Jarrod McClure Pro ATV Race Report “The Spartan”Â

With three weeks off between Ohio and Kentucky, I took the time to complete tear down on my Honda and grease every bearing and check over everything in an attempt to avoid the issues that I encountered in Ohio.  Once everything was re-assembled, I broke it in at a local race in Pennsylvania, and it allowed me to get everything dialed in and ready to go for Kentucky.  With the quad ready, I then focused on preparing myself for the next round by meeting with Moto Pro Trainer, Marc Sparta, who has been working with me for several rounds on conditioning, and the results of my pre-race efforts spoke for themselves with my second top 5 overall finish of the season.

 

 

Enough about the break, lets talk about race. Before heading to the line, I spoke with my good friend and up and coming youth racer, Derrec Robinson, who won the 90 Modified class and finished 2^nd Overall.  He gave me a little info on the track conditions, and from what I heard it wasn’t really dusty and it had some fast sections. I also knew the start was going to be slippery from all the freshly cut hay on the track.

 

With the heat and high humidity, I was thankful for my vented shift racing gear, which kept me fairly cool waiting on the starting line for the start of the race, but in no time, the flag flew, and I had a great jump! If I had been closer to the inside I would have had the holeshot! Instead I tried to cut in and got punted like a football sideways into the second turn across the slick grass. I some how got straightened out and faired out about tenth-not bad.

           

The track was pretty sweet. It had a little bit of everything, tight woods, open sections, up-hills, down-hills, you name it this track had it. I rode smart the first lap and was able to pass Bryan Baker and Santo Derisi. I also saw Chris Borich flipped in the creek. By the second lap,  I was up into fifth behind Matt Smiley. I got around him on an uphill section, and just tried to keep riding smart. Near the end of the third lap, Bill Ballance came ripping by me. He was moving! I could tell he wanted to win in his home state. He was on a mission!

           

By the fourth lap, I had Bryan Cook come up behind me and eventually make the pass.. From there on I stuck right behind Cook, and we charged to the checkered flag. By the 10-mile marker, we each gained a position when we passed Adam McGill sidelined with some tough luck as he appeared to have a chain or sprocket issue.

 

In a final dash to the finish line, I tried and tried to make the pass on Cook, but I just couldn’t make anything stick.  I was using a new breathing technique that Marc showed me, and it really helped me push till the end, but Cook is just a super smooth rider, and I couldn’t get him to make a mistake. I crossed the finish line in fifth, and was happy with the top five finish.

 

I had a flawless day, and would like to thank my pit crew for a quick pit stop, which helped me stay with the lead pack, and with two top 5 finishes,  I am really starting to build some confidence in myself, and I now have my sights set on a Podium finish before the end of the year.

 

Between now and the GNCC Round 8, I am going to race at  Miles Mountain, which is  round 3 of the AMA Hare Scramble Championship, so if I don’t catch ya there, I’ll see you at Yadkinville!