Blue C / Wahoo Tacos / Monster Energy / Penhall Motorsports / Precision Concepts Racing

 

Riders

 

Team 2X  Robby Bell

              Steve Hengeveld

 

Team 5X  Ryan Penhall

              Conner Penhall

              Brent Harden

 

Bikes   2010 Kawasaki KX450F

 

The first race of the Baja Score series is always a tough one. The terrain is some of the roughest found anywhere in off road racing. Deep sand washes, four foot deep whoops, and basket ball size rocks litter the course. This is not a course for miscues as one mistake can get you an "E" ticket ride to the hospital. Unfortunately Ryan was a victim and would only be able to take a short run into the finish.

 

Our 2X bike drew first start position while 5X started fourth. Robby took the start and as the clock struck six a.m., he was off. Most times being the first racer on the course is good as you have clean air. Baja can be different. With thousands of spectators lining the first twenty five miles, it can be a traffic jam as many drive right down the course to find a place to watch. After dodging many vehicles in the first thirty whoop infested miles , Robby brought the 2X bike to Steve with the lead. Brent struggled a little in the dust and and handed off to Conner in fifth. 

 

With the 2X bike in the lead, Steve continued to pull time. Unfortunately this was short lived. Steve began to feel a vibration which turned out to be a rear flat. With a forty eight mile section, including a twelve mile lake bed, he was forced to back it way down and nurse it to the next pit. The wheel started to come apart and tore off the mud flap and part of the air box. By the time he got to pit two, he was down to fourth. A quick rear wheel change and he was back at it, but now his arms and hands were junk from hanging on to the shuttering bike for so log.

 

Conner was putting in a good ride. Just after pit two, he passed into third, overtaking the struggling Steve. He held that position all the way to the entrance to Matomi Wash. Steve was able to get back by as his arms began to loosen up. Conner pushed to stay close, but soon crashed and fell back a little. 

 

At mile 147, Robby got back on 2X for the 100 mile run to the finish. It would be a tall order to catch the leaders as he was down fifteen minutes. 5X took a rear wheel at mile 147 and Brent climbed back on.

 

Robby charged hard, making up time, but derailed the chain and had to stop for a quick repair. ( a chunk of the flat tire bent the chain guide) Brent put in a solid ride, maintaining forth place. 

 

Between pit five and six, Robby was flying and put nearly five minutes on the lead team, and moved into second. Brent continued a steady pace and was closing in on third. 

 

The last thirty miles was sand washes, then wide open roads to the finish. The 2X bike, with it's broken airbox, started to slow down. Robby began to nurse it, unsure of why it was running a little slow. With the rear tire throwing dirt directly onto the air filter, it was amazing it held up this long. With all this happening, he was still able to close the gap on the leaders. At the finish, 2X was only 4:05 from the lead, finishing second overall, second class 22. 

 

Brent also had a good run toward the finish and handed off to Ryan for the last portion of the race. 5X took third overall, third class 22. 

 

All in all, everyone rode well. The flat tire was something that really put us down. It couldn't have happened in a worse place. The longest pit to pit section with a lake bed where speed is everything. Our bikes were faster and handled better than our 1000 bike and we really feel we were on our way to winning. Second and third isn't what we came for, but it keeps us in good position for the championship. To have both teams make the podium is actually quite good in our first year of racing, especially with only three weeks of preparation.  We will have plenty of testing time now to get ready for the Baja 500. We will be  ready. 

 

 

 

Riders

 

Robby Bell       KX450F    Pro    6th

JP Davis          KX450F    Pro    15th

Justin Seeds    KX450F    Pro-2   5th

Jack Achey      KX250F    A        7th

Mark Harstine   KX450F    B       15th

 

 

Lake Havasu is always one of the biggest races of the year. It's an awesome setting on the island in the middle of the lake. The course is very demanding with a moto section up on top, and deep sand whoops for the rest. There's even a lagoon jump over the water. It's tight, technical, and with lap times in the 6 minute range, you get double the amount of laps compared to other races.

 

In the Pros, Robby and JP were both looking for their best finishes of the year. In qualifying, Robby took sixth, his personal best. JP was looking good in practice, but got a flat front tire in qualifying and took a disappointing 16th.

 

In the race, Robby got off in sixth. He put on a great charge and moved into second on lap two. From here he ran up front until deep into the race when the flu he has been fighting caught up with him and he dropped back to sixth. I'm sending Robby's race report for a more in depth story.

 

JP got off to a top ten start, but then had problems with his steering and needed a long pit stop for repairs. This killed any chance to challenge for a front spot. He salvaged fifteenth.

 

Justin rode hard all weekend, and his results continue to improve. He took 5th in the Pro-2s 5th in the 450A, and 9th in the Open A.

 

Jack rode well, but a smoked clutch slowed him and he took 7th in the ultra competitive 250F A class.

 

Mark Harstine started his weekend getting run over. Beat up and bloody, he raced on and came from 40th to 15th in the 450 B class.

 

 

Next Worcs race is at 395 Cycle Park near Victorville, CA. Robby will be over his bout with the flu, and is super motivated by his early run at Havasu. JP will have the bike problems handled, and looks to better his 6th place Primm finish. All of our guys will be testing at 395 and getting plenty of time on the track before the race so we will be more prepared than ever

Robby Bell	pro	8th
Jp Davis	pro	13th
Ryan Abbatoye	pro-2	1st
.	450A	1st
Brad Goolsby	pro-2	3rd
.	openA	1st
Robbi Goolsby	pro-2	9th
	450A	6th
Justin Seeds	pro-2	6th
	450A	3rd
Killian Woder	15-29A	2nd
	250FA	3rd
Jack Achey	125A	1st
	15-29A	5th
Mark Harstine	15-29B	20th
.	450B	13th
Mike Roth	30A	1st
.	40A	1st
Marc Prince	50A	4th
.	40B	3rd
Steve Achey	30C	3rd
Shaun Caudill	15-29B	2nd
.	openB	4th
.	450B	1st
Troy Vanscourt	250B	10th
.	15-29B	9th