Cedar Hill MX

The Midsouth Series moved to Magnolia, Arkansas Easter Sunday for a make up race from the Snow out earlier in the year. The weather forcast said rain, rain and more rain but quite a few showed up just in case. We pulled in Satuday evening and No Rain. That+IBk-s right it wasn+IBk-t raining even though the radar had shown rain all over the area when we left the ground looked dry. The sandy nature of the track absorbed it all and the track looked really good in the morning. The rain held off almost all day only coming lightly when the second to last class was on the track, the 50 cc+IBk-s and continued lightly while the 250 pros raced their final moto.

Sunrise services were held with quite a large flock attending. Of course the sermon was about Christ dying on the cross and arising 3 days later.

In attendance was Tracy Akinson on a 4 day pass from the Army to enjoy a little racing and visit with family. Tracy drives a tank and is stationed at Ft Rucker, Alabama. Practice went off well, and even the races got off to a good start. Ozzy Barbaree on his Suzuki put it out front in all four of his motos while Chris Permenter put his Yamaha 450 out front in at least one class and new Suzuki 125 rider John Brown, had a good ride running 3rd and fourth in the novice class. Blake Keeton and John Adam each had two second places in the pro classes while Chad Cook showed he had the track wired as he won all 4 motos of the Pro classes.

The Easter Bunny had been by as many riders sported special headgear with Bunny Ears and there was plenty of candy and I even saw one of the Twinkies (don+IBk-t know which one) carrying a white duck around.

The controversy over illegal motorcycles seemed to die down a little after last weeks teardowns and the new tear down fee but the rumor mill was hard at it about who had illegal motorcycles.

Missing from this week+IBk-s race was Cameron and Tara as Cameron received a kidney transplant during the week and of Tara was at his side. Get well soon Cameron, we missed you. Cameron is at UAMS in Little Rock.

Race Report Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek MX is in the hills of southern Missouri and that means rocks and hills. Yes, actually hills used for this track, unlike many other tracks where they are built on flat ground, this one goes up and down the hills. It is a fun track that would be much improved if it was wider. It was difficult to pass and was mostly one lined but did create much close racing. In the pro classes, unlike at last weeks round of Midsouth racing, this was not the Blake and John show although it was still all Blue and Yellow. Nathaniel Benoit, Jeff Crutcher (Suzuki) and Andrew Clark (Yamaha) got into the mix with Crutcher and Clark each winning a class. The racing was wheel to wheel with Benoit going down in the first 250 moto and Adam going down trying to avoid him. The 125 class really was a burner in both motos with battles between all the riders with Benoit taking the hole shot but Crutcher taking the lead late on his Suzuki in the race followed closely by Benoit (Yamaha), Adam (Suzuki) and Keeton (Yamaha) battling all the way to the flag. Great racing. There were some injuries even though the track seemed quite safe, the wind was blowing very strongly and created a few wrecks on the long finish line table top jump causing injuries to Briar Sample and Justin Barrett. Ross Kendrick suffered the indignity of a early start (no doubt watching Craig Mayhan of Mahan+IBk-s Maniacs too often) as he crashed into the gate at the start of his race.

Controversy again concerning riders correct class has again arisen as some riders are rumored to have run intermediate class and now running as novice. Look for protests to be filed at future races.

Jan Adam would like to thank Dirtbikemike as John Adam+IBk-s name was finally called and he won the Grill/cooler combo unit. She said it would be just great in her new motor home that she was getting soon.

There will be a week off in the Midsouth series as two Loretta Lynn qualifiers are being held this weekend, one at Four States MX at Hooks, TX and the other at Great River Road MX in Tennessee.

Midsouth at MX886

The forcast was for rain and more rain and as Greg Crane posted the +IBw-ARK+IB0 was standing by. As it turns out, it wasn+IBk-t needed. The heaviest rain fell during the intermission and gave the 125 novice class fits as many of them fell in the turns going into the whoops or the turn going into the rythem section. The second moto of the 125 was the next to find the slickness but winner Blake Keeton and second place John Adam had no problems and pulled out a huge lead on third place rider Harry McMahan. John Lea put in some good rides in his first pro outing and traded paint several times with fellow competitor Greg Crane. Kevin Lambert wasn+IBk-t so lucky as he endoed over a double and broke his collarbone. Blake and John ended up the same in each pro moto 1st and 2nd. Gene Neumac showed he still has it as he handily won the over 30 pro class with Harry McMahan taking 2nd. There were a few other incidents with Brad Calhoun hitting the wall on the finish line jump twisting his knee and several others in the 80 classes crashing with Brad crashing again on the same jump that got Kevin Lambert.

The Novice riders put on a good show as they attempted to get thru the first corners at MX886

Some high flying action in rain gear at MX886