This was quite the milestone weekend. Evan’s first motorcycle race and his official induction as a Texas Devil Racer! Evan’s first race with Minimoto USA was at Buttonwillow Raceway. We rolled in on Friday morning ready for a day of practice at a new track. Evan really liked the new track, but ran off at the exit of the chicane no fewer that four times during the first practice session of the day. After a little line coaching during the second session, he was taking it like a champ and never had a problem with it again! The day was going great until Evan bumped into the back of one of the other riders when he was coming onto the front straightaway. The other rider stayed up, but Evan went down face-first into the track. He was a little shaken up, mainly because he had hit someone else.
Saturday started off a little slow with Evan working to get his confidence back. We made some changes to the bike to make it more stable and with the intention of getting some new rims and slicks put on. Evan cautiously got back into the groove just in time for qualifying. He put in a good effort and qualified 8th for his Minimoto Beginner race. Late into the evening, with the help of Stoney and the Mid-South Minimoto crew, we got some nice new 6.5” rims and slicks put on Evan’s bike. Along with some other unexpected things like gearing, chains, and a new exhaust gasket.
Sunday was race day! There was only one practice session in the morning for Evan to get a feel for the bike with all the new parts on it. The bike wanted to fall into the corners more than he was used to because of the new tire profile. But the additional edge grip is going to be a good thing in the future. Evan’s race was the first of the day and we were all excited as he gridded up. The green flag went up and the swarm was off! Evan made and lost a few positions, battling it out with the other riders. Then on the third lap he was going for an inside pass before the chicane, but got squeezed out and ran off the inside of the track. He rode the bike off the curbing and then went down—his chain coming off sometime during the ruckus. Unfortunately, that was the end of Evan’s first race, but his spirits were up and he was ready to do it again. Until next time!