Rain or Shine the race goes on... Ironman MX 2016

Morehead, KY – Ironman MX in Crawfordsville Indiana was a new stop on the circuit in 2015 and the whole series was excited to see what the Buzz was all about with the new track.  The weather kept the 2015 event from living up to the hype so coming into this race once again we were all super excited to race this track.  Well as fate would have it Mother Nature has a sense of humor…it rained…again.

Dealing with the elements is one of those parts of racing that MX racers just don’t like.  One rider that the weather didn’t slow down was Michael Perkins #94.  “Pookie” had a mishap at round 1 in Texas and hadn’t been on the bike in a month.  You’d never know it though as the Tennyson, IN native used 2-3 moto scores to take home 2nd overall in the 16-24 class.

It had been a couple of years since our Team Captain had won a moto and that drought came to an end at round 3.  Cunningham (a 2 time ATVAMX champion) pulled the holeshoton Saturday in the 25+ class and never looked back taking the moto win!  The rain and mud for Sunday’s 2nd moto were not so kind to the #419 machine but he used solid 1-6 finishes to earn a 2nd overall for the weekend.

Josh Holley #7 was riding a load of confidence coming into round 3 after a win at Muddy Creek.  Josh continued his strong showing by going 3-1 and walking away in Sunday’s 2nd moto to take 2nd overall in Open C.  The weather kept the young rider from doing better in the Production C class as he went 3-18 for 14th.

Crashing while you’re practicing the day before you leave for a race is never fun.  It’s even less fun when the reason you crashed is that your engine on your race bike let go.  So enter Brandon Cesaroni…feeling sore and borrowing a bike from team rider Zach Kaczmarzyk the #243 put his head down and earned a solid 2-3 for 3rd in Production B to go along with a gutty performance in the rain during the 450B main as he went 2-10 for 8th.

Ironman MX was a weekend that Zach Kaczmarzyk would like to forget.  Zach had mechanical gremlins that forced him to ride his practice bike in the Pro Sport class.  The #41 machine made the best of the situation as he went 4-12 for 10th but maintained 4th place in the series points.  They say you win championships on your bad days, look for this rider to rebound at round 4 in a few weeks.

Defending 30+ National Champion Dane Heilman had rocketed out to a nice early lead on Saturday’s 30+ moto 1, then as fate would have it got tossed off the bike.  Dane isn’t like most riders though…as only Dane could do he lay beside his bike with it upside down and still running he grabbed the clutch flipped the bike and never had to miss a beat.  He lost about 5 positions but was able to charge back up to 3rd!  The 2nd moto of 30+ was canceled due to weather so Heilman wasn’t able to improve on his podium finish.

Racing is a foreign country on a shoe string budget is tough.  Most of us could never think of attempting it!  Juan David Lopez is living his dream by racing in the states.  The competition in America is night and day different than in his home country of Colombia.  Lopez says he’s up for the challenge though as that’s why he’s here to test himself against the best in the world.  Juan is one of the most humble young men you’ll ever meet and we’re happy to call him a Media Allstar.