Backwoods MX

Had a good day down at Backwoods Sunday shooting pictures and checking out the new revised layout. When I pulled in to pay I thought I was Red Bud or another National. I have never seen Backwoods so crowded! The bottom section immediately to the right of sign in was pretty much full as was the top section where we normally park with no problems. Evidently there are a lot of folks liking the 2009 Backwoods layout!

For this season, Scott has went back to running a combined program. In years past they ran a full bike program, then ran a full quad program. Today anyway the ran practiced like normal, but ran all the bike classes, then prepped, ran quads, more prep and started over. Heard a few quad grumblers through out the day, but also heard some bike guys grumbling as well, so it all works out as usual!

#694 Lil' Richard Turner and #57 Zack Greenwell were dicing it up in early practice. Turner has really gotten faster since moving to the big bikes as well as Greenwell. Zack, too is coming off a pretty serious injury from last year and was making his first trip back to the MX track after spending the winter months running the MidSouth harescramble series.

Got to catch up with a lot of folks I hadn't seen in a while. Got to spend some time talking with Rod Harris. Rod, #103, was running in the largest class of the day, the +40 class. At the tower they showed 14 riders in that class, and that's pretty cool as far as this old guy thinks. Not really sure who won the class, but Rod, suffered some "not so good" starts, but was picking them off left and right through out the race. I'm pretty sure he was top 3 or 4, but again, that's just a guess.

Got to see my old buddy Jerod Neal back in action after a couple year layoff. Jerod faired pretty well running with all the "young bucks" in the 250B class. I beleive #57, Team MXF rider, Zach Greenwell took home top honors with a 3/1, but Jerod rode a consistent 2/2 for 2nd overall.

Also got a couple of good pre- gate drop shots of some guys. One was our own MXF racer Kurt Kissinger. Kurt was mixing it up in a couple of classes this weekend, winning the 85 Jr. class and finishingd 4th in Supermini.




While I'm here...I'll jump up on my stump. What's up with all these people, especially kids, riding and racing with no goggles. I noticed it yesterday while out on the track taking photos. People spends several hundred, thousand on the best bikes, cool gear, boots, etc... but stop at buying a $30-$40 pair of goggles. Come on people, there is not a quicker way to get blinded than riding on a track, made from dirt with no eye protection what so ever. I've seen it time and time again, especially the little fellers out with no goggles.

I was talking to Todd Jochim yesterday, who was running in the Open money class. Todd had pulled over from dirt and dust that got into his goggles and into his eyes. He's a smart kid and had his on, so you know dirt and dust happens on the mx track, so get these kiddo's some goggles!

The FCA bunch from Louisville was their as well and I popped a good pick of Marshall Barnes waiting in staging for his race. The FCA guys and gals do great work in the MX community and are always welcomed here locally.



The best shot of the day, at least for me, was the infamous "ghost rider" of the #881 Suzuki. I just happened to be in the right spot for the this shot. Not sure what really happened, but when I clicked to shoot, I saw pilot AJ Hall tumbling ahead of his trusty steed! Looks like the bike was just hanging out looking for a racer! AJ got up and finished out the day. I never got a chance to get over and find out what happened there, but it makes for an interesting shot!

SOIL:Sampled!

Made our first trek over to SOIL on Tuesday afternoon. Josh has really been working his butt off on the new layout, and it really works! Kody said he really like the flow of the track and it's a blast to ride. The new step up, camel hump thingy along the parking area looks like a blast!

As much rain as we've had the past few weeks, the track was remarkably dry. In fact there was a little dust kicking up here and there, but I don't think anyone was complaining!

Got my first look at Shawn Clark aboard the Yamaha's and quite honestly he looks like he has never been off a bike for any time at all. In fact, the picture above reminds me so much of a photo I have of Shawn from probably 5-6 years ago from Midway Motocross in Mitchell, IN. I bet I could take the two images and overlay them onto each other and they'd be a near perfect match! Blue bike, green bike, but the flawless form is there regardless of the years and different bikes.
Shawn says he really likes the Yamaha's and I even asked about the so called "turning" problems you hear about here and there, and he said he never had a problem with them. Kerry was doing some testing so to speak on bar positioning and gearing and had the blue beasts pretty close according to the younger Clark!

Also got a good pic of Kristi Adams. Kristi was probably one of the earlier girls to race in our area and does quite well. Her Dad, Gary has been at it a long time and is always a lot of fun to hang out with and talk. Kristi, too was aboard a Yamaha Tuesday afternoon and was riding really well. I didn't get a chance to rally talk with her, so I'm not sure of here plans for the summer, if she's doing the Loretta's thing or just hanging out and having fun! Womens motocross has really taken off over the past few years, which I think is great!

A few years ago, my daughter Britt raced a few times, but back then there just weren't too many ladies giving it a go. I'll never forget at Casey one time they ran 2 or 3 girls with the 250 A class. Not a smart move to start with, but Britt went down and was used as a berm by an A rider. Well, Ol' Pimp Daddy Barr was off to break a set of Renthals off in some fellows rear pretty quick, ah the good times we had!

Kody is still sorting out the RM250. He really like the bike and is getting quicker every time out, but we keep having flats on the big dog! I'm still getting used to mixing gas! We wentdown to 800MX onSunday for some testing and had stopped to get fuel in Hendo. Anyway get to 800 and stat unloading and fueling the bike when Ol' Dad realizes, this baby needs a little extra in the gas, if you know what I mean!

Luckily, Mrs Ezell was open in the shop and we got us a can of this stuff you mix with the fuel. Kinda of weird, but it seems like I remember doing this a longtime ago! Still love the smell of pre-mix in the morning!

Several other SIMX regulars were in attendance and looking good were #188 Davis Uphoff. Davis was last seen putting in some hard laps aboard a YZ250F. Chuck and I discussed the mini days and how every one is so happy to get off the little bikes, but down the years it seems like most of the Dads, enjoyed those days the most. I know I did! Simplier times for sure, less headaches, cheaper bikes, cheaper parts, tires, well you get the idea! Time marches on I guess!

Got a good shot of Team MXF rider Derek Boyd big brother Zack at SOIL too. Kody would just about kill for that sweet Bell helmet! Zack's bouncing back from an injury a while back and is riding well. Both the Boyd boys are doing good this season. They have been putting in a lot of laps through out the Midwest this Spring in the Loretta Lynn qualifiers. Good job Boyd Racing, aka Ideal Machine Racing.

Well that's about it for now. Here is another #56 Shawn Clark pic to close with...it's been a while since I've had the oppurtunity to shoot Mr. Clark!










Oh yeah, thanks Josh for an awesome track too!

Monday forum server errors!

Just got into contact with forum service and they are having server errors this morning.
Should be back up and running soon according to them!

Even more rain...

Sitting here at work looking out my window and the skies are dark as ever with lightening strikes here and there, thunder... and I'm wondering if we'll ever see sunshine and dry tracks again!

Real disappointing for sure. We just got Kody an RM 250 two-stroke and he can't wait to get out and do some riding and testing. It's been almost three years since we had a smoker and I personally can't wait to start mixing gas again!

Don't get me wrong, we never had any trouble so to speak with the thumpers, well other than the infamous "clutch plate breakage" problems early on in the Suzuki's career. We'll be running the smoker this season and see how things go. Junior would like a 450, Dad would love to see Junior get a job and buy his own 450!

We ran a qualifier a few weeks back and was the only thumper in the 250A class. Since the almighty AMA has saw fit to allow running 250cc vs 250cc it will be interesting to see how things shake out. It's not a new rule change, I believe last year was the first year they allowed it, but it seemed like I noticed very few 2-strokes in the B class. I still believe with the right conditions, in the right hands, the smoker is the right choice. We'll see!

How about the big Supercross finale last week. I had the honor of watching with a bunch of punk kids at the house. Kody had prom, so he was gone, but my old motocross "buddies" of Justin Fortner, Derek Detalente and Nick Waller showed up at the house with Blaine and Malik in tow for some SX action. They poked fun at the old guy (me), for nodding off towards the end, but hell, I've usually had 2-3 hours of sleep when the gate dropped!

It was a good race, Stewart did what he had to do to take home the title. Staying out of Reed's way proved to be an adventure, and I don't think Reed was stupid enough to put a full blown T-bone on #7, but he did make an effort.

I've said many times, Supercross really ain't my cup of tea, but Reed and Stewart did make this the most enjoyable season to watch, for me anyway, in a long time.

Well, I better go. Wife says they are calling for 80+ mph straight line winds and I guess I need to get home and get the bike ready for riding this weekend. Uh, well probably scrap that.

Do they race jet ski's and watercraft anywhere here locally? Might be worth looking into!

Will it ever quit raining?

Geez Louise, is it ever going to stop raining? Just about when it dries up we get another 2 or 3 days of rain.

Not a lot of action last week, but a few did venture out and find some racing. Matthew Bell and Davis Uphoff made the trip over to a track called Euro Raceway south of Nashville Illinois. Some of you may remember the old Edge track in Nashville, well this place is a little further South!

Matthew had a 7th in the 85 Sr. class and a 4th overall in Supermini. Davis, #188, on the other hand won both the 85Sr. class and Supermini and had a 2nd in Schoolboy.


Derek Boyd, #808, made the long trip to Michigan to Baja MX. No the the infamous Baja desert race either. Just a desert like sand track up North! Derek's Dad, Keith, said competition was pretty stiff there last weekend and they saw a lot of very fast riders. Derek finished the weekend with a 6th in 250C stock, qualifying for the Red Bud Regional, a 23rd in 250C Mod and a 7th in 450C.

Our lone reporting ATV racers this week was David Wisotzkey. David participated in the AMA ATV National held up at Sunset Ridge in Walnut Illinois. Sunset Ridge will be hosting a Loretta Lynn Regional here in a few weeks, but this past weekend it was the quad guys and gals!

David brought home a 5th overall in 4-Stroke B and a 10th overall in Open B.

Also just saw where Bourke down at LSMX is having prepped practice this weekend. Friday night is from 5-10 PM and Saturday will be from 10AM to 4 PM. Nothing Sunday, it's Mother's Day, so be nice to your Mom, especially if she's the one washing your cheesy rider gear all the time!!!

If you missed their opener a week ago, this weekend would be a great time to try out the new LSMX layout!

SOIL MX is supposed to be opened tonight as well. Haven't heard anything yea or nay, so check with the gang at SOIL before making the haul!

That's it for now gang! See ya soon...