First race of the 2021 season did not disappoint!
SXCS has been chipping away at bringing quality events to the racing community going on 3 years now. We aren’t trying to follow the herd – we are constantly looking to bring our racers a positive and fun environment and the Hangover Weekend was no exception!
SXCS started the weekend out with its “FUN DAY” on Saturday which consists of a designated trail ride so riders could get some seat time and get dialed in with their bikes. It had rained the day before so things got started a little soggy but as it turned out that was just the practice the riders needed – ultimately giving them a taste of what was to come for Sunday’s racing!
That wasn’t all that was happening on Saturday – SXCS invited Off-Road Champions, Andrew Delong and Becca Sheets to lead a couple ride clinics – this has become quite the tradition for the 1st Round of the SXCS season and is a real rider favorite. Nearly twenty riders were able to get first hand instruction from these accomplished racers and then put their new and improved skills to the test on the race track Sunday!
But wait – that’s not all… SXCS decided to add a new race series to the mix a Pit Bike Series called SXCS PITCROSS! Round 1 was under the lights Saturday night and made for a fun time paired with lots of awesome racing! Along with many of our regular racers we had quite a few from the Pit Bike Racing Community come out. We had classes for everyone including classes for youth riders and we didn’t forget the Littles!… We had Stacyc and Strider exhibition meets as well – super fun to see these future racers scoot around under the lights! You will definitely be wanting to grab yourself a pit bike and get in on the action at future events!
SUNDAY – SUNDAY – SUNDAY!
The event everyone had been waiting for and Mother Nature did not disappoint (all depends who you ask…) She rained down on us hard starting overnight and hardly letting up – and I have to say there was literally no where for the water to go. The ground was already saturated and now – well it was officially a MUDDER of EPIC Proportions! That’s the Hangover – it’s a difficult race to put on and organize because you never know what type of conditions you will be dealt for setting up the course and then simply putting on the race but if anyone can do it it’s the SXCS Crew and I know we have the racers to make it to the finish line!
The micros were first on the course – it was a slim-fest but the course was positioned in such a way that it was easy to navigate and there were lots of helping hands along the way! Mason Ramsey on his mighty Husqvarna topped the charts on the 50cc Jr Class followed by Maura Tsakanikas and Sadie Daniels. There were over a dozen riders in that class and its an indicator that the future is strong for off-road racing but also that the ladies will continue to be a part of the show! 50cc SR class also a stacked class with Colt Chaney on the top box followed by Landyn Dalmasso and Vance Glisson in third. Trail Bike Class we saw Nathaniel Oswald in 1st followed by Braxtyn Chaney in 2nd and Daniel Fluhart Jr in 3rd.
Next we had the Youth Classes! The youth classes started in the start field with a steady mist – their course saw a bit more action and Top 5 in the youth Overall we saw Robert Weiss, Austin Tsakanikas, Rynder Sigety, Carter Przemelewski followed by Brody Brooks. Mud was flying and the top four made a tough 5 laps.
169 racers geared up for the Morning Race which included some fast rippers in the Open class all the way to the Vintage runners – The morning event has a big range and makes it a blast out there with the faster group forming the best lines. The SXCS crew did a fantastic job encouraging many line choices knowing that the course was going to get hammered by the weather but you never could tell which line was going to send you into a mud pit that any Side By Side Rider would love to play in – but was definitely what the racers wanted to avoid! VMP was ready to bite so you had to keep those tires moving or she would surely have her mucky grip on you. David Redman managed the morning Overall just ahead of Matt Sorge and Joe Jenkins. The top finisher not in the Open class was Greire Moore finishing 5th overall competing in Schoolboy 1.
The Afternoon Racers were lucky to have a few miles of fresh trail and saw some super tight racing between Hunter Bush (Pro/AA) and Jedediah Haines (Vet A) when the checkers flew Jed was only 13 seconds behind Hunter! Lots of great racing and position changing as the mud grew deeper and more unpredictable.
Shout Out to T-bone and Earl Cycles, Earl Luhn for grabbing the holeshot in the Pro/AA class and ripping to a solid start – but unfortunately during that first lap he got a pretty epic race ending flat tire with the cords wrapped in his sprocket – I was told he was happy to make it to the finish line but that wasn’t the start he was looking for on the season opener…
We look forward to seeing all of you back on the track for Round 2 at Wicomico Motorsports Park in April!!