I arrived down at Ballance MotoX just shortly after practice Friday. The rains had already set in for the most part, but it wasn't a downpour by any means. James Bell stopped me no longer than I turned in towards the pavilion. He said parking would be a problem in the SIMX transporter. The old Ford van seems to get stuck in a good "dewed" grass section if you know what I mean! Anyway, I managed to get turned around without sinking and headed back towards Bell's. Got the Ol' Gal parked, heading downhill, just in case I needed to make a dash for the road.
Set up camp and spent time catching up with old friends. Talked a lot with the Cox family and found out Dylan was switching to Kawasaki's the next morning! Spent some time with team Gourley catching up on all their shenanigans! We also met up with some folks from Manitoba Canada. They had their kids down at MTF for a week and just stopped in to try to qualify.
Finally grilled up a couple of chops, had a few frosties and hit the sack, ready for Saturday action.
Well it rained more overnight and the track, basically sucked. Victory Sports did a decent job working with what they had, but it still wasn't good by any stretch. I actually took quit a few pics on Saturday, but Sunday was a wash! Mist, sleet, snow, rain, cold...
Black Brother's Racing made it down Saturday morning as well. They are always up for a good time and I really enjoyed the weekend with them, Gourley's, Cox's, Bells and Rankin Racing. Danny "The Storm Chaser" VanDunk was a riot Saturday afternoon when the storms were upon us!
It was pretty serious with funnel clouds and all around us, but we made the best of it. We decided if we all got blown away, we couldn't find any better people to be with!
Oh yeah, racing!
Well this is what Cody Black looked like after practice on Saturday. I didn't get a picture of Cody after he went off the side of the tunnel jump either, but Mom caught all the action on video. We all had a good laugh at Cody's expense, but were very thankful he wasn't injured after falling about 10' down off the side of the jump! Brother Dilan said "he landed on his face, so he was OK"!I missed out on any pics of Derek Rankin and Justin Brockman. No excuse, I just missed them some how. It was a little hard to see, and I wasn't even using the soon to be banned tear offs! If you haven't heard about that issue, check it out at RacerX! Seriously, banning tear offs? Could be that time of the year?
Team Gourley was at it again, claiming qualifying spots in I every class the entered, I think. Bret did real well in the Ballance mud as did Brandon and Broc. The winter ice storm riding on studded tires has made all of the Gourley's "mud cats" in my opinion. They all just plain get it in the mud!
Here are a few of the "Mudcat Gourley's"
"Wildman" Matt
hew Bell had about as much luck as Cody Black. He didn't fall of the side of a jump but had problems with the mud. Matthew like most of the mini's struggled off of the ice slick concrete start gate. The start stretch was probably the worst part of the track and saw no work all weekend. Poor starts, traffic, downed riders just about everywhere paid it's toll on #94.Everyone made it home in one piece, so that was good! Most got a ticket to the next level and all the others are looking forward to the next qualifier. Crossroads MX in Mason, IL will be the next close one, so everyone get prepped and ready for the big trip north!
Until next week...
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