AWRCS rd#1 Wellsville, OH

Only one week after a brutal race at Steele Creek, I wasn't sure if I was going to be ready for another race. The 800lbs of Grizzly takes its toll on a body! I need to get my butt into shape like I have been trying to do for the past 4-5 years. Its finally time to just do it.

Back to the racing. It rained all day Saturday, broke for a little Saturday night and then all Sunday morning before the race. We even had a bit of snow and sleet mixed in with the rain. I was happy, I am on a 4wd Ute with great mud protection and awesome GBC tires to get me threw the nasty stuff, but the sport quad riders where shaking in their boots for what they were about to encounter. Getting into the parking lot proved to be very challenging, sorry Steve, never believed you when you said the parking lot was dry. There were trucks stuck all over the place with no tow vehicles in site, thanks to a few rhinos and other trucks without trailers everyone seemed to be able to get where they wanted to go with a small tug.

Being that this is a first race for a new owner of the series, I think overall it went fairly well. Not to mention that the weather and wind was no help in making things go smoothly. We had a slight delay once we were on the starting line which gave me time to go look over the first section of the woods. I am glad I took that time because the Grizzly did not fire up till I was the last one sitting on the line. I made up 4-5 positions by the woods and make 3 passes in the first 100 yards into the woods. I made up about 20 positions on the field at the first hill climb where many riders were strewn all over the hillside.

We worked our way down into the stream, my favorite part of the entire track. It was rocky, wet and muddy, with a few sections of the river getting quite deep! I was very glad to be riding the Grizzly today. I stayed nice and try and free from mud. After the big bottleneck on the hillside I was running in 2nd place in the UTE class. This is a far cry from the last I was into the woods just 3 miles earlier. Ken Robey was hot on my tail in 3rd place. We had a great race going, swapped positions a few times til I had to let him by. My arms were pumping up and I was endangering myself keeping up that pace for much longer. I have learned over the past few years that sacrificing a few spots now would keep me higher in the standings later in the race. Its about the long haul, not the immediate reward of keeping a competitor behind you.

After 5 laps I was running in a strong 3rd stop when I crossed the line. I was not pleased that I had to slow down, but I was happy to finish in 3rd spot behind 2 very fast racers. I know that I will have to work Much harder to get myself into shape to compete on the local level which wasn't a problem 2 years ago. The level of racing has seriously stepped up and I am happy to see it. Now I need to step up with it!