Racing All 11 Rounds of Pro Motocross on a YZ250 2 Stroke - Follow Along

Thank you all for the kind words and support I really appreciate it!  And special thanks to Maverick for posting the ways to help me out for the year, much appreciated brother!! 

Started the day Friday thinking it was going to be a super easy day like they were last year, walked all the way up to the AMA trailer to find out that this year you have to bring bikes, helmet, gear, etc to tech like you have always had to.  Last year all you had to do was walk up, get your practice sticker, and sign a sheet of paper.  So, no big deal, walk on back to the truck and rode the bike back up for tech.  Then I had to buy a hats off device which was $60 cash only, and I had $58 on me....so back to the truck again to find $2 in quarters in my cupholder.  Head back again and pay for the hats off device, get to the end of the line and ask for a transponder clip and that's $10 more, and yep, cash only  Rode through the pits and found my buddy and fellow privateer Tyler Stepek and traded him $10 on venmo for $10 cash so I could get the transponder clip.  FINALLY, we were then through tech.  Guess that's what I get for rolling around with a light wallet.  Next went over the bike and made sure everything was good, was lucky enough to get a new fresh pipe from FMF for race day that I mounted on, huge thank you to them!  Then Kenny Day at Fox Racing gave me the absolute hookup of a lifetime with fox gear, helmets, boots, goggles, etc.  Could not be more stoked on it, thank you Kenny!!  Got my new insta360 setup on my chest protector thanks to my boy JWalk, buttoned up a few other things and headed back to the house I'm staying at for a good dinner and a night of sleep.

Woke up at about 4:30 in the morning super excited and couldn't go back to sleep, so decided to just head to the track early for race day to warm up, stretch, and just take in the scenes of race day.  I was put in the A group for practice which I was thrilled about, definitely makes life a little easier.  Rode around checking out the track in a golf cart with my buddies Jeff Mort and Joe Bumpus that came down to give me some much appreciated hospitality for the weekend, and then it was time to send it!  first practice was super muddy and I didn't feel great on the track, never put the best lap together but ended p23 in the first session.  Riding a stock engine with only reeds and a pipe was definitely hurting me in the morning with the deep track, but we have that fixed for the remainder of the rounds!  Everything just came together so last minute so that's what we had for round one.  Second session was about the same, ended 25th but never really had a great feeling on the track.  I was missing my east coast fluff out there for sure.  Even though i was p23 and 25 in the sessions alot of guys from the B group went fast in the morning also so I ended 34th overall.  Closer than I'd like to cut it but happy to start the season qualifying straight in.  

Moto 1 was a major struggle.  Started in the 20's and faded outside the top 30, wasn't finding a flow on the track and was really fighting my bike setup.  I made a few adjustments after press day and I definitely went the wrong way, but I never claimed to be a suspension guru so this isn't the first time I've done this.  Fought it the whole way and ended up 32nd.  Not stoked but had a feeling I could get the bike to work with me alot more than it was.  Called my suspension guy Chris Maynard from MRP Race Tech and with his help and the help of my buddy Taylor Muto we made some radical adjustments to try to fix the issues for moto 2.

Moto 2 I charged a few sections on the sight lap and realized the suspension was a lot better, was stoked to put in a good effort for this moto!  Unfortunately yanked a great jump off the start but got pulled like crazy for obvious reasons and then fell in the second turn, back to dead last.  Felt like I rode alot better in the second moto though and was able to make my way up to 28th and then had a really sketchy moment down one of the hills and decided to dial it back just a bit.  Ended up getting passed back by a few people I had passed and ended up 31st in Moto 2.  Was super smoked and didn't have much left to give but it was a better starting point than we were at last year.  32-31 for 33rd overall isn't anything I'm stoked about but it's already better than any race I had last year on a track that I think really doesn't suit me so I'm super hopeful for improvement moving forward!  Cali tracks aren't my favorite in the world but I had a blast racing the Pala national and meeting all the awesome west coast fans that love the two stroke and my youtube videos, was a very cool day and can't wait for more!!  Hangtown is another new track for me this weekend and I;m super excited for it!! Thanks again everyone for cheering me on and supporting, we've got a better motor package for the rest of the rounds and ready to put in some better results, we're digging til we cant!!