Racing 2022 Outdoor Pro Nationals on YZ250 2 Stroke - Budds Creek Update

LocalMB wrote:

Well guys I thought this was going to be really cool if I ended up making it in but wow, I could have never imagined the...

Well guys I thought this was going to be really cool if I ended up making it in but wow, I could have never imagined the response I got today at the race! Every lap in practice and every lap in the motos I could hear people cheering for me around the entire track, and as you all know I was pretty far towards the back in the motos so I thought it was super cool that people were so into the 2 stroke even though I was struggling in the back! But I think the loudest cheers I heard all day were during the sight lap, I went out in the very back kind of by myself and I couldn't believe how loud everyone was, it actually kind of gave me chills that all that crowd noise was for me. It actually had me so consumed that I didn't end up getting as good of a look at the track as I would have liked, but it was just so damn cool I had to try to take it in. After every practice and between each moto I had more people than I can count coming to my pit and telling me how awesome the 2 stroke was and how much they enjoyed seeing it out there. I even had someone give me $100 between motos for gas money which was insanely cool and helpful since I filled my tank for $108 on the way home, huge thank you to that guy!

I had my work cut out for me in the morning as I was in B practice since it was my first national in a while. I tried to ask about getting in A practice but they didn't do it which is understandable since I haven't raced in a while, but a bit of a bummer was that there were only 42 riders in A practice and 48 riders in B practice..not exactly the fairest setup in the world but I knew if I rode how I knew how then I shouldn't have a problem as long as I didn't run into any incidents. Ended up getting out front of the first practice and put down a couple good laps that put me 1st in B and P26 overall after first practice. The way the track was shaping up I was very hopeful that times would get slower and that proved to be the case. A couple people had gone faster than first practice but before I hit the track for my second practice I knew I would be in the show, and I was beyond stoked. Did almost the exact same lap time in the 2nd practice (only 0.010 off first practice time) but it didn't matter as my goal was accomplished and we were into the motos.

One of the things I underestimated was how busy I was going to be throughout the day. My girlfriend was my "mechanic" and went to the gate with me but working on the bike isn't in her job description so I was in charge of all the maintenance, checking the bike over, washing it, and everything that needed to be done throughout the day. I even noticed a bolt missing right before heading down for the second moto and had to scramble to find one to replace it. Back when I did nationals in 2014 I had my dad with me to help with all that stuff, and needless to say I probably didn't thank him enough for it! In hindsight it was very helpful to only have to worry about riding the bike back then, but times have changed and it's all on me now. Luckily I didn't have any major issues because my mechanic skills are not exactly top notch. But No complaints here, just trying to share the whole experience.

After qualifying straight in for the motos the stress was completely off for the rest of the day in my mind. I was coming into this race off a separated shoulder a month ago and was very questionable to even race, but was able to get a few days of riding in last week and really wanted to give it a shot. After a horrible start in the first moto, battling for about 30th I had exactly what I didn't need to happen to me happen; my line came together with another rider and we collided pretty hard, and he ended up hitting me right on my bad shoulder. Tried to keep riding it out but it stung pretty good and was having a lot of trouble holding on so I felt pretty worthless in the first moto but I knew I wasn't going to get any better or fitter by pulling off so I wanted to make sure I at least did the laps. P38 was a bit of an embarrassment for me but after the hit to the shoulder I just didn't have much to give and I want to be able to do this all summer, so pushing it until I crash isn't exactly in the plans at the moment. Especially after just coming off injury I'm trying to be smart.

Second moto was actually a little better. Got to start next to Cairoli and talk to him for a minute or two which was super cool, always been a huge fan of him and he was a really nice guy. Said it was his last race for the year which is a bummer, but hey I'll take another spot I guess! Another horrible start after I somehow hit neutral coming off the gate and kind of just tried to stay smart and smooth and stayed around P35 most of the moto. Ended up 34th the second moto which was still not a result I was very happy with at all but I'm trying to keep things in perspective and know that I'm starting from a bit of a rough point and I should get better as we go. Ended up 35th overall which again wasn't something I was stoked with, but I did end up beating Cairoli both motos so at least there's that

The other big thing I underestimated about this whole endeavor was the track. I did 6 nationals back in 2014 and another in 2018 but I really don't ever remember them being like that. That was absolutely the gnarliest track I have ever seen, there were multiple sections where it felt like I was barely moving and to be honest I felt like a bit of an idiot out there at times, but I think I'm probably just being a bit hard on myself. It's been a really long time since I've seen a track like that and talking to other riders they said it was really bad as well so at least that makes me feel a bit better, but I'm really looking forward to getting some more experience and figuring out how to ride these rough tracks better. Even if my shoulder wasn't an issue I'm still not too sure how much better I would have done just because of how uncomfortable I was in the conditions. Probably didn't help that I am running the stock shock and it was way too soft for all those hills and how rough it was, but I am working on getting a full setup hopefully soon.

Thank you everyone that has encouraged me in this thread and to everyone that came up to me at the race today. It was truly an unreal experience and I can't wait to try the whole thing again at Red Bud. Ended up driving straight home after the race and got here around 1 AM. After being up around 5 from being too excited to sleep, its been a bit of a long day. Also I was really not expecting so many of you to want to help, I really appreciate the generosity and anything would go a long way for me as I run a pretty cheap program. Felt pretty bad today a couple kids came and asked me for goggles but I actually had to go buy some goggles from my local dealer on Thursday so I had enough for race day so I didn't have anything to give anyone, but hopefully they understood. For anyone that wants to help my Venmo is @matt-burkeen and I also have PayPal, i know the email for it is burkeen820@gmail.com but it says my username is @MatthewBurkeen, I'm not sure which one you're supposed to use because I haven't really used PayPal in a while but I'm figuring you guys are smarter than I am and know which one to use. Thank you to everyone offering to help and thank you to everyone just for all the support in general I really really appreciate it and it makes the journey that much more awesome.

LocalMB wrote:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsW5em6hQD4[/embed] Here is the video I've put together from the weekend! My girlfriend and I have never tried to vlog but we figured doing nationals on...

Here is the video I've put together from the weekend! My girlfriend and I have never tried to vlog but we figured doing nationals on the 2 stroke would be the perfect time to try it out. It's nothing fancy but I think it does a good job capturing the trip and what we had to work with! Hopefully these will get better throughout the season since it was our first time. Thank you to everyone watching and supporting, and huge thank you to those of you that have sent something my way on PayPal I really appreciate it!!

LocalMB wrote:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsW5em6hQD4[/embed] Here is the video I've put together from the weekend! My girlfriend and I have never tried to vlog but we figured doing nationals on...

Here is the video I've put together from the weekend! My girlfriend and I have never tried to vlog but we figured doing nationals on the 2 stroke would be the perfect time to try it out. It's nothing fancy but I think it does a good job capturing the trip and what we had to work with! Hopefully these will get better throughout the season since it was our first time. Thank you to everyone watching and supporting, and huge thank you to those of you that have sent something my way on PayPal I really appreciate it!!

Hammer 663s wrote:

Very cool! If you make it to Washougal and want a race-day mechanic just say so. I'm no slouch with a wrench and happy to help...

Very cool! If you make it to Washougal and want a race-day mechanic just say so. I'm no slouch with a wrench and happy to help out all day.

-MAVERICK- wrote:

Skipping Southwick? Man, cross the border and come race that puppy in the 250 class at Gopher's.