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Wow, well I will start. Collin had to work Sat. morning until 12:30 pm., race starts at 2:00 pm and google says its an hour and a half drive. Well luckily he got off 13 minutes early that gave us time to sign up before the AA guys started. The only place left to line up was under the trees next to the ribbon or out in the pasture. Collin picked the trees and the shade, which proved he is not as clueless as I assume he is. The 4t starts quick and he goes into the trees in about 5 fifth. Collin said before the race, since he and Remy (#304) were fighting for first and second in the points he would just follow him since he didn't have a chance at a practice lap. That worked out well and he followed Remy the first two laps. When he got to the open he saw the opportunity to pass Remy and jumped inside him on a hard turn where Remy left the door open. Collin and Remy raced hard and got to 2nd and 3rd. Remy banged bars and tires for a couple of laps and then went down. Jesse had gotten away from them, but the #392 was coming hard and finally worked his way around Remy after he got his goggles situation figured out. Collin came in with two to go knowing that the 392 was coming. Collin knew he would have to leave it all out there on the last two laps to stay in front of the 392 and then would have to run two laps or lay up and take third and hopefully not run the 8th lap.

It was funny listening to Collin after the race, talk about doing the math on the trail knowing he would have to run 8 laps if he didn't lay up on lap 7. The #77 was laughing also commenting on Collin racing through the woods doing math in his head at the same time. I must admit, I was entertained myself.

We were disappointed that the #34 struggled a little today. Mark had a great race at WR1. The #311 had brake problems, but promised a challenging run on Sunday riding dads 350. Sunday should be just as exciting.

I would also like to say congrats to Scott #72 on his first win today. Go get another tomorrow Scott!

Big congrats to Jeremy Stretz #244 on his first win in the A class. He had an awesome race keeping out of Jadan's #7 dust as best he could and finally passing him, leaving Jadan to finally eat his dust.

Also, happy to see my old man, Mark Shafer #34, out there kicking up some dirt with my brother, Jared Shafer #311. Dad must have shed a tear when Jared finally got around him. I know this race wasn't his cup of tea but I think, like myself, he enjoyed spending quality time with the race family.

Big thanks to Leigh Letellier for setting up a great race. There was nothing anyone could do about the dust but suck it up and keep moving forward. (I know I sucked up quite a bit after I hit the ground during my race.)

Also, another round of applause for Dan "the Man" Johnson for being a great leader and example for all of us racers. This series would not be here without you, Dan. I appreciate everything you do to set up each race. We don't know how much work you do behind-the-scenes.

Also, shout-out to Jeff Kash #854 for letting me use his bike as a stepping stool on Saturday in the creek section. I'll remember to not be so nice and say "sorry" and instead be more aggressive and push you out of the way.

Anyways... time for bed... Anyone else tired?

I had a great time racing this weekend, the double header was pretty cool and I was impressed with the turn out. On Saturday I had my best race of my life I had about a 5th place start and made a couple of quick passes and stayed in 3rd the rest of the day all by myself it didn't really set in how good I was riding until about mid way through when I could still see jadan and Brandon out on the grass track never could make up any ground on them. Sunday was a different story I fell on the first lap and that was the start to the end of my dusty day. Congrats to Jeremy Stretz on his first A class win! And holy cow those C guys were flying both days!

Ryan Grun #255

Note to self - Always type these up in some other place in case your browser somehow crashes.

I'd like to echo what Lauren said and thank everyone for the course set-up, the concessions, and land owner for putting on a great race. It can be difficult sometimes when the weather won't cooperate and you find yourself trying to manage the dust. Leigh and crew did a great job Sunday to make the necessary adjustments before & between races to try and keep everyone safe out there. The sweep riders were in dangerous places slowing riders down and that short little strip Leigh mowed just before scoring on Sunday was a great addition for the second race to keep speeds & dust down on that long straight.

Saturday:
My race went a lot like Grun's did. I got a decent start and just hung around in Issacs dust for a few laps. I had a nice view as Kasey flipped his bike over one of those short and steep uphill’s coming out of the creek. Everyone stacked up at the top of the hill and I’m sure he ran into the rear tire of whoever was waiting at the top, it stopped his momentum and he was stuck trying to ride it down backwards! Didn’t work out so well for Kasey that time as he had to muscle his back around to get it facing the right way, sorry Kasey!

I was surprised to see how far ahead Issac was everytime we got to the grass track section. Judging by the dust I was getting in the woods I was almost certain I was right behind him and yet he was always a good 2-3 corner ahead of me. I finally got by him after his front end washed out in a corner on the grass track section. I rode alone in 4th pretty much for the remainder of the race. I could feel Issac and Brennen closing the gap on the last lap and just did what I could to keep them in the dust. It ended up working out and I finished 4th.

Sunday:
I was glad I walked a bit of the start with my brother - Brad, Kasey, and Ryan because we came up with some pretty good lines to get us up front from it. I got a decent jump off the line and headed into the first corner with the pack. Saw my brother go down in slow-motion next to me, I think I watched just long enough to see him bounce back up to his bike before I kept going, sorry bro! Glad nothing major happened.

Back to the race - I took a great line that we had scoped out at the start and cut immediately right as we got into the woods and ended up in 5th. I also watched Ryan peel off and come across the grass track with another line we had scoped out but I forgot about and he ended up just in front of me. Followed the group through the grass track sections and tried to make a pass on Ryan just before heading into the woods. I got around him for a moment before I overshot the next corner and he dove back underneath to hold 4th.

We cruised in the same order until the first east/hard hill with all those fingers running up it. Ryan washed the front end just before the log and ended up on the ground. I was able to run in the groups dust for the remainder of the first lap. Got some luck with Thomas Mack pulling off in the grass track section to check something with his bike early lap 2 that put me in 3rd with Brandon and Jadan in front of me. I ate Brandon’s dust for a little bit before I saw him running down the trail back at me after he missed a corner out in the woods. It was probably the easiest corner to miss as it was coming around a sweeping left, there was a small log laying across the trail that you had to hit just right, otherwise it shoved you down another trail like a de-railed train. Kudos to him for finding his way back onto the trail safely without cutting any off.

I ran the next few laps trying to chase Jadan down from inside his dust cloud and just as I made it up to his rear-fender on lap 4 he pulled off to fuel up! That may be the only saving grace to having a 4-stroke, getting those good mpg’s. I was able to ride a fairly mistake free race to the finish, stopping twice –once to check if my bike had any bailing wire in it (I swore I heard some weird noises), and the second to get some fresh goggles from the lovely Laurentheracer! Thanks to everyone that was cheering me on throughout the course, it felt great and kept me fresh to the finish. Feels good to get that first A class win, thanks again!

Worked this one. Man there's a lot of time putting one of these together and pulling off a great race. As said above, hats off to Dan and everyone behind the scenes. A friend and I ran sweep and course clean for about 6 hours or so. I think I was more tired after working a race than racing in one. We had trouble getting an injured rider out during the 2nd practice on Sunday. He was injured in the first race. We clogged up the trail at about mile 3 with a quad for a half hour or so. Jeremy pointed out that sweeps were in some bad spots, I hope I was not one of them. Something to address at the next race.

Bottrigg wrote: Jeremy pointed out that sweeps were in some bad spots, I hope I was not one of them. Something to address at the next race.

I think he intended the comment as a positive one,that sweepers slowed riders down and improved safety,but I could have misunderstood.

slomojo wrote:

Bottrigg wrote: Jeremy pointed out that sweeps were in some bad spots, I hope I was not one of them. Something to address at the next race.

I think he intended the comment as a positive one,that sweepers slowed riders down and improved safety,but I could have misunderstood.

I believe you are correct.

swedishfishmx wrote:

slomojo wrote:

Bottrigg wrote: Jeremy pointed out that sweeps were in some bad spots, I hope I was not one of them. Something to address at the next race.

I think he intended the comment as a positive one,that sweepers slowed riders down and improved safety,but I could have misunderstood.

I believe you are correct.

Yep, I meant that as a compliment! The sweep riders were set-up at potentially dangerous places and did a good job slowing us down and pointing us in the general direction of the trail through the dust clouds, nice work!

My brother and I walked the start finding optional lines, I got the hole shot and was riding way out of my class for the first 1 1/2 laps. That's When I got on the front brake to hard and tucked the front end under in a rut. Ok I was riding a little bit cocky.

Settled down felt real comfortable and started to make my way through the pack. I started in the 500's and mixed it up with a few 200 riders before it was over. Great day took first in the 500's and looking forward to the next race.


Thank you to everyone for making this a great event.