Pit Stop with Gauldy – Grand Rapids

Happy New Year to everybody in the motocross world, 2008 and has already started off with a bang as we were in Grand Rapids for the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series. This weekend I decided I was going to drive from my home base in Gilford, Ontario as it is only 6 hours from my house. This time I finally found myself a traveling companion, I brought my girlfriend, Andrea, for the ride. Though she slept most of the trip it was nice to have someone in the car. The drive was a cake walk as far as weather and road conditions. We left Thursday morning and everything was smooth, we arrived in Grand Rapids for dinner time. We hooked up with John and Glen for dinner and called it an early night to prepare for Friday.

Friday started off easy but turned out to be a really long day, as Glen made us work our butts off. This year we have to do a recap show, therefore we had to come up with new ideas to fill in the time instead of it being all just racing. We talked to team managers, mom, dads, what goes into making an Arenacross event, and also what goes into making an Arenacross track. It was really cool when we got to sit down and talk to the parents, because you don’t really get to see that side of the racing. For those of you who don’t know a lot of the younger kids that are in Arenacross, their fathers are the mechanics, their mentors, their supporters, and their everything at the races. When I was sitting down and talking to some of these dads, you could really see the effort that they put in to make their son able to their job as easily as possible and to the best of their abilities. Arenacross is such and emotional rollercoaster, as I was looking into the eyes of the fathers as they were looking into the camera you could see the sacrifices and the efforts that they have gone through to get their son to where they are today. It is truly amazing to see what a family will go through to get their son to the next level.  I was talking to Mr. Reynard and you could just tell in his answers how much he has sacrificed and given up for his son Robbie, but he just kept saying he wouldn’t have it any other way. Listening to the answers from these fathers as the guy on the other side of the camera instead of in front it this time, really made you feel the love and the support in the Arenacross pits.

As we headed into the night program into the races, the buzz made you feel like it was going to be a great night of racing. The track was awesome as it offered up some great action, and in the lites main event they had to have a red flag start after the 8th lap. This is now one of the most bizarre things you will see in racing, instead of going back to the gate they line up single file like a NASCAR race. Arenacross is always about not knowing what’s going to happen and the lites main proved that theory. In the Arenacross main it was almost an instant replay without the red flag start. I believe the only riders that didn’t go down in the 15 man main event were the riders on the podium, which were Brock Sellards, Kevin Johnson, and Kelly Smith.

Saturday is always the day for me to do the helmet cam, and this time I rode a fellow Canuck’s bike that came to the race, Machine Racing’s Kyle Keast. I’m not to sure what has been going on with me lately, but on first attempts I’ve been taking at the catapult jump I come up short and this week was the same thing, I went for it on the second lap and came up short. The track crew had a good laugh at me as usual, but the next lap I buttered it and yelled out a big YEHA!

The racing Saturday was not quiet as spectacular as far as the crashes and red flags go, but Keith Johnson was able to take his first win of the year and it put a lot of smiles on people’s faces. When the night was done we all raced over to a local bar to watch Anaheim 1 live and once again the entire staff and Arenacross family all joined and watched the race to see Ryan Dungy and Chad Reed to take the first wins of the year. It was an awesome weekend and it couldn’t have ended any better, the drive was easy and I bought Andrea the XXL Monster Energy that we don’t have in Canada so she could drive a bit.. The fricken thing is huge; it’s almost as big as her, haha.

The next round for me is Youngstown, Ohio.

Till then keep your stick on the ice.

Gauldy out.