Elkins WV, & Hagerstown MD

We had a busy weekend of racing. It was pretty cool having both of these races not too far from our house. I was also really excited to race another hot shoe race. I have been doing pretty well in these hot shoe races and I was excited to continue to make a climb in the point standings.
 
Elkins, VA was probably the biggest hot shoe of the year thus far in terms of rider count. There were probably around 20 solid 450 riders and 35 twins or so. The track was a paperclip and pretty small. It rained a little bit, which was the story of the weekend and the track wasn't the best, but it was a fun little place. My 09' CRF 450 was dialed in right from the start and I finished a close 3rd in my scratch heat behind Russell and Halbert after a bad start and bested that with a 2nd place in the heat race behind Mees. I wasn't sure if we had anything for Mees as he was flying, but I was up for the challenge and felt I had the speed to at least finish in the top 5. My 750 was handling really well too. Rich Hanson has that thing dialed in for sure. We had a little trouble all day with the front end tucking on me, but after I won my 750 scratch heat after a close battle with Steve Murray, we felt pretty solid on this bike too. I wasn't getting good starts on the 750 all day and I ended up finishing 4th in my heat race after passing a few guys. I caught the top 3, so I was feeling confident for the mains.
 
In the 450 main, I was 3rd on the line. I got a pretty descent start but was like 4th coming off turn two behind Weidman, Mees and Sammy Halbert. Mees made work of Weidman and I got by Halbert on the back stretch. Weidman and Mees must of cut a really fast first lap because when I settled into 3rd, they had a little gap on me. I shook off Halbert, who is always wicked fast on anything he rides and started to settle into 3rd. I wasn't catching Weidman as much as I thought I would, but definitely wasn't loosing any ground and I ended up a solid 3rd place, which was my first ever hot shoe national podium. It was pretty cool, but I was a little disappointed because I thought we were a little better then 3rd. Due to my horrible starts on the twin, I found myself on the back row for the main. The first hole shot, I found a sweet little hole off turn two and was running 5th, however Mataya went down and we had a restart. Of course, on the restart I was about 9th or 10th off turn two. I didn't cut a very good couple first laps, but picked some guys off and finished 7th. There were only 10 laps, which bummed me out but overall the day was descent. I ended up the year 4th in the 750 Hot Shoe Expert Championship and I moved up 2 more spots in the 450 Hot Shoe points to 3rd behind Mees and Halbert. I got to keep plugging away and finish out the year strong.
 
We drove all night to get back to Hagerstown. We got there around 2:30 and I went to bed. Dad and Rich Meisenbach drove back home to our good friend Hook's viewing. Shayna & I stayed at the track and rested for the evening. I know this is what Hook would of wanted. He would of wanted us to get ready for Hagerstown and not worry about him as he is in good hands now. I'm gonna miss you Hook. After waiting around all day and after a long rain delay, we finally got the show going. It was a shortened program and short programs make me nervous, but I was ready to do what I had to do to have a strong finish. There was a good rider count with 49 pro-sports and 51 GNC twins.
 
I went out for the first practice and the track was very tacky and pretty rough. I felt pretty good all practice and qualified 11th both practice rounds. I honestly feel we could of ran a little faster in qualifying, but this is the best I ever qualified because typically I am never a good qualifier. The track is something I am not typically strong on, but my bike was working great and I was determined to turn my GNC year around after some struggles and a lot of bad luck.
 
I lined up for my heat race. It was probably the hardest heat race I have ever been in and for me, that is saying something because my heat races are always the hardest of the day. Hopefully all these hard heat races are making me a better rider, because dang. Anyway, I knew I had my work cut out for me with Halbert, Mees, Smith, Kopp, Russell, Taylor, Murray, Wood and some others. I got a pretty good start and was running 4th behind Halbert, Mees and Taylor. Halbert started to slowly check out and Mees and Taylor were right in front of me. I passed Taylor through the rough part of the track in 3 and 4 and ran Mees's pace for a good lap or two. I was running a solid 3rd and I went into turn one and two and made the save of my year. I hit a hole and both of my feet flew above my back and my butt was probably 2 feet of my seat. My hands flew off the handlebars. After all of this, Bryan Smith was the only guy to pass me. I tensed up quite a bit, but tried to match his speed and I finished 4th in my heat, which was good enough to make the main as they take the top 6 today in the 3 heat races. I was pretty happy and ready to do 25 laps as I was feeling really strong.
 
I lined up for the main event feeling confident starting a few spots up from the bottom on the 2nd row. I had a good start and probably 7th or 8th coming off turn two. The first 5 laps of the national were very fast and something I wasn't used to at all. I got passed by a few guys right off the back and was running like 10th or 11th. About lap 5 or so, I hit the same dang hole I hit in the heat race and almost bit it. I think I lost a few of my kids because of this hole all night and like 5 guys passed me. It shook me up quite a bit, but I settled down and picked a few guys off. I caught Mataya and Bergen and passed Mataya and reeled in Bergen a bit. I was a few bike lengths behind Bergen and a good distance ahead of Mataya when they threw the red/checkered. They reverted back a lap and gave Mataya his position back. I was really bummed because I was a strong distance ahead of Mataya and right behind Bergen when they threw the checkered. I am confident I could of had Bergen with 10 more laps and instead of 13th, I was credited with 15th. That is 2 more points I should of had. I was running 14th when I saw the checkered and I ended up 15th, which is stupid. Overall, the night was descent, but I was bummed not only with the mistakes I made in the main event, but with the shortened race. I just have to keep climbing up the points standings. I have a lot of tracks left on the schedule I should be strong at, including 3 miles, so I am excited. Thanks to all the support from everyone over the past couple weeks. We have went through a lot with Dad & Grandpa Tex and now with Hook, but it has made Shayna & I stronger and better riders. Also want to thank Rich Hanson for everything. He has my bikes dialed in now better then ever and I am feeling healthy and ready to finish out the year strong.