San Diego, Qualcomm Park
Clear Channel Entertainment
Pro-Quads 2003, Round 4
Heading into Round 4 we knew that this Series is anyone's ballgame. In fact even after Round 4 it still is. Dana does have the edge; slightly, but everything will hinge on the next round.
Dana and Mike Walsh have spent yet another eventful week in sunny Southern California. They have been on rides in Bean Canyon, El Cajon, Glen Helen, and a few other places. They, along with Kory Ellis, were asked to do a test on some Utility Quads for ATV ACTION. I asked what this was all about. Dana and Mike both said that basically they got to go out and mess with someone else's equipment. It was great! I know that Mike found up close and personal just how well a 500+ pound quad can pin a guy. Word is that he was stuck under his for a few minutes and when the other guys found out he wasn't hurt, they couldn't quit laughing. Anyway they have had great fun and had some productive time fine tuning their rides for the Nationals as well as getting in shape by riding so much, and of course, the little bonus of the CCE Pro-Quad series.
This time for the Saturday Supercross I didn't even bother getting tickets for me. I opted instead to get caught up on some sleep, some writing (notice how on time I am in putting these reports out???), and getting ready for my trip to Hawaii this week with my cheerleading team for the Aloha Internationals. That's right, I am going to Hawaii instead of the final CCE round. I will have to go by the reports I get back from Skip and Dana, and be at the mercy of whatever they can get for photos (I don't know about you, but I am scared!).
We had found out that at these Amateur Supercross days it doesn't matter what time you get in line (unless you line up the night before at midnight or something) you will be stuck in pit traffic from 6 am, when the gates to the pits open, until at least 7:30 am simply by the sheer numbers of riders and trailers trying to get pit spots. We just waited till 8 and drove right in. Of course that meant that our pit areas were limited. However, we found the best little spot where they had had the mini-bike challenges the night before. It had hay bales surrounding a little fenced in 'arena' type affair and hay on the dirt packed ground. It was very nice and we were literally all alone in it and only steps from the entrance to the stadium. We set up camp there. Nick Nelson joined us to pit. Jim and Charlotte, who just celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary (now THAT'S a LONG time) made themselves comfortable in the mild San Diego sun as well.
We met quite a few people this weekend. First of all we finally met Rob Salcedo from ShiftMX, our gear sponsor. Although we had talked with him on many occasions, we just kept missing him. It was great to finally meet the face behind the voice. Next we met Jason Jones from Stillwater Designs (Kicker). Jason is in the process of designing a sound system for us to rock out at the races. Never again will there be any doubt where we are. Simply follow the noise & fun. Wes Miller and Sheldon Riggs also hung out for a while. Wes is already making plans for Huevos 6. We also met three fans that had flown in from Nova Scotia to watch Supercross and the Pro-Quads. And we thought WE had come a long way! Dallas Tinsman also came by to hang for the day. Nice to see her again and listen to her tell us all about her sand drag that she has customized and her plans for terrorizing all the other riders at Glamis with.
Wayne Mooridian and Billy Pointer also made this round. Wayne has been our constant companion lately helping to fine tune and completely set up our rides (both Dana's and Mike's). We sure appreciate the interest level and the help all of our sponsors have extended. We could not possibly do this without their support.
Skip and Dana had made the decision to run his left front tire backwards to help with turning and breaking on the tight track. Dana's theory was that he would have a small advantage with a tight left turn situation. Actually, Mike Pastori had mounted it backwards and we kept forgetting to change it. But then by accident (or justification) Dana found it kind of worked. So we left it for these stadium races.
Practice was late. Part of the reason was that there were some bike riders that had trouble on the step-up table top. Evidently they couldn't quite make the table top from the step-up and they were nosing into it. Myself, if I thought I might not make the table top, I would probably roll that little jump before it (all the riders the night before had done it, so anyone can do it right?). In the heat of the moment, they must have thought that they could do it. Anyway, a few of them had to be scraped off the track before the track designers could fine tune that area. Quads went out to practice at 10 or so. They only had ten minutes on the track, or about 5 laps. The track was nice. No options this time. From the gate there was a long, fast start line straightaway to a hard left corner that led into a 30 feet or so of whoops. From the whoops it was a hard right to two rollers and a hairpin back to four sets of doubles, over the finish line table-top in the middle of this set. After this set there was a big single jump right before the corner that literally set you down in the hard right turn. There were two big singles and hard left to two other big singles and the flat section. The flat section cut across the start gate area and went into two long sets of jumps that could be doubled, and usually were. The doubles had a twin section heading back toward the starting line where the high speed cut-across the starting line area to a table top and back to the rest of the track that I just described.
There were three heats. The top three finishers from last week (Greg Stuart, Mike Walsh and Josh Frederick) were in separate heats. Dana and Mike Walsh were in the first heat. Dana had the jump off the line, but Mike made it first into the corner. Down the straightaway, Dana was trying to get Mike's attention, but Mike was having none of it. Dana passed Mike two turns into the heat and proceeded to check out. Mike had a comfortable run for second and easily made the main. Mike, Dana and Nick Granlund held tight positions for the first laps. Taylor Moles made the main from the first heat along with Nick, Mike and Dana. The promoters had decided to limit the number of riders into the main to 15 riders. The track was too tight for more than that many riders on the track. The top four riders advanced to the main, and the rest went to LCQ land. Kory Ellis, Jeremy Schell, and Josh Frederick were the top three riders in Heat #2. Kory traded plastic with Jeremy for two laps then he pulled the lead and walked away from the pack. Josh continued in a comfortable 3 spot with smooth riding style and few if any errors. Jeremy looked the best he has this entire series at this race. He said that he finally had shook that bug that had been haunting him for the last few weeks and finally felt like himself again. It showed. Keith Little had a hard day. He got a great start in Heat #3 in a hairy first corner with several riders, including Greg Stuart, who had a great lead, Arturo Fierro, Javier Gomez, Mike Machado and Jack Bedner all bumping each other at full speed in the first corner but Keith pulled out of it. He had a good lead going when he simply disappeared. I found out later that he threw a chain. Tough luck, cause he had a good run going.
LCQ found Keith in a nasty starting position. I honestly thought he would be in the 'working your way through the pack' position simply because of this. He wasn't first off the line, but he was easily first into the first corner. There was no one near him. He left the pack and nearly lapped a couple of the riders before the end of the short LCQ (to be fair a couple of the nearly lapped riders did get hung up in the whoops for a minute or so). Darrell Patton and Nick Nelson were also on the line in the LCQ. Darrell asked me to alert the EMTs because he wasn't going to let off in the first corner. He figured that it was a 'make the corner or take out all the photographers,' and if he didn't make it, someone was going to need first aid. Darrell and Nick made that first corner, but it WAS touch and go for the photographers. Darrell worked hard for position and was rewarded by advancing to the main. Nick rode better than I have seen him ever ride, in a tight position battle with Mike Machado, but missed the main by one position. Brandon Skiles and Eric Silveira were among the riders to just miss main-eventland. Eric ended up on the high side of a corner, and it only took one small mistake on this track to take you out. Brandon used his track time to convince himself that he could run the course smoothly and take jumps without pressure.
Again we had a wait till it was our turn in the main. It was kind of weird, because we usually have the 'hurry-and-get-ready-for-the-next-thing' mindset between motos. We relaxed and visited in our great pit area. Wes Miller showed up and he brought Sheldon Riggs with him to hang. We finally got to meet Jason Jones, from Stillwater Designs. Jason is in the process of designing some kick butt sound systems from Kicker. We plan on having some serious tunes in our pits this year. We met some nice people from Nova Scotia that had come in specifically for this weekend so that they could see the Supercross and the Pro-Quad MX. Nice guys. Also on the 'nice to meet you' list are some guys from Texas that we met in the parking lot the night before. In fact word is that a couple of them are so impressed with the set up we have this year that they are going to get bikes as close as possible to Dana's ride directly from Sheridan Race Products. Phil and Lynn Sheridan are a tightly kept secret we have. They are setting up Walsh CRF450s nearly like Dana's. Of course we set up ours, but since it would take Skip months to do another person's bike (if he would do it), we know that the Sheridan's have the knowledge and the attention to detail to hustle out bikes in time for nationals that are completely ready to rock and roll.
Pro-Quad main event started with me pretty worked up (so what else is new you ask yourself). I don't know, but I think it is easier to watch the race from the viewfinder of my camera. It seems further away and not quite as scary as when you watch without putting your hands in front of your eyes. Dana got a good start, not a holeshot but good all the same. Once again Mike Walsh snagged the holeshot with big time competition right up against his Dominator 2. Dana, Kory, Josh Frederick, Greg Stuart and Jeremy Schell were all right there. The first lap the top six riders were separated by mere inches. They went two and three wide over jumps, trusting that each other would keep it together and not take each other out. By the beginning of lap two, Mike and Dana had pulled away from Kory, Jeremy, Josh and Greg who were still grouped pretty tight. In the turn before the finish line straight-away, Mike took the wide side and Dana's front wheel setup paid off for him to dive underneath and take the lead. Mike read yet another chapter on '101 Reasons for a Leader to Hold the Inside Line.' Dana left Mike wondering just what happened. Keith had narrowly worked his way around Kory and was trying to reel in Mike when Keith threw yet another chain. Tough break for Keith. Mike retained second place with Kory, Greg, Jeremy and Josh all knocking on the back door and doing. Action was everywhere. Kory and Jeremy had a hard battle, with neither of them willing to give. Sam Gomez and another rider went down hard in the whoop section. Mike Walsh narrowly missed adding himself to the pileup. Chris Chapman and Mike Machado (2,3) tangled at the end of the second lap. Arturo Fierro had a hard and expensive day as well. He tore his ride up pretty bad near the beginning of the race and ended up with a great place to watch the rest of the race while his quad sat nearby with wounded a-arms. While these guys were rolling around in the dirt, other riders were passing each other to work their way into the final positions. Dana had worked a comfortable lead to the point of backing off on the gas. Kory had worked his way into the two spot but was not in a challenge position for first, assuming Dana didn't have some kind of a brain fade. Dana played it smart and rode for the win rather than for the glory. There were some tight spots when getting into lapped traffic, but even then it was a simple pass. Greg Stuart also pulled off another podium finish to add to his points. Even though Greg missed the first race, it looks like he might be looking at a low number at the end of this series
Although several of our buddies didn't make it into the main, we really felt their support in the stands. Thank so much to Rob, Jason, Wes and Sheldon, the Skiles family and our pals from Nova Scotia, as well as our immediate family, Jim and Charlotte Creech who were there for us.
Heading into the final round, Dana leads Kory by nine points. It's not a done deal but we know where we have to finish. I will be in Hawaii with my cheerleading team for the finals, but I am sending out my minions to see what they can see.
That's it for now.
Play hard and call your Mom,
Mom
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