Racing moments

Edited Date/Time 1/26/2012 8:40pm
On another thread someones topic sparked this one.

I was doing a harescramble a year ago and it was super slippery (wet Ohio clay and mud) in late November and down a clay hill in which skis would have been better I saw the end to a battle I came up on.

I was lapping these two guys when prior to the hill they started to bump each other and it was escalating into something hilarious. These two moto pugilists started down the slippery hill and began to take swings at each other. Bikes were going sideways one guy had to use his throttle hand the other his clutch hand. I believe a few kicks were thrown in or good measure, but regardless It was pure racing comedy. The end result were two epic simultaneous faceplants which for some reason are engrained in my memory.

I know this is not an isolated incident anyone else, not the fighting, but something during a race which was actually funny?
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kaw rider9
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East Peoria, IL US
11/11/2008 6:12am
A few months ago at Casey(LTM), there was a kid with a brand new bike and gear. The kid had to be 15-16. His parents were there talking up the kid to anyone that would listen. About fourty minutes into the race I came around a corner and there he was, half way up a hill. His bike was in the middle of the trail and he was off to the side. Poor kid was puking his guts out and cryin' like a baby(Snot bubbles out the nose cryin'). I got stomach cramps cause I was laughing so hard.

Now one on me. I don't remember where we were, but I grabbed the holeshot. While in the lead I looked over to see how much lead I had. When I looked back foward, I saw the HUGE four wheeler we were supposed to go around! WHAM, I T-boned that prick.. I wen't from first to last in one second. My buddy has a video of it, it looks great.
Larry
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Fayetteville, GA US
11/11/2008 7:15am
Back in 82 I promoted a couple of races at the old Atlanta motor speedway track where they had a couple of Nationals in the late 70's early 80's.
During the last 125 C moto I was run over by a kid as I was waving the Checkered flag.
It was at the exit of a slow corner so it only hurt my pride.
jay_547
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Broken Arrow, OK US
11/11/2008 7:40am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 9:11pm
a few somewhat embarrassing stories about me:

i got the holeshot and was leading into the third turn. the bike sputtered to a stop. i had left the gas off. i got it fired up and made it back to fifth. i won the second moto so my mistake cost me an overall.

i took off from the gate once and immediately noticed that my eyes were filling with dust. i had left my goggles around my neck. i had to stop and put them on - idiot.

i was racing an arenacross and they wouldn't let us start our bikes inside the building. before each moto, we would go out on the loading dock to warm them up. the dock was about four feet above the parking. i was next to the edge, standing by my bike revving it up. i kicked my leg over to get on and my foot caught on the seat. i lost my balance and let the bike go. it tipped over and fell off the dock. it landed on the parking lot, upside down and stopped that way, perfectly balanced on it's handlebars and seat. i jumped down, turned it over, and rode it back up the ramp and got in line. the only damage was a few scratches on the bars/controls and like larry, it hurt my pride.
d6mx
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Estell Manor, NJ US
11/11/2008 11:18am
A few years ago at a LL regional at Steel City.
Rained all night before raceday and ankle deep mud everywhere.
I'm at the gate along with all the 50 parents double/triple checking the petcock, extra towels, among all the other useless things you do.
The card goes up, the starter's yelling to get behind the gate. Just a couple more things to check...
Card goes sideways and I jump back from the gate. Well almost...one foot comes out of my rain boots, the other foot doesn't move.
On the way down I grap onto the kid's bike, fall into my rider, knocking him over that started a domino effect that took out a half dozen more kids to his right.
Yep, proud mini mechanic that day.

The Shop

11/11/2008 11:27am
2007 - perris - ponca qualifier

few good things from that day...

1: i jumped the 120 footer on my stock 85 that some of the 250 intermediates werent doing.. it was huuge. only like 4 kids on 85s ever did it (and the ones that did do it were on superminis)

2: i almost won my 12-13 moto, i was trying to pass garrett eckman and highsided over his back wheel. i think i got 4th that moto

3: i won my mini 4 stroke race, that was a good daySmile
YZ441
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St Petersburg, FL US
11/11/2008 11:30am
three years ago racing a local race at sandy valley.
i'm walking to the starting line with my mom, yes my mom was my pit. a black cat proceeds to walk right in front of my path. now me being a supersticious bastard that i am start freaking out. i get on the line, gate drops, i couldnt get out of second for some reason so i got a terrible start. i make it three laps into the race and end up blowing over this inside rut and high siding, which then leads to me breaking my shin and the bone sticking through my leg and stuck in my boot.

all in all i hate black cats and that scar reminds me of it everytime.
11/11/2008 11:38am
okay, i have two of 200 i will share. last year, "huck" and i were getting ready for our faircross event in his hometown in north arkansas. we needed a freestyler for the show and made some calls. one of my riders is from tulsa and hooked us up with a jumper he met there. we made the deal and the guy showed up on friday night while we were working on the track. he had all the tattoos, baggy pants, crooked hat and a clapped out RM125. we thought, all right, we got a real jumper this weekend. all he had to do was rip over the catapult jump that had a tabletop landing and do his tricks. he couldn't even get to the downside landing. we even opened a gate and let him take off from the concession stand area. no joy. he said he couldn't jump dirt to dirt, he needed a ramp. well, one of my riders, chris tracy, took the 125 and ripped over the jump about five times. we told the jumper to come back saturday morning and try again. saturday came and he still couldn't make it. david and i had a powwow and we paid him $200 to leave. luckily we had another jumper to add to the show and he was fine.

not enough? way back in 1981, i was at a local race in the 250 expert class. one of my racing buddies got a better start and was just in front of me the whole race. i just couldn't seem to make a move and pass him. he was really riding well that day. on the last lap, i noticed that he was getting erratic and shaking his head side to side. finally the checkers came out and he pulled off the track and fell off of his bike. i pulled up to check on him and he had ripped his helmet off. i asked if he was okay and his reply was " i was puking in my helmet that whole last lap, but i wasn't pulling off because i had never beaten you before." that's hard core.
dbm
jay_547
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Broken Arrow, OK US
11/11/2008 12:57pm
one of my riders is from tulsa and hooked us up with a jumper he met there.

who is your rider and who was the jumper? just wondering if i know them.
11/11/2008 1:05pm
A couple months ago I came over a jump and the track was full of bikes and bodies on the ground. There was nowhere to go so I picked the bike and centerpunched it...somehow I stayed up and kept going, but my rear brake was not working.

Couple turns later I look down and there is a KX fender wedged between my brake pedal and the frame. Took four kicks to get it out. At least it wasn't a bodily appendage or something.

Once racing overseas we used a rubber band start. Too bad for the last guy on the line because the rubber band snagged on his handlebar. He got to the end of the start straight before it reached maximum extension and yanked his front end. He goes over the bars and the rubber band goes flying back toward a crowd of people. I remember watching it smack a board they had set up behind the start line (apparently in case this happened).
augiedog
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Loveland, CO US
11/11/2008 1:14pm
Couple for me. A few years back I got the holeshot and was leading for about half a lap when I entered a whoop section and started to feel a wet sensation all over my lap. Now, I knew that I had gotten my pre-race piss outta the way so it wasn't that. When I glanced down, I saw my gas cap hanging off the side of the tank. Apparently someone, probably me, forgot to tighten it after the last re-fill. I had to pull off the track and give up my lead to put the cap back on. I was pissed. One lap later, the burn started to kick in. After two or three more, I felt like my crotch was on fire. Rode right my my buddies at the finish line to the pits where I dropped my bike and proceeded to dump all of our water down my pants. (lesson learned)

On the first lap of a race last year, I had a wasp fly directly into my helmet, get pinned between my goggles and my cheek and started stinging the shit out of me. The guy behind me must have been wondering what the fuck I was doing when I flew off the track flailing away at my helmet. Finally got the wasp out, finished the race and pulled back to my pit. When I pulled off my helmet, my cheek and lip had swollen up like a grapefruit. (fun stuff)
Highsider
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Way Toasty, IA US
11/11/2008 1:36pm
jay_547 wrote:
[i]one of my riders is from tulsa and hooked us up with a jumper he met there.[/i] who is your rider and who was the jumper...
one of my riders is from tulsa and hooked us up with a jumper he met there.

who is your rider and who was the jumper? just wondering if i know them.
Saving them from shame?Wink
rocrac
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Indianapolis, IN US
11/11/2008 1:47pm
Nothing is funnier than the gate guy at our local track who gets unsuspecting 50cc parents with the gate as they start running after little johnny after the start of a race.

He says he doesn't do it on purpose but I think he is getting back at them for often forgetting there is a double gate and taking off down the middle of the track after their little ones.
11/11/2008 5:28pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 9:11pm
"who is your rider and who was the jumper? just wondering if i know them?"

brock halverson from bixby---#312

i think the jumper's name was doug. he wasn't too impressive.
dbm
calimxer91
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Lancaster, CA US
11/11/2008 6:18pm
Race schudule in the morning said i was 8th moto.Thought i had plenty time.took the new girlfreind up the hill and under a tree for some pre race relaxation.They change the schedule! Im second moto !I can still hear my family calling my name , and we come walkin down all "Whas goin on?
davis224
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Cornland, IL US
Fantasy
138th
11/11/2008 9:05pm
I didn't see this until I saw video of it, but first lap over the first jump on the track, my friend got clipped in the air, and started rolling when he hit the ground, and before he even stopped rolling or moving forward, he was up on his feet dancing across the track on his tippy toes with a packed gate. He got a concussion, but he looked like a little ballerina in doing so.

There was a pretty fast whoop section at my local track, I was going through it in 4th gear, swapped out towards the end, and my bike and I parted ways off of the last one, yet somehow I never hit the ground, I just started running really fast and stayed on my feet and when I came to a stop, I just paused, looked at myself, then my bike, go back on and rode.

Another one, I crossed up in a corner, went over the bars, and on the ground I look back to see my bike, standing up on the bars, teetering, ready to fall in my direction. I do the classic "oh no" hands shielding the face, like someone's about to punch me, trying to feebly scramble away from the bike. Then it falls the other way, and I look over to see a flagger laughing his ass off.

One last one, but during a practice day. My buddies and I were sitting on our bikes next to the track when we noticed a very angry parent giving the "more throttle" sign to his little girl on a KTM 50jr, screaming at her to "get on it" trying to get her to do a jump that was clearly waaaaay out of range for her. My friend gets on his bike, does the jump that the guy is standing next to (and honks a bicycle horn he had strapped to his bars in the air) stops immediately after it, throws his bike down, and starts jumping up and down screaming like he just won the lottery, throws his helmet off and screams "YES! YES! I DID IT, NOW MY DADDY WILL FEED ME TONIGHT!!" damn those were the times...
11/12/2008 4:01am
I remember getting the holeshot after taking a break from racing. I was fired up for about 4 seconds until I washed out in the first corner and at the hardpack clay. Normally I air on the side of caution, but I decided to tear at it. Bad Idea

Another goofy one is during a harescramble I was leading the overall and coming up on some of the other riders pretty quickly normally passing was simple, but this one guy going painfully slow on a KX was holding me up in the single track. We were shouting back and forth for a few seconds, when I thought he moved over for me. Turns out that was just the way he was riding and we collided. My bike went over a huge pile of logs on the side of a gigantic hill his just flopped over. It tooke me quite a while to get going again. After the race I was telling my dad about it and then our friend 'garry' came over and was telling him about some bastard that rammed him.

I said that was you! we calmed down, but it was ackward nevertheless.
OH, the guy I hit had white hair with just a little bit of pre-mullet showing which almost made it worth it.
11/12/2008 4:08am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 9:11pm
Another classic was when I was at a local motocross in Ohio for practice on race day. It was a mixed practice session so A,B,&C riders were out there. I was coming up with caution on two C riders who were having a battle for practice supremecy and I was caught up in what could have been the greatest series of look back taunts I have ever seen.
Over ever bump regardless if they were 2 feet in the air or 20 they kept looking at each other with these intense neck snaps because they couldnt take their eyes off the track for too long. Better yet was although during a look back only the head is really supposed to turn when these guys were doing zoolander moves mid air they would do a form of goon riding that was just hiliarious (they were serious). Bent knees shooting off to one side or another, straight back with bike starting to loop out, elbow flailing,etc. Nothing happened of it, but it was still funny.
jay_547
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Broken Arrow, OK US
11/12/2008 5:45am
"who is your rider and who was the jumper? just wondering if i know them?" brock halverson from bixby---#312 i think the jumper's name was doug...
"who is your rider and who was the jumper? just wondering if i know them?"

brock halverson from bixby---#312

i think the jumper's name was doug. he wasn't too impressive.
dbm
i've met brock but don't really know him. he and i were both riding for honda of tulsa at the time. i can't think of any doug freestyle guys.
Wolfman
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Bixby, OK US
11/12/2008 7:07am
Jay, I was in a race in the expo, 1991 I think because I was riding novice- where a dude dropped his bike off the side of the dock. Seems to me like it was a kawi. If that was you, Im sorry because I have told that story many times over beers!

And Doug is a tatoo artist- and a damn good one, but he cant ride a bike to save his ass.
jay_547
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11/12/2008 8:55am
john, that was probably me because it was at the expo and i think i ran everyone of those races. i was riding novice and 30+. i was on a honda though.
The_PU300
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Argyle, TX US
11/12/2008 9:02am
Great Thread-

Like DBM I will pick the least incriminating story from years of arenacross.

99' at the Guthrie Arenacross. 250 Pro Main event. I got a decent start, around 4th and rounded the first corner ready to jump the double into the HUGE whoop section. As I float over the double I notice that my GAS CAP hits me in the face!!! Already committed to the "frame breakin whoop dee doo's" all I could do is shift up to 3rd and pin it. By the end of the section I had a lap full of VP C-12. So, I had to pull over and attach my gas cap. Finishing the next 19 3/4 laps with HOT CROTCH wasn't fun

I think I still got back to 5th...... had fun explaining to my (fresh out of MMI) mechanic that there were obviously some things they didn't teach in Arizona.

It only took a couple of days for the swelling to go down.
kb450
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Anderson, SC US
11/12/2008 11:02am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 9:11pm
Great thread!

PU300, how much swelling will it create??? My wife might get into motocross afterall!
BTW - I am really enjoying my new KXF450. Great ride.
11/12/2008 11:59am
Putting gas in the hole is always a problem for longer off road races where I needed to pit. My dad was natorious for using my crotch as a starting point when pouring the gas. Aside from all those incidents.

I was racing the GNCC in Florida this year in XC1 pro class and I was going through a dark section of sandy soil near a crowd of people when root absolutely took my back tire in about 4 gear and made it go past the front tire. Upon the impact the gas cap was cleaved off and the bike ended upside down on top of me. My mouth ended up becoming a funnel for the gas. All over my face and down my throat, bad day.
11/12/2008 12:07pm
Another one is almost too embarrassing to say is when I was racing motocross 3 classes one day. I was getting pretty good starts and was riding well, but then my starts began to diminish and results suffered. Later I realized the tire was flat. I had a super thick tube which enabled me to ride, but it was still slipping on the rim a little. It was embarrassing because I never got to explain my results at the track.
mavs
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8/23/2008
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Perth AU
11/14/2008 10:49am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 9:12pm
after many years helping me racing my dad decided to get back on the bike and thought that my practice bike would be a good place to start

soafter a long day he was talked into riding the last race which was also a handicap race so my old man in all my gear and my number takes off on the first row and about 3/4 of a lap later i take off on the last row so i come up to him and pass him over a sweet table top that shoots you nice and high he was rolling and i wasnt nothing much happens til the last lap and coming in 2cd i decide hold it on and over jump to the flat only to jump straight on to my old mans head which manages to put him out cold and bust his arm and jaw and me bust my leg, cheek bone and also put me out cold so there is 2 identical bikes and two identically dressed people with the same number face down in the middle of the track

needless to say my old lady freaked out after getting the phone call and was not to happy as she and my sis had to leave there ballroom dancing state finals to drive 6 hours and get my bikes and gear while we both had a nice ambulance ride oh and my dad neglected to tell my mum he was going to ride that day as to not worry her

dad still races just never on the same track as i he stays in the pits when im on the bike and i do for him we are also the only father son to win the shitmixer award at the trophy night

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