Personal History
I've been riding since I was 30 years old and every since then I've been wondering what took me so long to get into riding. I started racing in 2011 with the USDR series mainly because my oldest son wanted to race so I figured I would try it and test my skills. I really just wanted something positive for me and my family to do that we could all enjoy as a family. Both my sons raced this year and my wife and daughter will race USDR next year making Deckert Racing a full family team.
This year I had a pretty bad crash back in April that broke both my shoulder blades and put me out of racing for 3 months but I'm cleared to ride now and I've started racing the AMA So Cal Motocross series and I've already won the Vet Novice Class twice and took second place once. I look forward to completing this series before retuning to GPs and desert racing with District 37 and USDR in the fall.
Riding Goals
I intend to build upon my great start and make sure I make it to every USDR event next year as well as start racing the District 37 races as well. I'm much more experienced now that my rookie year is behind me and I know what it takes to win and what kind of training I need to put in. My main goal is to try and move up to the Vet Expert class by the end of next year. I also hope to gain some sponsorship this next year to help me be able to afford to keep all five of us racing. So in a way sponsoring me is more like sponsoring a team of 5. My wife Rebecca , 33 years old racing USDR for the 2012 year for the first time. My oldest, JR, age 10, finished 7th overall in USDR Kids 1 this year, Logan, age 8, finished 2nd overall in USDR Pee Wee. Elizabeth, age 6 will race USDR Pee Wee for the first time in 2012.
Competitive Highlights
I started racing during round 2 after my son heard about USDR from a friend and asked if we could race. USDR races a short race for the beginners about 45 miles until you get enough points to transfer to the pro race whice is 2 hours plus 1 lap, about 70 miles. I place 5th in my class my first race and then one my class the next time. That was enough to bump me to the Novice class and the big race. I placed 2nd in the Vet Novice Class in my first long race. My final race I was on pace to win my class until mechanical failure cost me 10 mins in the pits and I did my best to finish a 6th place in class finish and salvaged enough points to finish 8th overall in the Veteran Class. If I had won that race I would have placed 6th and run the number 6 plate in the 2012 sesaon. As is I'm very pleased with my finish in my rookie year.