Rochester, New York

Last year we made the trip up to Albany, New York and then out to Reno, Nevada for rounds two and three of the Arenacross Series.  After looking at the fuel expense for that trip, we decided to skip those rounds and wait for Rochester.  This would be the first split weekend of the series with most of the big boys going to Rockford, Illinois.  This was Pam's first event of the series and would be three days of racing too. 

Brock was lucky enough to get a free plane ticket to Buffalo where we would pick him up.  Our buddy Corey Smith drove down from Missouri to make the trip with us.  We got the trailer and motorhome all loaded up and headed east around noon on Tuesday.  We hit I-30 towards Little Rock and then on to I-40 towards Memphis.  When we got to Memphis, we picked up Chris and it was on to Nashville.  Then we turned North to the COLD COUNTRY.  I drove until we got to Louisville and Corey took the wheel.  There are some really rough roads in Ohio.  Our next stop was in Pennsylvania at Gear Racewear to pick up the trophies for the event.  After we got that sorted out, everyone was thinking food, so we hit a Steak & Shake for dinner.  By that time, Brock had touched down in Buffalo and we were about an hour away from there.  A quick look at the map and we were pulling into the Buffalo airport to pick up our "Factory" rider.  Then it was on to Rochester where we nailed down the primo parking spot right next to the building.  Of course, the next day we had to move across the street to make room for the Pit Pass trailer.  Pam, Tara and I were booked at a Motel 8 that was about ten miles from the building.  Lucky us.  The boys were 150 feet from the back door of the building. 

Anytime you head for an Arenacross up North, be prepared for wet dirt.  We had some in Rochester.  On Thursday, it looked like a weekend of ruts ahead of us, but the track crew whipped the dirt into shape.  The boys were drafted by Pam for some pre-race work on Thursday.  They spent several hours installing new TufBlock covers and picked up a little extra cash.  Practice went well on Friday and there wasn't a huge turnout of pro riders, 32 Lites and 28 AX riders.  Since 30 riders advance to the night show, we felt pretty good.  When the afternoon qualifiers were over, all three of our guys were in the night program.  Devin Caugh from New York was helping the guys out while I reported the results on the Web for Live Nation.  In the evening heat races, both Brock and Corey took a trip to the ground and didn't make the Mains.  Chris had some terrific rides and qualified for both the Lites and the AX classes.  In the Lites class, he got an okay start and moved up pretty close to the front thanks to a couple of mistakes by other riders.  He looked like he would move into 5th as the race was winding down.  Then he tried to make an inside move right before the finish line and he slid out.  After finally getting his bike started, he ended up 14th.  The AX class had more top riders and is always more difficult.  He actually rode better in the premier class and ended up 12th.  Part of the fun of Arenacross is the autograph line after the races are over.  Chris enjoyed his time at the autograph table.

Saturday was a new day and we had about the same number of riders trying to qualify.  The outside temperature was pretty cold and snow was predicted.  I had warned the boys about the famous "lake effect" snows, but they were skeptical.  They know now.  It started snowing Saturday afternoon and I'm guessing it's still snowing there.  Inside it was comfortable and the guys were ready to go again.  They all made it through the afternoon qualifiers and we were ready for the night show.  We walked across the river bridge to a local restaurant called Dinosaur Barbecue.  Pretty good chow and we tried some local brews.  Soon it was time to get the night show in gear and there was a pretty good crowd.  In one of the heat races, Corey went down in the first turn.  Brock was involved in the pileup and was trying to get around some riders that were on the ground.  Corey was laying there with his handlebar stuck in his helmet.  Brock jumped off his bike and ran over to help Corey out.  He got a big applause when the announcer pointed out his sportsmanship.  Later in the evening Brock cased the catapult and he was done for the night.  Corey just couldn't get a start and he was done too.  It was Chris Tracy's weekend as he transferred to both main events again on Saturday night.  I'm pretty sure that we need to change the gearing on the 610 Kawasaki, because he got crappy starts all weekend.  We'll work on that after Christmas.  Anyway, Chris rode really well Saturday night and even started jumping the triple with the big boys.  He got an okay start in the Lites class and kept charging and was rewarded with an 8th place.  A late race crash in the whoops was all that kept him from a really good finish in the Arenacross class.  Several riders went down early and Chris was running around 6th place.  He was holding down a spot right behind Jim Neese until he hit a TufBlock in the whoops.  It took him a while to restart and by then it was too late to make up any time.  He finished 12th.  All three riders went to the autograph session.  It was still snowing outside. 

On Sunday, I worked as the Toyota mechanic.  Corey threw down with me as there were several riders needing help with their bikes.  We even lent one of our bikes to a girl from Canada so she could make practice while we worked on hers.  The doors were open all day since there were a lot more riders on Sunday.  It was still snowing and it was cold inside.  Finally the races were over and we got everything loaded into the trailer and headed for the motel.  It was still snowing.  We slept in on Monday and got on the road around noon.  The one thing that Pam doesn't like about New York:  No Waffle House in New York.  Weird.  The weather predictions were for more lake effect snows and really cold temperatures.  It's pretty easy to predict the weather in New York.  Our return trip included another stop by Gear Racewear in Pennsylvania.  I drove for a couple of hours and then Corey took over.  Lucky him.  It really started snowing and as we left New York, it was snowing like crazy.  Almost whiteout conditions for about 100 miles.  We made it to Gear, picked up the cargo and headed South.  We soon ran out of the snowstorm and again wondered out loud, "why do people live here".  The rest of the trip back to Arkansas was Interstate boring and we got back Tuesday afternoon.  Now for a good long break before we head to Kansas City in January.  Oh yeah, roundtrip was 1300+ miles, $1100+ in fuel and it was worth every penny.  More later.  dbm