Des Moines, Iowa
i drove until we got to Waldron and i was done. it was 2am. Brock took over and i kept him company all the way to Fort Smith. he drove all night and we stopped somewhere in Iowa for breakfast. the weather was actually nice and i took the wheel back for the last leg into Des Moines. a short stop at Walmart/Sam's club and we were ready for the weekend. when we got to the arena, our special spot was ready and we got parked. then it was into the arena to check out the track. all of the jumps were built and the pressday ride was just finishing up. the track looked good and had some new stuff. we were ready to have some fun.
we hauled Ozzie Barbaree's and Jon Brown's bikes since they couldn't leave Pine Bluff until Thursday evening. also, i invited Lee Taylor from Arkadelphia to come with us so he could help the boys out Friday and Saturday night. the he could race on Sunday. the trailer was full. the boys unloaded and began setting their bikes up. we just threw the suspension on for the trip and had to set check their sag and torque everything. also, we installed our new look: UFO sponsored us this year with white plastic and our DBM/KSP graphics from PRO Graphics in Hot Springs look great. there was a Team meeting at 630pm, so we took a break from the bikes and headed in for the meeting and also picked up our credentials for the season. there were some snacks and all the AX bigwigs got to introduce each other and flex their muscles. more teams this year sporting new riders and different brands. should be a great series.
Ozzie and Jon showed up around 2am. we rolled our bikes into the arena on Friday morning and got set up. the boys took care of sign up and then checked out the track. all of the bikes passed the sound test at 99DB except Ozzie's. he hit 101. we had to repack his silencer, and then he passed. there were 82 Lites riders and 84 AX riders. a bunch of riders, just like last year at the opener. i was curious as to how the boys would react to their new surroundings. Patrick had been with us in 2005 and qualified at Charlotte, North Carolina in the 125 class. this would be the christening for the rest of the boys. well, Patrick was cool all the way up to practice time, then he threw up. you just never know. practice went okay for everyone. Ozzie looked really comfortable right away. Chris and Brock weren't up to speed, but they did okay. Jon and Patrick weren't up for this level of competition yet. nobody made the cut out of the heat races. when the LCQ lined up, Chris got the holeshot and ran away with the win. he transferred to the night show at his first AMA Arenacross National. Not much happened on Friday night for the Team. Chris had a second row gate and only a miracle will get you a start from there. he rode well, but was never close enough to transfer. i pounded the computer keys all night and kept a running score for Live Nation on the motonews.com website.
Saturday was a new day and everyone was feeling good. except for Jon and Ozzie, they lost their way and stayed out too late Friday night. they opted to not ride. Patrick was still not up to speed and failed to make the cut. Brock had a difficult day as he hit the ground twice in the whoops and didn't make it either. Chris didn't fare well either, he couldn't buy a start. no one made the night show from our group, so they all watched from the cheap seats. again, I reported the results to motonews.com. Lee Taylor did a good job as their mechanic both days.
i work for Toyota on Sunday to help any riders that might need mechanical assistance or setup. Lee was set to ride on Sunday and was first in line for sign up. LUCKY LEE....Toyota paid for the first 20 entries on Sunday. we got our Toyota EZup set up and got ready for business. Patrick headed home with Ozzie and Jon on Sunday morning. Chris decided to race the Open Expert class on Sunday and did pretty good. he won his heat race and took third in the Main. Lee rode practice and ended up banging bars with another rider and then went down hard. he was limping around and things looked bleak for him. he soldiered on and rode his race, but his heart wasn't into it. i worked on several bikes and got a few riders back on the track. after the races were over, we got everything loaded up and waited for Pam to finish up her business. around 6pm, we were headed home. just South of Des Moines, we found ourselves turning into the Terribles Casino. we were starving and took on their buffet. it was great. Pam and I hit the Casino and tried our luck. we stayed about two hours and went up and down. it was ten o'clock and I was ready to go. 21 dollars down---not too bad for us. I drove to Kansas City and pulled over for a nap. of course, everyone else had been asleep for hours. a couple of hours later and I was good to go again. we trucked on into the DBM homestead Monday afternoon. Chris headed home and Brock stayed all week at Lost Creek Park for some training.