PALOMAR HOTSHOTS RACING

San Felipe 250

March 14, 2009

RACE UPDATE AND RIDER'S RECAP

Rusty rode from the start at the Arches in San Felipe to

RM 93.1 at Morelia Junction.

Coming into the San Felipe 250, I felt like we were prepared, which was a good feeling. The bike was awesome, and we got to do quite a bit of testing. I was expecting a top five in-class finish even though it was our first race as a team. Prerunning was a near disaster with everybody crashing, getting lost, you name it. From the outside looking in, it probably wasn't looking too good for us. Thankfully we were just getting all that out of the way for race weekend. The weather was perfect on race morning. I was to take the bike to RM 93, and hand it off to Stan.

As the race began there was no wind so dust would have been an issue if there was only one way to get to check 1. Turns out there were hundreds of ways to get there. Coming through the dump, I passed my first competitor just as we entered the whoops. I started finding my rhythm when 258x came up on me about RM6 near Zoo road. I went into panic mode and started riding maybe a little on the reckless side in his dust. I hit a rock pretty hard and almost hit the deck. Somehow I managed to stay upright. The same wasn't true for 258x. He hit hard and bent his bike up pretty good.

I continued on and made it another ten miles or so when I came to a fork and went right when I should have gone left. It didn't take long to know I was veering off course so I tried to cut back through the bushes. I rode right up to a 15 foot deep ravine. So I turned right and started blazing down the ravine at about 5 mph until I found a spot to cross. If this wasn't a race I probably would have kept looking. Anyhow I made it through (tracksidephotos caught much of it on camera). Frustrated but on two wheels, I kept having to tell myself to relax and just get the bike to Stan. Coming into Borrego all was well. I found my rhythm and was having a pretty good time. Took on fuel at RM60.

About a mile or two after my pit, I saw one of my competitors on a really good line way off track to the north of the big whoops heading to Check #1. I knew it was a good line because I used that section to drive my family to San Felipe on vacation in our Winnebago. I was really missing the tracking devices at that point.

Coming out of Check #1 I knew the hard part was over. Now it was warp speed to Zoo Road. Well kinda. The road down the lake bed was pretty chewed up and I hadn't preran the lakebed so I held on tight and went for it. The silt beds came and went without any drama worth mentioning. As I came into the wash leading up to the cow I was happy to see that even though it was choppy it was still very fast. I rolled into RM93 with Stan ready to go. I was 'quick filled' by the Squadron El Diablo team (thanks guys and gals).

Now it was time to head into town and wait for the finish. As we came into San Felipe the first bikes were just finishing. So Michelle (Stan's wife) and I pulled out some chairs and started spectating. At about 1:12 Steve crested the hill at warp speed bringing our bike in for a solid third. I wish everybody could have been there. We loaded up and headed back to the Greene's house for hamburgers and hot dogs and a whole lotta bench racing. I couldn't thank my team, and the Squadron El Diablo team enough. Excellent weekend.....

Steve rode from RM 167.2 at the lower end of Azufre wash to the finish line at RM 229.6.

I think Rusty said it best. We went to San Felipe feeling good after all the testing and training we did at Borrego. We felt so confident that everything was going to be easy and smooth running. We decided to pre-run the whole course together the first day so in case there was a problem during the race, we would know everyone else’s section. We hit the whoops soon after starting and kept getting separated looking for ‘the good line.’ After collecting ourselves numerous times in the first 30 miles, we followed the long time Baja riding tradition - ‘let's all panic and split up!’ I eventually met Stan on the way back to the Greene’s compound to regroup and start fresh the next day. Rusty was already there and was about to go out with gas cans on a rescue mission.

The next day we partnered up with riders from the Squadron El Diablo Race Team and pre-ran our sections with them. The El Diablo guys had Pete riding with Rusty and Sol riding with Steve. They knew the course from last year and helped us find lines. Everybody ended up with some sort of injury. From Palomar Hotshots Racing, Rusty cart wheeled the race bike, Stan broke his wrist after nailing a boulder, and I nailed a boulder in Huatamote Wash at high speed and got bruised up pretty good. From the Diablo team, Sol hit a boulder in the same area I did pre-running a week later and broke a rib. Pete twisted an ankle on a G-out.

After a long week, race morning was here. I went to the start with Rusty and Stan went to Morelia Junction where he was scheduled for his rider change. Rusty started at about 6:40 and I waited for word that Rusty had crossed Zoo road, about 10 miles from the start. We only had radios with a 5 mile range so I still scanned other race frequencies waiting to hear any news. The only thing I heard was bad news about other teams on the Weatherman frequency.

I got down to my scheduled rider change at RM167 about 8:30 and started prepping the pit. The pros didn’t get there until 9:30. We made several calls to pit 3 for status on both El Diablo’s 302X bike and our bike. Both bikes had gone through and were looking good with no problems.

It seemed an eternity, but just 6 minutes after 3^rd place in our class went by, Stan appeared. I was ready, but caught off guard. I threw on my goggles and gloves. I checked with Stan to see how he and the bike were while we fueled up. The triple clamp and bars were twisted, that’s it, good run to me. All I need to do is finish and we would have 4^th. I knew we were 6 minutes back from third, and I wanted at least 3^rd.

As soon as I left the pit, I realized the clutch perch was loose, to the point that every bump I hit it made it move. More than 10 miles went by in Azufre Wash and I started catching some dust. When I almost got close enough to see who I was catching, I went to grab the clutch and rear brake, and I dumped the bike. I got back up fast and thanks to the electric start, the bike started right up before I even got back on. Within minutes I caught and was passing a quad. Just before check 4, I caught 3^rd place and our pit was just after the check.

I don’t even remember what happened at the pit. The only thing on my mind was I had caught 3^rd in our class and I need an 8 mm to tighten the clutch. I think I took off before the wrench was even removed from the perch. In no time I caught some more quads. These guys scared me because they kept looking back in a panic like there was a trophy truck catching up. It was just me with a stock exhaust uncorked, but they still kept looking back.

Entering Huatamote Wash, I was more cautious than I was pre-running. I missed virtually all the boulders I hit while pre-running, even the ones that didn’t move. Check 5 was like hitting the home stretch, only with whoops. I was so inspired by the crowds that were lining the course beginning twelve miles from town and all the way to the finish. I was approaching the finish line when I saw Rusty with a huge smile jumping up and down and waving his arms. I was so happy that Rusty had invited me to be a part of this great team and to get a podium finish in a race that I always wanted to do. I had a great time and I can’t wait till the Baja 500. My thanks to Palomar Hotshots Racing, Squadron El Diablo Racing and all of our families and friends that helped make this happen.

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