Personal History
I'm a crazy stubborn redneck from Connecticut who's fallen in love with the sport of ATV-MX. I've never found myself so in depth with something in my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've spent the last 4 years learning as much as I can trying to expand my knowledge about anything pertaining to my racing be it technical info, riding techniques or track layouts. I've gotten so bad that many of my friends are convinced that I can ring off info about any kind of product for quads and even give you the color code out of the catalog. I started racing last year but was more into the practice time than anything. Racing was a new thing for me and I think I bit off more than I could chew being that I was nowhere near as competitive as I should have been. I swore '08 was to be a new year as was looking that way but multiple breakdowns, including a 5th gear pinned cartwheel that almost tore off my whole front end, and injuries kept me from doing as much or as good as I wanted. I participated in the last two races before my surgery and vowed that injury or not I was gonna go out and show everybody that I was a force to be reckoned with on the track. I figured I could push myself over the edge, I was going to the hospital for surgery in a couple days anyway so why not right? When I was done I didn't do as good as I wanted due to a severely overheating engine and just plain bad luck. But when all was said and done I had the one thing I was looking for from everyone....respect. '09 is going to be a whole new year and I'm coming back with a veangance so keep up with me if you can.
Riding Goals
Leading up to the '09 race season I plan on practicing any moment I can. I had nowhere near as much as I should have due to a lack of tracks to practice at in Connecticut but I can't complain with my progress. Though my last two races I had my best performances I plan on setting that as only a benchmark for the upcoming race season. My YFZ 450 is also getting a complete and much needed overhaul. I feel with this and an extensive training regimen I can easily begin winning motos and even podium overall at the end of the year. My overall goal for the coming year is to attend every race and when all is said and done finish in the top 5 in points.
Competitive Highlights
Probably the greatest highlight in my MX career was just this past August. A friend and I had both entered the Open C class together at Capeway Rovers MX in Middleboro, MA. The holeshot on this track is a widowmaker. There are somewhere between 30-40 gates and the holeshot narrows down to 18 feet at most. At the last race we had purposefully left the gate last and actually pulled decent holeshots and finishes. But at the last race I was determined to try my hardest. I was far from prepared though. I have almost no experience on a concrete starting pad and there had to be a good 2-3 inches of dirt on top of it and I had to leave it being that I didn't have a broom. Even with this I pulled 5th place holeshots both motos. The first moto I was 4th into the first turn but got hung up with a rider who spun out in front of me. I had the ENTIRE field pass but even with this and the fact that there are few passing lines at Capeway I was able to work my way back up to 10th. The second moto went better. I got hung up again in the first turn but not bad. I was able to break back out again in 7th or 8th place and fought my way all the way to 4th with just over a lap to go. I was sure I could podium being that the top 3 riders were only a matter of 20 feet ahead of me so I charged as hard as I could. I was able to get up on the grab bar of the 3rd place rider and was setting him up to pass. Just as I was making my move, locking up the rear brakes at the last second and trying to out turn him, my motor overheated and stalled. When I had readied my quad for this race I had put 0w-30 instead of the 20w-50 I should have put in being that I had nothing else and just enough money to race. This led to the overheating and by the time I re-started my YFZ I was in 10th place. Far from a bad race in my opinion but not up to my expectations. '09 is gonna be a whole new year though and this will just be a footnote in my racing history by this time next year.