Brakes, Larry Beardsley CPA, Innerzyme, and AutismMX

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