Jacob911.com

Six months ago Jacob set a goal to become one of the best Endurocross racers in the country. On Saturday night, at round one of the 2009 Endurocross series, Jacob moved one step closer to that goal by grabbing the podium in the amateur final!

After a days worth of practice and qualifying, which included a grand total of over 30 minutes on one of the hardest tracks ever built, Jacob sat ready for the evening show qualified for both the Amateur and EX Pro classes. However, the qualifiers weren’t easy by any means.

In the Open Amateur division, Jacob was clearly a stand out. Being one of the only riders to lay down a lap time of under 1:10, he looked to be a favorite to win. But as any Endurocross event goes, the best rider isn’t always the winner. Getting tangled up in the first turn, as pretty much every racer in every race was doing, Jacob was forced to fight his way through the pack. Doubling the tires, flying through the matrix section, and step-turning his way through the logs, Jacob worked his way to the front of the pack in only 1 whole lap. Unfortunately lapped traffic would cause him to bobble in the rock turn, but he managed to hold on to second and qualify for the evening program.

In the EX Pro class Jake was on fire. Cleaning every obstacle, it appeared as though Jake had been riding this course for months. After over jumping the log mountain, Jacob flat landed and stalled his bike. With Eric Rogers and now Mat Karlson in front of him, he had his work cut out! But in typical Argubright fashion, he never gave up, and actually passed Karlson in the final turn as a stall left his bike dead in the rocks! Jake advanced to the night show, and was ready for his hot lap.

With a time of 1:11.08 seconds, Jacob was atop the leader board for nearly 15 riders. When the final results came in, he sat at 16th out of 36, and was able to get a great gate pick.

Before the pros went off, Argubright dominated the Amateur final. Once gaining the lead out of the Matrix section, he never looked back and cruised his way to the top of the podium. Giving an interview in front of nearly 6,000 people, Argubright simply said, “My heart rate is higher then I could count right now!”

At the start of the Ex Pro heat number one, Argubright was lined up between Taddy Blazuziak, Geoff Aarron, and Damon Huffman. With a third place start, he worked his way through the pack to finish 5th in the heart.

A quick stint through the Semis and he was qualified for the LCQ, which was good enough to earn him at least 1 championship point. Bad luck finally set in during the LCQ, setting Jake at the back of the pack. A few moves and he was able to charge back to make up enough ground to earn what little positions he could.

Finishing 10th in the moto, he took the final point for the EX Pro Championship Series. Only three minutes later he took the line for the “Dash For Cash” where he finished 2nd overall, good enough for $300!

Jacob is now one of only 20 pre qualified riders who will get to sit out the morning qualifiers at the Guthrey, OK round of the series.

Ryan - jacob911.com