Round #2 Race Recap

Round #2 of the PA State Harescramble Series was again held at Dutchmen MX Park in Pine Grove, PA. Round #2 was scheduled for Hurricane Hills in Clifford, PA but snow and icy track conditions rescheduled the race back to DMX Park. With the weather report calling for rain on Sunday I thought that we were in for the same conditions as the previous weekend’s race. When we arrived at the complex you would think that we were somewhere totally different. With a sunny and dry week the facility and track were in a breath; appropriate - a good notion to settle the uncomfortable feeling of the overcast sky above. We parked the van and trailer, registered, walked a bit of the track to see what changes were made, got ready, warmed the bikes up and headed to the line. So far no rain in sight but that would change about 45 minutes into the race.
I got a great start, holeshoted the first turn and went into the first field section in second place. The track conditions were completely different; there were no long bottomless muddy straight aways, instead almost concrete like dirt. Besides noticing the numbers on our bikes and the color gear we were wearing, any spectator there would say the biggest difference between last weekend and this weekend was – speed. Since the track was so hard and had some of the same straight aways, the pace of the race increased dramatically. I felt good at the beginning of the race, not so much in a zone but just like I was carrying a comfortable pace. The first couple of laps were spent battling it out with Luke D’Antonio. We would make passes on each other, pull away, catch up, get caught up with lappers, and we managed to keep the same bike lengths between us for a while. The race was going good and like the previous week I was looking forward to the mid way point to make my moves and push to make up some spots. After Lap 4 when I came around the finish and through the scanner I couldn’t get scanned because my barcode came off of my helmet. I knew at this point that the rest of the race wouldn’t matter much because I wasn’t going to get scored. I made sure to try and keep the same race pace as the previous laps so I continued to keep Luke insight. Somewhere in between not getting scanned and the end of the race I saw DHaggs Sr. in the back woods section. Since I was in an edgy “cruise control” we hung for a while and finished out the back woods section. It was the part of the track that, we both learned later, each disliked equally. It was tight, slick, and mostly one lined. Just before about halfway into the race is started to drizzle which was good because it kept the dust down but some of the sections were so hard that it made them slick. I was just happy that it didn’t down pour, a drizzle was just fine during the race. The only other excitement during the race is when Luke’s brother Noah tried to make a pass on me on the white flag lap. I decided that I would rather him finish the race like he started it, behind me, so I made a pass stick on one of the last turn before heading back onto the main motocross track. I look forward to battling with both of these brothers for the remainder of the season; we have some great racing ahead of us!
This week I managed to grind 12 laps out of this track, in only 2 hours and 1 minute, a little different from last weeks 11 laps in 2 hours and 10 minutes. When the results were posted I was surprised that I managed to make the top ten, even better I placed 7th. For not getting scored and setting a pace after the 4th lap, I’ll take it. I learned a good lesson, don’t trust the glue on the barcode, throw some tape on it too. DHaggs Sr. had a good day spliting his class and finishing 8th.
The series resumes in 2 weeks at Foot of the Mountain in Neelytown, PA.
I would like to thank my sponsers: DHaggs Harescramble Racing, MSR, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Scott Powersports, Kenda Tires and Pivot Works!