By Billy Rainford
Well, so begins my last Monday in Kamloops, BC. I’ll be heading home tomorrow to hopefully get out for some riding. Although, a quick look at the forecast tells me that we’re heading into a few days of cold weather in Southwestern Ontario, so I may not be able to dust off the #739 YZ250 until after another trip down the I-75 to the Daytona Supercross.
This late-February trip to Florida is always one of my favourite MX road trips of the year. We’ve all had enough of winter and a week in the Sunshine State is a perfect way to get away. There is also a ton of two-wheel action to take in during my short stay down there.
The main reason is the SX but there’s also round 2 of the GNCC Racing series at Hog Waller in Palatka and then the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross on the Monday back at the Speedway. It’s three days of action and we’ve got lots of Canadians to chase around at each event.
But before all that happens, let’s talk about #500 Julien Benek making his first 250 West Main on Saturday in Oakland.
I went through Julien’s day and night minute by minute in my Bigwave’s Briefs column, but I wanted to mention the accomplishment again here. He actually got the chance to feel what it’s like to lead a Pro SX race when he pulled the holeshot in the LCQ and led #79 Dylan Walsh for a lap and then dogged him for the rest of the race. It was awesome!
He’s got more to say about their stay in Oakland and we’ve got a podcast interview scheduled with the BC rider for later today, so be sure to watch for that or simply subscribe to Direct Motocross wherever you get your podcasts and you’ll be notified when it goes live.
We had other Canucks in action down south so let’s have a look.
Canadians at GNCC Round 1 in South Carolina
Round 1 of the 2023 GNCC Racing series took place at Big Buck in South Carolina over the weekend. We had riders on the course on Saturday. Here’s a look at their results:
| 18. WXC – Bike – Class Results | ||||||
| Place | Nbr | Name | Hometown | Brand | Laps | Elapsed |
| 1 | 444 | KORIE STEEDE | BELOIT, OH | KTM | 4 | 01:55:47.019 |
| 2 | 001 | RACHAEL ARCHER | NEW ZEALAND, // | YAM | 4 | 01:55:47.779 |
| 3 | 417 | RACHEL GUTISH | TERRE HAUTE, IN | GAS | 4 | 02:02:11.379 |
| 4 | 504 | SHELBY A TURNER | BARONS, AB | KTM | 4 | 02:04:35.690 |
| 5 | 204 | PRESTIN RAINES | TRAVELERS REST, SC | YAM | 4 | 02:12:11.437 |
| 6 | 217 | KAITLYN LINDSEY | BEAVER DAM, KY | HQV | 4 | 02:16:38.570 |
| 7 | 310 | KAYLA ONEILL | GREENWOOD LAKE, NY | KAW | 4 | 02:18:11.514 |
| 8 | 483 | ELIZABETH PEREZ | BARGERSVILLE, IN | HQV | 3 | 01:57:17.617 |
| 9 | 438 | MEGAN BARNES | OKEECHOBEE, FL | HQV | 3 | 02:02:00.178 |
| 52. 85 Big Wheel (11-15) – Bike – Class Results | ||||||
| Place | Nbr | Name | Hometown | Brand | Laps | Elapsed |
| 1 | 416 | JAYDEN RILEY | PENHOLD, AB | HQV | 7 | 01:29:42.395 |
| 2 | 031 | RYDER SIGETY | KINNELON, NJ | YAM | 7 | 01:30:03.436 |
| 3 | 709 | MASON TSAKANIKAS | POINT OF ROCKS, MD | KTM | 7 | 01:34:40.810 |
| 4 | 012 | COLTON MCQUARRIE | HENNIKER, NH | YAM | 7 | 01:35:13.260 |
| 5 | 559 | JOSEPH SHIPLEY | INDIANA, PA | GAS | 7 | 01:35:46.959 |
| 6 | 155 | LANDON BARKER | SMITHTON, PA | HQV | 7 | 01:36:59.100 |
| 7 | 175 | CHRIS A WITTMAN | MARSHALVILLE, OH | KTM | 7 | 01:37:04.739 |
| 8 | 164 | BRADYN JOHINSON | ORLANDO, FL | KTM | 7 | 01:38:36.638 |
| 9 | 540 | EASTON UPLINGER | REYNOLDSVILLE, PA | KTM | 7 | 01:39:49.130 |
| 10 | 313 | HUNTER CAREY | AURORA, IN | YAM | 6 | 01:25:43.092 |
| 54. 85 (7-11) – Bike – Class Results | ||||||
| Place | Nbr | Name | Hometown | Brand | Laps | Elapsed |
| 1 | 438 | HAYDEN DUPUIS | CALGARY, AB | HQV | 6 | 01:24:23.379 |
| 2 | 411 | ACE TOKAR | MONONGAHELA, PA | KTM | 6 | 01:24:42.260 |
| 3 | 142 | BRODY BOLAND | WELLSTON, OH | KTM | 6 | 01:25:56.334 |
| 4 | 401 | NOLAN HUDSON | JACKSON, OH | GAS | 6 | 01:27:27.478 |
| 5 | 042 | HUNTER HAWKINBERRY | FAIRMONT, WV | KTM | 6 | 01:28:06.038 |
| 6 | 128 | TRYP HIX | NORTH SALEM, IN | GAS | 6 | 01:29:08.350 |
| 7 | 194 | GAVIN A HARWELL | JONESVILLE, NC | GAS | 6 | 01:29:11.979 |
| 8 | 064 | WYATT JOHNSON | MONMOUTH, IL | GAS | 6 | 01:30:38.410 |
| 9 | 410 | LUKE DANIELS | CAIRO, GA | GAS | 6 | 01:30:57.059 |
| 10 | 082 | BROOKS BULY | NEW WILMINGTON, PA | KTM | 6 | 01:31:02.930 |
Tyler Medaglia Wins Hare Scramble in Florida
Tyler Medaglia will keep training a bit more before he enters the 2nd round of the GNCC series at Hog Waller in Palatka, Florida, in a couple weeks, but he was in action with Jim Edgar. He raced the Florida Trailriders Hare Scramble in Ormond Beach just north of Daytona.
Did I ever tell you the story about when I was at the Daytona SX back in 1985 and took our minivan for a drive and had a bunch of people see the Canada flag on the side of the van and say, “Hey, a Canadian” and just step into the van and ask me to drive them to a house party in Ormond Beach? No? Maybe? Well, a guy ate a goldfish when I walked in and I just went back to the hotel, but that’s another story…
Here’s our post on IG after Jim sent us the information:
Noah Viney Injured
Canadian-living-in-California Noah Viney crashed and got run over by a few bikes in his bid to head back to Loretta Lynn’s in August. His dad, Ulf Viney, has been keeping us up to date with how Noah is doing on his Instagram page.
This is a tough blow to Noah as he’s just coming back from that broken wrist. Hang in there, Noah.
I caused a bit of a mess when I jumped the gun with my Future West Moto announcement yesterday. I’m sorry to everyone who had their phones blow up on them over it. Leslie Reid has handed the Arenacross portion of the series over to new people but the 2023 MX season is still business as usual. Here’s what Lesley posted on Facebook:
Lesley Reid Passes Future West Moto Arenacross into New Hands
Chilliwack, BC’s Lesley Reid has announced on the Future West Moto (FWM) Facebook page that she will be handing the reins of FWM Arenacross racing into new hands.
Here’s the Press Release from Lesley Reid:
PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
It is with sadness that I announce today that after 8+ years Future West Moto will no longer be involved in running Arenacross events. Lesley will still in charge of the upcoming FWM Motocross season.
There is another group going to be involved – they will be announcing their intentions in days to come.
This is not a sale – merely a passing of the torch.
Thank you to all the riders, their families and sponsors for your support over the years.
However, we hope your FWM support will continue into our exciting 2023 outdoor season.
Let’s fill those gates.
Let’s go racing.
Lesley Reid
FWM Owner
The Supercross series heads to Arlington, Texas, this Saturday, so that means we’ll have #614 Quinn Amyotte back in 250 East. I don’t see #83 Cole Thompson or #551 Guillaume St Cyr on the 450 entry list but I do see #500 Julien Benek! We’ll update everyone on the final Canadian content as we get closer to the weekend.
Lastly, I want to say “have fun!” to Dan Tricco and Jake Tricco who are finally using Dan’s ‘DMX Total Devotion Award brought to you by Club MX‘ for a free week of training and riding at the South Carolina facility. Hey, Steezy, be sure to keep your cameras pointed at #527 out there and tag us. We’d love to see Jake in action!
As I was talking to Emily on her way home from a family visit last night, our little dog Maggie came up to greet her at the door and then went into a seizure of some sort and passed away as we were talking. She was pretty old but it’s still a big blow. If you’re a dog owner, you know the loss. I’m sorry I wasn’t actually there when it happened. She was a great little dog and we’re going to miss her.
OK, it’s time to go pick up my sister at the airport and plan my exit. Happy Family Day and have a great week, everyone.
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