RK Excel America

Corona, Calif. (April 28, 2010) – With the AMA Supercross Lites Western Region season coming to a close in Salt Lake City, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki is looking to claim its second championship of 2010. Jake Weimer currently leads the points standings and needs to finish 15th or better this weekend to hang the No. 1 plate on the team’s transporter.

Weimer has had an impressive season scoring six podiums in seven races including four wins. The Idaho native will be racing at the event closest to his hometown and he is ready to earn his first professional championship.

“I’m going to try and win next week at Salt Lake, but I’m also going to be smart,” said Weimer. “My job right now is to win the title. When the gate drops, if I get the holeshot I’m going to go for the win, but if not, I’m not going to push and ride over my head.”

While Weimer looks to wrap up the series title, Josh Hansen is looking to score his first podium of the season. Hansen looked to be on his way to a podium finish last week, but with four laps remaining he went down on the rough track and had to settle for a sixth-place finish.

“I know I can go out and get the win this week,” said Hansen. “It’s been an odd season, but I’ve been putting in the work and I know if I can get a good start, I’ll be on the box.”

Salt Lake City marks the final round of the West Coast season, but Weimer and Hansen along with two-time East Coast champion Christophe Pourcel and Dean Wilson will also compete in the Dave Coombs Memorial East/West Shootout in Las Vegas on May 8.

Seattle, WA- The BTOSports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki supercross team rolled into Seattle for round fifteen of seventeen with a new addition to the 450 class. Troy Adams was put on a 450 to see what he could do and he easily made the 20-man main event.

The track was as soft as mom’s chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven and the ruts were deep enough to swallow our own Jason Thomas so when Adams didn’t get a great start, his work was cut out for him. He worked his way up to 9th within the first 10 laps, but then a fall on the “swamp like” track had him looking to settle in for a 14th place finish. However on the final lap, the deep ruts caught Adams foot pegs on the face of the big triple and sent him sailing through the air with no bike. Adams hit the ground hard, but thankfully had no major injuries. Adams finished in 16th.

JT$ had some bad luck in his heat race but going to the LCQ was nothing to be worried about as he has proved to be the master of these. Unfortunately just as he was in third and looking to make a move up, he tipped over in a turn and that was all she wrote folks. JT’s missed main event was his first miss of the season.

Our 250 west rider Bobby Kiniry rode hard all night and despite not getting a great start, he almost finished inside the top ten. The New Yorker will look to try and avenge his night this weekend in Salt Lake City.

btosports.com and butlerbrothersmx.com

There’s no way that BTO Sports.com/BBMX/Palmetto Suzuki team can go racing without the help of their sponsors and would like to thank the following companies:
BTOSports.com, BBMX, Palmetto Suzuki, FLY Racing, Bel-Ray, Vortex, Pro-Circuit, WMI, Vanquish MX, Smith, FLU Graphics, Jett Boot, Wiseco, Leatt Brace, McGraw Insurance, Umbrella Girls, Dream Traxx, ASMF, ASV, Ti-Fuel, Factory Connection, Applied, Hinson, ICW, Twin Air, RK / Excel, QTM, Faction MX, Pit Posse, Outlaw, Dunlop, FLmx, MX Press, Polisport, Engine Ice, Galfer, Hookit.com, STMX, Kinetic Animation, Safety Kleen, Axcel

AMA H&H

Round 6

Lucerne, Ca.

April 25, 2010

Race Day:

The race consisted of two loops. The first loop was 37-miles and the second was 40-miles. It was pretty dusty and I knew I needed to get a good start. When the banner dropped, I was off and had the KX450 pinned until I got to the end. I was the first one to the banner, but the guys to the left had a smoother line and were able to get by. Now I was in 3rd with Kendall leading, and Bret Saunders 2nd. I was able to get by Bret pretty quick, and now it was time to try and catch back up to Kendall. I was making a ton of mistakes and just was really struggling trying to push it. The more mistakes I made, the tighter I was getting. Kendall was pulling away and I knew I was really off today. I just tried to ride smart and not overdo it. I came into the pits running second with Kamo right behind me. As soon as we left the pits, he was able to get by me on an off-camber hill. Once he did this I was able to just key off him and ride his pace. I knew we had a pretty good gap behind us, but Kendall had a big gap on both of us too. This loop put us into some tighter sections where I felt a lot better. I just wasn’t able to hold on in the fast valleys, so the slower stuff was a lot better for me. Halfway into the last loop I was just outside of Kamo’s dust, in one of the valleys, and then the next thing I knew I hit a big rock I never saw. It threw my bike sideways and there was no way to save it. I went flying off at a really high speed, and hit the ground hard. When I finally stopped rolling, I knew I was hurting. I thought I had popped my shoulder out again since it was hurting so bad, but I could feel it was in. Then I felt my collar bone and knew right away it was broke. After a little bit I went and picked up my bike. The guys behind me all slowed down to make sure I was ok, and I gave them the thumbs up. I did the same thing to Gary Sutherlin, but he still turned around to see what was going on. I know they’re still racing so I hate when they have to stop for me, but that was way cool of Gary to do. I finally was able to get the bike started and ride it to the next check, but I can tell you that wasn’t fun at all!

Overall Summary:

As you can guess it was a really bad day at the races for me! I’ve already been dealing with this dislocated shoulder, which was a lot harder than most people know. It’s been really tough trying to ride through it, but I didn’t want to give up on this championship. Now since I broke my collar bone, it’s time to get my shoulder fixed and look forward to the end of the year. I felt so good at the beginning of the year, and did everything to make this one a special year. I can promise you that I’ll be ready for 2011!

Results (top 5):

1st Kendall Norman

2nd David Kamo

3rd David Pearson

4th Jacob Argubright

5th Gary Sutherlin

Other Notes:

This has been a roller coaster year, but one of the high notes was getting on the cover of Dirt Rider (June issue)!!! That was awesome and make sure you go and support them! Photo attached!

On a really sad note, minutes before the race started we found out two people from Desert MC club had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during the night. After the race I heard they were able to revive one of the guys and I believe he’s still in critical condition. Our prayers go out to all of them. http://www.district37ama.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37378

I just got back from my Orthopedic surgeon and I’ll be having surgery to fix my clavicle tomorrow (Wednesday), since it’s broke in a couple areas. Then two weeks later I go back so they can fix my labrum. Not really looking forward to the next few weeks!

It looks like I’m going to have some time off the bike now. My plan is to come back to the Vegas EX race (July 17th) or the WORCS race in Washington (August 1st). It all depends on how everything is going, but I’m going to make sure I’m back to 100% before I start racing again.

I started a fan page for Facebook. I’ll be posting updates and giving things away during the year. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destry-Abbott/114746998547830?ref=ts

I’d like to thank the guys from Rescue 3 and the club workers that helped me out at the check. Really nice guys!

www.destryabbott.com
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.

April 24, 2010

Seattle, WA – Over the weekend DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha came away with its most successful race since the team’s inception six years ago. Seeing both #48 Max Anstie and #20 Broc Tickle achieve new things for the first time in their career that the industry has really taken notice of. Clear skies greeted the 51,442 fans that visited Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington for the penultimate round of the Lites West AMA Supercross Series.

The night show began with both the rookie and Tickle slated into Heat race #2, Anstie got the best of starts leading the field through turn one. This is when the big highlight all began to come together. Riding at his best and increasing his lead every single lap, Anstie rode flawless and was uncontested. In doing so, Anstie went on to win his first ever Heat race fresh off his hip injury. Also riding in a dramatic fashion, Tickle remounted after being taken down in a first turn pileup to come all the way up to a 4th place finish.

The 15 lap main event fired out of the gate, and once again Anstie was high up in the field, as well as Tickle after the first turn sitting in 3rd and 5th. Unfortunately, in the second turn the leader went down and Max had nowhere to go other than the ground to. Upfront, By the end of lap one Tickle had secured 2nd and was applying heavy pressure to the leader. Once Lap three was in circulation, it was easy to see how strong Broc was, and on this very lap he executed a pass into 1st. Now the leader, Tickle’s confidence kicked in, and he bolted taking the ridiculously treacherous track and making it look easy. Meanwhile, after not being able to restart his bike for some time, Max was nearly a half of a track length behind the second to last place rider in the early stages of the race. However, very methodically and fast, by the halfway mark the combination of those two things stated, enabled him to capitalize on other competitor’s mistakes. Lap eight saw the Yamaha pilot takeover 12th, and then on the very next lap he made a clean pass into 11th. At this point Tickle showed strength by finding his lines and breaking away to a good five second plus lead. With three laps remaining, Anstie was still on the charge and had made it to 10th. Never settling, the rookie prodigy leaped up to 9th in the closing stages of the race and went on to finish there. Back to Tickle, who took his DNA Shred Stix Yamaha 250F through its paces in the closing laps. Still riding solid as if he was a multi time winner, Broc successfully etched his name in the record books as a Supercross winner!

Star Racing thanks the following companies for their commitment.

DNA Shred Stix, Division 7, Yamaha Motor Corp, FLY Racing, DNA Energy, NCY, Bell Helmets, Easton ExP, FMF, Sunstar, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Enzo, DC Shoes, RK Chains, Yamalube, GYTR, Ride Engineering, Mechanix Wear, Twin Air, Lightspeed, ARC, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, CP pistons, Web Cams, ICW, JD Built, Renegade Fuels, Crank Works, Eibach, EVOMX fuel foam, Met Tec, Champion Tools.

Seattle Results

Rookie Justin Brayton Earns First Supercross Podium

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (April 25, 2010) – The first supercross held in Seattle was on February 18, 1978 in the historic Kingdome. Last night’s race was the 28th year Seattle has hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Championship. The Kingdome was demolished in 2000 and replaced with the Qwest Field open-air stadium. With the words “Seattle” and “rain” practically synonymous, every year all eyes are on the weather leading up to the event. The forecast predicted a 50% chance of a major mudder, so the track was covered in plastic after being built. The rain did come, causing practice to be delayed, and qualifying to be condensed into one session rather than two. Thankfully the rain stopped before the racing started, and 51,442 fans were able to see some exciting racing, although the track was extremely soft and technically challenging.

Both Michael Byrne and Justin Brayton pulled holeshots in their respective heat races and easily transferred to the main event. In the main event Brayton and Byrne again started toward the front, with Brayton in second and Byrne fourth. The track had deteriorated to the point that nearly every rider in the field was making mistakes at some point around the circuit. Brayton succumbed to the ruts and went from second to third on the 11th lap, with Byrne in seventh. They would maintain those positions to the finish, with the rookie Brayton earning his first Supercross Class podium finish, and Byrne equaling his best finish of the 2010 season. “It feels good, I got to give it up to my team, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/Yamaha Joe Gibbs team, we never stop working and I got to give it up to them,” said Brayton on the podium. “I really want to thank all the guys who have been behind me 110%, Muscle Milk, Toyota, Yamaha, SHIFT, Gaerne, Oakley, Leatt, Bell, this is for you guys.”

Since its inception, the Muscle Milk/Toyota/JGRMX Team has supported MX for Children, a non-profit organization supporting research for treating hydrocephalus, the leading cause of brain surgery for children. The team donated several items for the annual fund raising auction, and Justin Brayton, along with several other professional riders visited Seattle Children’s Hospital to encourage the young patients to persevere through the multiple brain surgeries they will endure as part of their treatment.

The original broadcast from Seattle airs today at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on SPEED. The 16th round of the 17-race series will be on May 1 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. The original broadcast from Salt Lake City will air May 2 at noon (EST) on CBS.

Seattle, WA – FMF/KTM rider Phil Nicoletti earned 8th overall in his first race aboard the FMF/KTM 250 SX-F race machine.

The wet weather in Seattle narrowed the day’s schedule to one practice session. Each group went out for their practice session by warming up the first few laps and then trying their hardest to put down their fastest lap in the remaining minutes. Nicoletti rolled out of practice with the 16th fastest time of the night. “The track was difficult and very rutted. It was hard to get in a solid lap time in the short practice but if gave us a good taste of what would come for the remainder of the night,” remarked Nicoletti.

Nicoletti was placed in Heat #1. He got out to a good jump but got tangled with a tuff block in the second turn. He managed to stay up but caught the tuff block cover in his wheel and had to pull off and remove the cover. Once back on course, Nicoletti was sitting in dead last and had to make a come from behind charge into the top nine qualifying positions. Nicoletti charged hard and made it back up to 8th to grab a spot on the main event gate.

As the gate dropped for the main event Nicoletti got a good jump on his KTM and came around the first turn within the top ten and made it up to 6th by the second corner. A small mistake caused him to drop to 9th on lap two. He remained in 9th position through the halfway mark of the race. On lap ten he lost a position to Trey Canard but then gained the position back when he caught and passed Hunter Hewitt on lap eleven. One lap later Canard crashed and Nicoletti moved into 8th position. The final two laps were filled with excitement as Nicoletti and Max Anstie battled for 8th position. Anstie was able to get around him on the final lap but went wide in a turn allowing Nicoletti to make the necessary block pass to close for the position. Nicoletti finished 8th overall.

“I am not overly pleased with my result as I hoped to be in the top five. However, considering the conditions of the track, I am happy to finish within the top ten and will work toward improving that result at Salt Lake,” stated Nicoletti.

Next Event: Salt Lake City Supercross – May 1, 2010

AMA Supercross Lites – Seattle, WA

On what was undoubtedly one of the most brutally demanding supercross tracks ever built, Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda rider Wil Hahn gritted out a second place finish and moved himself to second in the series standings. His teammate, Cole Seely, toughed out a seventh place finish despite a poor start.

Lining up for the main event it was clear that Hahn meant business. His lap times were good and he knew he was prepared to ride at 100% for the entire fifteen laps. The Young rider from Texas was third coming around the first turn but ran into the back of Trey Canard when he fell in turn two. The mishap dropped him to fifth where he would begin an impressive charge towards the front. By the time he moved into second the leader was already several seconds ahead and the margin was too much for Wil to close. Although he wants a win baldly, Hahn rode well and he was proud of that.

“Man, I really felt like tonight was my night to win,” He said after the race. Adding, “I know it’s coming… I’ve been working way too hard not to win one of these. I can’t take anything away from (Broc) Tickle though; he rode great tonight. He was flying out there. Next week we’ll just get back to work and see if we can get a win in Salt Lake City.”

Seely was mired in the pack and lost all of his tear-offs early, forcing him to remove his goggles. The race became about survival for him after that point. Cole would soldier on to a seventh but he was visibly disappointed with the way his night went.

“That definitely wasn’t how I wanted the night to go,” Cole explained. “All night I just felt tight and like I was fighting the bike. When I reached up on the second lap of the main to pull a tear off and I grabbed all of them, I knew I was in trouble. I tried wiping them as long as I could but I couldn’t see a thing. I had to throw them and it made it tough to get close to anyone after that. I need to have a good race next weekend to bounce back from this.”

The team will now head to Utah for the final round of the west region series. Wil has a five point lead over Canard and he is nineteen points down on Jake Weimer. It is a long shot to win the title but crazier things have happened.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 1.

The Troy Lee Designs Lucas Oil Honda race team would like to thank all of the companies that have supported our racing efforts over the years. They include Lucas Oil, American Honda, Red Bull, PPG, Wings for Life, Alpinestars, Avia, Couts Heating and Cooling, Dunlop, Epic Action Video Cam, Leatt Brace, McQueen Racing, Oakley, Pacific Collision, Pro Circuit, Rossignol, Santa Cruz, Selle Italia, Skullcandy, All Sport Dynamics, Cycra, Fasthouse, Flexfit, Hinson Clutch, Hot Wheels, Kahne Racing, Light Speed, Muc-Off, N Style, Nameplate, ODI, Primm, QTM, Renthal, RK Chain, Excel, Twin Air, Vasser Racing and VP Racing.

Follow the Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda team at www.troyleedesigns.com

Corona, Calif. (April 26, 2010) – Jake Weimer is looking to match his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki teammate Christophe Pourcel by hanging a No. 1 plate on the door of his team’s transporter. He came one-step closer in Seattle, finishing on the podium and building a 19-point lead in the standings. Josh Hansen showed speed early, but a difficult track and lapped traffic saw him finish sixth.

The track in Seattle was one of the most difficult the riders had ever faced with large ruts forming early in the race, making some obstacles nearly impossible to clear. In qualifying practice, Weimer took control and set the quickest lap while Hansen posted the sixth fastest time.

In the first heat race, Hansen got out of the gate quick and finished second. In the Weimer’s heat, the drama started early as he was caught up in a first turn crash. After rejoining near the back of the field, Weimer started moving up, only to stall the bike and drop back once again. With mud caked on the back of his helmet, Weimer charged up to ninth and earned the final transfer spot into the main.

“I got up to third and was closing in on second,” said Hansen. “But I got cross-rutted and crashed and then later in the race I got caught up with a lapper and crashed again. The track was gnarly, but I was able to come through the pack so it’s frustrating I didn’t get the finish I wanted.”

With the 18th gate pick, Weimer had to come from the outside and he got a great jump off the gate and was second after the first turn. Unfortunately he went off the track on the next straightaway and dropped to 10th. The track continued to deteriorate as the laps clicked by, but Weimer was able to claw his way back up to third. Early on Hansen worked his way up from 7th to third before going down and falling back to sixth on lap 11. He would go down one more time, but he was still able to maintain his sixth place position.

“After I was stressed out for the hour between the heat and the main about my start, I got a great start,” said Weimer. “But then I fell down on the first lap and I didn’t know how far back I went, but I was just thinking I was the biggest idiot to ever ride a dirt bike. I thought Trey was leading so I just rode the best I could and ended up on the box. My goal was to push and get as much as I could and I did that.”

Weimer needs to finish 15th or better at the final round of the AMA Supercross Lites West Coast season at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City to clinch the championship.

WEST POINT, Tenn. – Husaberg Factory rider Mike Lafferty earned 3rd overall at the fifth round of the AMA National Enduro Series. Fellow Husaberg rider, Nick Fahringer, also put in a decent ride for 5th overall – marking his fourth top five finish of the season.

Lafferty suffered a crash in the first section that had him fighting to make up time the remainder of the day. He rode strong in the remaining five tests and was able to consistently finish within the top three to eventually nab 3rd overall.

“I felt really good today and my Husaberg performed great on this course. I am just down on speed from the leader. I will focus on picking up my speed over the next few weeks and see where we end up at the next round. I really enjoy the next location and look forward to performing better and hopefully jumping ahead in points,” commented Lafferty who now sits second in points just 1 point shy of the current leader, Russell Bobbitt.

Fahringer really came alive in the second half of the race and closed the gap between him and KTM rider Cory Buttrick. “I started the day a little bit too relaxed and didn’t perform where I needed to be competitive. I really picked up the pace in the fourth test, riding a bit over my head. I crashed twice in that section,” stated Fahringer. “I improved significantly in the fifth test, winning the section and then rode decent in the final test to finish just short of 4th place.”

NEXT RACE: Round 6 – Park Hills, MO – May 16, 2010

Riders:

Robby Bell Kawasaki KX450F Pro
JP Davis Kawasaki KX450F Pro

The 4th race of the WORCS series took place in Adelanto at the Racetown 395 MX track. The weather was near perfect in the high 70s. The course layout was mostly desert with lots of whoops. The mx track was prepped well and a Worcs Cross section was added. The lap times were just over 9 minutes.

As the gate dropped, Robby timed it perfect and pulled the holeshot. He led through the moto and into the offroad. JP was not so fortunate and was back in the 20s. As they completed the 1st lap, Robby was in 3rd. While pushing the pace in the offroad, he made a little mistake and fell over. JP was breaking into the top 20 and pushing forward.

The next few laps, Robby continued to battle in the top 5, as positions changed with pit stop strategies. JP continued to push forward picking up 1 or 2 positions per lap. At the mid way point in the race, Robby was in 5th, JP was up to 13th. This course is always a tough one, and many riders tend to get tired in the 2nd hour creating opportunities. Robby looked to make this work for him and picked up the pace. Unfortunatly this bit him as he lost the front end in a corner and hit the ground head first. While the bike was okay, hitting his head meant he needed to be smart and stop.

Meanwhile JP was moving up. With only a few laps to go, he was into the top 10. While battling for 8th, he made a few mistakes, and dropped to 10th. This is where he would finish.

Our A and B riders had an up and down weekend. Jack Achey Continues to lead the points in the 125A class and is improving well in the 15-29A class. He was running second, but an untimely fuel stop cost him. Mark Harstine had a great start in the 450B, running top four. But the third place rider went down right in front of him, and with nowhere to go, he got collected up and went down hard. beat up and bruised, he passed nearly half the riders getting to the finish.

The next race in the WORCS series is Honey Lake. This is a favorite for our riders. We have been making progress in some areas, we just need to put it all together now. We look to Honey Lake to be the break out ride for both our Pros.

Thanks for all the help, I will try to get pictures asap, our photographer went on vacation right after the race so I will get them next week.

Bob Bell

Team coordinator