July 1/09
As we pulled up to the Shadow Valley Raceway on Friday, the conditions were looking pretty much ideal. Then around mid-day the clouds rolled in, and the rains began...a duplicate of Morden 2007 ‘mud-fest’ seemed eminent.

With more wind and rain on Saturday, both amateur day racing and pro practice were cancelled for the day. When our pop-up tent was destroyed, and I thought I saw a cow go flying by, I figured this could be a sign of things to come. Boy was I right!

Here are the details of each riders results throughout day:

Shawn Maffenbeier (MX1)
Qualifier – 10th
Moto 1 – 13th
Moto 2 – 15th
Overall – 13th
Series Championship – 16th
Notes: Qualifying 10th, Shawn looked comfortable in the muddy conditions. When he pulled up to the gate for Moto 1, Shawn noticed his rear shock was basically seized. As the rest of the riders headed out on their parade lap, Randy Maffenbeier, Cole Siebler, and I headed to the pits to swap the rear shock out of the practice bike. Returning to the gate in about 4 minutes, with only seconds to spare, Shawn launched off the cement into a 3rd place start. We got to have more problems before a moto! Holding strong in 3rd place behind leader Paul Carpenter and Dusty Klatt, Shawn was able to maintain his position for the first 5 laps. Unfortunately, Shawn caught his foot in a deep rut over a technical corner double jump, and proceeded to ‘superman’ himself onto the ground. Remounting in about 20th position, Shawn slowly and
patiently worked himself to a 13th place finish. I think the rookie rider gained some confidence, and proved he could run the pace of the top 5 with a good start. In moto 2, Shawn spun off the cement start, and found himself in about 20th off the gate. Slowly and patiently, Shawn worked himself into 15th position. With a bad start, the quicker front runners were able to gap themselves from the rest of the field, and Shawn had to settle for a 15th place finish.

Cole Siebler (MX2)
Qualifier – 15th
Moto 1 – DNF
Moto 2 – 5th
Overall – 12th
Series Championship – 13th
Notes: Qualifying 15th, Cole seemed to be slightly off his usual pace, but knew qualifying and racing can often have little in common. Getting a good jump off the gate, Cole put himself in about 5th place going into first corner of Moto 1.
Unfortunately a rider came into Cole in the 2nd corner, and he found himself picking the bike off the ground. With a damaged front wheel and brake rotor, Moto 1 came to an end. Such is racing. With an outside gate pick, Cole’s strategy to keep it WFO (wide freak’n open) around the outside worked. Putting himself about 7 – 8th off the start from the WAY outside was definitely a testament of our C4MX tuned YZ250F’s power.. thanks Luc! After taking a few laps to get comfortable on the track, and working past a couple riders, Cole once again found himself in an epic battle with PerformX trained athlete Kyle McGynn. Man do these guys make the racing exciting! After duking it out for laps, Cole eventually worked himself past Kyle into a 5th place finish. We’re ready for luck to come our way out east.

Cole Rath (MX2)
Qualifier – 2nd (Group 1)
Moto 1 – 27th
Moto 2 – 17th
Overall – 21st
Series Championship – 32nd
Notes: Qualifying 2nd in Group 1, the PerformX Motocross Academy student looked really comfortable in the muddy conditions. With about a mid pack start, Cole was battling through the bulk of the riders, but unfortunately fell in a corner and clogged his front brake. After taking a minute to clean the brake out, Cole headed back into the moto, and worked himself from about 35th to a 27th place finish. In moto 2 Cole once again came off the gate in about 25th, and this time better proved his abilities by finishing 17th, his best moto finish of the year. Awesome ride!

Bryce Adams (MX2)
Qualifier – 10th (Group 1)
Moto 1 – 24th
Moto 2 – DNF
Overall – 37th
Series Championship – 61st
Notes: Qualifying a respectful 10th, the PerformX Motocross Academy student was excited to race his last national before heading home to BC. Starting in about the 33th position in moto 1, Bryce slowly and consistently worked himself to a season best 24th place finish. Definitely the best ride of the nationals for the Intermediate level rider. In moto 2, unfortunately Bryce jammed his previously fractured thumb, and had to exit the race early. With an early season injury that could have ended his chances to race the nationals, I would say it was a huge success for the rookie rider.

Brendon Arnett (MX2)
Qualifier – 15th (Group 1)
Moto 1 – 25th
Moto 2 – 22nd
Overall – 27th
Series Championship – 40th
Notes: Qualifying 15th, the PerformX Motocross Academy student was also looking forward racing his last national of the year. Starting about mid pack, Brendon stayed consistent and finished the moto 1 in 25th. In moto 2, Brendon started a little further in the pack, but used his great fitness to finish in a season best 22nd place. Again another excellent ride!

I would really like to thank Team PerformX riders, Randy, and Jackie on this crazy weekend. With limited personnel on what was the toughest race of the year so far, everyone really stepped up and pulled through this weekend. Great job to you all!

Thank you,
Todd