Destry's AMA H&H Story (round 1)
AMA H&H
Lucerne, Ca.
January 24, 2010
Race Day:
Well the season is already here again, and it sure didn't feel like I had much of an off season. However, I couldn't have asked for better weather to start out the racing season. It was super cold in the morning practicing the bomb (it was in the 20's). The start wasn't going to be as crucial as most H&H's since they've been getting pounded with rain and snow. When the banner went up I shut my motor off and was waiting with a few 100 riders, on the first row, for it to drop. Once they pulled it down, I got a first kick start and was off. It was a really fast start and we were all wide open up until the banner. Once we got onto the trail, I was in third with Kamo leading and Caselli in second. A few miles in I was able to get by Kurt and close the gap on David. I was happy with the pace, and figured I would stay where I was for a little bit. But then not too much further Kendall Norman put a good pass on me and then got by David. I knew I didn't want anyone to check out, so I was starting to work on David until I overshot a corner a little past the 5-mile mark. I clipped a rock and it ripped the end of my brake lever off. I was like no way! At this point I knew I still had around 35-miles until we came back into the pits for the second lap. I still kept pushing it and just tried to key off David. I was actually really surprised they weren't checking out. A few miles later Kurt passed me back, but I couldn't see anyone behind us. I would close in on the guys in front of me and actually could've tried to make a pass, but it was a lot easier keying off them to know when I had to slow down. I had a few scary close calls where I wasn't able to slow down enough for a g-out or a corner, but other than that I felt really good. Unfortunately, I started to lose a little time when we got up in the snow. Yes I said snow in the desert! It was awesome, and it's pretty rare I race in snow out in the desert. It was pretty much all white in a few areas for miles, but boy was it slippery. I had to take it easy, but as soon as we got out of it I was able to close up the gap again. There were basically four of us all really close to each other. Kendall was still leading and now Kurt had worked his way up to second, followed by David and myself. Finally coming into the pits, (40-mile mark) I was happy to know I was going to have brakes again. It took a little longer then I was hoping, and we lost close to 2-minutes in the pits. As I was leaving there were four other guys leaving at the same time. I pinned it to try and put some time on them, but Brendan Ritzman was keeping me honest for the first 10 to 15-miles and then I think he went down. I didn't see anyone behind me and just really kept pushing it hard and hoped to catch back up to the top 3 guys. We were in some pretty gnarly rock sections and this is where I usually do really well. I wasn't sure if I was making any ground up, and then with about 10-miles to go in this 40-mile loop I saw Kendall a little ways ahead of me. A few miles later I got right behind him and made the pass. Then I saw Kamo a little further up. I was closing in quick, but I knew we were getting close to the finish. With about a mile to go I got within 10-seconds, and then before I knew it we were done. I could've used a couple more miles and I think I would've had a great shot at second. Kurt put in a great ride and took the win.
Overall Summary:
I was a little upset since I felt I had a great shot at the win today and I really wanted to give Kurt a run for his money. Since I lost my rear brakes 5-miles in, I'm actually pretty surprised I still ended up on the podium. I've been training hard and it's good to know that has been paying off towards the end of the race. My bike set-up was awesome, and besides the brake issue it was a good day with no crashes! I'll be ready for the next H&H in 3-weeks!!!
Overall results (top 20):
1st Kurt Caselli
2nd David Kamo
3rd Destry Abbott
4th Kendall Norman
5th Jacob Argubright
6th Brenden Ritzman
7th Quinn Cody
8th David Pearson
9th Robert Underwood
10th Colton Udall
11th Ryan Abbatoye
12th Bobby Garrison
13th Brad Goolsby
14th Nick Burson
15th Colton Sanders
16th Cory Graffunder
17th Ryan Kudla
18th Justin Morrow
19th Powers Irving
20th Brett Saunders
I was actually pretty happy for Kurt Caselli to get his first National H&H win. I used to race Kurt all the time in the H&H's and then he stopped doing them to concentrate on the WORCS series. I know his old man would've been proud!
This was our first race with some new sponsors that we will be using this year. We're now running Akropovic exhaust and they're awesome. We also have Traxxas on board which is pretty cool too http://www.traxxas.com/v2/racing/news/?id=66! Looking forward to getting them some wins!
There were a bunch of new riders that came out to give the H&H a try. I'm sure the wet dirt helped too. Some new guys were Kurt Caselli, Ritzman, Udall, Garrison Graffunder, and Goolsby to just name a few.
The club did a pretty good job. The course wasn't as tough as I was hoping and we had quite a few more valleys than normal. The weather really helped make this race great and they did a great job on the markings considering all the bad weather they had to deal with. We just need to make sure the second loop is a national caliber oneJ
This year we have the AHHA group watching over the H&H series and making sure every round is ran the way it should. They also put up a pro purse for the top 3 riders (the winner get $1,000 and then down to third). They did an awesome job and now we have an official podium and a PA system to keep everyone updated on the race and afterwards. Great job guys! I know this is only going to help the series!
There were a bunch of people that came out to help me this weekend. Of course my mechanic Jonny did an awesome job again, along with Jeff Decker, helping out on the race bike. John Braasch let me crash in his motor home the night before the race so I didn't have to drive back into town. Also Reid Nordin, Jason Smigel, Argubrite's, Bret Leaf, Kit Kamo (who brought me some sweets), and I know there were a bunch of other people too and I really appreciate all the help!
My next race is this weekend at the first WORCS race in Arizona. It's nice to have a close race, but I know this year is going to be stacked with some fast pros. It should be fun!
I posted some miscellaneous photos from the weekend. Some were in the pits too. Thanks to everyone that sent me photos.
I'm working on updating my 2010 site with my new sponsors and some other cool stuff as soon as I can. Sorry it's taken so long!
2010 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, Stephen Gall Training, SIDI, IMS, Zip-Ty, HoyFox.com, Motion Pro, BRP, Braking, Works Connection, Concept2, CTI2, Maxima, Kicker, O'GIO, Traxxas, Renthal, Hinson, Jonre Multimedia, dragonfireracing.com, Matrix, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.