NECC New England Cross Country Series Hare Scramble in Union, CT

This race kind of just popped up on our schedule last week…we thought we had concluded our racing season when dad heard about this event…sounded like a good way to get one more race in and as an added bonus, it was held in Union, which is 10 minutes from my house, so travel wasn’t an issue. I also had a little extra motivation going for this one, as so far, every time I raced at Union, I ended up taking a trip to the hospital, and I really wanted to break that curse.

I signed up for the open A class for this 2 hour plus race and I figured I could outwork everyone and put myself in a good position towards the end of the race.

Dad picked a pretty good spot at the starting line for me, all I needed to do is commit to “stay on it” through the 1^st right hander and things should be ok. The flag dropped, the bike started and the bumping and fighting for position began. I ended up wheeling the first few feet (more traction than I expected), and in the process I was able to get my elbow on top of the guy next to me, being able to push his elbow down and run him wide. I stayed tough through turn one and two (yup – you heard right) and ended up in 3^rd place going into the woods. The bike ran awesome, I felt great and we fought hard, trying to out-ride each other. In the process we caught up to a few of the AA guys – our pace was nuts…I passed for 2^nd place coming into the scoring tent for the 1^st time, my confidence skyrocketed (if that’s even a word) – I love riding A class!!! Tough racing – yes, stupid racing – no!

Somehow I ended up losing a bolt on my left front hand guard, not sure if it was lose from the beginning or something happened while banging bars at the start, but this would cause a major issue. The hand guard came loose and dangled on the right side of the handle bar, somehow catching the front brake line and completely ripping it out of the master cylinder. When I pulled the front brake lever in, all that happened was brake fluid squirted out…no more front brake. Then on a right turn the guard wedged itself right under the handle bar so I could not turn right at all and I blew a turn…this isn’t good. I found a way to get back to the pits where dad and Mr. Savage (the dad of  Andrew Savage, a riding buddy) frantically worked on the bike to remove anything that was dangling and in the way…it took a few minutes, no one expected me to come in this early in the race, so nothing was really ready. I was a little worried about riding without a front brake on this course, after all, it is wicked technical and some of the down hills just get really sketchy when you know you can’t really slow down. Anyway, they finished the work on the bike and sent me back out.

Dad said something along the lines of “who needs brakes anyways”, and Mr. Savage just smiled and said "do what you can kid". Alright…off I went, I think I was back in 6^th place when I went through scoring again. Here is the cool part…not having a front brake made me ride faster than I thought I could in some of the nasty stuff. Yes, there were a few spots on the course where I thought I was going to crash test my gear, but it all worked out pretty good. I got smoother and smoother and at about lap 4 I caught back up to the guys in 5^th and 4^th place. I pushed hard and made a couple of passes – probably had my eyes closed on one of them…it was a little bit  like trying to fit a truck through the drive in at the bank at full speed, but it worked out.

I started to gap 5^th place when I went past pit row again and dad gave me the “pit next lap” sign. I needed fuel. So I rode as hard as I could to make sure I had enough time to pit and not lose 4^th place. It worked out pretty good, this time dad had everything ready, except…I forgot that I didn’t have a front brake and mowed down my entire pit crew like they were bowling pins…S-T-R-I-K-E. My sister got it the worst…she was going to hand me fresh goggles, instead she got tire tracks up her legs and a nice bruise – sorry sis. Dad lost a pair of jeans in the process…my foot peg hooked his rear pocket and ripped them wide open…uhm…

Anyway, overall, once they all got back up, fueling went smoothly, and I went back out. I was back in 5^th, but not far behind 4^th place. I think I passed the guy for 4^th place in one of the many mud holes, I really don’t remember.

When I went past the pits again dad got his revenge (not on purpose – I know J) on me for taking everyone out in the pits earlier ….he gave me the last lap sign…so I went all out. I sprinted as hard as I could, crashed pretty hard once, but over all I think I had my fasted lap when I rolled through the finish expecting the checkered flag, and all I saw was the white flag…REALLY?! C’mon…I gotta do one more? Alright….I gathered what little strength I had left to pound out another lap…my hands were pretty numb at that point, my back started to hurt pretty bad, and I had to force myself to stay focused. Sprinting was out of the question, I really just wanted maintain my position and stay smooth, without any more incidents or crashes. After 2 hours and 20 minutes I rolled through the finish, in 4^th place. I am totally happy with this result, Union didn’t get the best of me this time!! The bike was a mess after the race…how it ran as well as it did is beyond me. I snapped the starter cable, ripped out the fuel sensor cables, packed mud all around the throttle assembly, bent some stuff, broke some plastics, etc….you get the picture. The Husky didn’t let me down!!!! What an awesome bike.

This really was the last race of the season for us, time to rebuild the bike and get it ready for the next season. Thank you to my sponsors – Roxane at Moose Racing, Mike at Kenda Tires, EKS Brand goggles, Panic Rev, Halls Husqvarna, Summit Clothing, Amsoil, mom & dad, my sis and my grandparents.

2013 is just around the corner, sponsors are pretty much lined up (new gear for 2013!!), training starts now.

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving and an even greater Christmas!

Thanks for taking interest in my progress!

“Braaap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth



wireless front brake...?



JDay Season Finale - Retro Style - Central Village, CT

Saturday was the last race of the 2012 JDay series at Central Village, CT. John decided to call for a retro weekend, so riders busted out some really cool old gear.

I called pops to see if he could help, he came through…sent me one of his old jerseys from “Champion” …a Husky dealer from way back in Michigan. I thought it looked pretty awesome and it did match my Moose pants well. Fortunately mom came to this race with her camera in hand…



See where I get my smile from?


This was also my very first A class race – I entered the A250 class. Dad decided to mount up a new tire for me, awesome! Before the start I was pretty nervous…after all…I was going to play with the BIG boys. My goal was simple…ride as best as I know how and work as hard as possible…results didn’t matter at all, I figured if things go right I could maybe crack the top 10 or 15 or so.

Moto 1: When the flag went up things got busy…my bike started right away, but I froze a little…I was a little intimidated. Once we got around the first turn I realized that while towards the back of the pack, I was actually not in a bad spot and started to gain on some of the guys in front of me. This gave me a little more confidence and I started to feel like I belong here. The course consisted of quite a bit of moto (a really fun track), a grass track section with a bunch of sweeping turns, a sandy uphill with a weird step in the middle that through your rhythm off pretty good, and a fun woods section with a nasty downhill. Pretty soon I worked myself in to the top 10 and started to flow pretty good. I made a few good passes, got passed a few times, all in all had a great time racing and really didn’t feel any pressure. Unfortunately when battling with another racer in one of the sweepers, the wind blew the course ribbon right into me and it wrapped itself around my rear brake - red ribbon...yay...Santa came early!!!…I lost braking for about a lap or two and went down a couple of times, giving up my top ten spot. By the time the moto was over, I had pretty bad arm pump from wrestling the bike without rear brakes, but managed to finish 13^th…not bad for my first A class moto. 

Moto 2: This time I felt much more relaxed at the starting line, I wasn’t nearly as intimidated as I was in moto 1. The flag went up and I actually got a good start! I was mid pack and feeling great! The A class guys race hard, much harder than what I’m used to, but they race clean, and most of all, they don’t pull stupid moves. You can really trust these guys as far as their line choices and abilities go. I loved it and got more and more confident. At one point I had worked my way up to 7^th place, and I was still moving forward. Apparently I was just really hard on my front brake, as I cooked it and lost front braking power. This was a little tricky, I needed to let the brake cool off but didn’t want to slow down. I figured out a brilliant way to do that….crash J. I laid the Husky down in a flat corner and fell back to 12^th place, the good part?…the brakes came back a little bit. I pushed hard and got back up to 8^th place, ultimately giving me a 10^th place over all. I’m really quite happy with this result, this motivates me to train and work even harder! My goal for next year is pretty clear, I want to establish myself as an A class rider and be competitive in this class.

This was a great way to close out this season…and what a season it was. I have experienced quite a bit this year. From getting used to New England dirt/rocks, ripping it up and doing well, dealing with mechanical issues, scary injuries that sidelined me for quite  a while…all things that I guess are best described as the highs and lows and the rush racing provides to me that most people probably don’t understand.

I was fortunate to have some great sponsors this year and hope they know how much I appreciate their help! Thank you to Moose Racing for the awesome gear and parts help, Kenda Tires for giving me awesome traction, Summit Clothing for the cool shirts and shades, Panic Rev - the man above,…of course a huge Thank You to mom and dad for supporting me the way they do. Thanks to the Rummels for letting me train and ride at their farm! Huge Thanks to my Grandparents!!! A shout out to Pete “Speedy” Laubmeier – he’s helped me get my head straight, JD Friebel – another great resource and mentor for me, and the rest of the Wisconsin crew.

2013 is just around the corner…we’ll probably run a few of the winter JDay’s in preparation for the next season and hopefully we can start 2013 out with a bang. 

Thanks for reading and taking interest in my progress

Braap

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Monson, MA JDay 9/23/12

GP Race Day – Jday…this one took place at Monson, MA. Yes, that’s the same Monson where they have the famous hill climb events. I heard rumors that John would include part of the hill climb into the course as the extreme section…that’s a new one for me as I have never been on an actual hill climb hill. This also marked the 1^st time I would enter in the 250 B class, one of the tougher classes out there as most are turning lap times that would put them mid pack in AA. My goal for this weekend was to get a top 10 in my class and a top 15 overall. Ambitious, I know, but hey…it’s time to step up. As usual, dad handled bike prep and sign up, only this time he had to prep 2 bikes as he decided to shake off the cobwebs and race too…this was going to be fun J

Moto 1: The flag dropped and off we went…I kind of blew the start as I thought my bike wasn’t running when it really was, so I found myself towards the back of the pack going into the first few turns….bummer….and these guys are fast and hard to pass. The first lap was uneventful really, I made a few moves and learned the track, when going through scoring for the first time I think I was in 15^th or something like that. The hill climb was cool, glad they added that as it added a nice challenge. Laps 2 and 3 were pretty good, I hammered hard and worked my way up to 8^th place and I was still chipping away at the guys in front of me. The bike worked awesome…Bill from CCycle took the time in the morning to help me set it up…2 words….DA BOMB!!! Anyway…on the 4^th lap I clipped a tree hard, the full impact was taken by my left shoulder….that one hurt and knocked me back a bit…I found myself back in 14^th…not as planned. Once I got my wind back I tried to just stay smooth and see if I could get back in the top 10 for this moto…not quite…I ended up 12^th. I looked at the lap times afterwards, and figured that a top 5 should be doable for me in the 2^nd moto…I had the speed, just needed a start.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySiZS_farYo&feature=youtu.be

Moto2 (see the video): Just as in moto 1, dad just came in from his race and had some 1^st hand track knowledge. The hill has been giving people troubles, dad knew the hot line and let me know. It was kind of funny, because when he was talking to me he was wheezing pretty bad…I think he got beat up pretty good J

Anyway…I actually got a good start in moto 2. Found myself in the top 10 or so and felt great. My shoulder hurt pretty bad when I was sitting at the line, but once we “hit it” that all went away…amazing what adrenaline does to you. When we came through scoring the first time I was in 8^th. Good. That’s a starting point. Dad’s hot lines worked. The old man was right (He kept telling me to “ride the edge”  - good call…it was pretty smooth “out there”. I got into a great battle with 2 other guys and ultimately was able to wear them down to put myself in 6^th place with one lap to go. I wasn’t sure how far ahead 5^th was, but I figured I’ll try and catch whoever I can, and I did. I made the pass for 5^th, though that one didn’t come easy as that battle lasted almost to the end until I was finally able to gap the guy on the home stretch. End result for moto 2 was 5^th and I was on the wheel of 4^th place. Good race, I gave it everything I had and am really quite happy with that.

The Husky is working better and better for me, I am adjusting pretty well to the 4 stroke power. The fun meter was pegged on high this weekend (dad said it went up to 11 – whatever that means)…oh, almost forgot…with a 12^th in moto1 and a 5^th in moto2 I ended up 8^th in my class and 10^th over all. While there is definitely room for improvement, this does bump me up to the A class - training resumes Tuesday J…and as a foot note in small print – dad ended up 3^rd in his “old man class”…

As always, Thank You to my awesome sponsors – Moose Racing, Kenda Tires, Panic Rev, Summit Clothing, my entire family!

RIP Great Grandma B…have you with me always 9-23-12

 “Braap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Unadilla GNCC - tennnn seconds!!!!!!

After quite a while off the bike due to some injuries sustained in a practice crash (broken ribs and a cracked L1 vertebrae) I finally got cleared by the doc to get back on the bike again. I had a few days of practice time on my new ride and felt pretty comfortable on the new Husky TXC 250, and most importantly, my back felt strong enough to give it a shot. We decided to hit the GNCC race at Unadilla, NY. I signed up for the B 4-stroke lites class, which would run in the afternoon with the pro 3 hour race. I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to ride again. Conditions for this race were going to be awesome -  a sunny day with a light breeze to blow the dust away. Dad handled the bike prep and sign up duties (it took him over 3 hours), all I had to do was ride and have fun. I had no expectations as far as results go…I was really just trying to test my back and learn a little more about my bike and…as it turns out…my endurance. 

The start: Tennnnn Seconds…and up went the flag and we were off. The TXC has e-start and kick start, we decided to use the e-start button in neutral, and just slam the bike in gear as soon as it fires. The off camber starting would have made it a little bit too tough for me to kick it, so this seemed to be the best solution. It worked. I got a good jump and went into the right hand turn one in the top 5. In turn 2 there was a bit of a jam as the guy in the lead crashed, I found my way around it pretty well and went into the woods in 6^th place. Things felt great, I had a blast. I made a few passes before we got to the nasty slick rail road tracks where many people were stuck. I kept pushing, got stuck a few times myself but no big deal, and still felt great. The course was sooo much fun…lots of line choices, plenty of technical sections, yet plenty of room to pass. Barry Hawk sure knows how to lay them out. They added a few new sections to our race, one of them was “The River”. We had to ride up the river for the length of about a football field. The water was freezing cold, and in some sections as deep as the tires are tall. When going through it at speed, I actually think I through a wake as big as a Ski Nautique would…where is a wake board when you need one? Awesome. People were struggling everywhere, I actually did pretty good through there and was still hanging with the leaders of my class. The other major obstacle turned out to be a mud hole that would swallow bikes hole. Even some of the pros were stuck and had to get winched out. Lucky for me, I picked the only “good” line and really didn’t have a problem, but I felt bad for the guys that were stuck and out of the race.

The incident: As things go in offroad racing, there is always an “incident”. Here is mine: Somehow I must have bumped the kill switch on my bike and moved it to the “off” position. The bike stopped and would not restart. Think of it as stepping on the gas in your car, but the key is in the off position. I did not realize the switch was “off”. I ultimately decided to leave my bike and walk out to get help…quite frustrating. I talked to an official, he told me they would send a quad to give me a tow eventually. So I walked back to my bike to wait. When I got back to the bike, I saw some of the guys in my class come through again, so at that point I was down a lap. I picked my bike up and sat on it, thinking the tow guys would show up soon, when I realized my mistake….aarrrrggghhh….I was pretty mad at myself…hit the button, and the bike started right up. Oh well…let the fun continue. I rode as hard as I could, pitted a few times, crashed a few times (once right in front of Kailub Russel’s mom – she said K crashed in the same spot), got stuck in the mud, forgot to drink on a regular basis…and while totally dehydrated, I did manage to finish in 12^th place. Granted, I could have done better, and probably should have, but over all I am pleased with the way I rode and handled adversity. Fact is that I finished a 3 hour race after being off the bike for a while.

Yes my back hurt pretty badly when I got done, but it held up. This gives me loads of confidence forthe upcoming races, I feel good and am going to continue with my current training to get strong again. The Husky really worked well – can’t blame the bike for my error – I love the 4 stroke power. 

Thank You to my sponsors – Moose Racing, Kenda Tires, Panic Rev, Summit Clothing

Thank You to the Rummels for all the help – the pasta on Saturday night was awesome and I had fun camping next to you!!!

Thank You Nani and pops for your help and mom and dad for letting me continue to do this.

Next Up: JDay GP race next Sunday in Monson, MA

Braaaap,

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Welcome Back to Racing!

Erzberg

Welcome back to racing J! After a pretty long and super fun summer break, I finally had the chance to get my race blood flowing again this weekend at NETRA’s “Martin’s Mayhem” in Union, CT. But before I tell you what happened there, let me throw a couple things your way that I got to do over my 3 week vacation. I traveled overseas – no, not just across Stafford Lake – I actually got to go to Austria by myself to visit my cousin Moritz (he is one of the top up and coming freestyle skiers over there), and I got to visit my grandparents. I know I should probably write a blog just about that, and maybe I will, but for now, here are a few highlights: I trained with my cousin and his friends every day. This is something I really needed and am really excited about…I had time to improve my strength and cardio, and I got to do it the Austrian way, with some incredible guys that really know how to train. I also got to go skiing on the Dachstein, visit Erzberg (someday I’ll go there to race the Red Bull Hare Scramble), did some incredible hiking and…rode old KTM bicycles, and more.

Anyway, back to this weekend’s race – my 1^st NETRA event. This race was literally only a 10 minute drive from my house, so I could have taken the state forest trails that lead up into Union and rode my bike there (I didn’t, of course, that would be illegal). 

FYI, they call this race “Martins Mayhem” because of the killer trails with huge rocks and gnarly off cambers and I couldn’t wait to race this. All my friends said that it was a “rocky heaven” and you can’t find that sort of riding anywhere. They were absolutely right.

Race time: I got a decent top 5 start and just figured that since this was at least a 2 hour event, there was no reason to rush anything. I fell in line behind a few guys and just sort of rode around…and that’s something I’m just not very good at.

I don’t have the patience to just sit back, especially when I know I can go faster and these guys are slowing me down. As many you know, when a course is technical like this, there aren’t a lot of places to pass, so patience is really key…another thing I’m not good at - yet. This brings me to my first crash: I was on a downhill left turn where the inside was a 3 or 4 foot drop off. Everyone took the smooth outside line, so I decided to cut in and give it a shot. I launched off the rock ledge and when I landed I just grabbed to much front brake so I wouldn’t blow the turn, my front wheel knifed under  and I scorpioned like a …well…scorpion. I think I saw some kid do that on “America’s Got Talent” last night, but believe me, I certainly didn’t do it on purpose (that’s NOT my talent), and my back is certainly not meant to bend that way. When your boots touch the ground in front of your head while you are face down, something clearly went wrong.  Anyway, I picked myself up and got going again, and yes, I was behind the same guys I just tried to pass…again. I felt good though and made a few decent passes on the nasty sections of the course.   I totally thought I had this thing figured out. We hit a few easier sections where you could really go and open it up, and…I got a little bit careless. We came around a fast rocky corner and I just leaned over too far (sloppy mistake), and one of the rocks took my front end out - that was it. I high sided, bounced a few times and then slid another 20 feet on jagged rocks, face down, again. This knocked the wind out of me big time. I sat up and tried to take a breath…holy mama, that hurt…and it sounded a little like a train whistle with a head cold… I had to make a decision…I was about one hour into the race, and pretty far from the pits…should I try to ride? Of course I should! I picked my bike up (man that hurt), somehow swung my leg over the seat (man that hurt), and kicked it to life (man that hurt). Then I popped it in gear (man that hurt), and started to ride (yeah…you guessed it)…I finished the lap and got back to the pits where dad waited for me. I got off the bike and tried to tell him that I could not breathe, but I was wheezing so bad, that he could not hear me with all the bike noise. So I decided that I’m just going to get back on my bike and finish the race…worry about hurting after. For the next hour and twenty minutes (1 hour and 20 minutes) I hung on to my bike feeling every little rock, root and bump, while always being short of breath. Think of it as trying to sing the national anthem under water…while being punched in the ribs with a hammer and breathing through a straw. Moving on…I finished the race, went to go see the EMT’s, and they suggested very firmly that I go to the hospital, as they suspected at least some broken ribs and possibly some lung issues. X-rays showed a severe chest contusion (I think that’s a fancy word for “I got hit”) and several bruised ribs, but no real break and the lungs were clear. I should be good to go by this weekend…we’ll see.

While I am disappointed that I could not deliver a respectable result, believe me, I had an absolute blast at this race…probably some of my all time favorite trail, and I feel very lucky that nothing “superbad” happened to me. Thank you to the NETRA folks for putting this race on.

I’ll recover for a few more days, then I want to get back to riding so I can be ready for

the JDay double header in Maine in 2 weeks …

Thank You to my family for being there for me, Moose racing for the sick gear that kept me cool, Kenda tires for some beefy tires for the New England Rocks, Summit Clothing and Amsoil, and a huge shout out to my friends in Austria! Can’t wait to come and visit again!

 Braaap!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

About bad starts, flat tires, stomach cramps, and broken bikes

June 24, 2012 JDay GP, Crowhill 2, Baldwinville, MA


After missing last weekend’s race due to an awesome trip home to Wisconsin to hang with my peeps and spending time on boats, Jet Skis, and bikes, it was time to get into race mode again and head up to Crow Hill, MA for another JDay race (www.jdayoffroad.com). Crow Hill easily qualifies as one of my favorite courses, love the MX track and the trails and extreme section are pretty sweet as well. John Day and his crew changed it up a bit for this one and we ran the MX track and the extreme section backwards, which made it really fun and challenging. I was amped to go rip it up, especially since my grandparents came all the way from Michigan to watch.

Moto 1: Wow…the old me was back. Dead last off the starting line (it took 2 kicks to get the bike started), and into a sharp right hand turn we went. I have been here before, it is the most frustrating part of racing for me…I just can’t seem to get off the line the way I want to. I had my work cut out for me big time. I fell in behind Luke Y, who is one of the top 3 riders in my class – he botched his start as well – so I figured that if I follow him, and stay close, we can get back up to the front. Unfortunately the plan backfired, Luke took a line that was pretty sketchy, and almost crashed, and when I hit the same spot, I went down. The bike ended up in a weird position and it took me way too long to get back up. I found myself in the back of the pack yet again (all of this happened very early in the race). I was pretty mad, and just really wanted to ride well, and show my best side. I worked through the moto, made some good line choices and tried to get back to at least the top 5, so I could have a shot at a podium in the afternoon. The course really was a lot of fun, I turned the fastest lap time (I know…doesn’t mean anything, but it does give me confidence and prove that I have the speed), and ended up in 4^th when it was over. Close enough, I’m still in the hunt. I wasn’t overly excited, but thought I had ridden well enough to feel really good about it. Time to relax and hang with mom, dad, grandma and pops.

Moto 2: I was fired up, amped up, ready to go, and just wanted to get off the start without major glitches…really, is that too much to ask for? The flag dropped, the bike started right away, and we were off…NOT. I don’t know what I was thinking, sometimes I just get caught in the wrong routine (the privilege of a 15 year old), I sat there and made sure my kick starter was put away nicely, while others were already in turn 1. Holy Batman, I found yet another new way to make my racing “wayyyyy” harder than necessary. I know this sounds like many of my other races, but here we go again, head down, back to work. I made it all the way to 5^th place when I started to experience major stomach pains…these were cramps that made my eyes water. I had to back off and switch to trail riding mode, there was nothing in my tank that would let me push. I don’t know what caused it, I ate a lot of water melon and blue berries for lunch, who knows. At this point I just wanted to finish and get off my bike. Standing on the bike was brutal, sitting wasn’t any better, I certainly wasn’t racing anyone at that time. I started to drop back a little, but wouldn’t let myself quit. Then, to top it all off, I got a flat tire, so now I felt like I was in labor and my equipment tried to deliver the baby. As I rolled through the finish line turn into the scoring tent, some bozo (I’m guessing a future Nascar fan) decided to T-bone me hard for 7^th place…nice…REALLY??!? The result of this? A destroyed front end, broken brake caliper and mount, lots of bruises, and a whopping 8^th place in moto 2.

With a 4/8 in my motos I ended up in 5^th  overall and I am now pretty far off 1^st place in the championship, sitting in 3^rd. Missing the next Jday race(see below)  won’t help my cause either, as I have used up my throw away already…now my goal is to finish in the top 3 overall, and bounce up to the A class next year.

I have to find a way to make my races easier on myself…it doesn’t help to turn A level lap times and make C level mistakes to take myself out. I can win any one of these, if only I could get my mental game sorted out.

Next up…a break for almost 3 weeks as I am traveling to Austria (home of the Erzberg Enduro) to visit my cousin and my grandparents…it’s a good thing too as I think dad needs some time to find parts for the bike and rebuild it. When I get back from my trip I am going to work on my starts some more, IF dad can have the bike fixed by then.

BTW, you can leave comments below, I’d love to hear from you! If you have a race blog yourself, let me know the link, I sure would like to read it.

A huge “Thank You” to my sponsors, I truly appreciate the opportunity to represent them: Moose Racing/Part Unlimited (www.mooseracing.com), Kenda Tires (www.kendausa.com), Summit Clothing (www.summitt-clothing.com), Amsoil (www.amsoil.com), and of course mom & dad

 “Braaap”

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Red Fern GP, Chester, NH, June 10th

After being cancelled last week due to excessive rain and conditions that would have destroyed the property, it was time this week for the JDay Red Fern Grand Prix in Chester, NH. This property is typically used for horse activities, so I thought it was pretty cool that they would let a bunch of dirt bikers race there.
We left the house at 6.30 in the morning to drive a little over 2 hours to get there...as usual, not a bad drive at all. Conditions were interesting...super nice day, temperature was in the high 80's, and the woods and track were extremely wet and muddy from the rain during the week. This was one of those days where anything could happen...and it certainly did. GP racing is funny that way...at Red Fern we had the usual dead engine start, a woods section that beat you to pulp, a grass section with mud that was knee deep, and I am not exaggerating, and an extreme section with huge logs that made you feel like you signed up for an enduro cross. All in all big fun. John Day and his crew put on another awesome event! You can check it out at www.jdayoffroad.com

Moto 1: I lined up on the outside left as it looked like the mud on the inside would swallow your bike up hole. The flag dropped and off we went...I started decently, and was mid pack going into turn one - a sweeping right hander. The outside worked well, I stayed in it and sort of flat tracked around the corner, coming out of turn one in 3rd place...not bad...I had accomplished my goal of being in a position to be able to race for the win.
In my class there seem to be 6 or 7 of us that could beat each other at any time, and if you like to race it really doesn't get much better than that....we battled back and forth, wheel to wheel, elbow to elbow, jockeying for position as we entered the extreme section for the 1st time. I REALLY should have looked at this before the race and thought about it a little bit more, but I didn't....brain fart. I was in second place when I hit the first monster log and decided to hit it at speed and send it - hey, it would have looked cool if it worked - I landed the monster log but wasn't set up for the small greasy log that was on an angle right behind it, and there was no room to correct or slow down. So I hit that thing hard and things went "B-O-O-M". Bike flew right, I flew left, or maybe it was the other way around...I don't remember. Good thing it was muddy...made for a softer landing. Of course dad was standing right there and got to see/experience the entire thing, my bike actually hit him and a few other spectators. Shouldn't have been so close to the track people...good times. So this wipe out took me from 2nd all the way back to 6th place, but I was still close enough to have a shot at it. I went to work and got back up to 3rd when we entered the extreme section for the second time. Normally I'd learn from my mistakes, but nothing about this day was normal...I sent it again, hit the 2nd log way too fast and "B-O-O-M" it went again...bike flew right, I flew left, and of course dad was standing right there...again...this time he was laughing hard, maybe he was laughing at me, maybe he was laughing with me, not sure. Anyway, it must have been another good one for the many spectators lining the track as they were cheering pretty loud (hopefully someone got a picture of my lawn dart). This crash took me right back to where I just came from...6th. I definitely learned my lesson now...I am definitely not Taddy Blazusiak, and I have the scars and bruises to prove it. I rode my butt off for the rest of the moto, crashed a few more times on the super slick grass track...did I mention that the ruts were just really deep? I did manage a 3rd and had an insane amount of fun battling with the guys. Time to ice my wounds...


Moto 2: I picked the same spot on the starting line as in moto 1, as that seemed to work well for me. The flag dropped, my bike started 1st kick, and just like in moto 1 I entered turn one somewhere mid pack and came out in 3rd. Not bad. Let the battle begin. This was a good one. The top 5 were so close, dad said you could throw a blanket over us...I made a pretty hard pass for 2nd (nothing like a little pushing and shoving when 2 of us are going for the same line) and figured I can now take my time and let the heat (85 degrees) and difficult course do the work for me. I felt strong and didn't want to rush anything. Unfortunately the grass track bit me yet again, I dropped the bike on a right hander and lost 2nd place to drop back to 4th. At this point we entered the woods section and man, was it gnarly. Considering that it was really pretty wide open in most sections, the trail still got to be super technical, mud holes, roots, rocks...it was so slippery I felt like someone put ice on the trail to make sure we crash more. There were many lines burnt in so it almost got a little confusing at times. I passed for 3rd and figured I could get back up to 2nd within the next lap. The extreme section was much kinder to me in this moto, I gave up being Mr. Spectacular for consistent lap times...maybe I did learn my lesson after all. Then Jake S. on his Yamaha passed me, and I decided to go with him to see if we can work our way up to the front together....we spent the better part of lap three and four working our way through lappers and ended up in 2 and 3 going into the final lap. I had one more nasty crash where I somehow got my arm stuck in the "crotch of a tree" ...for real...but I didn't lose too much time and was able to catch back up. When we came out of the woods/extreme section for the last time I saw dad spinning his arm like a wind mill...at first I thought he was warming up for his race, but then I realized that he was telling me to gooooooo! as I was right on 2nd place and could still get it in the last few turns. I made the pass on the very last straight away, a slight uphill, going into the finish. Just goes to show...you just can't ever quit...no matter what. So with a 3 & 2 in my motos I ended up 3rd over all, and yes, I'd rather win, but I'll take a 3rd too. I am still learning this terrain (it is so different from the Midwest stuff I'm used to), and race format, and I truly think that the only reason I was able to get on the box this time was because I worked harder. Nothing about this race felt smooth or easy...all of it was just nasty and as you know...I like nasty - Big Fun.

To cap the day off, they gave me the wrong trophy (2nd), and I didn't realize it until we were too far down the road...so Jake, I have yours and you have mine :)

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, windmill dad decided to race (err....ride, ha-ha) and his race started right after mine, so he didn't have time to take pictures, and mom and my sister sat this one out. The one riding shot of me is taken by Economy Photography...I hope you guys don't mind that I am using it.

As always, I really need to say "Thank You" to my sponsors, Moose Racing/Parts Unlimited, Kenda Tires, Summit Clothing, Amsoil (Thank You Rummels for the hook up), my friends that help me with my riding, and of course my mom and dad.

Braaap

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

How I got to be "747"

Here is a little “diddy”…not related to any one race.

Someone asked me how I ended up with the number 747 and why I have carried it for the last few years…I really didn’t know, so I asked my dad.

You might get a kick out of this…when going to the races, you always have to fill out a form with all your personal info, AMA numbers, district numbers, and birth day…Typically dad would race too so he had to do it for both of us (need to have a “guardian” for this) – and that’s a lot of “data” to keep straight, he said. Apparently when you get to be of “mature age”, the numbers thing doesn’t work so well and you need help remembering stuff. So he figured that by picking a number that somehow reflected my birth day, he wouldn’t look so lost at the counter when the nice lady would ask him what my birthday was. His usual first response was this blank empty stare – ever shine a light on a deer at night? Nuff said…

Anyway, you have to know that my dad is from Austria, and over there they put the day before the month and the year. So in my case I was born on the 7^th of April in 1997, hence the”747”. In addition since my dad works in aviation, he’s familiar with airplanes and he said there is a Boeing 747, so that helped him remember my number…get it? He needed the airplane to remember my number and the number to remember my birthday…I wonder what he’ll come up with when he gets to be of “very mature age”….feel free to bag on him J he can take it…

Pretty soon we’ll come up with some “747” t-shirts…we’ll sell them to help offset some of the costs my racing incurs (I’ve got big plans), and…since the “747” will be on it, I’ll make sure dad has one so he can remember the airplane, that will help him remember my number, that will help him remember my birthday…love you dad.

Braaap,

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

P.S: Please support my sponsors...Moose Racing, Kenda Tires, www.summit-clothing .com ...Thank You!!!

JDay GP at Crow Hill MX Park in Baldwinville, MA

(5/20/12)

I could not wait for this weekend to get here, I really needed to redeem myself from the last race where I simply could not put a decent ride together. This time was going to be different, I trained, I got some decent riding time in, and the bike was ready.

The track looked awesome (John Day and his crew rock), the woods had great flow to it, the MX track looked like it could be one of my favorites (sandy with great ruts), and the extreme section seemed like it would be super fun, littered with lots of logs, a sand pit, a tire jump, and a culvert pipe jump. It was a sunny day with the temperatures in the mid 80’s, so conditioning would be a big factor. Over 1500 spectators, and over 400 racers…what an event this set up to be.

Moto 1: Since I have had a heck of a time with my starts and 1^st lap this year, my goal was to get out of the gate and stay close enough after lap one so I could be in position and pounce on everyone and outwork them by the end of the 30+ minute moto. Unfortunately the plan did not work. I got a mid pack start and then proceeded to crash in the 3^rd turn on the MX track…so here we go again…I was in dead last, talk about a “DÉJÀ VU” all over again. I picked my bike up, and decided to just have fun and see how many guys I could pick off. I rode well, though I had a few more small crashes, but before I knew it I was back in the top 10. I figured I had about 2 more laps to go, so I went into all out sprint mode, after all, I came here to race, not to trail ride (like my dad J). I managed to work my way up to 4^th place, not very exciting but it kept me close enough to at least have a shot at it for the afternoon. 

Moto 2: I had the same goals as in moto 1. Dad kept reminding me of the things I was taught by my coaches in Wisconsin (Speedy Pete, John Strangfeld, JD Friebel & all the other guys from WRD) about starts. I lined up all the way to the outside right, thinking I could pinch everyone off on the left hand first turn and come out in front. I took a deep breath, let go of the pressure that I put on myself, and when the flag dropped, it was “on”. I never let off the throttle through turn 1 and 2. This felt awesome. The YZ was screaming! I got pushed wide by the other racers and had to almost ride off the track…but I never let up. I used a kicker to transfer back on the track (felt a little like Kevin Windham) and came out of turn 2 in 3^rd place. By the 2^nd lap I passed for 2^nd place and figured that I had plenty of time to reel in 1^st place. What a fun battle. At some point I lost 2^nd place to a guy on a KTM – I made a small mistake, but that didn’t last long, I passed him back and was now right on the leader. The woods started to get really “bony” and beat up, rocks, mud, wet roots, etc., but again, I seem to find a way to really like the nasty stuff. By lap 3 I decided to go for it, passed for 1^st, and opened up a decent gap of about 15 seconds. As I went through the extreme section I saw my pit crew (dad) giving me the sign that I have a racer closing up on me to within 5 seconds. No way was I going to let this one get away from me, no sir, not this time. This is why I train, I’m stronger than these guys...head down, all out sprint, catch me if you can… let’s take this thing all the way to the finish. I rode without major mistakes, and felt really relaxed, the Kenda Washougal/Triple combo hooked up so well in the extreme section, it was almost like cheating…things just seemed to click, and I ended up finishing moto two at 33 : 51 with about a 30 second lead on second place.

With a 4 & 1 for my motos I ended up 2^nd overall. Considering the level of competition here and my not so hot moto 1, this is quite satisfying for me…a Wisconsin kid hanging with the East Coast boys on their turf. Glad I was able to put one together, especially since mom and my sister came out to watch too…love having an awesome pit crew under our Moose tent. Next up is the Red Fern GP in New Hampshire on June 3^rd… 

A huge “Thank You” to my sponsors, Moose Racing , Kenda Tires, Summit Clothing, mom & dad and a shout out to the Wisconsin Crew!!!

Braap

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Jday GP Race May 6th, 2012

JDay Race May 6, 2012 http://www.jday.com/

We headed to the 2nd round of the JDay GP series in Chepachet, RI on Sunday May 6th. This was only a little over 1 hour from home...love it when I don't have to get up at 4 in the morning. It looked like a great turn out (over 350 riders) and the weather decided to cooperate as well. Dad had the bikes prepped and ready, and I was fired up to tear it up.

Moto One: I completely blew the start and got off the line in last place (It took 4 kicks to fire up the mighty YZ Eric Gorr built 134). A 1st turn pile up let me catch back up and within the next 2 turns I found myself in 6th place. Since the motos are only 30 minutes long, I decided to push as hard as I could and sprint all the way. It didn't take long for me to get to the front and engage in a battle for the lead. Passing was tricky on this course as the ruts got deep fast and turns got pretty one lined. The "river jump" didn't allow for passing either, as the "slower" alternate route over the bridge actually turned out to be the faster and smoother way to go. After working my way into the top 3 I went for a pass for the lead and ended up crashing, dropping all the way back to 12th place. I put my head down and worked hard to save what I could. In the end I finished moto 1 in 5th place and felt pretty good about it.

Moto Two: I had trouble at the start again, though this time I got off the line somewhere mid pack. The track and trail was pretty beat up, roots and rocks started to show and the ruts and mud holes got really bad...these were all things that worked in my favor as I seem to feel more comfortable the nastier it gets. I sprinted as hard as I could, working my way up to the leaders. I was turning consistently fastest lap times, catching everyone pretty quickly. The bike hooked up so well, I seemed to be on rails...I was in the zone...then I got bit. I caught a slimy rock and the bike swapped left to right. I thought I'd keep it pinned and ride it out, but this time that didn't work. I ended up crashing between 2 trees, and from there I really don't remember exactly what happened. I was told that the bike and I flew through the air and I pretty much slammed into a tree full speed. Things went silent for a few seconds, then I realized that I was still in the moto. I picked myself up (with some help from spectators - THANK YOU!!!) and decided that I wanted to finish no matter what...My shoulder and elbow hurt pretty bad, I bit my tongue, and I had blood on my jersey - I figured out later that my chin developed a slight leak :) . I think I finished the moto in 9th place, so really, considering the way the day went I can't complain too much.

The atmosphere at this race was amazing...it felt like a GNCC race (I was told there were over 1000 spectators)...people everywhere, cheering and helping riders out. Mad props to John Day and his crew!!!

I can't wait for the next Jday race in 2 weeks to redeem myself and get on the box. Thank you to my sponsors Moose Racing, Kenda Tires (the Triple hooked up great), Summit Clothing, and thank you to mom and dad and all my friends who help make this thing happen.

Braaap!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth