NEOC Round #3 Irish Valley May 25th Race Recap!

Rround # 3 of the North East Off-Road Championship Series took place this past Sunday at Irish Valley MX Park, the same location of the 2nd Round of the East Coast Series which was held just two weeks ago. The weather was absolutely perfect and the track nearly resembled the same set up as the East Coast course. There were some additions and subtractions to the track but there were still lots of rocks, mud holes, roots, ruts, hill climbs, down hills, parts of the motocross track, open field sections and endurocross sections as there were two weeks ago. The NEOC runs a split race for amateurs in the morning and pro and semi-pro in the afternoon. DHaggs Sr. decided to jump into the morning race so that he could be a spectator for the afternoon race and help out our Pitman. Despite having some bike troubles right off the bat he put in a really good run and ran a hurried speed for a good portion of the race. He was running at the top of his class right up to the last lap when his leg decided to start cramping up which gave him some trouble pushing on the last lap. He managed to press on and when he got the checkered he finished 6th in his class.
I ran in the afternoon race and I got a terrible start. My bike didn’t start on the first kick so I had to double kick it and I was dead last to the first turn. That’s two bad starts in a row at this track! Since I was in the back it was extremely hard to see when we got onto the motocross track and into the field sections. The dust was blinding and at times I couldn’t even see my front wheel so I was forced to slow my pace a bit. As the dust settled along with my bad attitude about my start I managed to get back on pace and focus on going fast. Not only was I trying to go fast but I was trying to limit my mistakes to very few. It wasn’t till about the 3rd lap when I took a different line that I haven’t before and it turned out there was a huge draping tree vine there and it hooked my radiator shroud. I tried pulling it off but it was stuck, I gave it a good tug and it finally came off. It ended up cracking my shroud which surprisingly wasn’t noticeable till I examined the bike after the race. From then on I didn’t make any huge mistakes - didn’t stall the bike or get stuck, although a lapper did stop in front of me on a hill climb and that held me up for a good amount of time. There were some little mistakes here and there but for the most part I was charging and pushing ahead. The fourth lap I felt like I was racing the track and I felt comfortable on it, enough to push a little harder than I usually would. Not that I don’t usually push hard but I guess you can say I was riding a little out of my comfort zone at times, just trying to get relaxed while going faster than normal.
I made it a goal for the day to squeeze in an extra lap since Stoner passed me last race. Read the recap below and it will explain. I charged extra hard as the race clock ticked down and I saw him across the field; I wanted to get the white flag. He didn’t pass me this time so I was back out on the 10ish mile course for a fifth lap. On the fifth lap my hands were starting to get sore from blisters and I was starting to feel the wear and tear of the brutal track. I still had some endurance left so I managed to keep pushing till the checkered. The NEOC runs a two hour race plus one lap so I think that I was racing for 2 hours and 20, 30 minutes? I’ll know exactly when they post the results. I picked off 2 more positions on the last lap and I finished in 7th for the day. I’m happy with that but I still need and want to be more competitive. I am getting faster and I know that I have the conditioning program to allow me to push for the whole race. I need to put everything together and keep it consistent. I’ll try it again next weekend when we head to Franklin County for the South Penn Harescramble - Round #3 of the East Coast Harescramble Series.
Special thanks to my wife for coming out to show her support and take some awesome pictures. And Pitman Jimmy B was on hand again, and like always he manages to show up the other pitman around the track!
I would like to Thank my Sponsors: 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