Author Topic: Trackside with Ken at The Yadkin Valley Stomp  (Read 2997 times)

500racer2

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Trackside with Ken at The Yadkin Valley Stomp
« on: June 22, 2008, 03:12:32 PM »
     I arrived at midnight, tired and beaten down, crawled into the back of Kev's trailer for a much needed 6 1/2 hours sleep before he started yelling it was time to get up.  My day started by tearing into the top half of Kevin's engine to reset valve clearances and check for proper timing.  All went well and we had him back up and running by the end of the kids race.  It was beginning to get warm and was threatening rain a little, but man was it dusty.
     I got up to the start late and was the last one on the line, 3 can-ams, 1 polaris, and 4 Kynco's.  I got the worst spot of the bunch.  FLag drops and off we go.  Super fast Jordan gets the holeshot and I am in dead last.  Even though I am the one with the big engine parts, I had to pull out off a hole that I was down in.  More or less, I got smoked of the line.  Iwas last into the woods behind the Polaris.  Within seconds of being in the woods, this guy finds out why Yadkinville sucks.  It is the tightest race of the year and he peels a tree a full speed and goes flying off the quad.  I got around him pretty easily I would say.  I take off and catch up with the third Can-Am of the group, I push him for about a mile until he makes a bad line decision and I quickly get around him.  The rest of the pack is out of sight now and I try to get into a zone as I am dodging all the trees.  One bad hit here and you are done for the day.  I see Dan up ahead and I am not sure if he pulled over when he heard me coming or I got around him.  I pass him and catch up with Kevin.  We are cruising throught the woods in sight of the other three, when there sits Mr. Holeshot, Jordan.  I am not sure what happened next but it looked like he was trying to get around another quad and got hung up in the trees.  When he saw us he quickly got moving, the next thing I know, he spins sideways and Kevin T-bones him.  From the back this is very comical and I am actually laughing under my helmet while Kevin is screaming at him.  He takes off and Kevin and I are in the chase now.  Shortly after that, within a couple of miles,  Kevin gets his taste of bark.  Having steering problems after hittin Mr. Holsshot,  he caught his right front wheel on a tree and snapped the end off of his ball joint.  He was not a happy camper as you can imagine.  The day was over for him, we were to far from the pit for him to get it back.  I get to take of again and go reel Jordan in.  He was running well and towards the end of the lap I caught site of him.  I pushing him for a couple of minutes and then he swung wide on a corner and I took and inside line and got by him.  I started to settle into a good groove now and was running well.
     The course was very tight, some mud in the lower section by the creek, but nothing to wory about.  The big problem was the fields.  The dust was so thick that at times (and this is no exageration at all)  I couldn't see my front bumper.   I would almost come to a complete stop because I couldn't see a thing.  I only had one dust mishap where I misjudged how close I was to the woods and went off a dropoff and almost crashed.  But I was lucky.  On lap three I started getting a headache and feeling quite sick from all the dust.  I was drinking alot but it really wasn't helping much.  I pushed along as hard as I could.  AT lap three I get the 5 lap card, great, I still have two more to go.  I am trying to set a goods pace, but with all the crashes that are happening and all the dust it was quite hard.  I finish the day with a quad that is in perfect condition still, engine running great anf front end still straight with a 95th overall and third for the day.  It was a good day for once.
2001-2004 Student of the Arts
2005 GNCC Utility Stock Champion
2006 Factory Arctic Cat
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2008 Kymco Factory Race Team

MXU500_Red

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Re: Trackside with Ken at The Yadkin Valley Stomp
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2008, 02:05:19 AM »
Very nice Ken!!

Great story....sounds like a heck of a race.
Glad to hear the machine (and yourself) made 5 laps. That makes me feel good about it all..
Tough break for the rest of the team...but that's racing I guess..



'07 Kymco MXU500 (mine)
ITP Mud Lite XTR 26/9/12 - 26/11/12 on ITP Type 7 rims
AC Racing slip-on pipe
Warn 3000 lb. winch

'07 Kymco MXU300 (wife)
EPI Clutch Kit (rollers/spring)
1.5 " Wheel Spacers

'07 Kymco MXU150 (son)

skadamo

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Re: Trackside with Ken at The Yadkin Valley Stomp
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2008, 04:05:03 AM »
Nice work man!   Thanks for the write up.  Great to get the first person take on the race!


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