With the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series opener in Des Moines Iowa coming November 2nd 2007, it is one of the areas biggest events and a great place to see how you stack up this year against the pro's. It's also that time of year when the weather becomes unpredictable here in the midwest so getting in a few days of practice before the big race is exactly what is needed. What better way to practice than to practice on a Scaled model of an actual arenacross track. Well hidden in the valleys and thru grazing fields of Iowa such a place does exist. This private track is only shared with the Cattle. The first few times I went to kneel down to get a good angle on a corner shot, I got a whiff of something foul, Yup a few inches from where I placed my knee was fresh cow dung. It only took me a couple times before I remembered to watch where I step and where I decide to plant my self. Arenacross veteran Travis Hodges was on hand getting in some seat time, and Ricky Draper was also there putting in some blazing fast lap times. Ricky is on a comeback mission.
Recently Matt Draper wrote in with a Ricky Update from Branson, his first big race since his crash earlier this year:
Hey everyone, just a quick summary of the week's events in Branson...Ricky's first big race since his injury...Moto 1 in 250 pro pulled a 3rd place start and then hit another bike in turn four, bending his front brake rotor. With no front brake he finished 27th. In moto 2 he started about 15th then lost four positions adjusting his clutch, he went from 19th all the way up to 12th by the end of the moto. With a 27-12, he ended up 20th overall. In the 450 pro, they had 36 entries so he had to qualify for a Sunday runoff, he came in with a 12 and in the runoff scored an impressive 9th after holding 6th for most of the race. He definitely turned a corner as we head into Arenacross season...
Also on hand were a few of the areas young hopeful future Arenacross, Motocross & Supercross Stars, they too were getting in their work before their big day in Des Moines. Pardon me for not getting their last names but Seth on bike 531, Nick on bike # 723 & Dillon Cloyed on Bike #97 were having allot of fun and enjoying a beautiful October day. At one point near the end of the day, Matt Draper put a challenge out to both Nick and Seth. If they jumped the first double of the set of tripples then they would make it to the Racertoy.com home page with Travis Hodges & Ricky Draper. Well Seth was first to take the charge and once he did, Seth jumped it time after time, Nick took a little longer to hit it, but he made the leap. His first time Nick came up a little short, but he was not going to give up so he went for it again and the second time, he would have had it fine but he landed a little off and was pitched from the bike. You guessed is I was there to get it on camera. Even though he didn't quite make it I felt that his efforts must be rewarded. Nick really gave it his best effort at that point, Mostly it's a good thing he didn't fly a little further because there was a few fresh cow patties less than 5 feet from where he hit the ground. SO he avoided that mess that's for sure. Cleaning off a little dust is much better than having to ride home in the back of the truck because of a little smelly left over's from the cattle.
These are all of the photos of
Dillon Cloyed Bike # 97
These are all of the photos of
Rider Bike # 7
I have recently launched a new website featuring some of my photography from this year. Visit www.photographiclifetime.com to view my working portfolio.
Earlier this year I also launched a Forum that I have not had much time to promote or even talk about. Rright now I have 27 members and slowly the forum is getting bigger and better. So I am looking for forum members www.ridersmeeting.com and to a slelct few new members I will grant moderators privelages. If you are intrested in joining my forum with moderators privelages. Also my plan in the next few years for RidersMeeting.com is to have a central location where all tracks at local and national level can post their Rules, Results and event calanders. Riders Meeting is the perfect name for the perfect place to chat about all the races. I believe that if we all got together Riders Meeting could be what it's name suggests. So if would like to join and help promote my forum. Please contact me at racertoy1@cox.net
Donations of any Size Accepted. Help keep www.racertoy.com running thank you.
Also on hand were a few of the areas young hopeful future Arenacross, Motocross & Supercross Stars, they too were getting in their work before their big day in Des Moines. Pardon me for not getting their last names but Seth on bike 531, Nick on bike # 723 & Dillon Cloyed on Bike #97 were having allot of fun and enjoying a beautiful October day. At one point near the end of 
the day, Matt Draper put a challenge out to both Nick and Seth. If they jumped the first double of the set of tripples then they would make it to the Racertoy.com home page with Travis Hodges & Ricky Draper. Well Seth was first to take the charge and once he did, Seth jumped it time after time, Nick took a little longer to hit it, but he made the leap. His first time Nick came up a little short, but he was not going to give up so he went for it again and the second time, he would have had it fine but he landed a little off and was pitched from the bike. You guessed is I was there to get it on camera. Even though he didn't quite make it I felt that his efforts must be rewarded. Nick really gave it his best effort at that point, Mostly it's a good thing he didn't fly a little further because there was a few fresh cow patties less than 5 feet from where he hit the ground. SO he avoided that mess that's for sure. Cleaning off a little dust is much better than having to ride home in the back of the truck because of a little smelly left over's from the cattle. 
