Byron Regional Recap

WOW!  That’s about all I can say about our first regional experience.  Byron Motosport Park turned into mud bogger’s dream event.  After two great days of practice at Byron rain started to fall on Friday night and continued throughout the day on Saturday.  This was a weekend of first for us…our first regional…first mud race…and so on.

I really have to give it to the staff and crew at Byron.  They stuck with it and got Saturday in.  The flaggers and track crew had their hands full all day.  How they did it I will never know.

Many of our Mid-South riders had made the trip up to Byron in hopes of racing to qualify for a trip to Loretta’s.  They wound up just fighting to survive Saturday for a chance at racing in better conditions on Sunday.

Shiftonephoto provided this excellent video of Saturday’s action, Shiftone also has a great photo gallery of images from Saturday:

Local Rider Report

50cc Riders

#48 Maddox Owens – Maddox finished 13-24-9 for 19th overall in the 50cc 7-8 Class.  Keep your eye on this guy.  He made it to Loretta’s last year and did very well in the 4-6 class.  He still has another year on 50s, and I definitely expect to see him back at the ranch.

#419 Alex Rose – Alex finished 5-13-32 for 20th overall in the 50cc 7-8 Class.  Not sure what happened in the last moto, but Alex is one fast dude.  He is moving up to the 65cc class full time.  You can probably get a great deal on 50cc Cobra if get with Bill.

65cc Riders

#51 Cody Fortenberry – Cody finished 2-8-5 tied for 6th overall in the 65cc 7-9 class.  Cody lost the tie breaker for the guaranteed spot to Loretta’s, but is the #1 overall alternate and should get his chance to race Loretta’s.  Congrats to Cody and his family, he is a super kid and I couldn’t be happier for him.  He had some bad luck last year that knocked him out of a trip to the ranch, looks like he will get his chance this year.

#835 Kiefer Martin – Kiefer didn’t finish his qualifying moto on Saturday.  He got a great start (3rd) and went out of sight for a while.  His bike quit somewhere out of view.  A track worker got it going again, but it died on the second lap and they couldn’t get it going again.  They hauled it in on a mule and his weekend was over. Don’t worry though he is probably more determined than ever to make it to the ranch.

#87 Brent Allgyer – Brent had a rough go in Byron as well.  He went down in his qualifying moto as well.  Everyone knows Brent is one of the fastest kids around, and he just had a bad weekend at Byron.  I am sure he will bounce back strong.  His previous regional weekend at Gatorback shows that he can race with anyone.

#142 Sage Lewis – Sage finished 5-11-9 for 9th overall in 65cc 7-9.  Sage also has an 8th overall finish at the Southeast Regional at Gatorback.  Sage has come a long way in the past couple of years and he is right there.  I hope we are watching him race at the Ranch this year.

#10 Kimble Jett – Kimble finished 14th overall in 65cc 10-11.  Kimble came to Byron hoping to get a ticket in a second class.  He had already qualified 65cc 7-11 Class.

#11 Landon Hulbert – Landon finished 13-16-20 for 19th overall in the 65cc 10-11 class.  Landon has continued to work hard and get faster.  I am sure that they will try to reach the ranch again next year.

#221 Ben Rose – Ben raced in the 3 classes at Byron going 11-33-DNS in 65cc 10-11, he also finished 32nd in 85cc 9-11 Limited, and 26 85cc 9-11.  The 85 classes were stacked but Ben did a great job at Byron.  He’s got to be one of funniest kids around.  No doubt he will be a big star in life no matter what he does.

85cc Riders

#77 Palmer Neely – Palmer went 3-4-6 for 3rd overall in the 85cc 9-11 Limited Class.  Palmer had already qualified for 85cc 9-11 and 65cc 10-11.  I think he has decided to retire the 65’s and move on to the 85’s full time.  Congrats Palmer!

#22 Mack Carney – Mack finished 22 in the 9-11 Limited Class and 24th in the 9-11 Mod class.  I know Mack wanted to make a return to trip to the ranch this year, but he really ran great and will definitely be in the running next year.  He jumped up to the 85 class this year and has really been riding well.

85 Senior Riders & Supermini

#140 JJ Long – JJ didn’t get the finishes he hoped for at Byron, Saturday’s mudfest knocked him out of any chance on Sunday.  I am sure this won’t slow him down and we should be looking for him to make the ranch next year for sure.

#2 Bryce Grissom – Saturday wasn’t to Bryce’s liking either and it really kept another one of our really fast local riders from showing his true potential.

#361 Skyler Whatley – Skyler finished 10th overall in the Supermini I class.  He had finishes of 8-10-11.  He was really riding great coming into the regional and kept it up despite the weather conditions.

Schoolboy Riders

#828 Matthew Weakley – Matthew is another Mid-South rider that really shined despite the rain and mud.  He put down finishes of  6-8-5 for 4th overall in School Boy 1.  Can’t wait to see him ride at the ranch.  I know he is really training hard right now.

Girls and Women Riders

#71 Aspen Neely- Aspen already had a ticket to the ranch in the Girls 12-16 class but came to Byron in search of getting one in the Women 14+ class as well.  She finished 6-11-14 for 10th overall.  I know she is keeping her fingers crossed to make it in on the alternate list.

If I missed anyone please let me know.  I can say that I learned a lot at this regional for sure.  I can promise you that all these guys and girls have nothing to be ashamed of.  They put in a lot of hard work just to make it to the regional level.  This was a regional that you really had to earn a spot in, they actually had a lot of classes that had 62-63 riders in.

For more info visit:

Hardline MX

ShiftOne Photography

Rockford Register Star