A Privateers Experience

Thanks to everyone who kept an eye on him today. Not sure where to begin. It was pretty mucky in the first practice and on the last lap he went to 1st in B and 19th overall. We knew it wouldn't hold up as the track dried out for the second practice but it was a great way to start. Second practice came and he was running in the top 5 for most of it then a couple of guys passed his time and he was on the outside looking at the LCQ but saved it again with a good last lap to qualify 35th. Made a couple of tactical errors but will fix them for Muddy Creek.

First moto had a good jump but it is tough to get a start at HP from the outside, especially against that level of talent. He was ran clear up into the fence and started about 35th. Rode pretty well for his first ever thirty plus 2 moto at that level (about thirty seven minutes for him). Left all he had on the track but was really psyched about his finish (as was I)!

Turnaround time is really quick and in less than an hour you are back in staging. He was pretty whipped when he went back up. It's funny, the first moto he was way back and finished 21st, the second he was in the top 10, from the far inside, on the start but didn't have much left to go another 36 minutes. A mid moto problem with his. goggles fogging up (never had that happen before) didn't help. He chucked them with about three laps to go and then caught a guy and passed him with no goggles. At the end he was whooped. Needless to say the load up was up to me.

I was really surprised at how quickly the day goes by. The pace is pretty quick. Practice, wash and prep bike, repeat, moto 1, wash and prep kid and bike, then moto 2. Hydrating through out the day and proper food intake during the program is something we have to work on. At LLs, you have hours, sometimes days between your motos. These motos are an hour and a half apart and about the length of 2 Loretta's motos. Another thing is when the top guys lap you, and they come in bunches, it is kinda scary the difference in speed. The top 5 are on a completely different level. Matt got off the gate with them in moto two and watching Webb, Martin and some of the other top guys roll by in the first couple of turns and straights left him a bit unnerved.

He said there is no way to prepare for that experience and that made it tough to know what to expect, both in the initial moto and then going up for the second.

Not a chance we could have done this alone. Several people have helped Matt out including PR2 who built him an awesome motor and suspension, Dean and Jody who have helped Matt out a bunch in so many ways, the Radcliff family, the Rich family, all the folks who contributed to his Go Fund Me account, Ryan and the trainers and riders at SOBMX, Smith, Yoshimura, Link MX Graphics, Mike Johnson at KTM, Conrad at Spaceport Cycles,Mike and Phil at Farren Racing who gave him the best opportunity ever to ride for their team in B class, all the folks at Thor, Brett at ICW the list just goes on and on.

With contingency (KTM has by far the best pro contingency program for a privateer) and purse money he made about 8 to 9 hundred dollars. We spent about 7 or 8 hundred dollars so Matt either made 100 or broke even. Not really sure and don't really care. We had an awesome day! Now off to Muddy Creek in two weeks!

Im pretty sure Kyle was parked right next to us. He rode a Suzuki and was in a small pull behind trailer. Such a busy day I didn't really get to speak to him other than say high to him and his father.

Knowing this wont last forever I cant forget to thank Andrea at On Track Custom Learning Solutions. We swore we would never let do distance learning, but On Track has been a great program for us!

Some photos a friend sent me: