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Destry’s WORCS Race Report! – Primm, Nevada

Jon Lague — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:23:22 +0000

WORCS-Round 2 Primm, Nevada (February 26-27, 2011)

Saturday Race:
This was one of the few WORCS races where we don’t have a starting gate, so it’s a dead engine start. I knew this was a huge bonus for me, since it’s the same as the H&H’s. When Homer raised the flag Taylor and I were dead even to the first corner, but I was able to tuck under him and get the hole-shot. He was able to get by me just after the mx section. My goal was to just ride smooth and ride my own race. I had a couple guys pass me and I was fine since I was still feeling lose and just getting into the flow. Then towards the end of the lap I was taken out and went down pretty good. I got up in around 12th and then just started to push it, but two laps later went down again and lost more spots. I was now outside the top15 and just wasn’t riding good at all. I was struggling with the set-up I chose and just couldn’t ever get into a flow again, but still was able to move up slowly to finish a really disappointing 12th for the hour plus one lap format.

Sunday Race:
This year the WORCS series is doing a 2 moto format, and in this case it was better for me since I got to change a couple things that were going to help me today. I still had a great start and was third behind Mike Brown and Taylor Robert. I could tell on the first lap my set-up was a lot better and I actually felt loose and more like myself. Just before the end of the first lap, I kicked up a rock that went in between the chain and sprocket and derailed it. It was actually pretty scary, because I almost went over the bars. I coasted off the track and was able to get it back on, but now I was once again outside the top 15. Luckily I was able to get back by quite a few guys to get into 10th or 11th, but with two laps to go my rear brake pin came out that holds the brake pads in. So, of course, I had no rear brake and it was so rough that it was super hard to try and hold guys off. I ended up having three guys pass me to finish another disappointing 13th for the day.

Overall Summary:
I was pretty bummed with the way things turned out for both days. I put myself in a great position and just didn’t have things go my way on the first laps. The worst part was the fact that I’ve been practicing a ton of sand and felt really good, but the results just don’t show it. I really have been feeling good on the bike and just need to keep doing what I’m doing and it will all work out! As far as the brakes falling out, that was just some bad luck and one of those fluke things.

Overall Results (top 20):
1st Bobby Garrison
2nd Taylor Robert
3rd Kurt Caselli
4th Justin Soule
5th Kyle Summers
6th Gary Sutherlin
7th Brenden Ritzman
8th Robby Bell
9th Coltan Udall
10th Destry Abbott
11th Mike Brown
12th Michael Sleeter
13th Mark Samuels
14th Ryan Reina
15th Ryan Abbatoye
16th Dennis Stapleton
17th Bobby Bonds
18th Arik Swan
19th Dylan Schmoke
20th Sean Kranyak

Other Notes:
This last weekend Charlotte and I went over to California to Nathan Woods’ service. There were thousands of people that showed up and it was really cool! Then on Wednesday, they had a ride day at Glen Helen where a ton of people showed up too. Here’s a cool video from that-

I’ve been riding a lot of our sand tracks with Gary Sutherlin (who rode great) and Taylor Robert the last few weeks. I know it really helped us all out. Taylor was really close to the win both days! Bobby G was just on his game this weekend. It was good to see him get a win again (back on the green bike)

James from Thor brought me some cool gear this weekend and made me feel like a super-star!! Thanks for cheering me on too!

I attached some photos from Mike and Amber Farmer along with some from Kelsey (my daughter.) Thanks!

My next race is this weekend for the third round of the H&H series in California (El Centro). Looking forward to it!

Best Wishes,
www.destryabbott.com

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2011 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Fox Racing Shox, Akrapovic exhaust, GoPro, Stephen Gall Training, SIDI, IMS, Zip-Ty, HoyFox.com, Motion Pro, BRP, Braking, Works Connection, Concept2, CTI2, Maxima, Kicker, O’GIO, Traxxas, Renthal, Hinson, Jonre Multimedia, dragonfireracing.com, Tomac Bicycles, Matrix, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.

Caselli Wins WORCS Round 1

Jon Lague — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:02:49 +0000

In a fitting twist of irony, the Honolulu Hills Race course in Taft has never been better. The recent rains had left the hills covered in thick green grass, the dirt of the track was dark chocolate cake that offered Velcro-like traction and the early morning fog had left zero opportunity for dust anywhere on the nearly six mile course. The motocross course was perfectly groomed and the off road section was fast, tough, and technical. It was the perfect course for Nathan Woods.

But the former 2-time WORCS Champion was not on the line with his friends and competitors, having passed away on Friday from injuries resulting from a crash in Pro Practice. A memorial parade lap in Nathan’s honor was held on Saturday in place of the Pro race and Promoter Sean Reddish awarded the victory for the whole weekend of Pro racing to Woods giving him the points lead in the 2011 WORCS Championship one more time in his career. Nathan’s wife Amanda Woods and his oldest son rode the parade lap wearing Nathan’s #54 jerseys, the young Woods riding with his father’s good friend Kurt Caselli. The entire WORCS family of amateur riders, Pros, and fans came to the starting line to pay tribute and remember the great Champion and good man that was Nathan Woods.

The Pro class lined up on Sunday with the former Champion on their minds. “Nathan loved to race, and would want us to keep racing,” was a common sentiment. The rain started pouring in just before the gate dropped, causing many to smile, “Nathan was a good mud rider, he would’ve loved this.”

Defending WORCS Champion Kurt Caselli dedicated the race and the rest of the season to Nathan and drove home the point by getting a massive holeshot and running away with the win. Caselli and his KTM were virtually uncatchable as he extended his lead lap after lap to take the win by more than a full minute. The battle for second place was a mêlée that included Kyle Summers, Mike Brown, Bobby Bonds, Taylor Robert, Justin Soule, Kevin Rookstool, and Bobby Garrison. Summers eventually pulled out ahead of the pack and earned the second slot on the podium. Third fell to Garrison after he battled for the entire hour with Brown, Bonds, Robert and Soule.

Robert came from way back to take fourth with Brown in fifth and Rookstool in sixth. Bonds, riding a Zip-Ty Husky and still recovering from shoulder surgery took seventh with Robby Bell eighth, Destry Abbott ninth and Brenden Ritzman 10th.

Caselli came to the podium with Nathan Wood’s #54 plate in his hand, and again dedicated the victory and the season to Nathan. “This is a tough weekend for everybody,” said Caselli. “We lost one of our greatest riders in this sport on Friday. Nathan was a close friend of mine; we went to the ISDE together and got to be good friends. He was a down-to-earth, awesome guy, a great competitor, so tough, so strong. Today I was riding for him. Nathan and I shared a pure enjoyment of the sport and always wanting to win. I think everybody rode today for Nathan Woods. I’m going to miss him, he taught me a lot. He was winning WORCS Championships when I was coming up into the Pro ranks and I learned by watching him. He was one of my idols. I want to thank all of my sponsors, my KTM is awesome, but this race is for Nathan and his family. My heart goes out to all of them.”

WORCS round 1 Results:

1. Nathan Woods (KTM)

1. Kurt Caselli (KTM)

2. Kyle Summers (Yam)

3. Bobby Garrison (Kaw)

4. Taylor Robert (Kaw)

5. Mike Brown (KTM)

6. Kevin Rookstool (KTM)

7. Bobby Bonds (HSQ)

8. Robby Bell (Kaw)

9. Destry Abbott (Kaw)

10. Brenden Ritzman (Kaw)

Story by- Joe Colombero

Destry Abbott WORCS story; In memory of Nathan Woods

Jon Lague — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:52:32 +0000

Today I sat down to write my race story and just couldn’t bring myself to do it. As many of you know, we lost a champion this past week and #54 is prominently on everyone’s mind. So in lieu of my race story, I wanted to dedicate this race story to Nathan Woods and his family. As many of you know, Nathan wasn’t just one of the best racers out there; he was also an amazing friend and teammate, as well as an awesome husband and father. I can’t think of him without thinking of the passion he had for the sport, the never-ending love he had for Amanda, Nate and Braxton and his sense of humor that was more than a match for all of us on Team USA. We had some great times and I will cherish all the great memories. We were all lucky to have him in our lives and he will forever be remembered in our hearts! Godspeed Nathan!

Other Notes:

Saturday’s noon pro race was cancelled and turned into a memorial ride where all of us did a parade lap after we had a moment of silence and prayer. The most amazing part was Amanda rode on the back of Charles’s (one of his old mechanics) bike while one of Nathan’s sons (Braxton) rode with Kurt Caselli. It was really a tough moment to see. Everyone at the race showed up to the start to be part of this.

I have to commend WORCS for everything they did during this tough time and I feel like they did the right thing. They also awarded Woody with the most points for the weekend. They retired #54 and I think that was a great tribute to Nathan and his family. He was the winningest Pro WORCS rider and we will all remember him as a great competitor and a huge ambassador to our sport!

God Bless,

Destry and family

Kurt Caselli Championship Party

jefflague — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:20:33 +0000

Join recently crowned WORCS Series Champion Kurt Caselli for a night of indoor karting at Pole Position Raceway in Corona, California on December 11. The party starts at 4pm and is open to the public. Cost per race is only $19.95 and a portion of the proceeds will go towards Team U.S.A.’s International Six Days effort for 2011 in Finland. Food will be sponsored by FMF Racing and other top riders are expected to join the action. KTM will also have its factory semi on display, and there will be a cool silent auction as part of Team U.S.A.’s fundraising program. For more information and directions check out www.PolePositionRaceway.com

WORCS Final Round Video

jefflague — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:40:42 +0000

The final round of the 2010 WORCS series was an action packed race with the championship on the line. Kurt Caselli held the leading going into the final round, just 6 point in front of Ricky Dietrich. Dietrich new that if he wanted any chance at winning the 2010 title he would have to put at least 3 guys between him and Caselli.

Wiley Watson put together a great little video that has all the action from the final round of the 2010 WORCS series in Mesquite, Nevada.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Caselli and Dietrich Gunning For WORCS Title

Jon Lague — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:48:39 +0000

The final round of the WORCS series is coming to the wire with a showdown between two great off road racers, both former WORCS Champions. KTM/FMF’s Kurt Caselli started the season with the philosophy that winning the WORCS Championship meant being on the podium every single round. That’s what Kurt did and it appeared to be working until Monster energy Kawasaki’s Ricky Dietrich put together three wins in four rounds to take over the point’s chase. That’s when Caselli decided that he had to win a few races himself and put together back to back wins in the two Washington rounds………

For full story check out CycleNews.com

Brown Wins WORCS Rnd 9

Jon Lague — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:46:20 +0000

FMF/KTM’s Mike Brown is out of contention for the WORCS Championship, but he carries the 2009 #1 plate for a very good reason. Mike Brown never gives up and he is always fast. At WORCS round nine in Glen Helen, Brown showed the field of all-star riders why he has won so many races and titles in his great career.

ValliMotorsport’s Taylor Robert took the holeshot for what was supposed to be his comeback ride to the WORCS Series. Robert won the opening round, but was injured during the race and has been out all these months for surgery and re-hab. He held off charges by Caselli and Brown and looked ready to resume his win streak. However, on the second lap of the race, a rock bent his rear sprocket, tossing the chain into the cases, resulting in a broken case and a DNF for Robert. Caselli took over the lead but was quickly displaced by Brown who simply took off and left everybody behind for the next two hours. Brown took the checkered flag with time to spare…….

Check out the full story @ CycleNews.com

WORCS Series – 5th round Milford, CA

Jon Lague — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:48:30 +0000

FMF/KTM riders Mike Brown and Kurt Caselli continued their streak of finishing on the podium together – this time with a 2nd and 3rd overall at the fifth round of the WORCS at Honey Lake MX Park.
Brown had a great start, coming off the line in 2nd place behind Ricky Dietrich. Caselli started just outside the top ten. Brown dropped to 3rd once on the first lap but quickly got back in front of the rider and maintained 2nd place. During the first two laps Dietrich was able to put a 20 second gap on Brown which gave him an edge for the remainder of the race. Brown charged hard and rode a solid race to finish in 2nd place and earn valuable points toward the championship title.

Caselli took his mediocre start and moved up into 5th by the end of the first lap. Caselli pit two laps before everyone else on lap 4. Even with his pit stop he still made up time on this lap and caught Justin Soule who he passed for 4th place. The next two laps he spent reeling in the 3rd place ride of Robby Bell. He passed Bell on the sixth lap to move into podium position. Caselli remained in 3rd to the finish to stand on the podium with his teammate.

The RPM/KTM Team was also present at this event. Women’s rider Kacy Martinez won the race by over two minutes to strengthen her points lead. Brenden Ritzman had a couple crashes during the Pro event but still managed to finish inside the top ten with 8th overall.

Overall Results
1. Ricky Dietrich
2. Mike Brown – KTM
3. Kurt Caselli – KTM
4. Justin Soule
5. Robby Bell
6. Kevin Rookstool – KTM
7. Colton Udall
8. Brenden Ritzman – KTM
9. Bobby Garrison
10. John Dowd

Overall Points –
1. Kurt Caselli – 107
2. Ricky Dietrich – 106
3. Mike Brown – 92
4. Justin Soule – 83
5. Colton Udall – 60

Next Event: Round 6 – Anza, CA – June 13, 2010

WORCS Round 4 – Adelanto, Ca

Jon Lague — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:34:06 +0000

The track conditions were rough and the weather was hot neither of which bothered the FMF/KTM Factory stars Brown and Caselli as they dominated the field in the desert terrain of Southern California.

Off the line, Brown was the lead KTM rider in 5th position with Caselli sitting in 9th. Brown maintained 5th position for the first few laps before passing for 4th and soon 3rd near the halfway point. Meanwhile Caselli quickly picked off the bottom ten riders and was soon sitting in 5th position before the pit.

Brown lost some time to current leader Ricky Dietrich when he stopped for gas first. The following lap Brown began to reel in Dietrich and made the pass the following lap. Brown was able to pull more on the field when most riders pit the next lap.

Caselli turned up the heat after the gas stop first passing into 4th and then moving to an easy 3rd position after Kyle Summers broke with two laps to go. Caselli was soon hot on the trail of a tiring Dietrich, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms. Caselli quickly moved around Dietrich and began to close the gap on his teammate Brown.

Brown took home the win with his son there to greet him. “I always seem to win when my son comes to the races, I think he needs to start coming to them all,” commented Brown after the event. Caselli finished in 2nd just a few seconds down from Brown and Dietrich rounded out the podium in 3rd.

FMF/KTM Hare & Hound rider David Kamo made the drive from Idaho to participate in the Adelanto race. Kamo suffered from a poor start, caught and passed a few riders early on and then and rode a consistent pace to finish the race. “I struggled a bit here. I am used to being in 5th gear pinned at the desert races, and I never saw 5th gear once today,” remarked Kamo. “But it is always worth the drive to come here for the race experience and the added training.”

Brown’s win today moves him up to third in championship points while Caselli remains in the lead 6 points ahead of Dietrich. “I would have liked to take home the win here today, but when I can’t get it – it is good to know the guy ahead of me is my teammate,” stated Caselli.

Overall Results
1. Mike Brown – KTM
2. Kurt Caselli – KTM
3. Ricky Dietrich
4. Eli Tomac
5. Justin Soulè

Overall Points
1. Kurt Caselli – 87
2. Ricky Dietrich – 81
3. Mike Brown – 70
4. Justin Soulè – 65
5. Gary Sutherlin – 51

Next Event: Round 5 – Milford, CA – May 14-16, 2010

WORCS Round 3 – Lake Havasu, AZ

Jon Lague — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:50:42 +0000

FMF/KTM riders Mike Brown and Kurt Caselli finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at the third round of the WORCS race in front of the wild Lake Havasu fans.

Both riders suffered off the start, with Caselli stuck mid-pack and Brown near last after taking two kicks to start his bike from the dead engine start. They quickly made up for their slow start when they both passed their way into the top ten within the first few laps. By the third lap Brown had moved into 5th and Caselli was sitting in 6th. Brown moved up to 4th on the fourth lap and then 3rd on the fifth lap and maintained that position for the majority of the race. On the fourth lap Caselli suffered a big crash which sidelined him for about a minute. When he recovered he had lost valuable time and was back near the tail end of the pack.

Caselli came in for gas and took off on a mission. He quickly moved back up into the top ten gaining positions each lap. Meanwhile, Brown had moved into 2nd place and Caselli was coming up from behind. At the end of the race Brown was able to hold on to 2nd position with Caselli finishing just two seconds back in 3rd.

“I had a tough crash today but overall enjoyed this race. It was sandy and rough as it usually is over here but it is always fun to come out and race for the large crowd,” commented Caselli.

Adding to the day’s podium results was RPM/KTM rider Kacy Martinez who took the win in the women’s class. Now three rounds into the series, Martinez holds the championship points lead.

Havasu WORCS Results:
1. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw)
2. Mike Brown (KTM)
3. Kurt Caselli (KTM)
4. Kyle Summers (Yam)
5. Justin Soule (Kaw)
6. Robby Bell (Kaw)
7. Gary Sutherlin (Kaw)
8. Colton Udall (Hon)
9. Nathan Woods (Hbg)
10. Chris Johnson (Suz)