Monday Morning Coffee

Monday Morning Coffee

By Billy Rainford

Well, it was an extremely busy weekend and I was supposed to be in the middle of it, but sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned. Maybe being able to roll with the punches is what keeps me sane in this industry, I don’t know. If I were to get upset every time things didn’t go the way I wanted or planned I wouldn’t last very long. Seriously, I have a little bit of a dubious reputation when it comes to travel lately. It never use to be that way.

There was the time I went to the wrong airport out in BC when I was supposed to fly from Abbotsford up to Cycle North in Prince George, BC. Abbotsford doesn’t fly to PG. Oops, I was supposed to be at the Vancouver Airport. There was also the time before that when Donk showed up at my place in London at 6:05am and I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep him entertained all day for our flight the following day at 7:00am. Yep, you guessed it, he was running late for our flight THAT MORNING! After packing a bag full of dirty laundry (no pun intended) we made our flight west.

It happened again last week when we drove all the way to New Jersey for the Supercross. We were both amazed at how easy it was to make it all the way in to the outskirts of Manhattan and find our hotel across the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side. “You wait here, I’ll go grab the hotel room key.” I came out without a key after finding out I’d booked the room for 5 months later in September. Oops.

Well, yesterday I had planned to make the 2-hour drive west to Baja Acres ( @bajaacresmx ) in Millington, Michigan, to shoot some photos of the Loretta Lynn’s Area Qualifier. I knew there would be a bunch of Canadians competing and was excited to head back to the sandy track that was always my favourite way back when I used to race there as often as I could.

I was really looking forward to going to Baja Acres Sunday (left to right – Bigwave, Chris Humphries, Chris Berendrecht (sp)) – Bigwave Sr. photo

I was all packed, my camera batteries were all charged, I’d dropped Emily off at the hospital for work. I was ready. It was then I  realized my passport wasn’t where I was always so careful to keep it. Oh no. I drove back and forth between our two houses 3 times after thinking I had a new idea where it might be. Nope. It wasn’t in any of them. I finally called off the trip after realizing that even if I found it I would only get to Baja to catch the last half of the final moto.

To make a long story short, I ended up doing nothing moto-related yesterday and I wasn’t very happy about it. Fortunately, I think I know where my passport is, so off I go to look…

Here is the list of Canadians I found who attended Baja over the weekend:

Ezra Hughes – Kitchener, ON

Cayden Wise – Sarnia, ON

Chandler Furlan – Chatham, ON

Dan Dubois – Corunna, ON

Kayden Keller – Exeter, ON

Tyler Cryer – Dunnville, ON

Luke Tricco – Collingwood, ON

Jake Tricco – Collingwood, ON

Seth Hughes – Kitchener, ON

Thomas Cryer – Dunnville, ON

Nicholas Cryer – Dunnville, ON

Evan Clarke – St. Thomas, ON

RJ Marnoch – Barrie, ON

Kobi Cox – Waterford, ON

Nathan Cryer – Dunnville, ON

Joshua Lozon – Chatham, ON

Austin Watling – Corunna, ON

Nicholas Denniston – King City, ON

Ty Rahm – Leamington, ON

Baden Brunning – Waterford, ON

Cooper Hicks – Dundas, ON

Avri Pollari – Echo Bay, ON

Luke Rahm – Leamington, ON

Travis Barrette – Belle River, ON

Kennedy Lutz – Yorkton, SK

Duncan MacLeod – Port Franks, ON

With all those Canadians racing, you can understand why I was upset I couldn’t go. Congratulations to everyone who lined up. It looks like we have quite a few Canadians making it through to the next round of qualifiers for Loretta Lynn’s. See you there!

Sand Del Lee ANQ

It looks like it was a great day of racing over in Ottawa, Ontario, for the Parts Canada TransCan ANQ held there over the weekend. Canada’s Motorcycle FXR Yamaha rider Dylan Wright looks like he put his hometown speed to use and took the Pro Am and Under 30 classes Saturday followed by TLD KTM’s Richard Grey (who is listed on a Yamaha?).

On Sunday, Royal Distributing Fox KTM’s 2014 MX2 National Champion Kaven Benoit won the Under 30 (3-1) and Pro Am (1-1) followed by Duroy KTM’s Shawn Robinson (2-2) and Dylan Wright (1-8). Here’s a look at the Pro Am results from both days:

Saturday:

Sunday:

For a full listing of results from both days, head over to the MX101 site’s results page HERE.

Final 2015 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450 Standings

Vicki Golden Makes Supercross History

Congratulations to #423 Vicki Golden for becoming the first-ever female to make a Supercross night show. Although every rider in the 250 class made the show automatically (1 rider got injured leaving 40) she still qualified ahead of a few other riders which means she made it legitimately. No need for anyone to add an asterisk or anything silly like that.

Although it may not be immediately visible, this is a huge step for women’s moto. We will see an influx of girls entering the sport because of this. Wait and see. Congratulations to Vicki and her HRT Racing / ACM Services / Just1 / Bills Pipes / One Industries  / MotoPro team.

Congratulations to Vicki Golden for becoming the first-ever female to qualify for a Supercross night program. – Bigwave photo

Honda Canada TLD GDR Photo Shoot

I remember a few years ago when I went with Dan Stenning ( @majordanage ) to shoot the GDR team here in downton London, Ontario. We wandered the alleys looking for cool graffiti and interesting locations. It was a lot of fun and Dan shot the photos for the team again for Derek Schuster‘s team over the weekend.

Although I wasn’t beside Dan documenting the shoot he sent over this teaser shot. He always gets some really great shots, so we’ll look forward to see what they came up with later this week.

We look forward to seeing what Dan and the team came up with in the Honda Canada TLD GDR photo shoot later this week. – Dan Stenning photo

Motopark Cup is Coming

The first two rounds of the 2015 New Era Motopark Cup are on Saturday May 16 and Sunday May 17. Practice on Friday May 15 will be from 9:00am to 4:00pm on the main track and until 3:00pm on the mini track, $35. Practice will also be running Monday May 18 from 9:00am to 6:00pm. IMPORTANT NOTES TRANSPONDERS REQUIRED TO BE SCORED, MORE INFORMATION BELOW. NO RACING LICENSE REQUIRED, Motopark welcomes all racers to race the 2015 premier motocross series. No membership or licensing fees required to race. CAMPING AND ADMISSION All MotoPark’s serviced sites and Hotel rooms are booked. There’s lots of primitive camping available, no reservation required. Primitive camping is $20 for the first night and $10 each additional. Adult admission is $15 for the weekend and $10 for a single day. 12 and Under admission is $10 for the weekend and $7 for a single day. Kids 5 and under are free. If you’re camping prior to Saturday and/or attending just one day you’re required to pay for the weekend. If you leave early before Sunday you’ll receive a refund at the front gate. GATE STAFF WILL REMOVE YOUR WRIST BAND AND ISSUE YOU YOUR REFUND. NO WRIST BAND, NO REFUND. This will be in effect until 8:00pm Saturday. No refunds will be issued after 8:00pm. AWARDS, PRIZES AND GIVEAWAYS New Era, Canadian Tire, Fox, Cycle North, Rockstar and Core Motosport’s are stepping up this weekend to not only help out the pro’s but help support all of our amateur classes. There will be Holeshot awards in all classes. $2000 per day pro purse. A larger then normal Intermediate purse and lots more prizes and giveaways. VENDORS VILLAGE There will be a vendors area in front of the main building throughout the weekend. THE OFF-ROAD CAFÊ The Off-Road Café will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring MotoMuffin’s, Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and Steak or Chicken Dinner. No need to stock the fridge when you come to Motopark. Hours below; Friday 8:00am – 7:00pm Saturday 7:00am – 7:00pm (Serving dinner from 6:00pm – 7:00pm) Sunday 7:00am – 5:00pm Monday 8:00am – 5:00pm PIT BIKES No pit bikes are allowed at Motopark on race days. Golf Karts are to be driven by licensed adults only. Race bikes may be driven to the starting line. First gear only. GATE HOURS The main gate is staffed 24 hours. No one will be allowed into the main pit area between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. Vehicles arriving during those hours will be staged in the overflow area. Please shut generators off at 11 p.m. Security will also be on duty. Should you have any concerns overnight please report to the main gate. No Fireworks, please don’t bring any fireworks. We will provide a fireworks show Saturday night. ONLINE PRE-REGISTRATION Want to beat the lines or sleep in an extra half hour on race day? Pre-registration is not mandatory you can sign up at the event. Pre-registering costs an additional $2 per transaction (not per entry). Main track classes, have your transponder number ready for registration. Mini track classes will not be using transponders. If you’re pre-registering and racing both days, you’ll need to register separately for each round. Pre register by following this link: http://secure.tracksideonlineresults.com/motopark/ (Once you register online all you have to do is head to the registration trailer located at the finish line or head up to Off-Road Cafe and sign the waiver. Then you’ll receive a wrist band the proves you signed the waiver.) TRANSPONDERS TRANSPONDERS REQUIRED TO BE SCORED. Mini track classes will not be using transponders. All main track classes will be using transponders. You can race without a transponder but you will not be scored or win any awards. Buy one from MyLaps – Rent or buy a transponder. SCHEDULE (race schedule coming soon) Friday 9:00am – 4:00pm, open practice, $35. (mini track closes at 3:00pm) Friday 7:00pm – 9:00pm, early race sign in. Saturday 7:00am – 8:30am, race sign in. Saturday 8:40am, MANDATORY RIDERS MEETING. Saturday 9:00am, practice starts. Saturday 10:30am approximately, racing starts. Saturday 6:00pm, Motopark Saturday night BBQ, $15 tax included, steak or chicken. Saturday 7:00pm, paintball ($25 for gear and a full gun, extra balls are $10 per 100) Saturday 10:15pm, fireworks show, on the starting line. Sunday 7:00am – 8:30am, race sign in. Sunday 8:40am, riders meeting. Sunday 9:00am, practice starts. Sunday 10:30am approximately, racing starts. Monday 9:00am – 6:00pm, open practice, $35. OTHER INFO Firewood, head up to the front gate, $10 a grain bag full. Fireworks, you can donate all fireworks at the front gate, for our Saturday night fireworks show. NO FIREWORKS ALLOWED IN PITS Paintball, $25 for gear and a full gun, extra balls are $10 per 100. Games will happen after racing, sign up for paintball at the Off-Road Café. RATES GATE ADMISSION Adults, single day: $10 Kids 12 and under, single day: $7 Adults, weekend: $15 Kids 12 and under, weekend: $10 PRIMITIVE CAMPING One Night: $20 Two Nights: $30 Three Nights: $40 Additional Nights: $10 MAIN TRACK RACE ENTRY FEE PER DAY First Class: $35 Second Class: $30 Third Class: $20 MINI TRACK RACE ENTRY FEE PER DAY First Class: $25 Second Class: $20 CLASSES Mini Track 50 Pee Wee (4-6) 50 Pee Wee (7-8) 50cc GP 65cc B Diva Main Track 65cc Pee Wee (7 – 9) 65cc Pee Wee (10 – 11) 85cc (7-11) 85cc (12-16) Super Mini Ladies MX2 Beginner MX3 Beginner MX2 Junior MX3 Junior MX2 Intermediate MX3 Intermediate Pro Am School Boy (12 – 16) / 250F and lower College Boy (17 – 24) / Open Class Under 30 (25+) Vet Junior (+30) Vet Master Plus 40

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Canadians at Amsoil Arenacross Amateur Final in Las Vegas

We had a couple Canadians racing again this year at the Amsoil Arenacross Amateur Finale at South Point Arena in Las Vegas yesterday. Not only that, we had a DOUBLE CLASS CHAMPION! Here’s a look at some results:

Preston Masciangelo – Brantford, ON

Richard Krzemien – Schomberg, ON

Kieran Doherty – Kingston, ON

Adam Smith – Woodstock, ON

Well done, everyone!

MMRS at Muttco Mountain

Muttco Mountain hosted Round 2 of the MMRS Provincial Series over the weekend. Here’s a look at the Open class results:

For full results, head over to the MMRS website HERE.

Geico Endurocross – Las Vegas, NV

We had some Canadians competing at the Geico Endurocross at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas over the weekend, too:

The series now takes a break until September 26th in Sacramento, California.

I tried to find results for the Parts Canada TransCan ANQ held out at Whispering Pines in Kamloops, BC but was unable to locate them. Thanks for reading and congratulations to so many Canadians taking a shot and hitting some of the biggest races on the schedule south of the border. Have a great week.