| Race Report- SoCal National |
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| Jakes Race Blog - National Hare & Hound - Race Reports | |||
| Written by Jacob Argubright | |||
| Tuesday, 12 October 2010 09:55 | |||
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My weekend started with a stop Bessemer Mine Road where my dad was going to get some work done for the final National in two weeks. Kyle Bristol and I rode while Ryan and my dad worked on the 100’s race. It was a good morning and definitely much cooler than the rest of the weekend would be. We got back in around 3 PM and went into town for lunch before heading out to Boone Road for the race. Every time I get to eat at Adelita’s in Lucerne things seem to go well. We were hoping that this week wouldn’t be any different.
Saturday we got up and helped Ed get the truck put together. We were one of the first pits on Pit Row, next to Jeff Decker and Kawi, so en ended up also having to set up the Hare and Hound Podium trailer. Once things were done, Kyle and I went out to play in the sand. This place was really sandy as compared to the rest of Johnson Valley, but it was really a good place to find some fun dunes, and even cooler jumps. We basically screwed around all morning waiting for the bomb to open, and had kids riding with us and jumping all morning. At 1 pm the bomb opened and I headed up the road to set up camp for the afternoon. The thing was one of the longest bombs I have ever ridden, and it felt like about 3 miles until we were at the end. It was pretty sandy everywhere, but I felt like I had a good line all the way to the left (I would find out Sunday that Kendall had the same idea). My dad and I finished up and headed back for the Pro Autograph Signing. It was cool to be there out in Lucerne next to all of the guys I had been racing with all over the country. It was like they had all come over to my house to meet some of my friends and family. David Pearson and I talked about his Baja plans, and he tried to convince my dad that I would be a good idea in the future, but he wasn’t having it. When the signing had finished up, I had signed over 150 posters, and a few other various items I’ll leave for you guys to figure out. Race Day Sunday morning it was really starting to heat up, but at 8 I was at the line and ready to go. Kendall was there too, and we both just sort of sat in our own world knowing what the day meant. The problem here was that the start was held up for nearly 40 minutes because of an accident out on the highway, and we just sat in the sun losing all of the hydration that we had worked on for days. At approximately 9:40 the banner dropped and I had a great start. Three kicks later, and I was virtually in everyone’s dust. By the end of the bomb I was behind Morgan Crawford and probably about 10th overall. I quickly got around him and set my sights on Justin Morrow and Justin Imhof ahead.
Into the pits and they told me that I was in 5th. The plan was to save the bike knowing that loop three was going to be killer. I tried to stay as close as I could to the leaders, but just kinda let things happen, and really was out of the dust the whole time. Somewhere after check 5 I saw Destry stopped on the side of the trail. He was pointing to his motor, but giving me a thumbs up so I just kept going. It was cool to see him cheering me on! I really never saw anyone else and came into the pits for my last lap. They told me I was in 4th, which I knew and I told them what was up with Des. Literally one mile out of the pits, I was passing Kamo (who was on the ground with about 4 people around him). Beau Cottington was there, and he just told me to keep going. So I moved on to what was some of the most difficult terrain I had ridden in a national. I had a 47 (tooth sprocket) on to help get the higher speeds on the bomb, and with that gearing I was really asking for it on loop three. I was on the clutch the whole time, and thinking that my endurocross bike (and gearing) would have been perfect up in the rocks. I made it through, and finished the 14 miles in about 45 minutes, so it was deffinately a hard loop. At the finish literally all of my family and friends were waiting. The Bargers, my parents, Ryan and Ed, and a few of the 100’s members were there to celebrate with me, and it really felt good this time.
Overall Point Standings
Other thoughts I felt like I rode well, but I know that I can pick it up a bit for the 100’s national. Kendall and David were on the gas, and it would have been hard for anyone to keep up, but I feel like I could have kept the gap a little bit closer than it was. I will have to work on that for the next couple weeks. It is awesome to get on the podium for the second round in a row, but it’s a little bittersweet knowing that David Kamo left injured. Sounds like he’ll be back for 100’s but still not how I would like to got on the podium.
There were a lot of riders who won championships this weekend, and in addition to Kendall taking his first Hare and Hound Title, a long time friend finished the race and won the title in the 250 B class. Congratulations to Brett Landfield who had traveled to all of the rounds and now will have a trophy to show for it (and a national title)! There is a good video of the weekend, which includes the footage of Kamo’s crash that can be seen at www.promoto.tv. Thanks to Beau for getting me in! As always, thanks to my sponsors who keep me on the bike and on the podium: Kawasaki of Simi Valley, Kawasaki Team Green, Monster Energy, TBT Racing, BRP, FMF, IMS, Fastway, Pro Moto Billet, Rekluse, Allianceoffroad.com and Off Road Support. My next race will be the 100’s National which should be my last District race of the year. See you in the Desert. -Jacob Jacob911.com
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This past weekend was the 8th round of the National Hare and Hound Series, and up until this point I just felt like I was locked into the 5th overall position forever. No matter how well I did, Destry and the guys ahead of me seemed to just get enough points to hold me off. But 90 miles into the So Cal National, and things started looking up!
Pre Race
Check One was at the bottom of a cool little downhill, and while the guys were on the trail, I pushed it and launched down the rocks on the side. I came in blazing hot, and was out before I could even look back. From here I settled into a good grove. I knew that Destry and Kendall were ahead of me, but wasn’t really sure about both Davids on the KTM’s.
Results: 1. Kendall Norman (Hon); 2. David Pearson (KTM); 3. JACOB ARGUBRIGHT (Kaw); 4. Quinn Cody (Hon); 5. Nick Burson (Husq); 6. Bobby Garrison (Husq); 7. Ryan Kudla (Kaw); 8. Brett Saunders (Kaw); 9. Jeff Trulove (Kaw); 10. Robert Longenecker (Hon)
Socal MC did a great job on the course. This was their first national in a long time, and my first Socal race on the 450. With all of the sand out there, I was happy to be on the 4-stroke instead of my 250 2-stroke. It was by far one of my favorite race courses, mainly because of the difficulty.
