If you live anywhere near Florence, South Carolina, you know that two things are coming: a hurricane and an Endurocross race. Luckily, the former is headed for the gulf instead, and the latter is going to be much more awesome than anything Mother Nature can come up with.
With the race starting tomorrow, Dirt Rider is stoked to bring you a preview of the Florence track. Starting with a wide open first turn, the course leads into a tight left-hander and a series of massive logs. Following this is a brutally tight turn covered completely in loose, sharp little boulders. Next comes a set of parallel railroad ties and a brand new Endurocross obstacle, the firewood section. Just as you'd expect, this section is an open area made up completely of loose pieces of wood, and it looks gnarly! But not quite as gnarly as the next rock section, which follows the big tires and features a tight section of massive boulders, set up in a tricky off-camber right-hand turn that is going to be a sure bottleneck magnet. If the racers can survive that, they'll be off through the water section, the sand turn, the dirt rhythm and another set of tires before hitting the finish line double (don't roll that, there are logs underneath!) All told, it's a crazy combination.
I'll be here all weekend to fly the Dirt Rider flag, as I'll be riding a Joe Gibbs built YZ450F for an upcoming feature in the magazine. Speaking of Team JGR, we took a trip up to their nearby North Carolina facility and it was nothing short of shocking. With 282,000 square feet and over 450 employees, the operation is most certainly first class. Explaining everything would take more room than I have hear, so you'll have to stay on the lookout for our upcoming JGR team tour story in a new issue. Trust me, we saw some cool stuff!
If you're coming to the race in South Carolina, be prepared for some serious action. If you live close but weren't planning on coming, get off your butt and check this out! And if there is no way in heck you can make it, stay tuned to www.dirtrider.com and Dirt Rider Magazine for the full 411.
