For those of us who thought the Badlands race was cold and a little muddy I guess we didn’t know how good we had it.  Leading up to the race weekend I spent a few days in Las Vegas soaking up Eighty degree days, watching some baseball, and attending an insurance conference.  I would be lying if I said my mind didn’t wander off a few times during the meetings thinking about what this race would bring.  A new location can be a really fun or it can be so tight at times that it feels like everything is caving in around you.  Once I got home and started watching a few weather reports it was evident that the conditions were going to be less than perfect to say the least.  But in the XC world you learn to deal with and overcome issues that get thrown your way and that’s exactly what happened at this inaugural event.

Things kicked off Saturday night when the UTV’s took to the rain soaked track.  Kevin Chase was able to put his Polaris RZR out in front ahead of Mark Richard and Brian Baker.  54 minutes of mudslinging, tree bashing, new line making fun is what it looks like to me!!  PeeWee bikes were up next and the Kentucky boys Jackson Fischer and Zarek Corbett took the top two overall spots on bikes while Austin Quick and Colton Bailey were our top PeeWee quad riders.

Sunday morning greeted us with talk of a huge snow storm that may or may not dump fall at the track.  When the youth started everything in the sky looked clear and they took off to do the best they could with the track that had been laid out in front of them.  Jacob Borszem took his Yamaha all the way to the overall victory followed up by Brandon Ball and Dylan Conwell all from the Super Mini 12-15 class.  Ethan Mcreynolds and Rece Kelsey were the top finishers in 90 Mod 8-15.  Daulton Keyes won the 90 stock 8-12 class as did Austin Bratchen in 70cc Open 6-11.  And a special shout out to Courtney France and Hailey France for fighting thru the mud in the Girls 7-13 class.

36 youth bike riders headed out on the course to see who could stay clean the longest.  Riley Walch finished out front on a KTM followed up by Tyler Darmon and Caleb Pierson.  All three came from the super fast Super Mini 7-15 class that starts on row 1.    Tyler Silvia came over from Hebron, OH to grab the top finishing 65cc spot and won the 65cc 7-11 class. Langdon Feltner put his Kawasaki on top of the box in the 85cc 7-15 class with Lance Maschino taking the second place position.  

Adult bike took the course nest with 176 entries signed up.  I watched as the course went from not so great, to worse, to oh my goodness how are these guys even able to ride a machine on two wheels thru this slop!  A familiar face finished the day in first place and that was Chris Bach.  If you haven’t noticed Chris has been a top contender in the GNCC’s running against factory bikes and big salary riders and Chris is doing it this year on his own program with the help of a few really good sponsors so be sure to wish him luck if you see him around the track!  Zach Love followed up his good ride at the Georgia National with a second place overall finish and Chris Douglas rounded out the podium today.  Top A class finisher came from the Heavy A class and that was Anthony Wagler with “Old Man” Marty Michaels taking home a 8^th place overall finish and 1^st in the Vet A class.  Top B class finisher was Zack Mehuron out of Covington, KY and he was 19^th overall and the winner in B Lites coming from the 5^th row.  Chase Murley won the heavy C class and finished up 24^th overall.  A job well done to all bike riders who were able to even complete one lap on this brutal course.  I was out on the track with the course workers trying to reroute and find some “less technical” places to get around but it just wasn’t as easy as we would have hoped.

The ATV’s put on a heck of a show to finish out the day.  The creek crossings were deep and the mud had started getting sticky at this point so if you got off the beaten course you were going to be there for awhile.  I say this because that is where I spent the majority of my time due to my lack of intelligence we will say ;)  Marshall Goings again put his SICC racing Honda out front, followed up by teammate and motor builder Todd Demaree.  Michael Marley grabbed the holeshot and settled into a third place overall finish for the day.  Mike Mittendorf made it 2 for 2 in 2013 taking his second win of the season and 5^th overall.  A very impressive ride for Cory Bartlett out of Bedford, In on his Utility ATV coming from Row 8 all the way up to a 9^th place overall finish.  I think Cory had the right idea on this day!  Top finishing B class rider was Ty Phillips with top C Class honors going to Aaron Pridgen out of Greenfield, IN. 

Next round is April 13th-14^th in Bainbridge, In at Bakers Camp.  This was one of the favorite locations of 2012 for many riders and hopefully Mother Nature will help us out in the weather department and make conditions a little more favorable for the next round.  Every have a safe and Happy Easter. 

Until next time, stay between the trees!

Garon Davis