Once again, the Alessi’s check in from the local motocross scene, where Mike raced Vet X at Glen Helen for the first time, and Russell Pearson and Destry Abbott share their race accounts from the Honey Lake WORCS—round 4 of the series. Also, hear Shane Watt’s story of finishing fourth in the Arkansas OMA National… despite running out of gas.
Shane Watts Race ReportArkansas OMA National
Conducted in perfect conditions following an overnight rain storm, Watts began the 7 lap, 2.5 hour race with a great jump out of the hole on his 200XC to claim the $1000 holeshot award. Watts…
Destry’s AMA H&H StoryWORCS – Honey Lake, Ca.Pre-race:Last week at the H&H it was dry, hot, and dusty. In contrast, this weekend looks like it’s going to be wet and freezing. Jonny and I are flying up to the race right now early Friday morning. They’re supposed to have practice today and I was really looking forward to riding the Honey Lake track again, but I think they’ll be cancelling practice. The last couple of days I’ve been on the computer checking out the weather in Milford, California and it’s been raining or snowing most of the time. It’s supposed to keep doing this until Tuesday which isn’t a lot of help to me. Today’s high is going to be in the 30′s with some snow storms. Just what someone from Phoenix wants to hear (not). I’m not too fond of the cold weather, but I know I’m still going to have a good time once I get out there.I think this race is going to be more of a survival race, then just pure speed. I feel like I’ve been riding really well lately, but the WORCS series hasn’t been to good to me so far. I really feel like if I go out there and ride like I can, I have a great shot at being on the podium. This series is packed with great riders, but I know my time is coming to get back up front. Jonny has been working really hard on my race bike all week to get it ready for the mud. It looks great right now, but by Monday I’m thinking it’s going to be needing some TLC. Time to turn off my computer… the flight attendant is starting to yell at me.Now I’m back at the hotel after a long day at the track. I was really surprised to see that it really wasn’t all that wet at the track and practice was a go. I actually had a great time out there and made a few changes (jetting the bike). I’m really happy with the way the bike is working and I think this could be a good weekend. After practice Nathan Woods, Dennis Stapleton, and myself went and walked some of the off-road sections. This place is going to have a lot more off-road sections then most of the races, and I think that’s a great thing. Just as we were finishing up our walk, it started to snow and rain a little bit. I’m pretty sure tomorrow is going to be really wet and probably some snow at the track. The snow line is just above the track and there’s a lot of it. Time to get some sleep.Saturday:I was right about the snow! When I showed up to the track there was snow in the pits and on the track. It wasn’t really thick, but it looks like it came down quite a bit last night. One thing it was, was super cold. Jonny had his race at 9:15 so I thought this would be the perfect time to go walk the track and look at the pro sections. I went with Smail, Woods, Karlsen, and a couple of other guys. On the way up to the pro sections, we had to stop by a little hill and have a great snow fight. I’m pretty sure Smail lost the fight.The pro section is going to be really good and technical. It has some really rocky washes and a pretty steep uphill. I think this section might have some bottle necks for tomorrow. On the way back, I got to see Jonny finish his race. He rode pretty well and finished sixth in the 250F B class. He was riding in the top three, but a couple of crashes cost him.At 1:20 it was time for me to get to the starting line and get ready for the pro practice. The conditions today were actually really good. When we got here it started to clear up and never did more than a few small snow flurries. When I took off for our 40-minute practice, I felt really good. I went out there and found some good lines in some of the rocky sections. I feel really good about tomorrow and with the way my bike’s working, I don’t see any reason why I can’t be on the podium. This race suits my style a lot more then the first three rounds this year. The only thing I’m not liking right now is the fact that there’s another big storm moving in. It’s supposed to rain and snow all night and into tomorrow night, but the weather forecasters are usually off…Race Day:We woke up and the first thing I did was go look out the window of my hotel. To my surprise it looked really good. It was cloudy but it didn’t look like it had rained or snowed much. I guess I was right about those forecast people.We took off to the track and I walked a few sections again, just in case there were some bottlenecks on the uphills. The start was at 12:00 and I felt pretty good. The conditions were just about perfect besides being a little cold, but I knew once the race got going it would be good.When the gate dropped, I didn’t get the best jump and was around 12th after the first corner. I made some passes and by the end of the first lap was around 9th or so. I was trying way too hard and making too many mistakes. After another lap or two I was still struggling and riding tight. I really don’t know why, but I was pretty pumped up. I actually went down twice in the first 30 minutes of the race. Both times I just lost my front end in some rocks.I made my first pit stop around the 45-minute mark. I’m pretty sure Ty passed me in the pits, but I was able to get back out just before Russ Pearson came through. After my pit I started to feel a little better, but I still wasn’t riding as aggressive as I would’ve liked. At this point in the race I was in 7th. Not too much happened in the next 45-minutes. Then I stopped for my last pit stop. Now I had about 30-minutes left in the race and just rode a good pace. The way I was feeling today, I didn’t want to let it hang out and hurt myself before next weekend’s H&H race. I ended up finishing a disappointing 7th overall, but I have two weeks before the next WORCS race.I have a few things I want to work on and make sure I can get on the podium here soon. I still feel good about the way I’m riding and I wasn’t that far off some of the guys in front of me. I just need to stop making so many mistakes and get better starts.Results Overall Top 15:
1st Mike Kiedrowski
2nd Ryan Hughes
3rd Lance Smail
4th Ty Davis
5th Nathan Woods
6th Robby Bell
7th Destry Abbott
8th Brenden Ritzman (1st semi pro)
9th Russell Pearson
10th Ricky Dietrich
11th Bobby Garrison
12th Matt Karlsen
13th Eric Rhoten
14th Matt Oppen
15th Nick PearsonOther Notes:I have to give big props to Matt Karlsen. The last two WORCS races he’s been running my www.destryabbott.com sticker on his front fender. Matt’s a really cool guy and has spent some time down at my place doing a little riding and training this last winter.My next race will be this weekend in Utah for the fourth round of the H&H series. It looks like it might be another wet one. Last year it snowed during a lot of the race. I won it last year and hope to do it again.I’d like to thank Dave Brosius for bringing mine and Jonny’s bikes to the race. We had the Kawasaki semi at the race, but we build my race bikes at my house so sometimes it’s hard to get them to the longer races.My son (Cooper) had his first flag football game this weekend back in Phoenix. He’s eight now and playing with the 8 to 10 year olds. He was the only one to score a touchdown and get an interception. They ended up tying 6 to 6, but he said he really had a great time. It looks like the Arizona Cardinals might have a new running back here soon.I attached a few photos from Friday’s practice and Sunday’s race. These photos were taken by Mike and Amber Farmer. They have been really cool about giving me photos from the WORCS races. You can check out Amber’s site at www.fastphotolab.com. I also talked to Kevin Healy from www.heahlyphoto.com and I know he was taking some photos too. This place was perfect for photos. The mountains were covered in snow and the conditions were pretty good.Best Wishes,
Destry
www.destryabbott.com
Russell Pearson Race Report – WORCS Round 4Good morning everyone,This past weekend was round 4 of the WORCS series located north of Reno, NV in the town of Milford, CA. We (me, Tina – girlfriend, Nick – brother and Amber – Nick’s wife, dogs and squirrels) got out of Vegas after everyone got off work Thursday evening. We rolled into the big mining town of Tonopah around midnight for some shut eye at a local motel. Friday, we were up at 5 and on the road. Nick took over after a couple hours and I chilled in the back with Tina and we watched the chick flick “Just Like Heaven.” It was fanta-stic! Nah… it actually wasn’t too bad.Well, we rolled into the track around 11 for practice. I changed a couple small things, but all in all was pretty happy (with my setup). We walked the track and then headed on in to Susanville for dinner and a motel.Saturday: We got up and to the track for my practice and Nick’s qualifier. I did a couple small things to my bike and next was practice. They let us do the whole track including the pro sections and everything, which was good, including the verticle waterfall sections which a couple Pros got hung up on. I chatted with Ty and then we eyed up two mounds at the top of a hill and were like, “yeah, we can clear it.” So, he did it first and I followed. It was a blind jump and pretty far, but I made it… barely! It was pretty cool. Afterwards, I got my bike all washed, changed a couple tires, bled the brakes, cleaned the filter—all the normal stuff. Then it was back on the road for dinner at a little restaurant that we heard had good pasta. It was good, but pretty spicy. After that it was shower time and a little tv before lights out.Sunday: Race Day! Well, it was here finally. We got some roll offs done on our goggles for the creeks that we went up and down, and in case it started raining, and did a couple final prep things. After the Rider’s meeting and little chapel with Tony Acosta, it was time to put gear on and head to the start for the parade lap. After that Tina gave me my race goggles and the one minute board was up.30 seconds and then sideways…Sounding like a bunch of angry bees until drop and braaa, pinned to the first turn. I was second, cool, right behind Garrison, another Yamaha rider. After the moto section, we headed off into the off-road stuff that I liked and then back to the moto. I was feeling tight on the moto stuff and lost a couple positions early on, shoot. “Get it together, come on Russ.”I passed Destry back when he pitted early—cool. Then I pitted and he got back by—danget! Well, I actually started flowing and caught right onto the rear tire of Destry and we headed up the hill where Ty and I had made that made up double. I was like, “Okay, I can do it,” and set up for a pass and “braa,” pinned it.It was a lot rougher now and I didn’t line it up perfect and whamm, I cased it pretty tough. The bad thing was, splash, the sweat on my goggles went all over my lens. Crap, man, everything was blurry now as I did my best just to stay on the course.I kept Destry in my sights and on the next lap, he got by a lapper right before the pro section with the waterfall and rocky stuff. Well, I gave a little space at the waterfall for this guy, which he made it up easy, so I got up. Then there was another little rutted uphill with rocks and I thought it was pretty easy, but apparently not, as he was now stopped and I was already in the huge rut halfway up this thing—Crap! I stopped and jumped off my bike and had to wheelie it to get it out of the rut. Then I turned around and had to ride backwards down the tight wash until I could find a place to turn around. Meanwhile I got passed by a bunch of guys and lost probably a minute or so. I finally got turned around and took another line up the hill and I was pooped. I pinned it and ended up getting around a couple guys and crossed the finish line in 8th.Finish order… I think
1st Mike Kiedrowski
2nd Hughes
3rd Smail
4th Davis
5th Woods
6th Bell
7th Abbott
8th Russell Pearson (me)Nick ended up 14th after a kind of struggled day. Well, now it’s back to work so I can make some improvements. A big thanks to my family, friends, sponsors and fans for all of the continued support; I couldn’t do it without you! I am back home getting ready for this Saturday where I will be up in Utah for the next round of the AMA National Hare and Hound series, where I am working my butt off to be on top of the podium there.Thanks againRussell Pearson
Are you a big, important pro? If you write race reports, send ‘em over! We’d love to have them. Email our Web Producer at jean.turner@primedia.com.
Alessi Weekly – Vet X Glen HelenToday we visited a new (for us) race program called Vet X at Glen Helen Raceway. This race organization is run by former pro racer Craig Davis. All I can say is what an excellent program! Vet X is geared for older riders, but has Open classes for youth and Pro riders. Today Mike posted a 1-1 showing in the Open Pro class aboard the big KTM 450 SX thumper!How cool is this: every class gets transponders, so every lap of practice, and every race you ride, you get to see your lap times, lead or gap off the leaders time. How good is that?Competition:
Italian GP racer Antonio Balbi, Chris Nihan and Abry’s guy Carter Gurnee! Our riding buddy Joe would have been up their too… but he had bike problems!
—Tony Alessi
Shane Watts Race ReportArkansas OMA NationalConducted in perfect conditions following an overnight rain storm, Watts began the 7 lap, 2.5 hour race with a great jump out of the hole on his 200XC to claim the $1000 holeshot award. Watts…
Destry’s AMA H&H StoryWORCS – Honey Lake, Ca.Pre-race:Last week at the H&H it was dry, hot, and dusty. In contrast, this weekend looks like it’s going to be wet and freezing. Jonny and I are flying up to the race right now early Friday morning. They’re supposed to have practice today and I was really looking forward to riding the Honey Lake track again, but I think they’ll be cancelling practice. The last couple of days I’ve been on the computer checking out the weather in Milford, California and it’s been raining or snowing most of the time. It’s supposed to keep doing this until Tuesday which isn’t a lot of help to me. Today’s high is going to be in the 30′s with some snow storms. Just what someone from Phoenix wants to hear (not). I’m not too fond of the cold weather, but I know I’m still going to have a good time once I get out there.I think this race is going to be more of a survival race, then just pure speed. I feel like I’ve been riding really well lately, but the WORCS series hasn’t been to good to me so far. I really feel like if I go out there and ride like I can, I have a great shot at being on the podium. This series is packed with great riders, but I know my time is coming to get back up front. Jonny has been working really hard on my race bike all week to get it ready for the mud. It looks great right now, but by Monday I’m thinking it’s going to be needing some TLC. Time to turn off my computer… the flight attendant is starting to yell at me.Now I’m back at the hotel after a long day at the track. I was really surprised to see that it really wasn’t all that wet at the track and practice was a go. I actually had a great time out there and made a few changes (jetting the bike). I’m really happy with the way the bike is working and I think this could be a good weekend. After practice Nathan Woods, Dennis Stapleton, and myself went and walked some of the off-road sections. This place is going to have a lot more off-road sections then most of the races, and I think that’s a great thing. Just as we were finishing up our walk, it started to snow and rain a little bit. I’m pretty sure tomorrow is going to be really wet and probably some snow at the track. The snow line is just above the track and there’s a lot of it. Time to get some sleep.Saturday:I was right about the snow! When I showed up to the track there was snow in the pits and on the track. It wasn’t really thick, but it looks like it came down quite a bit last night. One thing it was, was super cold. Jonny had his race at 9:15 so I thought this would be the perfect time to go walk the track and look at the pro sections. I went with Smail, Woods, Karlsen, and a couple of other guys. On the way up to the pro sections, we had to stop by a little hill and have a great snow fight. I’m pretty sure Smail lost the fight.The pro section is going to be really good and technical. It has some really rocky washes and a pretty steep uphill. I think this section might have some bottle necks for tomorrow. On the way back, I got to see Jonny finish his race. He rode pretty well and finished sixth in the 250F B class. He was riding in the top three, but a couple of crashes cost him.At 1:20 it was time for me to get to the starting line and get ready for the pro practice. The conditions today were actually really good. When we got here it started to clear up and never did more than a few small snow flurries. When I took off for our 40-minute practice, I felt really good. I went out there and found some good lines in some of the rocky sections. I feel really good about tomorrow and with the way my bike’s working, I don’t see any reason why I can’t be on the podium. This race suits my style a lot more then the first three rounds this year. The only thing I’m not liking right now is the fact that there’s another big storm moving in. It’s supposed to rain and snow all night and into tomorrow night, but the weather forecasters are usually off…Race Day:We woke up and the first thing I did was go look out the window of my hotel. To my surprise it looked really good. It was cloudy but it didn’t look like it had rained or snowed much. I guess I was right about those forecast people.We took off to the track and I walked a few sections again, just in case there were some bottlenecks on the uphills. The start was at 12:00 and I felt pretty good. The conditions were just about perfect besides being a little cold, but I knew once the race got going it would be good.When the gate dropped, I didn’t get the best jump and was around 12th after the first corner. I made some passes and by the end of the first lap was around 9th or so. I was trying way too hard and making too many mistakes. After another lap or two I was still struggling and riding tight. I really don’t know why, but I was pretty pumped up. I actually went down twice in the first 30 minutes of the race. Both times I just lost my front end in some rocks.I made my first pit stop around the 45-minute mark. I’m pretty sure Ty passed me in the pits, but I was able to get back out just before Russ Pearson came through. After my pit I started to feel a little better, but I still wasn’t riding as aggressive as I would’ve liked. At this point in the race I was in 7th. Not too much happened in the next 45-minutes. Then I stopped for my last pit stop. Now I had about 30-minutes left in the race and just rode a good pace. The way I was feeling today, I didn’t want to let it hang out and hurt myself before next weekend’s H&H race. I ended up finishing a disappointing 7th overall, but I have two weeks before the next WORCS race.I have a few things I want to work on and make sure I can get on the podium here soon. I still feel good about the way I’m riding and I wasn’t that far off some of the guys in front of me. I just need to stop making so many mistakes and get better starts.Results Overall Top 15:
1st Mike Kiedrowski
2nd Ryan Hughes
3rd Lance Smail
4th Ty Davis
5th Nathan Woods
6th Robby Bell
7th Destry Abbott
8th Brenden Ritzman (1st semi pro)
9th Russell Pearson
10th Ricky Dietrich
11th Bobby Garrison
12th Matt Karlsen
13th Eric Rhoten
14th Matt Oppen
15th Nick PearsonOther Notes:I have to give big props to Matt Karlsen. The last two WORCS races he’s been running my www.destryabbott.com sticker on his front fender. Matt’s a really cool guy and has spent some time down at my place doing a little riding and training this last winter.My next race will be this weekend in Utah for the fourth round of the H&H series. It looks like it might be another wet one. Last year it snowed during a lot of the race. I won it last year and hope to do it again.I’d like to thank Dave Brosius for bringing mine and Jonny’s bikes to the race. We had the Kawasaki semi at the race, but we build my race bikes at my house so sometimes it’s hard to get them to the longer races.My son (Cooper) had his first flag football game this weekend back in Phoenix. He’s eight now and playing with the 8 to 10 year olds. He was the only one to score a touchdown and get an interception. They ended up tying 6 to 6, but he said he really had a great time. It looks like the Arizona Cardinals might have a new running back here soon.I attached a few photos from Friday’s practice and Sunday’s race. These photos were taken by Mike and Amber Farmer. They have been really cool about giving me photos from the WORCS races. You can check out Amber’s site at www.fastphotolab.com. I also talked to Kevin Healy from www.heahlyphoto.com and I know he was taking some photos too. This place was perfect for photos. The mountains were covered in snow and the conditions were pretty good.Best Wishes,
Destry
www.destryabbott.com
Russell Pearson Race Report – WORCS Round 4Good morning everyone,This past weekend was round 4 of the WORCS series located north of Reno, NV in the town of Milford, CA. We (me, Tina – girlfriend, Nick – brother and Amber – Nick’s wife, dogs and squirrels) got out of Vegas after everyone got off work Thursday evening. We rolled into the big mining town of Tonopah around midnight for some shut eye at a local motel. Friday, we were up at 5 and on the road. Nick took over after a couple hours and I chilled in the back with Tina and we watched the chick flick “Just Like Heaven.” It was fanta-stic! Nah… it actually wasn’t too bad.Well, we rolled into the track around 11 for practice. I changed a couple small things, but all in all was pretty happy (with my setup). We walked the track and then headed on in to Susanville for dinner and a motel.Saturday: We got up and to the track for my practice and Nick’s qualifier. I did a couple small things to my bike and next was practice. They let us do the whole track including the pro sections and everything, which was good, including the verticle waterfall sections which a couple Pros got hung up on. I chatted with Ty and then we eyed up two mounds at the top of a hill and were like, “yeah, we can clear it.” So, he did it first and I followed. It was a blind jump and pretty far, but I made it… barely! It was pretty cool. Afterwards, I got my bike all washed, changed a couple tires, bled the brakes, cleaned the filter—all the normal stuff. Then it was back on the road for dinner at a little restaurant that we heard had good pasta. It was good, but pretty spicy. After that it was shower time and a little tv before lights out.Sunday: Race Day! Well, it was here finally. We got some roll offs done on our goggles for the creeks that we went up and down, and in case it started raining, and did a couple final prep things. After the Rider’s meeting and little chapel with Tony Acosta, it was time to put gear on and head to the start for the parade lap. After that Tina gave me my race goggles and the one minute board was up.30 seconds and then sideways…Sounding like a bunch of angry bees until drop and braaa, pinned to the first turn. I was second, cool, right behind Garrison, another Yamaha rider. After the moto section, we headed off into the off-road stuff that I liked and then back to the moto. I was feeling tight on the moto stuff and lost a couple positions early on, shoot. “Get it together, come on Russ.”I passed Destry back when he pitted early—cool. Then I pitted and he got back by—danget! Well, I actually started flowing and caught right onto the rear tire of Destry and we headed up the hill where Ty and I had made that made up double. I was like, “Okay, I can do it,” and set up for a pass and “braa,” pinned it.It was a lot rougher now and I didn’t line it up perfect and whamm, I cased it pretty tough. The bad thing was, splash, the sweat on my goggles went all over my lens. Crap, man, everything was blurry now as I did my best just to stay on the course.I kept Destry in my sights and on the next lap, he got by a lapper right before the pro section with the waterfall and rocky stuff. Well, I gave a little space at the waterfall for this guy, which he made it up easy, so I got up. Then there was another little rutted uphill with rocks and I thought it was pretty easy, but apparently not, as he was now stopped and I was already in the huge rut halfway up this thing—Crap! I stopped and jumped off my bike and had to wheelie it to get it out of the rut. Then I turned around and had to ride backwards down the tight wash until I could find a place to turn around. Meanwhile I got passed by a bunch of guys and lost probably a minute or so. I finally got turned around and took another line up the hill and I was pooped. I pinned it and ended up getting around a couple guys and crossed the finish line in 8th.Finish order… I think
1st Mike Kiedrowski
2nd Hughes
3rd Smail
4th Davis
5th Woods
6th Bell
7th Abbott
8th Russell Pearson (me)Nick ended up 14th after a kind of struggled day. Well, now it’s back to work so I can make some improvements. A big thanks to my family, friends, sponsors and fans for all of the continued support; I couldn’t do it without you! I am back home getting ready for this Saturday where I will be up in Utah for the next round of the AMA National Hare and Hound series, where I am working my butt off to be on top of the podium there.Thanks againRussell Pearson
Are you a big, important pro? If you write race reports, send ‘em over! We’d love to have them. Email our Web Producer at jean.turner@primedia.com.
