Evansville April 26th Race Recap!

Round #2 of the PA State Harescramble Series took place this past Sunday in Berwick, PA at Evansville MX Park. For my first official race of the season it wasn’t a good time for the first heat wave of the spring to hit. Temperatures reached over the 90 degree mark making for a hot day under the helmet. I got a great jump off the start, third into the first turn. We ran on the motocross track for the first half mile and then they dropped us off a cliff into a mud bog valley that sits in between the two mountains. First time through wasn’t so bad but after the rest of the 200 riders had a chance at this section it made for a struggle for the remainder of the race. The rest of the track was similar to last years set up, winding across and up and down the mountain side which was filled with roots and rock. This track probably has one of the most awesome up hills on any course that I have ever raced on. In some spots there was even the occasional soupy mud section that seemed to sick really well to the bike. After a couple miles in the woods the track ran for a couple miles in the field with lots of breaking bumps and some nice off camber sections, before we were back on the motocross track and through the scanner. The field section was rough – it was so dusty it was hard to charge because I couldn’t even see if anyone was in front of me, it got worse as the day went on and the dust berms formed. The first couple of laps I felt good but I knew that I was off the pace. I needed to pick it up and get back into the swing of things for the year. Practicing every week is great but nothing compares to race pace and that is something that you can only experience on race day. I lost some time on the 3rd lap when I was forced into a bad line in the mud bog and got stuck. The ruts were so deep I got off my bike and it was just standing there by itself. I went to kick start it but the kick starter was hitting the side of the rut so some spectators had to help me wrestle my back tire out of the soupy mud to start my bike. After losing time at this section of the track I tried to push for the next couple of laps but then that’s when the heat factor settled in. I do not do well with heat and I’ve tried everything, like you’ve read here before, so I did what I normally do and just kept going and pushed where I could. I rolled solo to the first round so I didn’t want to go crazy since I had to get myself home. I worked my way up to forth place but was about three minutes from third so I knew that I lost that time in the mud section. At about 1hr 50min mark the white flag came out and I lost a spot on the last lap leaving me in 5th Place when I came through the scanner for the checkers. I’ll take it for the first race considering I felt like I was riding in an oven. It’s a good start and I’ll keep the momentum rolling right into the hometown race in Skippack this Saturday. The race starts at 1:00 and it will be nice to see everyone who’s made this a yearly tradition.
Big thanks to mechanic DHaggs Sr. who got my bike ready for me during the week. I was really happy with the set up - suspension, tires, sprockets, and it looked shinny too!
I would like to thank my sponsors for all of your support: DHAGGSRacing, MSR Racing, Scott Powersports, Kenda USA, T.M. Designworks, DP Brakes, Scott USA, TAG Metals, Decal Works, Twin Air, IMS Products, Elf Oil, FMF, Cycra Racing, Regina Chains, and MotoSport