Robinson, Mcdonell, make the most of a rainy night at Megacross M2.

Photos by 451 Photography (Amanda)

Story by Kenzie Aters

I am some what new to this game but in the two years of being around racing and riding there is many things I have seen. Talking to some of the riders and watching the races while I am helping at them it's clear the dedication and enjoyment the families and riders get from competeing in any of the events I attend.

This weekend was some of the same.  We all anticipated some better weather and as Saturday rolled in there was high hopes of staying at Megacross. Going over there in the late morning it was clear the track was ready, and it was excellent, the right rain and the stage was set for great night of racing. Everyone was doing the same thing, watching radar and hoping the pop up thundershowers would miss.  It seemed like they were going to, then at 3pm the first one hit which made the decision to pull up stakes and move to the Indoor race facility Megatraxs. At the time of this story being written no where in this nation can a race be moved like this.  Supercross has roofs that open, Megacross has to drive 12 blocks. 6pm justified the move as 3/4 inch of rain dropped in 15 min and the riders were dry and ready to race. Preparation is the key, with both tracks ready the move took 1 hour.  Racing was as intense as the weather.

With 10 girls on the line ready to race in the girls 8-13 class, Lilyenn McDonnell got the hole shot and managed to keep the lead with Mallie Arnold staying in second the whole time. Between Abygail Buettner and Rylee Woods, they made sure to keep it interesting. Those two battled back in forth the entire race and continued to bounce off of each other throughout the entire race. By the third lap they got caught up in some lappers, Abygail had an easier time getting around the lappers but Rylee not so much. Rylee kept doing everything she could to try and get around Abygail but Abygail seemed to pick all the right lines and managed to pull out a third place with Rylee close behind her coming in fourth. Abby and Rylee tested thier friendship well this night, "bar banging" action isn't something you would think you see from the girls class but wow! They traded paint and positions mulitple times a lap! These two ride all winter long together so they know how the other rides, making for some excellent racing. Barcia and Stewart don't have anything on these two!

250 A class was a bit smaller this round with two riders, Rj Mackenzie and Connor Robinson. Rj managed to get the hole shot and stayed right in front of Connor through all 7 laps. Throughout the race we watched Connor continue to try to pick different lines and do what he could to get around Rj. Unfortunately for Connor he wasn’t able to get around Rj which meant a win for Rj. Conner and Rj put on a great show.  They did this as well in the Open Class.  Guaranteed Purse as many riders know means no percentage, simple race and you can count on the winnings.  The Perk is to get some great competition,  knowing no take out moves will happen. 7 laps of pure andenalin.

Not often does the C classes get much recognition, but tonight there was enough to separate them into C1, and C2.  The front runners in C1, Max Boltz, Tyce Kubiak, and Cole Brooker had some interesting things happen.  Fortunately for them all this happened in the heat races and not the main.  See Main events is how Sx racing is scored.  Max in the heat race found a big soft pillow at the end of the straight away, as he likely clicked one more gear then he should have....... poof! He goes down but those big white bags made the impact soft as a feather pillow.  Grabbing the lead was Amos Vincent on his new Kx 250, Amos this year has been showing some great speed and smooth riding.

Tyce Kubiak must be riding the same amount of time as Amos as his skills have greatly improved in 22. Colin Summer and Tyce connected on the finish line jump, thank fully no one was hurt, but it did take Colin out of the heat results.   They all came back in the Main to redeem themselves, with Max and Tyce having a great race, with Cole Booker stepping up to the 3 step of the podium.

Brysen is back!  Brysen Seidler who has been on injured reserved for a while returned to racing this night. It was great to see the little guy back pounding laps and giving dad a hard time about track speed and how fast his bike was.  A much more smooth and controlled rider he is looking good and it won't be long til he is right there with the rest of the fast kids.  Number 45 on the 50cc machine tonight finished 3rd in 50cc Open, and 5th in 50cc Sr classes.

In the 85cc classes there is a couple of riders who seem to hang out and also get some solid racing time on the track.  Bryce Arnold and Dane Miller who have been riding this winter indoors a bunch and when the gate drops number 9 and 152 can be seen hammering out lap after lap. Right now Bryce has the upper hand, but something says these two will be much closer in the up coming months of racing.

One thing that I enjoy about being over at Megatraxs is when walking to get lap sheets, I get to see all the riders come off of the track and see either the disappointment in themselves or how proud they are of themselves. As each rider comes off the track, they each have a different way of reacting and I think it’s really cool to watch just how each one reacts, especially the little bike classes because they always have the best reactions. The little ones always seem so happy and proud after every race. One person who always sticks out after their race is Steve Perkins, it never fails when I’m walking past as he’s coming off, he always sticks his hand out for a high five.

The track was in great condition, by the end of the night there were some nice deep ruts in the corner after the big middle jump, the berms were not in the best condition since Garrett is out right now leaving the old man to do them. Garrett should be back in the track machine here soon so the berms should be back to being in great shape by the next Megacross on May 14th.  Overall, it was an awesome race night even with starting an hour late we still got done around normal time. Come out and do some racing May 14th it will be round 3 of the very popular Megacross Series.