JDay Season Finale at Southwick, MA

JDay Season Finale at Southwick! …a little long…for good reason

Mom with some last minute advice

As it turned out John Day was able to secure the legendary Southwick motocross track for the JDay season finale (www.jdayoffroad.com)…That made my choice simple…I had to be there. How many times can you ride or race at the “Wick”? No way were we going to miss that. Dad and I prepped the bikes Friday night…tires, oil, filters, and some miscellaneous repairs and we were good to go. We rolled through the entrance at 8 in the morning and wow….the place was already packed! We had to park a long ways away from the start, something that would pose quite the challenge for dad. Since he was not racing, I had the chance to sign up for 3 classes…6 motos, 3 hours of racing. I wanted to close out the season with a bang. That meant that I had 2 motos back to back, which meant dad had to have 2 bikes ready pretty much at the same time.

It was cold, and rain and possibly snow was in the forecast, but that didn’t matter…the mood at the track was awesome. Everyone was just super excited to be able to come to Southwick and race. I heard a rumor of over 1000 riders…I believe it.

Superfun log section

Moto 1 Juniors: I won’t bore you with a long write up…bottom line…I got a decent start on the YZ250 and worked my way to the f

ront, put in a short sprint to build a gap and then just cruised home in 1st and tried to conserve energy. Track conditions were prime…the sand was actually pretty tacky and provided decent grip…and…I really do like sand.

Moto 1 Pro 125: Things got a little hectic…I jumped off the 250 and switched bikes with dad who had the YZ 125 ready for me at the start. What a difference…totally different feel, different steering, different everything. I decided to ride it around in the start area to get a little better feel for it, but I really only had about 2 minutes to play with it, then it was go time again. My start wasn’t horrible, but I got shuffled to the back pretty quickly in turns 1, 2 and 3. When I came through scoring I was back in 20^th…not cool. I pushed hard and made a lot of things happen in the woods and in the extreme section. I was able to close the gap and work my way back into this thing….a top 10 was my goal in this 30+ rider stacked class. The motocross guys were really putting it to me on the MX track (I need to work on that), I was able to return the favor in the woods. When all was said and done I accomplished what I set out to do, I finished 10^th. Not bad. Now back to the truck where dad was working on getting the 250 ready for my next moto.

Moto1 A 250: The YZ250 seems to agree with me on most starts today, I did ok and got into turn 1 somewhere mid pack. I knew the track quite well (heck, I’ve already been on it for over an hour), and I was able to make passes pretty quickly. I knew the hot lines in the woods and pushed pretty hard, trying to catch the leaders. Unfortunately the gap was a little too big and I had to settle for 3^rd, but I was ok with that. After all, I am in it for the long haul today.

I had a little bit of time (about an hour) to regroup, eat something, get re-hydrated and re-focused for the afternoon.

Moto 2 Juniors: Again the YZ 250 and I got a decent start. I settled in at about 3^rd or 4^th or so and decided to cruise for a bit, as I planned to sprint once the field spread out a little bit more and it was easier to get around the lapped riders. That’s when my crash for the day happened (someone have that on video?). This was not my fault at all, there was nothing I could do. I hit one of the jumps on the MX track and as I was flying over it there was a bike laying there from a lapped rider. The flagger on top of the jump must have missed that and never pulled out the yellow flag, so I pretty much landed on this guy’s bike and went sailing over my handlebars. I thought my day was done, and then some. Thank god for sand…it cushioned my fall. How I got away with just bumps and bruises and nothing more than a broken brake lever I will never know…my guardian angel was looking out for me.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Needless to say I wasn’t happy…with the flagger or the situation, but I felt blessed to walk away from this and even more blessed to not have hurt the other guy. I brought the bike back to the starting area where dad had the 125 ready for me for the next moto. We talked for a while and after checking things over on my body, I decided to tough it out and get back out there for the next moto. Dad gave me clear instructions to come right up to the truck after this moto so he could take parts off the 125 to get the 250 race ready again.

Moto 2 Pro 125: With mom and my sister as my crew I got re-fired up. My start rocked, I went into turn one and 2 in 5^th or 6^th place. I did feel my back tightening up from the crash and was just altogether a little shaken up, so I fell back a little bit, but that didn’t last long, I was there to race, not trail ride. I pulled myself together and fought back into the top 10 battling with Poacher (Paul Goyette) for a bit. He is just so darn smooth on the MX track (I watched and learned), and he ultimately got me, I settled for 11^th giving me a 10^th overall. Back to the truck….dad was ready with tools in hand. We needed to swap over the rear  brake to the 250 so I could ride my 6^th moto of the day.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Moto 2 A 250: This time I think I was just a little too sidetracked by what hurt and what didn’t…I blew the start and ended up at the very back of the pack. Man…I knew that this would take some serious pushing to get back into this race. So that’s what I did. I was still feeling pretty good, my muscles – while tight from the crash – were still willing to fire and I certainly wanted to race this one all out and see if I could get back to the front. With no reason to hold anything back I took some calculated risks, kept thinking positive and just let it all hang out. When I came through scoring half way through the moto I looked up to see if I made progress…7^th…nice….and I still had some time left. I kept jumping the logs in the extreme section which allowed me to make short work of a few riders and it got me closer and closer to the front. Heading into the last lap I was in 4^th…not enough…I wanted at least 3^rd. Dad had made it to the scoring area and let me know I was closing the gap fast. I made the pass for 3^rd and was able to see 2^nd, but there was just not enough time left, so I finished 3^rd for a 3^rd overall. I was pumped…that one wasn’t easy.

Once I got back to the truck things started to hurt…the less I moved the stiffer I got…3 hours of racing is tough….3 hours of JDay GP racing is gnarly, but I am pumped I got to do it. Thanks to all involved…dad…thanks for keeping me rolling. Mom, thanks for the motivation and the help at the start. Haley – best pit crew ever. My grandma and pops came over from Michigan to watch this race too…hope you had fun and thanks for all your help!!!

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Thank you again to my sponsors…

Fly Racing – love the gear…used a lot of it today!

Kenda Tires – It rocks when you can show up to a race with new rubber.

Magical Gogo – The lubricant that lubrican #superfastgoodtime

Eks Brand goggles – I needed all the sets today

Panic Rev Ministries – my guardian angel was with me big time today

STS Motorsports – check out my bikes…Steve makes it happen every time

Renthal – Thanks for the chains & sprockets…especially in these sandy conditions

FMF Racing – power to the 5^th

www.offroadpaparazzi.com thanks for the awesome pictures

Again thanks to my grandparents, here and in Austria!

Since you are still reading, here is another little news flash as a reward J I will be racing at the Erzberg Rodeo www.erzbergrodeo.at in Austria next June. This will be my first attempt at “Hard Enduro Racing”…and I think I picked the hardest one there is. More details to follow….

Thank you for reading, and more importantly, thank you for taking the next 20 seconds of your lives to share my blog with your friends!!!

This really means a lot.

Bring on 2015!! I’ll be ready.

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Reviewing the start video

Netra Gravel Run Hare Scramble, East Putnam, CT

The final round of the NETRA Hare Scramble series was held in Putnam, CT.  Once again we loaded up the magical clapper to go see if we could get another 2 hours out of the little 125 that could. 60 degrees and blue skies ensured another spectacular race day.  Since we have never been to this venue, I walked part of the course and all I saw was loamy dark dirt and sand pits and most surprisingly - NO ROCKS! This was going to be a #superfastgoodtime…and super flowy course too!

Dad, the bike just died!!!

 OK, race time!  I got up to the starting line and was warming up my bike and about 2 minutes before I was supposed to take off all I heard underneath me was bluh bluh bluh! The bike died.  My dad knew it was a fouled plug instantly.  So he sprinted back to our trailer to try and find a plug, no luck…he was running through the pit area asking everyone for help, sure enough John Day senior had a plug handy and gave it to us. Dad with the help of several “assistants” got it installed 30 seconds before the flag dropped. That was intense. Thank you to all the help from everyone around me – you saved the day!  

Boom! I was off! I got a decent start and forced myself to be patient and learn the course.  I had a few A-Open guys in front of me that were slowing me down a little bit, but I was able to pass them about half way through the first lap.

Photo: Art Pepin
www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I was riding solid and I felt good. I made a little mistake on an off camber section with a few roots and fell on the downside of the hill. I picked up my bike thinking it was going to be heavy like my 4-strokes, but the 125 is like a mountain bike, I nearly flipped over to the other side - yeah…I am THAT strong...not :)

I really started to struggle with arm pump, to the point where I was riding out of control. I couldn’t feel my throttle or brake or clutch lever, and was really just in survival mode, trying to shake this thing. It took me a while but eventually I found my grove again and was able to hammer out some solid laps.   Since we ran the YZ125 and we have a small moto cross tank on it, we decided that I would have to come in for fuel every other lap...boy was I glad we did that. One, I got to stretch my arms, and two, I used up 3 quarters of a tank in just 2 laps.

The 1^st pit stop went smooth (Thanks Mr. Federrico and my sister Haley for helping dad), no more than 45 seconds. I went back out on the track and felt really pretty good.  Lap 3 went very smooth, I didn’t make many mistakes.  The sand pits were already starting to form some good size whoops – woohoo, this is like Michigan (In case you didn’t know, there is sand and dirt there and that’s what I learned to ride on!!!!  I love sand. The 125 did struggle a little bit in the really deep stuff, but that’s to be expected.  On lap 4 I was really flying, the bike felt awesome in the woods, I was catching guys, and maybe I got a little too confident – BAHM!!!! I decided to go head to head with a big oak tree.  Yeah that’s right, I thought the trees moved for you but I guess this one really wanted to stand his ground.  I slammed into that thing hard, my left hand guard snapped, my number plate ripped off and my go pro got pushed forward just from G-forces.  My bell was definitely rung.  But I got back on the bike, started it up and just kept going. Scroll to the bottom, there is a little "crash video".  I knocked the wind out of myself, but I knew I could easily push through something like this. I tried to find my groove again and shake out the cobwebs.  

Photo: Art Pepin - www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I went into the 2^nd pit stop for gas. Dad just kind of laughed when he saw me rolling in, as I was missing a few plastic parts off the bike…(dad) ”what’s up?”… (me) “My face hurts”... (dad) “I don’t see any blood, you’re ok”. He gassed me, and Dave Dussault jumped in to help and push my clutch lever back up for me and I was back out there again.  I got a solid rhythm going and the 125 just wouldn’t quit, so I knew I could continue to push too. I focused on staying steady and smooth, trying to minimize my mistakes. I had one little slide out on a root but other than that things went well for the rest of the race.  I came in for my last pit stop – yes, we had to pit 3 times – dad and Dave took care of business, Haley had my drinks ready for me and as a last piece of wisdom while I was getting ready to head back out dad said “hey, your race starts now”. I knew what he meant…this is where I get stronger and others start to make more mistakes. I found my rhythm pretty quickly and stepped it up turn after turn, hill after hill…When I saw the white flag it was like a gun went off in my head, I just let it ride and I sprinted until I crossed the finish – it was on like Donkey Kong (never played it but dad says it’s only the best video game ever). 

After about 2 hours and 40 minutes I got the checkered flag and as usual, my last lap was one of my strongest laps. I ended up taking the win in the A200 class and finished 15^th overall. I am super pumped about that…the Magical Clapper YZ 125 proved it again, 125’s can definitely be competitive. This was the last NETRA Hare Scramble of the season, a great event hosted by the Hoot Owls – Thank You!!! Before we close up shop for the winter we will probably hit a few more JDay GP’s this year (One of them will be at my most favorite track ever – Southwick!!!!!) – can’t wait.

I know I’ve cranked out quite a few blogs lately, and if you are still reading, thank you for following me through the season, I really do appreciate your support. Please take a few seconds to share my blog, as silly as it seems, it really helps. My sponsors like the exposure and, it really does motivate me…and it is part of my school assignments – I call it the fun homework.

Thank you to my awesome sponsors for a great season!!!

www.flyracing.com; www.kendausa.com; www.magicalgogo.com; www.eksbrand.com; www.panicrev.org; www.fmfracing.com; www.renthal.com; www.offroadpaparazzi.com;

A huge shout out to my mom and dad, my sister Haley, my grandparents here in the US and over in Austria, all my racing friends – this was a super fun season!!!!

Keep the rubber side down people!!!!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Rob "Moto Fro" Brown never misses a chance to have fun!

Red Fern JDay GP, Chester, NH

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaprazzi.com

After an awesome race weekend at Crow Hill I was excited to head up to the Red Fern JDay in Chester, NH .  We got the Magical Clapper ready to race, added a few stickers, new wheel bearings, and a rear tire.  When we showed up I had just enough time to gear up and head to the line.  I couldn’t wait to race. I gained some confidence after crow hill and realized that I belong in the pro 125 class.

Photo: Tammy Neuwirth

Moto 1:  I got a pretty good start and was inside the top 5 going into the woods.  Cody Williams got by me down one of the long cart roads that red fern is famous for, he is a fast guy and I new he would pull me further up the field.  I figured I could latch on to him for a few laps but he went down early in the extreme section and I made it through the nasty rocks and roots with ease.  About half way through the 2^nd lap I caught up to Josh Cenammo, but he found some extra speed and got away from me in the last half of the moto. I really had nothing for him, so I decided to settle in and try to bring this one home without any major incidents. I did realize that I need to pick up some corner speed to make the next step and be able hang with the top pros. I was having a blast out there.  The Magical Clapper ran flawlessly and I felt great. I did get a little bit of arm pump, but that’s really nothing new anymore and I have learned to deal with it. I didn’t make any major mistakes in this moto and finished in 5^th place – my best 125 pro moto yet!

Trying to teach Josh Toth how to
ride a unicycle between motos

Moto 2:  I didn't get a good start at all… 2^nd to last going into the first turn. While I did get the jump, the bike would not pull right away as I apparently didn’t clear it out enough when warming it up. I cut down under everyone in turn 1, hogging the inside and ended up towards the front anyway, as all the other guys were pushing to the outside hard. I was running in 5^th when we hit the woods, but started to get shuffled to the back after a little mistake in a corner.  One thing I learned is that in a pro class if you make one little bobble 6 guys pass you.   I got pushed back to 8^th, I just tried to relax and stay smooth because I knew I could catch them again.   I struggled a little bit trying to find my “flow” in this moto. It could have been the 10 year old suspension and the square edged, rocky trail J.  I tried to ride the edges of the trail as much as possible to hit some smooth lines and focus on my corner speed.  This worked as I was able to find my groove and I started to reel in Justin Salo. With about 3 laps to go things didn’t feel quite right… I don’t know why (brain fart), but I stopped to see if I had a flat rear tire. I regret that. I didn’t have a flat, it was just the way the dirt was in a few sections, real lose and soft. So now I put myself quite a ways to the back of the pack. I went to work after realizing that my tire was just fine and I let my head get in my way….I rode the wheels off the YZ and got back up to 8^th place and continued to gain on Justin – he was running in 7^th - every lap. At the finish I was right on his rear wheel, but there just wasn't enough time to pass him. I ended up 8^th in that moto.

Photo: Art Pepin
www.offroadpaprazzi.com

Once again the magical clapper came through. With a 5^th and a 8^th place I finished in 6^th overall for the day.  I’m happy with that!  I rode hard and smart; the pro 125 class is the best class I have ever raced. Being able to line up with those guys gets me psyched up to reach the open pro class someday. 

Now it’s time to show the Magical Clapper some love again and get it ready for the next race.

Thanks all for reading…it really means a lot…PLEASE…take another minute and share my blog. The exposure really helps and my sponsors really appreciate it.

Thank you to Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, Eks Brand goggles, Panic Rev Ministries, FMF Racing, and most recently added – Renthal. Thank you mom and dad, my grand parents, my sister Haley (best pit crew ever). Check out Art Pepin's photos at www.offroadpaprazzi.com

Keep the Rubber Side Down people!!!!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Photo: Tammy Neuwirth

Crow Hill Enduro Cross & JDay Loud Fuel GP, Baldwinville, MA

My 1^st weekend on the “Magical Clapper” - MC

Since we have decided that I will be going back to 2 strokes, I bought myself a little Yamaha YZ 125 last week and figured that I best break it in at the Dirty Crow Enduro Cross at Crow Hill MX in Baldwinville, MA. If it made it through that, I planned on racing it on Sunday at the JDay GP at the same facility.

My Awesome Pit Crew!!
Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Now, there is a little bit more to this YZ…it is a 2004 that has been sitting in my good friend and neighbor Nate Smith’s garage. He had no use for it anymore (He now rips on KTMs), so he sold it to me for a great price. The engine cases are JB welded, the suspension is really noisy and works only sort of, the exhaust hanger was missing, and the rear tire was what I call “roached”. Perfect. Nate showed me how to change oil (not as simple as you’d think since the drain bolt is JB welded in so it won’t leak), I put in a new air filter, and that’s it. I wanted to name the bike and after a little bit of back and forth my friend and sponsor Roger Cameron from Magical GoGo came up with the name “Magical Clapper” for the bike. Perfect and ready for a #superfastgoodtime.

The enduro cross course was awesome…nasty, yes, but still rideable and super fun. Paul Goyette – Poacher – and John Day did an awesome job to make this event an absolute blast. If you didn’t ride this event, you missed out.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Moto 1: My start was bad…dead last, and since each moto was only 10 minutes long I knew I had to go all out to get towards the front. My MC handled surprisingly well over the big obstacles and jumps, I was pretty happy with that. The motor had enough power to get me out of trouble spots and the bike felt really light so I could throw it around quite well. I made some good passes, worked my way towards the front and caught up to the leader. I tried to pass him a few times but just could not quite get him, even with a last ditch effort at the final turn, so I settled for 2^nd in moto 1. On a side note…my mechanic decided to give me an extra challenge by loosening the clutch lever too much so it kept spinning on my handle bars…big fun trying to find your clutch lever while going through a rock pile…Thanks dad J

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Moto 2: ….uhm…see moto 1, except this time I decided to add a crash to the race to keep everyone entertained. With two second place finishes I ended up taking the win in the A200 class…not bad for my 1^st outing on the “Magical Clapper” – consistency paid off.

Since the MC was still in one piece and ran really well, we decided to up the challenge and enter the 125 pro class at the JDay GP race on Sunday (we did change oil on the bike). Before I went to race the bike on Sunday, Mr. Federico helped me dial in the suspension a little bit – we hadn’t even set the sag on the bike yet, and he knew a few clicker settings that worked for his son so we matched my settings to his. I rolled up to the start and was just a little bit intimidated – I have only ridden the 125 pro class 1 time so far and it didn’t go that well. These guys are super-fast, and aggressive.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

Moto 1: My start was pathetic. Dead last…again. I went to work and started to make up a few positions…actually, I was picking people off better than I expected. After the 1^st lap I was somewhere around mid-pack and got engaged in a battle with a guy on a Honda CR 125. We went back and forth about 5 times….he would get me on the MX track and I would get him back in the woods and the extreme section – and this really was an extreme section. I think the obstacles were bigger than at the enduro cross the day before.  Ultimately I was able to shake “CR Guy” and caught up to Paul Goyette (Poacher). We were running 6^th and 7^th. I tried to pass him, a few times but he is crazy fast on the MX track. I watched and tried to learn as much as I could. Once we got back into the woods it was my time (I am a woods guy after all). I passed Paul and was able to put enough of a gap on him to be able to stay in front of him to the finish, but man, that took everything I had. I finished the moto in 6^th place and was pumped. I have never been able to crack the top 10 in the pro class and certainly did not expect to run that well. My “Magical Clapper” came through. 

Moto 2: I actually got a mid-pack start, but could not hold my position and went into the woods at the back of the pack (I wonder if the fact that my rear tire only had a few knobs left had anything to do with that ;)). I wasn’t worried, I knew I could get a few people, and really, my weekend was already “uber” awesome…anything else would just be a bonus.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

I rode as hard as I could, pushed the little 125 to its limit and it did not let me down. I got past Poacher somewhere in the woods – he might have gotten stuck – and found myself up in 5^th place. Whoa!!!! I had 2 laps to go. Come on MC, lets finish this!!! I pushed even harder, and at one point I had Beau Viens in my sights (in 4^th), but he turned on his after burners and actually pulled away from me a little bit. I finished the 2^nd moto in 5^th place. I was so pumped!!! I was able to not only hang with the 125 pros, I was actually competitive – on a bike that should not ever have been competitive. My weekend rocked! I won at my 1^st ever enduro cross on Saturday, and got a 6^th place overall in the 125 pros. 

Thanks for the awesome battle Poacher!

The “Magical Clapper” will get some much needed love this week. Hopefully we can round up a tire from Kenda, change a few bearings, slap a little more JB weld in some places, change from the “sharpie” race numbers to real numbers and pretty it up a little bit.

Photo: Art Pepin, www.offroadpaparazzi.com

So….since you are still here…

Thank you for reading! Please do me a favor and spend another 5 seconds to share my blog. My sponsors really like the exposure!!!!

Speaking of sponsors…Thank you to Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Gogo, EKS Brand Goggles, FMF Racing, Panic Rev Ministries, of course my mom, dad, my sister and my grandparents…and….Brian Dussault – the fact that you did homework at the track motivated me.

Keep it on 2 wheels!

Hunter "747" Neuwirth

Hard Knox NETRA HS in Blandford, MA

Part of my awesome pit crew

This Sunday’s race was held at the ski area in Blandford, MA. They actually let us use the ski runs….totally awesome! The hill climbs were challenging and fast, the downhill switch backs were slippery and almost every turn was off camber. Once the track was burned in a little bit there were some small ruts but nothing deep or long enough to really lean it over, but if you missed it, you were going for a ride on the grassy corners. Overall the course was really fast, and had a little bit of a JDAY GP feel to it.

Since both of my Huskies are still broken I had the awesome opportunity to race Brian Dussault’s second bike, a KTM 250 XC 2 stroke. Honestly, how cool is that…the Dussaults let me borrow their bike so I could go race. Thank you guys so much!

I got a decent start, went into turn 1 in 2^nd place, but dropped back pretty quickly as I was still trying to figure out the bike and get used to it. On top of that I had major arm pump which made it hard for me to hang on and push. I settled in at 5^th place for the 1^st hour of the race, I just could not quite get the right groove, and I think I was just waiting for the right moment to turn it up. Just about when I realized that I only had about 1 hour left, dad pulled me into the pits to gas me up, throw some water at me and sort of wake me up…”Are you going to start racing anytime soon?” Man that ticked me off, mostly because I knew he was right (dad knows how to push my buttons).

Photo by Art Pepin - Off Road Paparazzi

I left the pits mad, and went after it. I had a lot of ground to make up, and I wasn’t going to come back without leaving everything out on the track. I started to work my way back into this and got a pit board from dad that I was only 30 seconds off. Good…I was moving forward. With two laps to go dad hit me with another pit board message…”ALL OUT NOW”…I realized that I was running out of time. I upped my speed again and actually caught up to John Maier, but couldn’t pass him, he needed a 3^rd to lock up the A open championship so I followed him in and John rides a “wide” bike so he is hard to pass J. The most telling story of this race was that my fasted 2 laps were my last 2 laps of the race. This just proves again that my fitness is there, now if I could just start a race the way I finish, my results would be much better.  I ended up in 4^th place in A-Open and 11^th place overall. I definitely had more in me, but considering that I rode a bike I wasn’t used to - this was a 2 stroke and not my 4 stroke - I am happy with it.

Photo by Art Pepin - Off Road Paparazzi

Hopefully we can get my bikes sorted out this week, so I can get some seat time in. I do think I am going to switch back to a 2 stroke in the very near future. 

Again, Thank you to the Dussaults for hooking me up with the KTM this weekend – you guys rock. Dave, you guys put on an awesome event, hopefully we get to come back to this venue again. 

Thank you to my awesome sponsors, Kenda Tires, Fly Racing, Magical Gogo, Eks Brand goggles, FMF Racing, Panic Rev Ministries, Off Road Paparazzi for the photos, mom and dad, my sister Haley and my grandparents.

Thanks for reading

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

The Wizard GP, Rocky Hill, CT

The Wizard GP, Rocky Hill, CT

Photo: Art Pepin

After spending the last few months focusing on the NETRA series, we had a break in the schedule and it just happened to be a race weekend for the JDay GP series (check out www.jdayoffroad.com). The race was hosted at Rocky hill MX and I really wasn’t sure how  John Day would put together a super fun course for the Wizard GP. But he did it! The woods had some nice ruts and not a rock in sight! Best of all, this track was only about 45 minutes from our house, so travel wasn’t an issue. When we got there I found out that a lot of my race buddies from the NETRA series had the same idea, so I got to rip it up with my boys Brian D, Anthony F, Mikey D, and the rest of the gang. Great times!!!!! I decided to sign up for 2 classes to make it worth the effort, plus I needed the seat time anyways to get used to the fast flowy stuff again.

Photo: Art Pepin

My first moto was the Junior moto 1: My start was pathetic, I ended up way in the back. I have sort of accepted the fact that the Husky won’t give me any hole shots due to the starting procedure, so I wasn’t too upset. 30 minute motos are long sprints, there was plenty of time to go to work and reel in the leaders. And that’s just what I did. It took me a few laps, but ultimately I made the pass for first and started to build a gap. That’s when I made what would be the only mistake of the day. I tried to pass a couple of lapped riders on the inside of turn one. These 2 guys were battling each other and did not realize it was me coming up on them, so one guy thought the other guy was making a pass and sort of tried to block him…only…it was me…and I ended up hitting the corner post with my rear wheel as i was braking into the turn. I ended up flipping over the bike, the bike flipped over me, bottom line, the posts are not just plastic.  It was a good crash (anyone have it on video?). I got up quickly, but lost the lead and got going again in 2^nd place. The bike was pretty tweaked and I really could not push as it was hard to steer, so I rode to the finish in 2^nd place. Dad grabbed the bike and started working on it, we had about a ½ hour until my next moto.

Photo: Art Pepin

Of course dad got it done, the bike was good to go and I went up for A-Open moto 1: This time I didn’t even plan on a hole shot, I planned on sweeping turn one on the outside and hopefully be able to get myself towards the front of the pack within a lap or 2. This worked…sort of. I ended up towards the back of the pack again, but I wasn’t too upset as I was confident that I would be able to work my way through the field, and I had a few good spots picked out where I knew I could make some moves and pass. After the second lap I was in 5^th, after lap 3 in 4^th, and by lap 4 I had worked my way up to 3^rd place. I felt great, the bike handled and ran awesome. The MX part of the track felt good to me, I was able to find a nice rhythm, the jumps were all enjoyable and the woods were starting to develop some good lines. I finished this moto in 3^rd. I was totally happy with that, I was close enough to possibly improve in the afternoon.Junior moto 2: The start was even worse than in my 1^st moto, I got pinched off and had to come from pretty much dead last. This was a challenge. Working through the traffic, trying to get around slower riders and trying to catch up to the leaders took some time…actually…it took until the 2^nd to last lap, but once I made the pass for 1^st, I didn’t look back. I was able to build a big enough gap so I didn’t have to worry about having to force anything, I could just ride it out and ultimately take 1^st in moto 2 and with a 2-1 take the overall. Job complete, bike was in good shape, and I still felt strong for my fourth moto of the day.

Getting Ready for M2 - A Open

A-Open moto2: As expected, my start was a D- (DEE MINUSSS). No worries though, I knew how to deal with this, after all, that’s what I did all day. Coming from behind….I raced my butt off, pushed and didn’t make any mistakes. After lap one I think I was still in a different zip code than the leaders, but the gap was getting smaller. I passed a lot of people on the now very dusty MX track and worked myself up to 4^th. At that point I figured I might have about 3 laps left and I had 3^rd place in sight. I made the pass. 2^nd was going to be tough, and while I was closing in, the gap was still too big to get it done in 1 lap. I remembered what dad keeps telling me all the time….just put yourself in position…things happen at the end of the race, people wear out and make mistakes, and if you are there, you can capitalize on it. I was there, the guy in 2^nd made a mistake; I passed him and ended up 2^nd in the moto for a 2^nd overall. 

So at the end of the day I won Juniors and got 2^nd in A-Open…a very successful race day for me.

Thank you Justin Sokol and Layne Dutlinger for pointing out the good lines! Huge thanks to John Day for a great event and the cool award! :) 

Thank you to my awesome sponsors!!!! Kenda Tires, Fly Racing, Magical GoGo, EKS Brand goggles, Panic Rev Ministries, FMF, Art Pepin for the pics, and of course my family! 

Still here?....Thank You for reading!!!!! Please share my blog, my sponsors like the exposure!

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

Rocky Mountain NETRA Hare Scramble

Water…water…and more water….that pretty much sums up Sunday’s NETRA Rocky Mountain Hare Scramble in New Hampshire. We drove up to Alton, NH Sunday morning to hit this race, in hopes that the predicted rain storms would miss us to the south. We weren’t that lucky. It rained hard in the morning, to the point where the pit area where we were parked was about 6 inches under water. I felt bad for the guys that raced the morning race, as the visibility had to be next to zero, and my buddy Brian said the trails were just a long stream. Anyway…this is New England, and they don’t cancel races here…period. So I gathered my stuff and geared up to duke it out for the next couple hours with my race buddies and mother nature….mostly mother nature.

My game plan was pretty simple…SURVIVE…bring the bike and body back in one piece, try to find a way to have fun with this and I should be ok.

Photo by Art Pepin

I got a decent start, but the first few turns were all grass track and with all the water I just could not get good traction and kind of just tip toed around. As we entered the woods I was about mid pack. The woods sections were actually not as bad as I expected…yes it was muddy, and yes there were a few deep swamped out areas, but overall it was surprisingly decent. The biggest challenge was to keep goggles clean. I went through all of the roll off film on my goggles within the first lap and had a heck of a time seeing anything, but I didn’t want to take my goggles off either….it’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye…ha. After lap one I pulled into the pits to get new goggles….dad had my EKS brands with a fresh roll of film ready, slapped them on, slapped me on the back, and I was back out….I think that was by far the fastest pit stop ever for us (no fuel)…dad and I had agreed before the race that we were trying to go the distance without a fuel stop since they announced that they were cutting the race down to 4 laps (9 miles each)…yeah, we are the gambling kind. Lap 2, 3, and lap 4 went pretty well, what a difference being able to see makes. I had a couple small crashes (more like tip overs) but overall no major problems or incidents. Once I realized where I was as far as positions go, I saw that there was no way I could catch the leaders unless they made a major mistake, and I had a pretty good gap built up on the guys behind me so I went into survival mode….make the bike last, conserve fuel, and bring it home.

Photo by Art Pepin

On the last lap I did get a little scare as my fuel light came on (the Husky has a little warning light, I’m not sure how much fuel is left once it comes on). Fortunately I was already out of the long woods section and on to the grass track so I knew I didn’t have that far to go, and worst case, I could probably push the bike to the finish. I didn’t need to…we cut it close, but I made it with a little bit of fuel to spare. I rode a decent race, adjusted to the conditions and didn’t try anything crazy. I ended up with 3^rd place in A open and 14^th overall. I’m happy with that for this one – The bike and I survived just fine and I had a ton of fun!

This was a double header weekend for my parents as my sister competed with her water ski show team (Holland Aqua Riders) at the regionals (they took 3^rd as well!), so mom went to support her at that event while dad helped me with my race. I know this was a tough one for them (can’t be in both places at the same time). A huge shout out to Art Pepin at www.offroadpaparazzi.com for the photos!

Thank You to my sponsors….could not do this without your help!

Kenda Tires, Fly Racing, Magical GoGo, EKS Brand goggles, FMF, Panic Rev Ministries, Halls Cycles, and mom and Dad!

Until next time

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

PS: For those of you that actually paid attention (Thank You), you will have noticed that my race number for this race was 447…that’s because the NETRA series scores differently and 747 would mean I would be in a different class. We ran out of sharpies and paper so we actually had Steve at STS whip up some new number plates for us.

Double Header on mother’s day weekend

This weekend was probably one of the most physically challenging weekends I have had in a long time.

I have been playing with the idea of giving mountain bike racing a shot as it is great training for motorcycle racing and you get to pedal some sick trails. 

Saturday: I found a mountain bike race relatively close to home that would not interfere with my off road schedule and decided to give this a shot. The race was the Treasure Valley Rally in Rutland, MA. I really didn’t know what to expect, and figured that I train hard enough to be able to be competitive and hopefully have a good showing. I signed up for the Junior Expert class, which meant I got to race 20 miles (this turned out to be about 3 hours). To make a long story short, I totally under estimated this effort. These guys are gnarly and this race kicked my butt. I did end up winning my class – awesome – but I have to admit that this was much harder than any Hare Scramble or GNCC race I have ever competed in, and I can’t wait to do it again! 

Sunday – Mother’s Day (Thanks mom for supporting me even on mother’s day!!!!!!!): 

After fixing a nice breakfast for mom first thing in the morning, we loaded up the truck and headed to Eastford, CT for the NETRA Hare Scramble. Since my 250 is still in pieces, I swapped the big fuel tank over to the 125 and entered the A200 class for today. I haven’t ridden the 125 in a 2 + hour Hare Scramble before, so this would be a new learning experience. The course was typical NETRA New England stuff….rocks, rocks and more rocks. I got off to a decent start, but ended up picking a bad line at one of the 1^st bigger hills and got stuck. This put me towards the end of my class, but I wasn’t too worried.

This was a long race and surprisingly enough I actually felt quite fresh, even though I beat myself up good the day before….if anything I was pretty loose! I did suffer from arm pump quite a bit during the first hour, but eventually I was able to shake that and decided to start to push. I caught up to the leaders, made the pass, and really just wanted to ride it home and not make any major mistakes. I came into the pits about half way through to get some fuel and water. The pit stop went smoothly, dad and my sister had everything under control and I was able to get out of the pits while still in the lead. I decided to sprint one more time to build a bigger cushion to second place. This proved to be huge!

On the last lap I took a pretty good digger, tweaking my front end, and then, to top it off my chain fell off…it stretched so much it was way to lose and simply derailed…it took me a good 3 minutes and a little help from a spectator to get going again, but I was still in the lead and was able to finally get my first A class win. I am really pumped about this weekend! It was nice to see my hard work pay off, and…this is really just the beginning for me. I have a long road ahead and I’m just going to keep my head down and work hard and have a blast doing it! Now I need a day of rest, start rebuilding the bike again for next weekend, and hopefully get some time in on my mountain bike – I need to get in better shape for that stuff J

A huge Thank You to my sponsors! 

Fly Racing, Kenda Tires and Magical GoGo for helping me with my motorcycle and mountain bike racing, Manchester Honda for the help with the bikes, EKS Brand goggles for the goggle support, Eric Gorr at Forward Motion for hooking me up with the “badest” CR 125 motor, Panic Rev ministries, mom and dad, my sis and my grandparents here and in Austria!

Thanks for reading

Hunter "747" Neuwirth