I hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope so far June has been good to you. In case you’re wondering, my weekend was great as my son and I travelled over to Walton Raceway on Saturday to get some much-needed ‘rut’ practice as well as to see and hang out with the Walton crew. As usual, Barry had the track prepped to perfection and we had a great afternoon of riding. We rode again on Sunday at home and then at 3 pm sharp my wife joined us and we fired up the RydeTV App and watched the racing from Drumheller. Other than the information I had received in the 50 text messages on Saturday and Sunday morning I had no idea what to expect from the racing and the track yesterday. Obviously, there were concerns leading up to Sunday about the consistency of the soil and whether or not it might produce some visibility issues. Basically, the dirt was like concrete, and without ripping it deep and pouring the water to it keeping the track in race-ready shape was most certainly a challenge. As anyone who has ever ridden a dirt bike knows that once a race track gets baked hard it’s almost impossible to apply water to it without making it a skating rink. This used to be a common issue back in the 1990s when proper track preparation wasn’t always the first thing on people’s mind. In fact, I’d have a hard time trying to count the number of dusty nationals I competed in from 1990 to 1999. Track prep can be a challenging balancing act of how much water to put down and how deep you want to till it up, add in the fact that at all of our Nationals there is a full amateur day on Saturday so the crews can’t go too crazy until Saturday evening. It’s a double-edged sword and things can go sideways pretty fast. It’s all about knowing your dirt and what needs to be done to get it ready. You’re cannot control Mother Nature but you can control the amount of preparation you put into a track surface. With limited equipment and resources yesterday the track ended up being very unforgiving and even though the crew did their best with what they had, it was a difficult day all around.
Yesterday was also a tough day on the injury front as more than one rider went down. First, in the morning during qualifying, Brock Leitner hit a kicker on a downhill and crashed really hard. The session had to be red-flagged while they attended to Brock and then I began getting text messages about the severity of the situation. It was apparent right from the start that Brock’s condition wasn’t good and as the day went on it was confirmed that he had damaged his spinal cord and that he wasn’t able to move his legs. As a media guy, I honestly hate reporting on injuries that riders have suffered at races without speaking to them or their families directly. It’s such a fine line as everyone at home is waiting to hear what the extent of the injuries are when a rider goes down. Anyway, Brock released the following statement on Social Media this morning so in my opinion, it is now okay to talk about it.
“I figured I should give an update as a lot of you are probably thinking a bunch of different things. Sunday during qualifying at round 2 of the @triplecrownseries I had a freak accident hitting a kicker on a jump heading down a hill. I got sent into a massive endo and thought I was going to save it but I was not able to save the crash. I was knocked out for about 45 seconds and we were rushed to Drumheller hospital and then flown to Calgary to do emergency surgery on my back and spinal cord. After surgery, I still do not have feeling from my chest down but I WILL NOT STOP FIGHTING!!!!!! I want to say thank you to everyone that has reached out by phone or text and for all your prayers. Means the world to me and my family.”
Obviously, Brock needs our prayers and our full support as he deals with his injuries. He and his family are great people and I was just sick to my stomach when I heard this news yesterday. Another rider who suffered some more bad luck yesterday in the opening moto was Jess Pettis who crashed hard and injured his arm. This kid has been through so much in the past few seasons with injuries and having to recover from them that it’s mind-blowing. I don’t even know what to say or even how to come up with any type of explanation as to why this keeps happening to Pettis. Yesterday he crashed on the opening lap of the first 450 moto so he didn’t even get a chance to gel with the track and figure it out. As I said, I don’t know exactly what happened other than what I saw on TV. His crash looked quick and violent and with the unforgiving soil, Jess had little chance of escaping without some sort of injury. Depending on the severity of his arm injury we might see him back before the end of the Triple Crown Series but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Heal up Jess!
Daniel Elmore was another 450 rider who crashed yesterday and injured his shoulder, Daniel was coming off his best career finish last week in Kamloops where he scored a 5th overall. Now, sadly he’s out of the series and may or may not return for the final few rounds. As I said, it was a dark day, and hopefully moving forward no one who is part of the Triple Crown Series has to deal with what they had to deal with yesterday. From the track crew to the series personnel, to the teams, and finally to the riders, no one was immune to the issues yesterday and as long as there is a conversation to ensure we as a sport are going to do everything we can to make sure days like yesterday don’t happen again, then we’re doing our jobs. As I said, I’ve sat on the starting line numerous times in the 1990s with a less than desirable track and a 30-minute moto in front of me and had to close my eyes to try and think happy thoughts. It’s an awful feeling as a rider and I felt a lot of sympathy for them yesterday. We have come too far and there is too much at stake right now in this sport to have a day like we did yesterday in Drumheller. Anyway, moving on here is a short race recap that I composed last night.
“Well, that was interesting! As the sun sets in the Badlands of Alberta we’re sure many of the riders are glad that Round 2 of the Triple Crown Series is over. With extremely hard-packed and dry conditions at the Drumheller track, the riders faced challenging conditions right from the first time they put their wheels on the circuit. After last weekend’s soft and rough track in Kamloops, this one was the polar opposite and it took all of the riders, even the top riders in each class, time to adjust. Also, with a three-moto format for Round 2, the emphasis was on speed and not on endurance. Unfortunately, trying to go fast on the Drumheller track was the last thing any rider wanted to do as it called more for a smooth throttle hand and absolute precision. In the end, Dylan Wright dominated the 450 class with three moto wins. Dylan has been perfect thus far in the 2022 Triple Crown Series and if he can keep his Honda on two-wheels, this trend may continue all summer long. In the 250 class, it was newcomer Mitchell Harrison who remained fast and consistent throughout the three sprint motos to claim his first overall win of the series.
As we mentioned above, Round 2 was a very challenging day for everyone including, the riders, the teams, as well as the track crew. It was most certainly a group effort when it came to making the weekend run as smooth as possible. Some of the highlights included Tyler Medaglia once again riding smoothly to finish second overall in the 450 class. On the podium, Tyler admitted to not being comfortable on the hard-packed Drumheller track. However, with so much experience to draw upon he kept his GASGAS on two-wheels and made the most of his day. Shawn Maffenbeier was another 450 rider who used his vast amount of experience to remain safe and finish third overall. Considering a week ago Shawn was in a Kamloops hospital emergency room getting his injured shoulder looked at, his results at Round 2 were exceptional. Local Alberta hero Keylan Meston was back from his USA moto adventure and he rode well in all three motos to finish fourth overall. TLD/GASGAS/SSR rider Christopher Blackmer didn’t have the same success as he did last weekend in Kamloops, but the Michigan rider rode smart on the rock hard track to finish up in 5th overall. It was a solid day of racing in the 450 class but unfortunately, there were some injuries. One of the title favourites Jess Pettis crashed on the opening lap of Moto 1 and ended up having to go to the hospital to get his arm looked at. The early word is that he once again suffered a broken arm in the crash but we’ll wait for the official word from his team. Also, popular BC rider Brock Leitner, who recently came out of retirement, crashed in practice and had to be transported to the hospital with a serious back injury. We’ll wait for Brock’s family to update all of us but Brock most certainly needs our thoughts and prayers right now. (this information has been updated by Brock this morning).
The 250 class was a little more entertaining as the lack of traction wasn’t as big of a factor on the less powerful 250 machines. Jacob Piccolo was fast all day long but during the opening two motos he played second fiddle to Mitchell Harrison. It wasn’t until the third moto that Piccolo was not only able to get a win but also scored enough points to take back the red plates heading into Round 3. For Harrison, his day was impressive as from the opening moto until the final one he was simply the fastest rider. This win, his first ever as a professional, will no doubt give him a big boost of confidence as the series heads to the final west round next weekend in Manitoba. Rookie pro rider Sebastien Racine rode brilliantly today to finish third overall and take the final spot on the podium. Like today, Round 3 will also be at a track that very few riders have raced at before. Look for local boy Ryder McNabb to rebound strongly after his disappointing 4th overall today. It was a solid day of racing and as I mentioned above our thoughts and prayers go out to Brock Leitner as well as the other riders who suffered injuries.”
As I mentioned above it was a good day for Dylan Wright, Mitchell Harrison, as well as Lexi Pechout who won the WMX overall. Lexi is one of those ride anything, anywhere type of riders so it’s no surprise that she found success in Drumheller. Heck, if there was a dinosaur on the track Lexi would’ve found a way to ride over. I watched Lexi in person last year at the Red Bull Outliers event and I was amazed at some of the sections that she could ride with ease. We are so fortunate in this country to have so many talented female riders. They really are a treat to watch each weekend!
So while Dylan Wright and Jacob Piccolo take the red plates into Round 3 this weekend in Manitoba, when are we going to see riders like Marco Cannella and Tanner Ward start to make their way to the front of the pack? I read that Tanner took a hard crash last week while practicing so he was a little beat up yesterday. Also, for obvious reasons, there was no need to push the envelope in Drumheller so getting through the day in one piece was almost like a victory in some regards. As for Cannella? His results at the opening round were more surprising to me than his 6th overall yesterday. Marco has never been a rider to ride out of his comfort zone and if things don’t feel right mentally, then he’s not going to push and risk crashing. Having said that though, Marco (who I consider to be a 250 class title favourite) cannot keep giving points away if he has any hope of winning this championship. With the short motos and questionable track conditions yesterday how you finished depended a lot on what type of start you got. Right now, if I was racing the 250 class I would make sure to line up inside of Piccolo and most likely Racine also. Those two seem to be the most consistent starters right now so you have to assume that when the gate drops their going to get a good jump out of the gate. So until you find your confidence to get holeshots you at least have to at least give yourself a chance to get a Top 3-5 place start in every moto. Lining up to the inside of the best starters in the class is rule #1, and not lining up in between two good starters is rule #2 in trying to find your groove off the gate. There is rule #3 but you’d have to watch old videos of Facciotti to see that one!
Well, that is it for me this week. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope next weekend is less emotional than this one was. After a weekend off the AMO Racing OPC Series returns to the front track at Gopher Dunes this coming weekend. This track is fun and since it is not sandy you don’t need a paddle tire. Finally, Happy Father’s Day to all of the incredible moto dads out there. Most of us wear our hearts on our sleeves when we’re at the track and at the end of the day, all we want is what’s best for our kids. So dads, this coming Sunday is for you and I hope you all have a wonderful day whether it’s at the track or just hanging out at home. We love you and thank you for all you do!