Jacob911.com

Pre Race

Well, Endurocross 2010 is over, and I feel better coming out of the series then I ever have before. Things went pretty well considering, and I still have some good room to improve upon myself in the coming year.

The Vegas Final Round was a fun, difficult, somewhat stress free weekend for me, and everyone who is behind the Off Road Support program got their fair share of excitement this weekend. After spending the entire day watching the morning races and qualifiers, I almost missed my hot lap!

After the first 5-minute practice session, I felt pretty good about my abilities to get around riders on alternate lines.  Endurocross isn’t only about being the fastest out there, it’s also about being smart enough to avoid getting stuck while making passes.  My first practice session I focused mainly on just getting through the obstacles, not really about how fast I was- my plan was to do that in the second practice heat.

Heat 2 went completely opposite as planned! I made it about three turns, then my bike locked up and died.  It was like I blew the motor or something. Ed ran onto the track and helped me push the bike off, but I was worried that I might not have the 250 for the final round!

In Endurocross the 250 is everything.  I could ride my desert bike, KX450F, in Endurocross if I have to, but it’s just not as competitive on the short course as the 250F.  Not to mention it is lacking some of the key modifications that my 250 has, so needless I was getting a little worried as the hot lap approached.

Luckily Ed, my Dad, Tuner from TBT Racing and Patrick from Rekluse went to work and were able to diagnose the problem and, with the help of the guys at Kawi get the bike fixed.  Somehow I had broken something internally in the kick starter which ended up breaking my clutch basket in half! They got it replaced, and I was on the bike about four riders before it was my turn for the hot lap.

Destry was one rider ahead of me, and he set the fast lap with a 1:07. I wanted to beat him, but with the limited time on the track it wasn’t going to be easy.  I rode hard and aggressive and pretty much cleaned the whole track. I had a bobble in the rocks which cost me a couple seconds but I was happy with my time of 1:10, good enough for second at that point. After the hot laps were done, I sat at 13^th and that meant that I was in the heat with Taddy, Cody Webb, and Cory Graffunder… it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

Race Night

My heat was the first pro heat to go of the evening, and it was very intense right off the bat.  Into the first turn I was about mid pack, and really worked myself around the group.  I ran as high as third mid way through the race, but as we came into lapped traffic, it just became more and more difficult to hang in there with Taddy.

Eventually Gary Sutherlin got around me and I finished the race in 4^th place which gave me a good gate pick in the Semi.

In the Semi it was Gary and I side by side in the first turn, and we both got hung up on the log a turn latter. Corey Graffunder got around us, and we played catch-up the entire race, ultimately finishing out of a transfer spot, but good enough to make the LCQ which gave us a fighting chance, but at least the guarantee that we would be earning points this weekend!

The LCQ was completely stacked. Homero Diaz, Destry Abbott, myself, Gary Sutherlin, Jaime Lanza, and many other fast riders were all lined up side by side. I knew that I wanted to get into the main, but that I had to at least beat Rory Sullivan and Matt Oppen to remain top 15 for the season in the pro class.  My start was not a good one as everyone was able to get a better jump out of the gate.

With Ed and Ryan on the sideline in the mechanic area holding the pit board, I put my head down and charged the entire 5-lap race.  I finished in 5^th, in the LCQ and earned 13^th on the night, which was enough points to keep me exactly at 15^th overall for the season.  More importantly, I remained at the 2^nd overall position in the Junior EX championship to Colton Haaker.

My big moment of the night was yet to come, however, as I had the chance to ride in the Baja Designs Night Race.  That meant that they turned out the lights, and I had a battery powered Baja Designs light on to traverse the entire course on.  It was also a 4 lap race, so I was excited to know that I only had to push it four more laps for the evening.

On the startline, I was contemplating hitting the jumps, or not, being as it would be impossible to see the landing in the dark.  But as the gate dropped, Matt Oppen and I were side by side and we both launched the tires like it was no big deal at all.  I was able to get around him halfway through the lap and finished the race in first which won me $500 and a trip to the podium! Diego from Baja Designs was there to give me the check, as well as all the guys from Rekluse and Pro Moto Billet.  It was a good feeling to be up there representing them, and I knew that I had a whole group of District 37 supporters up in the crowd cheering for me!

This night was incredible for me, and it felt really good to final be in Vegas mixing it up with the faster Pros.  I might not have beaten them, but I definitely proved that I have what it takes to run up there at the pace of the faster Endurocross guys. I look forward to next year, as I plan to make this one of my major focus’s for 2011.

I can’t thank those who helped get my bike back together enough.  I know that Ed and my dad will always be there for me, but to know that guys like Tuner and Patrick went out of their way to miss watching hot laps and make sure I was on the track were the killer pieces of motivation for the night.  Having people like that willing to sacrifice for me, means that I need to do the same for them, which I did each and every lap until the night was over.

Of course the evening would not have been possible without the support that I receive from all of my great sponsors as well. As always, thanks to Kawasaki of Simi Valley, Off Road Support, Answer Racing, UFO Plastics, TBT Racing, Rekluse, Pro Moto Billet, Fastway Performance, IMS, FMF, BRP, and Brian Elliot at Allianceoffroad.com.

See ya in the Desert!

-Jacob

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