The not so good Thunder Valley report.

The not so good Thunder Valley report.

We started the road trip off by hitting a bird in the van which Justin thinks is bad luck. I told him that he was just being superstitious even though I'm the most superstitious person on earth, but what was I supposed to tell him? No, you're done for, turn around? Anyway, we made it to the hotel deal we were staying at and checked in looked at the schedule to see how different it was and went off to bed.

The next morning we got up and got ready to go the track. Luckily we didn’t have to get directions because we got behind the Geico Honda rig so we just followed him to where everyone was parked. After sitting for a while we went to get in line. I got out and walked up to will call, got my wrist band and called Justin to see where he was parked. Well he was parked in the same damn place he was when I left him in the line, so I walked all the way back down and got into the van and waited. We finally got in about an hour later, set everything up and walked the track. The track looked pretty fun, a litle narrow though and you could tell right away if you have ever ridden at night that they did not have enough lighting for the event. I don’t know who rode if before the pros got there but either they were blind and couldn't tell anyways or the people running the event thought they were full of it for telling them there were huge shadows that needed taking care of, but whatever the reason there should be no excuse for not having enough lighting at a PROFESSIONAL event.

We got everything sound tested which is a joke. If you fail it I swear you were trying to fail it but anyway the first practice for the 450b’s got underway and before I talk about it I would like to bring up a rule the A.M.A/NPG/DMG/whoever the hell is running this damn thing now made and didn’t follow. At Freestone they said anyone that made a main would be in the A practice. Talking to some of the riders on the gate that made the main that were still in the B practice were a bit pissed off because even after the A.M.A told them that they were still put in the B practice. If you make a rule especially a new rule during the middle of the season at least follow it.

Ok now on to practice. The first practice for Justin went ok. He did real good and then the green flag came out and it was all downhill. He was a bit upset but who can blame him he was riding really good when it didn’t matter and as soon as it did he wasn't doing so good.



After practice I told him in the next one just to go out and have fun and not worry about all the time bull crap which they shouldn’t do anyways. Everyone should have to RACE to make it into the main not go out and win practice. Anyhow he seemed up in spirits because a lot of friends were there to watch him and Justin Buckelew told him to do a one hander and have some fun as well. So we got the bike ready for the next practice and waited.
The next practice he did 2 starts and then it was time to put in his fast lap. He was running good


and from my stopwatch was going to be close to getting a qualifying position when like I said before he got into a section of the track and hit a big kicker you couldn't see on the smallest jump. He went over the bars and the bike came over landing on him.




Ironically the next day they put up portable lights in this place but man I really wish they had them for the first day.



The Asterisk guys were there really fast and he somehow managed to get out that he was ok and ride back to the van where he got someone to put the bike on the stand. When I got to him I asked him if he was ok. He could barely breath or talk but he got out a no and so after that I asked if he wanted to go to the medical place and he managed to get out a yes.

The way he was holding his arm I thought it was his collarbone he broke and hit his throat or something and that’s why he couldn't breathe, but it turns out it was his ribs and he felt a bit more comfortable with his arm in a retarded position. We got to the medical rig and they pulled up his shirt to find red marks and sticking out ribs. They checked everything and said we need to call in the Doc and at this point I wondered what the heck he did. Turns out his blood oxygen level or something like that was only at 90 and it was supposed to be at 110 so Doc Bodner (sorry but I don’t know how to spell his name) said he had to go to the hospital because they were worried about his lung.

Luckily my mom and a girl named Christi flew up to see him race so I could send my mom in the hospital with Justin as Christi and I loaded everything up. We got everything loaded surprisingly quick and got one of the track workers to give us a ride to the rental car they had on his quad. It was the scariest damn ride I have ever been on the guy dumped the clutch and almost lost me, my hat, and my camera. We made it to another guy on a golf cart who had no lights and was also pretty crazy and got in with him. We were going down the hill to the Red Bull bridge they made and I kept thinking he was going to slow down. He never did and we hit that damn bridge so hard I thought it was going to break but it didn’t and we made it to the rental and it was off the hospital.

We made it to the hospital to find out they had already done X-rays, given him a pretty good shot of something and found out he had 5 broken ribs but nothing wrong with his lung but they still wanted to keep him overnight. We did as we were told because ribs hurt like hell to break and the next morning we got him released. I gather he is one tough SOB because I would have called it a trip and gone home but he said we came all the way out to see some racing so we were going. We watched the first moto of the 250f and 450 class and he was looking very pale so we left for the hotel and called it a day.

Sadly, we have to throw in the towel for the rest of the year but I’m sure we will be back next year to do some more of these things. I want to end my blog by saying one thing and that is that Justin never gave up. No matter what the odds, how hot, how cold, or whatever he always gave it his all even in Texas where it was 200 degrese and he was having no fun he never gave up and as his manager/mechanic/team mascot/everything else that’s all you can pray for. That’s what every person at the track wants is a rider who gives it his all and that’s what I had. So even if we do end this season on a bad note, in my heart I feel we end it on the best note anyone could.