Dad, 13-year-old qualify for motocross nationals

Born a dirt biker's daughter: Dad, 13-year-old qualify for motocross nationals

• ANDY WILCOX awilcox@napanews.com

 

Napa’s father and daughter motocross racers, Matt and Alexa Conatser, made their dreams come true.

The 50-year-old father and his 13-year-old daughter have qualified for the largest amateur dirt bike race in the world, the 35th Annual Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, presented by AMSOIL, to be held Monday through Saturday at historic Loretta Lynn Ranch and Campground in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

The pair took on more than 22,000 hopefuls from across America to earn two of 1,482 qualifying positions in each of their racing classes.

Matt and Ebbie Conatser’s son, Cole, competed in the event two years ago. Matt was Cole’s training coach at the time and did not try to qualify himself, according to Ebbie.

“It’s pretty rare to have a father and child both qualify, but especially a father and daughter team,” she said. “Other obligations prevented Cole from going with us this year, but he does have future racing goals. Watching Cole race and riding with him has allowed many opportunities for our family to share riding tips. I have competed in the past, a small amount of motocross and off road racing, but ride for fun now with my family and friends.”

Matt will compete in the highly competitive Master’s class, and Alexa will compete in the girls 9-13 age division.

Matt said the fact his daughter was trying to qualify was motivation for him, as much as it was for Alexa that her father was trying to do the same.

“It pushed me a lot,” Matt said, “because Alexa qualified a week before me at Hangtown Raceway in Sacramento and I had to head down to Southern California the next weekend to qualify at Pala Raceway (between Los Angeles and San Diego), finishing with a second place overall in my class.”

Said Alexa, “It pushed me a lot because we had to do a lot of training on and off the track, and it was never easy. Sometimes I would do the same thing over and over again just do I could get better. But it all paid off in the end.”

Most of America’s top professional motocross racers, including James Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey, have won AMA Amateur National titles at Loretta Lynn Ranch.

“The Amateur National at Loretta Lynn’s is the event every motocross racer in the country wants to compete in,” said event director Tim Cotter. “A win at Loretta’s gives a racer instant national notoriety and can serve as a springboard to a lucrative professional motocross career.”

Alexa Conatser attends Napa Valley Independent Studies and will start the eighth grade when she returns from Tennessee. She has been riding dirt bikes alongside her family since she was 5.

Matt, who works at Wine Country Plastering, Inc. as a stucco contractor, has been riding since dirt bikes he was 12.

With sponsors such as EMT Racing, Mach 1 Motorsports, Hyper-X, Dirt Tech, X-Brand Goggles, Wine Country Plastering and 707 Suspension helping them along their way to the races, Matt and Alexa have had the opportunity to pursue their dreams. They have won many races in the last couple years and practice nearly every week at Northern California tracks such as Club Moto in Livermore, Argyll MX Park in Dixon, Riverfront MX Park in Marysville, Diablo MX Ranch in Brentwood and Hangtown.

The Conatsers made the long journey to Hurricane Mills with family and racing friends early last week. They are camping onsite and will participate in many non-racing evening activities.

Matt and Alexa spent the last four months qualifying for the event.

The national qualifying program consists of 59 area qualifiers February through May and 13 regional championships from May through June, at select motocross facilities across the country. Racers may enter any of 38 competition classes, from minicycle for children as young as 4, all the way up to the senior division for riders over 50. There are also classes for women and for both stock and modified machines.

The Loretta Lynn Ranch course contains a variety of jumps, corners and other obstacles designed to test the skills and stamina of the racers. The motocross track is used only once a year for motorcycles, so there is no hometown advantage. Racers compete in three 15- to 20-minute races over the course of the week per class, sometimes in grueling temperatures. Proper training and preparation are paramount.

Most riders attend the event with the help of their families. In fact, many consider the event their family’s summer trip, nicknaming it the “World’s Greatest Motocross Vacation.” Besides the races, the week-long event hosts many family-friendly activities, including swimming, talent show, concerts, and live entertainment.

The race action will be broadcast live daily at www.racertv.com – a total of 40 hours of live coverage. In addition, two highlight shows featuring the event will air on NBC Sports Network in the fall.

For additional information on the Amateur National, visit the official website at www.mxsports.com or call (304) 284-0101. Also, follow the official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts for exclusive content and to catch the latest news.

Fly 2017 New Gear Video Introduction

Fort Ann motocross decision delayed again

By KATHLEEN MOORE kmoore@poststar.com

FORT ANN — A motocross track proposal is still being considered by the town Planning Board, but the board got no closer to a decision Monday night.

“It was tabled,” said Planning Board Chairman Don Bedeaux. “We didn’t have all the information we wanted.”

The board’s first meeting on the proposal was May 23. After three successive meetings, project proposer Jeremy Treadway is getting frustrated.

“They put it off another 30 days,” he said, before adding that delays won’t make him give up the idea. He’s already purchased the Country Meadows Golf Course, where he hopes to build the track.

“We’ve invested the money in the property. I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m not going to give up.”

The main sticking point seems to be noise, and whether hours of motorcycle races would echo through the hills and farms.

Treadway is certain the races wouldn’t be loud enough to bother neighbors.

“We lowered our sound decibels from 112 to 105 max,” he said. “There is no question about sound anymore.”

A maximum of 105 decibels would require many racers to install quiet core inserts in their motorcycle exhaust system, Treadway said. Some racers worry that the insert could hurt performance, but he tested the insert and found that it improved performance, he said.

He was so surprised that he contacted motorcycle engineers to determine whether his test had gone wrong somehow.

“They told me typically it does create horsepower because of the back pressure created by the quiet core,” he said.

He is now working to set up a demonstration in which 10 motorcycles would race on his property while sound engineers measured the decibels from a distance as close as the closest house. He plans to announce the test in advance so that neighbors can listen and determine for themselves whether the noise would be bothersome. He’s certain he’ll be proven right, though he is not so certain that he will win over his neighbors.

Neighbor Tracy Monahan made it clear that she was worried about sound when Treadway first proposed the track. She called the track a major change for Fort Ann, and with her husband organized an informational session about the proposal.

“My opinion is that sound travels, and, yes, we are right next door, but this is all farmland up here, and I think people will be able to hear it on Farley Road, Hadlock Pond Road, Goodman Road, Tripoli Road, Nichols Road, Mattison Road and Cartier Lane,” she said in May.

She did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

The town does not have zoning, making it difficult to stop the proposal. But there hasn’t been a huge push to institute zoning, Town Supervisor Richard Moore said.

“I’ve had a few people, since this came to the forefront, ask why the town doesn’t have zoning,” Moore said. “But to be honest, there’s not been a big outcry about the zoning.”

He added that he’s heard from residents on both sides.

“There are people who are in favor and people who are not in favor of the motocross,” he said.

The next Planning Board meeting is Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.

Nothing Like The Sound of Two Strokes

Off Road Hall Of Fame to Induct Bud Feldkamp

BUD FELDKAMP TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE OFF-ROAD HALL OF FAME

 July 25, 2016

Dr. Bud Feldkamp.

Glen Helen owner Bud Feldkamp has been named to the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame for his racing exploits in Baja and the American desert. To a whole generation of off-road racers, the combination of Malcolm Smith and Dr. Bud Feldkamp represented the pinnacle of the sport in the late 1970’s. In his blue and white Funco SS II (aka The Bel-Ray Bullet), Bud Feldkamp not only posted overall wins in two Baja 1000’s, three Baja 500’s and two Mint 400’s, but he also earned two consecutive desert championships, along with two Bilstein Madonna awards.

The Bel-Ray Bullet Funco that Bud and Malcolm Smith dominated Baja in was immortalized as a Tamiya model.

In the newspapers.

Since motorcycles were Bud’s first passion and ultimately what brought him to desert racing, it is fitting that he has taken that passion to Glen Helen Raceway where he has created a world class off-road venue, hosting

Glen Helen Raceway.

The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame ceremony will be on Monday, October 31, 2016, at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The King of Hard Enduro Strikes Again at Romaniacs

Once a year the best Hard Enduro riders on the planet head to Romania for their sport's toughest rally. Red Bull Romaniacs has been testing bikers to the limit for over a decade and this latest edition was no exception.

Watch our highlights clip above to see what went down in the Carpathian Mountains.

Things got off to a flying start with the traditional inner-city prologue in Sibiu and the top riders were quick to establish themselves at the business end of the leaderboard. Last year’s winner Jonny Walker was back from injury and clearly determined to defend his Romaniacs title.

Could Jonny stay on the throttle long enough to pick up his third Romaniacs win? Or would the chasing pack reel him in during the 400 miles of steep climbs through dense forest?

A Look at the Cutthroat Job Hunt of Pro Motocross

Professional motocross can be a fickle bitch. Each spot under a factory team’s awning is worth its weight in gold, or carbon fiber as seems to be the trend these days at the track. The unfortunate truth is that riders are only as good as their results. It's a conundrum as old as the sport — when everything seems to be good, but the results are not, what is the problem? Moto Spy episode 4 follows GEICO Honda’s sole 450 entry Justin Bogle in the midst of his rookie season in the premier class. Though Bogle's speed and ability on the motorcycle is brilliant, he has struggled to live up to the incredible expectations set by the factory Honda team. Now in a contract year, Bogle is racing for a job in 2017.

2017 Fly Racewear

Watch Dougie Lampkin climb a waterfall

Dougie Lamkin  has never shied away from a challenge, and this is one the Yorkshireman took head on – Ravana Ella Falls in Sri Lanka.

 Looking at the sheer face of it, you wouldn't dare dream of trying to scramble up it on a motorcycle. Not Dougie though!

Watch the video above to see Lampkin scale the waterfall with apparent ease, using all his skill to negotiate impossible angles and non-existent grip.

Does AMA or MXGP have the roughest track?

Continuing our series we take a look at the nastiest tracks on both sides of the pond.

By Aaron Hansel and Joseph Caron Dawe on 20 July 2016

When it comes to motocross, rough racing surfaces are just part of the game. Of course, some tracks are rougher than others.

Here’s a look at the roughest tracks in the AMA and their counterparts in MXGP.

AMA: Hangtown and Glen Helen

Marvin Musquin bucking his way around Glen Helen © Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool 

For mere mortals, just about any of the tracks of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross would be nearly unrideable, and even the smoothest ones would be bone-jarring compared to most amateur tracks on any given weekend. But if you ask around in the AMA paddock, you’ll get two common responses: Hangtown and Glen Helen Raceway, both located in California.

Part of the reason these tracks get so extraordinarily rough is because of the soil. Hangtown, which was built in an area that was once hydro-mined for gold many years ago, has imported countless truckloads of dirt, which mixes in with the hard, naturally-occurring dirt of the area.

Once it’s ripped, the bumps really start forming – especially in the steep downhill sections where riders are hard on the brakes.

It wasn’t at its roughest this year [2016], but that’s because the track crew, anticipating rain, didn’t rip it as deeply as they normally do, but it’s typically one of the most torturous tracks in America.

Last year Zach Osborne, who’s spent time racing in MXGP, had this to say:

“I think there are some sections out there that are in the top five of gnarliest sections in the world, it’s rough. I’m glad, I like this stuff. I spent a lot of time in Europe where this is the norm.”

The dirt at Glen Helen is a bit sandier and softer as a whole, and when it gets hammered all day big bumps and hard, relentless chops start developing, which makes things especially scary because it’s such a high-speed track.

In fact, riders were reaching nearly 80mph (129kph) in one section this year! And like Hangtown, it’s also got plenty of steep up and downhills, which, thanks to riders being hard on the gas going up and hard on the brakes coming down, makes for even more nasty chop.

Saddle up for a bumpy ride at Hangtown © Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool 

MXGP: Lommel

We promise we haven’t brought this one up just to upset Aaron and our AMA fans, but ask any US rider about Lommel and observe their reaction for an insight into the roughest track on the MXGP circuit!

The Belgian track is a sand one, and perhaps the word deep doesn’t do justice to just how far down that sand goes.

Jorge Prado carves up Lommel © Alberto Lessmann/Red Bull Content Pool 

The MX of Nations in 2012 made it no more apparent, as Team USA – still managing a highly credible third place – struggled to get to grips with the extremely tough Lommel, which even many of the European riders still can’t get their heads around.

“We learned quite a bit and we realised what a demanding and tough track this is,” was Ryan Dungey’s reaction after experiencing the famous layout.

Hands down the roughest, toughest one the World Championship has to offer.