NEOC Round # 2 April 27th Race Recap!

Round #2 of the North East Off-Road Championship took place this past Sunday in Millville, NJ at the Cumberland Valley Fair Grounds. It has been 30+ years since a motocross race has been held on these grounds so needless to say when you pulled into the parking area you could sense excitement in the air. With a couple of rain showers throughout the night a cloud covered sky lingered throughout Sunday morning. The week’s previous weather was dry and the few showers made for absolute perfect racing conditions. Regardless of the weather all the riders anticipation was focused on the “enduroX” sections that laid within the fair ground boundaries. I must admit that, though the effort was greatly appreciated, I was a bit disappointed with the EnduroX section. There were a few hills with logs running parallel to the ground on the front side, and there were some small log sections that you could snake through, and there were some small table tops and some big whoop sections. The track was a bit on the shorter side as well but the organizers did the best they could with the land they were provided. It was a fast track with nothing really to hard to separate the field. It was all flat with a bunch of S-turns, straight aways, long sweeper turns, and a bit of woods. It was really one lined and since we were racing in the Jersey sand it got chewed up right away. It reminded me of Flying Dutchmen, the track I dislike so much that it isn’t even on the schedule for this year.
Off the starting line I had a really good jump; I just missed grabbing the holeshot by one bike. The line got off clean, made a hairpin left turn and then a sweeping right turn, through the scanner and off to the backside of the grandstands. I at least held onto second for these couple of turns and then we hit the sections were you made a bunch of S turns. Everyone just took off like they were sprinting for one lap. Turns out that these guys are really fast and on a track like this there was no stopping them. The whole race was pretty uneventful for me. I was back in the pack by the first lap and after rolling through the scanner I just put my head down and try to set a pace. I had to pit about half way through so Pitman Jimmy B and his trainee for the day, Pitboy T. Schully were on hand to dump my gas. For the second half of the race I felt great physically but mentally I was struggling because I just couldn’t get over how the track reminded me of Dutchmen. I really can’t wait to get on an open trail with some nice hill climbs, rocks – and I mean some rocks, not boulders, and some places on the trail where you have to make some critical line choices. It wasn’t until the last lap that I was able to pick up a couple of places putting my in 11th for the day. Yes I was one away from cracking into the top ten but I know that I’ll get that goal shortly. As far as the long term goal I want to keep progressing and at least keep trying to show these guys a wheel even if it’s for a little bit. It’s frustrating being out there at this level and knowing that your racing for mid pack results, but I guess racers have all been here before. Realistically, I just started riding dirt bikes five years ago, and racing harescrambles a year after that, so I’d hope that this level of competition would be all that it’s hyped up to be. These guys are the best, the best below the pro level and I might not be able to run with the pack yet but I’m giving it my all and soon enough I’ll see some improvement. With that said lets look forward to next week.
Racing resumes next week at a very technical track – Evensville MX Park. Last year was the first time racing at this track and it is very challenging and somewhat fun. It’s such a tough track that the AMA picked Evensville for the second round of the Junior National Harscramble race which will be held on Saturday. On Sunday we will be racing in Round #3 of the PA State Harescramble Series. Then the following weekend we will be headed to Millfield, OH for Round #6 of the GNCC Series.
Thanks again to Pitman Jimmy B and Pitboy Todd for making the trip to help me pit. They really worked great as a pit crew and took some great pictures and even some video which will be up shortly.
I would like to Thank my Sponosrs: DHAGGS Harescramble Racing, MSR Racing, Scott Powersports, Kenda USA, DP Brakes, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Decal Works, Twin Air, IMS, Devol Eng., FMF, TM Designworks, Cycra Racing