Honda of Houston - Results Mammoth 2009

Mammoth is my favorite race of the year. Not only is it a really great race track, but it is nestled in the middle of the Sierra Nevada ’s. Now being here in Texas my whole life, going to Mammoth is kind of like going to the moon. The closest thing we have to a mountain is a freeway overpass!

Jetting at Mammoth is always an issue, but Naveen keeps really good notes, and he is the master when it comes to jetting.

Motocross is such an emotional roller coaster, one minute you are at the top of the mountain, the next, you are picking the rocks out of your shoes. The week started off so good. Ryno set the fastest lap time ever, then went on to win 3 out of four motos. The last moto, he was twenty seconds ahead, then slid out and it took him a while to get it fired back up again. They add up the scores from both days for the vets, so he still got the overall, but was not very happy that he didn’t win them all.

We also took six of our closest Vet friends from Houston to take their shot at the mountain. The guys all had fun, but I think they had more fun after the races were over!

The mountain biking is totally different there, and a welcomed change for those guys.

I know they didn’t get to ride their mountain bikes as much as Michael wanted them to, but I also know that they all had a bunch of fun, with very little bleeding.

The next three days were for Mini’s. Monday is a full day of practice, then it is just like the vets with the next two days scores totaled up for an overall.

We had two mini riders, Brady Kiesel, and Vann Martin. Both these guys were really on the gas. Brady was the most aggressive that I have ever seen him! He was making some spectacular passes and was constantly at the front. Vann took three weeks off coming in because of a crash. But he really stepped up and was also at the front both days. The announcers were saying Honda of Houston so much, even I was thinking someone paid them.

Then came practice day for the big bikes. It was so crazy! Lance Vincent, Brad Frace, Kyle Regal, Justin Martin, Michael Leib, and Ryno were all getting their bikes dialed in. Between them and all the other Honda customers, it was really hectic in our pits!

On Friday the racing starts with the 450 classes and Schoolboy classes. Ryno called me the night before and said he was sick and was not going to be there. Now if you know Ryno at all, he had to be really sick to not race. I was bummed, but we have a strong team to take up the slack.

So the first moto, Lance has the inside gate. This is the only place in the world you don’t want the first gate! He gets out first and runs away with it!

The Brad gets another Powered by Naveen hole shot! He made a little mistake and got passed but stayed right on first for a second going into the final!

Michael wins his qualifier by a good margin, and it’s on for the day!

Kyle didn’t get a great jump, but by the time they went down the hill he was in third. He planned out his race and was in first with a couple laps to go. Here is where everything starts going downhill. All the sudden Kyle slows down. I am freaking out! He got passed and then just as third catches him he starts going again. He finished second, but I rushed back to the pit to find out what the heck.

Turns out he jacked up his foot pretty bad, and his week was over!!

OK, OK let’s get the job done…

Lance, and Brad line up for their main event. When the dust settled from the first turn, Lance was in a big heap on the ground. But Brad gets a great start and races hard to finish third!

Then Michael gets a pretty good start, about 8th. Works up to third and falls, then gets back up and charges back 3rd again and then crashes again, and his moto was over. Justin struggled but rode a shard as he could.

DNG!

Needless to say, I was pretty glad the day was over…

Now a new day, but no Ryno and no Kyle.

Everybody qualified great and again I was looking forward to the main.

This time we had four guys on the line, Brad, Lance, Justin, and Michael. Lance gets a great start, but Brad and Michael are about mid pack, Justin is pretty far back. Lance was freaking hauling and was in third, but around the midway point he crashed pretty hard in the back, wasting his bike and hurting his foot. Michael and Brad were picking riders off a couple at a time with Michael coming all the way to 4th, and Brad to 8th.

Justin crashed a couple times and had to pull off.

The last day, we only had Justin and Michael. Michael won his qualifier by a mile, and Justin got in also. Then in the Main , I was thinking OK so Michael has this thing in the bag. He was no doubt the fastest on the track! Well this is racing, and things are not always as they seem. He got the hole shot, then was reeled in by a rider that we all didn’t think would be that fast. Michael was riding well, but Gannon was better on this day. We ended up second. Justin had a great ride, and ended up 13th.

Like I said before, it is like a roller coaster, we might have a bunch of bumps and ups and downs, but the ride sure is fun.

I know all our guys are working their butts off, and I am proud of all of them!

This race always is the anniversary of a tragedy in all of us here at Honda of Houston. It has been seven years since we lost Mark and Grant. I still love them both and miss them terribly.

Please always make sure that your friends know that you love them, and tell your kids that you love them as much as possible.

Hopefully you won’t ever have to go through a tragedy like that!

Time to start getting ready for Ponca City and Loretta Lynn’s!

Results

Plus 30 Pro – Ryan Hughes 1st

Schoolboy - Brad Frace 3rd

250 B – Brad Frace 8th

250 B – Michael Leib 4th

450 B – Michael Leib 2nd

Tuesday Mini

150cc Open - Brady Kiesel 3rd

85cc- 150cc 14-15 – Brady Kiesel 3rd

Supermini – Brady Kiesel 7th

150cc Open – Vann Martin 4th

85cc- 150cc 14-15- Vann Martin 5th

Supermini – 9th

Wednesday Mini

150cc Open – Brady Kiesel 8th

85cc- 150cc 14-15 Brady Kiesel 2nd

Supermini – Brady Kiesel 9th

150cc Open – Vann Martin 3rd

85cc- 150cc 14-15 – Vann Martin 8th

Supermini – Vann Martin 11th