When the banner dropped I got a great jump, but still had a tough time getting to the end of the banner first. I was around 7th, or so, and had to start slowly picking guys off. Close to the 5-mile marker I was able to put a good pass on Kendall Norman to get myself into the top 5, but not long after that I went down going up a hill. I hurried up and got going again before he could get back by me. When I got to the bottom I looked back and he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he crashed on the same hill and hit the ground pretty hard (I don’t believe he finished).

The first loop was pretty uneventful and I was in 4th, behind Justin Morrow, and really wasn’t able to do much. After the first 40-miles was over I was still in 4th and was told Kurt Caselli and David Pearson were already way ahead of us.

This last loop was around 50+ miles and I heard the last part was going to be really tough. I knew this was going to be my opportunity, and once we started to get into the really technical stuff I was able to get right on Justin and then later make the pass. I had to stop at the alternate (38-miles into this loop) and they told me the top 2-guys were a ways ahead so I knew there was no reason to hang it out.

After the alternate gas it was like I was riding some trails at Erzburg. They put us in some awesome stuff and I was totally surprised that we were racing through it, but pumped they actually put it in the race. I had a great time and just kept plugging away and trying to ride smart through it. Then there was a long valley into the finish and I figured I had a good solid 3rd, but with less than a mile to go I saw Kurt pushing his bike to the finish so I ended up finishing 2nd.

Overall Summary:

My goal coming into the opening round was to get on the podium, and since I pulled off a second I really wasn’t too disappointed. It’s a long series stacked with a ton of great riders, and I know if I stay on the podium I’ll be right there for my main goal (championship). I’m feeling good and fit so I just need to keep plugging away!

Overall Results (top 15):
1st David Pearson
2nd Destry Abbott
3rd Jacob Argubright
4th Justin Morrow
5th Kurt Caselli
6th Ryan Kudla
7th Brad Pace
8th Coltan Udall
9th Carl Maassberg
10th Ivan Ramirez
11th Jordan Brandt
12th Brett Saunders
13th Levi Hutchings
14th Morgan Crawford
15th Dan Capparelli

Other Notes:

I was super pumped to see DMC (the club that put this race on) put on a great national last loop! I’m sure they’re going to get a lot of people complaining, but it’s a national and that’s the stuff that separates the top guys! Great job on the last loop! It was like a tough national Enduro!

The H&H series is so stacked with great riders this year (as I was saying before). I can’t remember the last time there were so many great riders. A few of them started the year off on a bad foot. Kendal crashed out. Kamo had a stick go through his radiator, and Kurt who was going to pull off the win until he had bike issues right before the finish. Finishing consistently is going to be the key!

If you haven’t made it out to a National H&H you really should. This round had a huge turnout and they’re usually great races to do (and it doesn’t cost that much) or to watch.

Here’s a video Beau did from the race (pretty cool)! It shows how many people were starting at once and it has some awesome footage with a GoPro. http://promoto.tv/

Here’s a really cool video Kawasaki posted on their site of our off road race team (before our first WORCS race). http://www.kawasaki.com/Racing_news/Article.aspx?id=1515

I had a lot of people ask why I was running #14. Since it’s my number for WORCS and the Endurocross series I figured I would just use the same number everywhere. It’s also my 14th year with Kawasaki, so I figured it was meant to be!

I started a Twitter page and if you want to check it out. http://twitter.com/#!/destryabbott450.

My next race is this weekend for the opening WORCS round in Taft, Ca.

(photos taken by Mark Kariya)

Best Wishes,

www.destryabbott.com

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destry-Abbott/114746998547830?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/destryabbott450

2011 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, 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.

Grindingstone basically let me do whatever I wanted this year and they did a great job taking care of all the tracks. We had six different tracks/ trails available for people to ride (MX, Endurocross, Escargo, Mini, Desert loop, and a Pee-Wee track). I would say one of my favorite events was the Escargo! Everyone had a blast and kept competing to see who could get the fastest time.

We also had a huge BBQ (with two great cooks Darryl and Arden), and a lot of desserts. After that it was time for the raffle and auction. I’m pretty sure everyone that bought a ticket left with something (which was cool)! Thanks to a lot of great sponsors for helping me out this year!

I have way to many people to thank for helping out with everything! A lot of friends donated stuff from their companies and did what they could to help out. This ISDE is such a tough thing to do on your own and I really don’t think I could’ve afforded to do it this year without the help of everyone!

Other Notes:
Here is an awesome video Rich Van Every did for Monster Energy Kawasaki (at the last H&H race)! This is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen! http://www.kawasaki.com/Racing_news/Article.aspx?id=1471 . You might have to refresh the page to watch it.

I’ll be posting updates while I’m at the ISDE (or my wife will:) on my Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destry-Abbott/114746998547830?ref=ts and my message board on my site www.destryabbott.com . I’ll also be running number 44 at this years ISDE.

I posted some photos from Kelsey Abbott, Woody (from www.desertimagecollection.com), and Mary Doty. They did an awesome job!

Thanks again to great sponsors, family, and friends!

Best Wishes,
Destry
http://www.destryabbott.com

For more info and to order your Destry Abbott ISDE Team USA t-shirt go to destryabbott.com or e-mail Destry at kxabbott@hotmail.com

Heat 1:
I wasn’t able to practice any starts and it showed. I had a horrible start, and that’s usually one of my strong points at these races. They only took the top two to the main, and after my bad start I was able to make it up to 4th at the finish. Taddy won, followed by my teammate Justin Soule who took the final spot. I had Kevin Rookstool right in front of me with Coltan Haaker in 5th (you can see it was stacked).

Semi 1:
This is always a tough one since they only take the winner to the main. I had about a 4th place start, but made it up to 2nd right behind Rookstool. I tried to make some passes, but just couldn’t make any stick. Then Coltan put a good pass on me in the big rock corner. The three of us had a great battle going, but Coltan took the win with Kevin and I all finishing within bike lengths of each other.

LCQ:
A place I didn’t want to be in I had another horrible start and was probably around 7th. It was a short race, and I saw the leaders checking out and knew I had to really push it. I made some aggressive passes and got into 3rd with clear track. I was about 5-seconds behind Rookstool. I actually felt the best I had all night now, and started to do a few obstacles a lot better and was making up time on Cody Webb and Rookstool. By the time the checkered flag came out I was right on Rookstool’s fender, but it wasn’t good enough! That was the end of my racing for the night.

Overall Summary:
I do have to say this is the best I’ve felt on the bike since early in the year (before my injuries). I rode way better at this EX race then I did at the first round (and I made the main there) and as the night went on my speed kept getting better. That’s just the way EX racing is and I think that’s why it so fun to watch too. The training is starting to pay off again and it feels good to be getting closer to 100% again. I just want to finish the year out strong and get ready for 2011!

Main Event Results:
1. Taddy Blazusiak
2. Kyle Redmond
3. Kevin Rookstool
4. Gary Sutherlin
5. Justin Soule
6. Colton Haaker
7. Cory Graffunder
8. Jamie Lanza
9. Mike Brown
10. Cody Webb
11. Geoff Aaron

Other Notes:
This race wasn’t on my schedule, but on Tuesday evening I received a call from Jason Smigel at Kawasaki. He asked if I could take Ricky Dietrich’s spot since he’s still on the injured list, and I definitely jumped at the opportunity. I love EX races! The only problem was that I haven’t practiced any EX riding since the first round and had to ride Ricky’s 2011 250f which I’ve never ridden. The 2011’s are FI bikes and I was blown away by how good it was. I definitely didn’t have the starts figured out, but other then that the bike was really good. I just wish I could’ve had more time to practice and prepare for it!

I’ve qualified for the main event for the last five straight EX races, but my streak ended here. I’ll try and see if I can get the streak going again:)

Here’s another cool video clip from Dillon at ShotMaker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQwZrAlAtWM

This is a video clip of the track walk I did with Monster Energy Kawasaki at the first round. It shows how tough some of the obstacles are. http://www.kawasaki.com/racing_news/article.aspx?id=1439

My next race is scheduled to be in three weeks (WORCS), but I might be racing the Washington EX race if Ricky isn’t 100% yet. We’ll wait and see.

I was super pumped for my riding and training partner (Gary Sutherlin). He finished a strong 4th in the main event and had the speed to be on the podium. He’s been working really hard and deserves his great finish!

As a lot of you might know I’m a big basketball fan and love playing it too. I got to meet Rik Smits who was a big time player for the Pacers and got to talk with him for a while (picture attached). He’s really a cool guy and a good rider too. He finished on the podium in the vet class and it was awesome to hear the Indiana crowd cheering for him!

I’m working with the guys from the EX series this week to purchase the 100 tickets for the final round in Vegas. I’ll be sure to post more on my web site and Facebook fan page on how to purchase them. It should be a pretty cool deal!

I attached some photos from Mark Kariya and Kenny Jones. Thanks for the help guys!

I also need to thank Chappy for being my mechanic for the weekend. It was like the good old days! He did some wrenching for me when I started with Kawasaki.

www.destryabbott.com

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destry-Abbott/114746998547830?ref=ts
2010 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, 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.

Race Day:

The first heat that I was in was stacked; then again all the heats were stacked with good riders. They only take the top two from each heat to the main and the rest go on to the semi. I had a pretty good gate pick due to my time from the hot lap earlier in the day. When the gate dropped, I had a good jump and Mike Brown and I came into the first corner together. I tucked right behind him and then the second corner went into one of the many tough sections (this one was the matrix section). You have to set-up a little wide and when I did that I got hit by someone from the inside of me. I lost my momentum and it made it tough to clean the section. Of course right after that we had a hard left into probably one of the toughest sections of the night for me. It just turned into a bottleneck, and I lost more spots which dropped me to around 7th by the time I got out of it. I made up a couple spots, and then went down again in a section that had two course options. The choices were to either just ride straight over the rock piles or try and make a turn through them with a big log in the middle. I kept trying to take the hard part and go over the log, but it bit me twice during the heat and cost me a lot of time. By the time the checkered flag came out I finished 5th and off to the semi I went.

The semi race still had a lot of good riders in it, and for sure the toughest guy was going to be my teammate Ricky Dietrich. When the gate dropped, I had another awesome start and was leading after the first two corners. Then I hit my dreaded section with the left handed rock corner. I messed up and started a small bottleneck. Ron Commo made a good pass and went to the outside of me. I was still able to get going in second, and felt way better than I did in my heat race. This time I told myself not to try and go over the log in the big rock section, which was slower, but safer for meJ. With two laps to go I was still holding down second and Ricky wasn’t far behind me in 3rd. Right before the white flag I heard the crowd get really loud, so I looked up and saw Ron going down over one of the tires. Now I was in the lead, but had RD still right on me. I tried to push it really hard before we got to the big right handed rock corner. I still wasn’t going to try and go over the log, but I was pretty sure RD was going to do it and try and make the pass. As I was coming back up, Ricky nailed the corner which put us right next to each other. I was able to get to the next corner before he did, and I knew I had to protect my lines if I was going to take the win. Luckily he was to the outside of me before the matrix section and I was able to set-up wide for it and make it though first. I heard the crowd erupt as I went through it and figured he must have gone down. Luckily I made it through the next corner and when I saw him picking up his bike I was finally able to breathe again. Thankfully I was able to hold on to the one qualifying spot, and moved on to the main event (only the winner went to the main).

The main event was here and I was part of it! I didn’t set my goals too high, because I was just getting back on the bike so I was pretty excited to be in the main. My goal was to get a good start and just keep it upright and not take any chances. I had another great start and was right there in the first corner, but this time I was on the outside and the guys from the inside tangled and made a huge bottleneck. I had to sit there and wait for them to move. I finally got going and after the first lap I think I was in 10th. I was able to stay right on a group of 5-guys in front of me for most of the race and then I made a big mistake in my dreaded left-hand rock corner. They were able to gap me, but I just tried to stay consistent and was able to make it up to 9th by the end of the race.

Overall Summary:

I have mixed emotions about my night of racing. I knew it was going to be really hard to make the main and was super pumped I made it in, but was disappointed with my overall results. I know I’m probably only at 75% right now, but feel that if I was stronger and had more time on the bike I could’ve been a lot further up. Now I finally get to start training hard on the bike, and hopefully here soon I’ll be back up to speed! Overall it was really good and I stayed safe and had a blast, so I’m not too upset with it. I just need to realize that it’s going to take a little time and it will all work out!

Main Event Results:

1st Taddy Blazusiak

2nd Geoff Aaron

3rd Cory Graffunder

4th Mike Brown

5th Justin Soule

6th Gary Sutherlin

7th Kyle Redmond

8th Jamie Lanza

9th Destry Abbott

10th Cody Webb

11th Kevin Rookstool

Other Notes:

This is the official EX video that Shotmaker Productions did. http://shotmakerproductions.com/ShotMaker%20Website/site/exws10_rnd1.html

Here’s a cool video someone posted on YouTube of my Semi race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3GqJo3gVvg

If you haven’t been to an Endurocross race you really need to make it! I really believe it’s some of the best motorcycle racing to watch. So here’s your opportunity: I’m going to have a fan section (with the help of Monster Energy Kawasaki and Thor) where I’ll be selling 100 tickets and you’ll be getting a free t-shirt and hopefully some other goodies too. The tickets will be at normal price, but you get some free stuff and get to hang out with a bunch of fun peopleJ. This will be for the final Vegas race on November 20th. I’ll have more details in a couple weeks and will post something on my site and my facebook page.

Now that I’m able to get on the motorcycle to train again, things should start to pick up with my fitness and results. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my bicycles and row machine, but it’s still not the same as riding my motorcycle.

Speaking of bicycles, I just picked up a new sponsor (Tomac Bicycles). The bike is awesome and I wanted to thank them for helping me out this year!

I was sporting some of Thor’s new 2011 gear this weekend (thanks to James Zomerdyke). James and Bret Leaf also helped me out with their mechanic skills; since my mechanic wasn’t able to make it (he had shoulder surgery last week).

Thanks to Kit Kamo for all the goodies! She always bakes before every event and brings us a treat for after the race. They were a big hit!

Since I haven’t been able to do a whole lot these last 2-month I started a fan page on Facebook where I’ve been giving things away and keeping everyone updated (along with my website). Please check it out here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Destry-Abbott/114746998547830?ref=ts

I’m working on my new 2010 ISDE shirt that I’ll be selling here soon, so be sure to keep an eye out for itJ I’ll be selling them to try to help with this year’s ISDE cost!

Here’s an interview I did with the guys over at Thumpertalk after the race. http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=908168

I’d like to give a huge thanks to Drew Ruiz, Chilly White, and Megan Blackburn for sending me over the photos I attached. Thanks!

www.destryabbott.com
2010 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, 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.

According to the club the conditions down in the valleys were supposed to be pretty dusty. However, up in the mountains they said it should have some good traction and even some snow on the ground. Thank goodness they were right and the course was actually really good! The race started out just in front of the sand dunes and then went right into them. I had a great start, and was leading for the first 4-miles until Kendall made a good pass on me in a tight corner. I stayed right on him for the next few miles, and then had to back off because of the dust. This year they kept us down low for the first loop and ran us through more sand, which was pretty cool. I was pretty conservative through a lot of the sand sections and most of the first 54-mile loop. After the alternate gas, halfway into this loop, I could still see Kendall and figured he was still less than a minute ahead of me. I also had David Pearson not far behind me, so I had to make sure I still was riding a good pace.

Towards the end of the first loop, we had to stop at a check where we had to get off the bike and run beside it until we got to the other side. I’m not used to running next to my bike, but it was pretty cool. Coming into the main pit I was still in second with DP third, followed by Kamo and Sutherlin. After I gassed I was cruising down the pit, and to my surprise I saw Kendall sitting at the end of it with a course marshal. I thought he got a penalty for speeding in the pits, but after the race I found out he was stopped and held for a minute for not getting off his bike and pushing it across the road (he must’ve not known). Now I was just handed the lead and was pretty happy.

The next loop headed into the trees, which I’m usually pretty good at, so I figured this was going to be my strong point in the race. I had a good pace going, but every now and then I could see Kendall a little ways behind me. This 51-mile loop was awesome and we actually rode across some snow in a few sections. I made a few mistakes, and hit a couple trees, but I figured the guys behind me were doing the same thing. This loop also had an alternate gas halfway into it, and I wasn’t sure if I could make 51-miles so I stopped and Steve Argubright gave me my gas can. As I was filling up, Kendall went by and didn’t stop for gas. Right away I was like I probably shouldn’t have stopped! Luckily I was able to push it and catch back up to him and that’s when we had some great racing. We were both on it and I was pushing it more then I would’ve liked. There was one point he blew a turn and when I tried to go under him we could’ve collided, but I backed off and wasn’t going to chance it. I was really having a good time with this until I blew through some trees, and had to turn around, which gave him a little gap. I started pushing it pretty hard again and then washed my front end out. I lost some more time and now we were getting back into the lower stuff (out of the mountains) and it was pretty dusty again. I figured I had lost my chance and now was just hoping for a mistake on his part. Believe it or not it happened, and I didn’t even realize it. There were some cows in the open fields, and I guess he didn’t see the turn arrow and kept going straight. Well I turned, and as I was going I was thinking to myself he either checked out or got lost. I still was pushing it with about 8-miles to go, but really wasn’t sure if I was leading. There were still a few small tree sections and I was trying to look as far ahead as I could to see if he was up there, but couldn’t tell. I can usually read the tire tracks and tell if there was someone going fast in front of me and I didn’t see any. Now I was looking over my shoulder, but never saw anyone. When I came across the finish there were a ton of people cheering, but I really didn’t know until I stopped at the end and didn’t see him. I asked someone if I won and they said YEAH! Jonny was there and I told him Kendall must’ve got lost. It was a weird way to get the win since it didn’t feel like I won, but I’ll take it! That’s the first time I’ve ever been on that end of the deal!

Overall Summary:

I felt I rode really well today considering where my shoulders at. I still have to be careful in some sections and then others I feel like myself. To now only be 3-points down for the championship (behind Kendall) feels really good. I just have two more H&H’s before the summer break and feel like I’m starting to ride better, so it should go good!

Results (top 10 Overall)

1st Destry Abbott

2nd Kendall Norman

3rd David Kamo

4th Gary Sutherlin

5th David Pearson

6th Robert Underwood

7th Morgan Crawford

8th Jacob Argubright

9th Nick Burson

10th Shawn Strong

Other Notes:

It was really nice to get my first win this year. I wasn’t sure if my luck was going to change, but it definitely worked out for me at this one. Kendall and I had some great battles today and he would’ve been really hard to get by in that last section since it was so dusty, but I’ll still take the win. I was in the same situation at a race last year and lost it with about a mile to go. We both kept our racing clean and that’s what made it that much better!

Here’s a video, from Beau, of the race…. Promoto.TV

I also attached some photos from the race. Brad Bentley took a lot of great photos and even got one of Kendall and me battling with about 20-miles to go. I’ve also included a few other photos that were sent to my facebook page from other people. Thanks everyone!

I really thought the Sage Riders did an awesome job with the race. They ran us in a lot of new stuff I’ve never been through and they even made it over 100-miles, which I know takes a lot of hard work. Awesome job guys! They had a really good turnout too!

Out of all the H&H’s I go to, the Utah spectators and fans are the best. I for sure sign more posters there than any other place. I even had some people bring me some gifts, which really meant a lot. They love their motorcycle racing!

I want to be sure to have you guys check out Korbin McEwan’s Facebook page. He’s a 7-year old that was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma cancer last month. It really hits home when you have kids and know what they mean to you. They’re raising money to help out and I highly recommend helping them out. I ran his armband on my bike during the race (photo attached) and that win was definitely for him. Hope to see you at the races soon Korbin! Here’s his facebook page

Gary Sutherlin drove up with Jonny and I to the race. He had a horrible start and couldn’t get it started until the 10th kick. He still worked his way up to finish 4th OA. Still a great ride for that far back!

This summer I’m planning on doing a two day riding school up in Utah, while I’m recovering after my shoulder surgery. I’m planning on doing one day for kids and the next for adults. I’ll only be taking 10 riders per day though. As I know more, I’ll post something on my message board.

My next race is this weekend up in the high desert of California (Racetown). I missed the last WORCS race, but I’m going to see how I feel for this one.

“Championships are won on your bad days” RC!

www.destryabbott.com
2010 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, 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, Matrix, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.

The race was a little over 100-miles and I heard there were going to be quite a few whoops (which I wasn’t looking forward to). My goal was to try and get a top 10, and as many points as I could. I came into the race with the series points lead (by 7 points), but knew I wasn’t going to be leaving with it. When the banner dropped I had a first kick start and was off, but by the time I got to the end of the banner I was in 4th (which was way better than I thought I would’ve been). I was ok sitting down and could actually ride a decent pace, but as soon as I started hitting bumps my shoulder hated it and I would have to slow way down. A couple riders passed me, but I was still sitting in 6th at the alternate gas (25-miles in). Justin Imhof passed me, while I was getting some gas, so now I was in 7th. I stayed here for the rest of the first loop, and didn’t see anyone behind me so I was pretty happy. The first 46-mile loop was over and now I just had the second 59-mile loop left. I definitely wasn’t on the tired side, but my shoulder was aching and hurting more then you could imagine. Not too far in I lost my front end and went down! Luckily it was a slow speed crash so everything was good. Once I got going again, I was staying just a little ways behind Justin and figured if it wasn’t rough I might make a little push to see if I could get by. Well over halfway into the loop he slid into a barb wire fence and got his bike stuck. I asked if he was ok and he gave me the thumbs up. I was really happy to be in 6th and honestly never thought I would be that far up front. Then as we got closer to the finish Justin was back on me fighting for 6th place. We ended up going back and forth a few times, and this was by far the hardest I had to ride all day. I hit one drop off that scared me really bad and I’m not sure how I held onto that one. I ended up getting back into 6th and holding him off until the finish.

Overall Summary:

I’m super bummed to lose my points lead, but at the same time I’m only 8 points down and pretty pumped to be able to pull off a 6th today! This was by far the hardest thing I had to do in a long time, but it was all worth it. Now it’s time to get things taken care of and try to finish the rest of the H&H series strong.

Results (top 10 overall):

1st Kendall Norman

2nd David Kamo

3rd Gary Sutherlin

4th Jacob Argubright

5th Underwood

6th Destry Abbott

7th Justin Imhof

8th Bobby Prochnau

9th Nick Burson

10th Josh Mott

Other Notes:

I was really lucky to be able to make it to this round! I had a lot of great people that helped me out and would like to thank Dr. Cohen, Dr. Popiel, Dr. Micheel’s, and Stephen Gall. I also have to thank Kit Kamo for picking me up at the airport Saturday and for bringing some goodies.

I’m having an MRI done this Wednesday and will know more this weekend as far as what I’m going to have to do. I had this same thing happen in 2002 and had to have surgery. This was the first time it dislocated again, but I’m hoping to be able to put surgery off until summer (if I have to have it done). I know a lot of guys thought I separated it, but there’s actually a big difference from a separated shoulder and a dislocation. Luckily when it did pop out I had Gary Sutherlin and another buddy there to help put it back in (20 painful minutes later).

I’ll be missing this weekend’s WORCS race in Havasu, but I’ll probably still be going to watch and support my teammates. Monster Energy Kawasaki is putting a fill in rider for me this weekend, and I’m actually really happy with who they chose. I know he’s looking forward to it and should do great!

I have to give huge props to everyone that helped put this race on. They did the best I’ve ever seen as far as getting the word out on the race, and hosting a national caliber event. We had a pro signing on Saturday night in town and I was pretty busy for a good 2-hours. I also did a phone interview with one of the big radio stations on Friday. We were flipping through the channels on Saturday night and saw that the Fox TV station was talking about it in their news segment. They also had a plane that followed the leaders and took some footage of the race. Great stuff guys! Hopefully we can get more clubs to do that kind of stuff.

Here’s a really cool video clip with one of my favorite sponsors and great guys (Randy Norman from GPR). He’s hanging out with Jay Leno talking about the GPR! http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/extras/car-parts/how-to-gpr-stabilizer/

I attached a cover of a European magazine Motokross that I was on. They did a big interview with me and they did a great job!

Since I’m not racing this weekend I have a couple off weekends to get ready for the Utah H&H (April 10). Time to rest up!

www.destryabbott.com
2010 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Akrapovic exhaust, 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, Matrix, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.

Ride along with Destry Abbott as he tackles round 1 of the 2009 Endurocross in Las Vegas Nevada………….

Qualifying:

All the racers in the night show had one lap to go out there, by themselves, and put in their fastest lap time. This would determine everyone’s gate pick and heat race. I put in a smooth lap, and was tied for the 4th fastest with Colton Haaker. Taddy Blasuziak was the fastest, and then Rick Dietrich was second.

Heat 1:

They only take the top two out of this race to go to the main. I knew I had a pretty stacked heat and it wasn’t going to be easy. When the gate fell, I was right there at the first corner. Ricky D went a little wide and gave me the inside. I was in the lead, but had pressure most of the first lap. On the second lap I had a little gap, but went down on a rock corner (that I struggled with all night). I went from first to 4th! Antoine Meo and I had a great battle going back and forth for third, but we couldn’t catch Dietrich or Lanza who took the top two spots.

Semi 1:

In this race they only took first to the main and I still had a lot of great riders to contend with. I was able to get another great start when Antoine went down in front of me. I lead the whole race, but Bobby Prochnau kept pressure on me for most of it. I was happy to take the win and move into the main event!

Main Event:

I didn’t have the best gate pick, because I came out of the semi. However once the gate dropped, I had the elbows out and pushed my way into 3rd after the second corner. Taddy and Ricky were right in front of me off the start. For the first three laps, I stayed in 3rd and then made my first big mistake in the infamous rock corner. I had quite a few people pass me when I was trying to restart my bike. The worst part was that as soon as I got going again, I realized my front end was really twisted. I didn’t want to stop and waste time fixing it, so I just kept going so I wouldn’t lose more positions. I think it was the very next lap I went down again. I was really struggling going over the logs and rocks with my bars pointing straight and my wheel pointing to the side. After I went down again I tried to fix the front end, but it just helped a little. I kept plugging along in the race, but just couldn’t get back into the flow. I ended up with a disappointing 10th.

Main Event Results:

1st Taddy Blasuziak

2nd Ricky Dietrich

3rd Mike Brown

4th Geoff Aaron

5th Colton Haaker

6th Kyle Redmond

7th Cory Graffunder

8th Jamie Lanza

9th Damon Huffman

10th Destry Abbott

11th Matt Crouch

12th Nick Brozovich

Overall Summary:

I was super pumped to make it into the main event, but once I was in I really wanted to be in the top 5. I was happy with my speed and the 250F was perfect for this race. I just made some dumb mistakes and it just kind of snowballed from there. After picking up the bike, a few times, I was beat! I really don’t need to change anything on the bike, I just need to work on a few other things before the next EX race I do.

Other Notes:

What an exciting race. I could hear the crowd in the main event and I knew something big was happening up front. I finally got to watch some of the highlights of the race and it was awesome! This is a must see video from the opening round http://shotmakerproductions.com/?p=663&preview=true .

I really would love to do the whole series, but three of the six rounds conflict with other races I’m doing. I might try and race the next round, and then the final one in November.

At the final race in Las Vegas (November 21), I’m going to have one big section. I’ll be selling tickets where everyone can sit together (around 60 tickets). They’re going to be the same price as listed, but you’ll be getting one of my t-shirts and some other goodies. I know I had a lot of people talk to me about this and I’m finally going to do it. I’ll be posting more on my site here soon.

Everyone that put the event on did and awesome job. They really know how to run a first class operation and the course was really good too! I was amazed at the turnout. It was a lot bigger than last year and I know this series is going to take off here soon.

One of the big events during Saturday was seeing Josh Morros race. It’s amazing to see how far he’s come since his crash. He really did awesome and looked smooth the whole time. I know he would’ve liked to have done better, but it will come back with time. Great job Josh!!!

On September 13th I’ll be doing my ISDE fundraiser out at Grindingstone again. It was awesome last year, and I plan to make it even better this year. I’ll be posting the flyer up on my message board next week. Hope to see you guys there. It’s for a great cause! Go USA! J

I need to really thank Jonny Weisman and Cody Call for all their help getting my race bike ready. We did a lot of testing and it really helped for the race.

My next race will be this weekend up in Elma, Washington for the WORCS round.

I attached some photos from Brad Bentley and a few from Mike Farmer. Thanks guys!

Best Wishes,
Destry
www.destryabbott.com
2009 Sponsors: Monster Kawasaki Racing, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Pro Circuit, Stephen Gall Training, SIDI, IMS, Zip-Ty,HoyFox.com, Motion Pro, BRP, Braking, Works Connection, Concept2, CTI2, Maxima, Kicker, O’GIO, Steahly, RK/Excel, Renthal, Bent, Hinson, Jonre Multimedia, dragonfireracing.com, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.