Minimoto USA 2012 Round 10, Buttonwillow

Nov 112012
 

The final Minimoto USA round of 2012 was at Buttonwillow, where Evan had his first ever race weekend at the beginning of the year. The format for the weekend was a little different than usual with no qualifying and a race for Evan on Saturday and on Sunday. It didn’t take long for Evan to get back in the swing of things at Buttonwillow. On Saturday morning he was ripping around so fast he blew his muffler off! Thanks to Stoney at Midsouth Minimoto, Miles had a new exhaust to put on stat and Evan didn’t miss a beat.

Evan’s race on Saturday went just as he hoped. He got the holeshot and led the race from beginning to end. The competition wasn’t too far behind, though, so Evan knew he had to be ready for a close race Sunday.

Minimoto USA was putting on quite a show on Sunday with sighting laps and on-grid interviews before the warm up laps. When asked what his strategy was for the race, Evan replied “To get first place!” That was a great start, but Miles knew another key was going to be making quick passes when coming up on lapped traffic. Evan got another great start and pulled out a bit of a lead, but nothing too comfortable. After a few laps, he started coming up on lapped traffic and did just we he needed to do—made a quick pass so he could keep his lead. Evan kept his head in the race and took the checkered flag to sweep the weekend.

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 9, Atwater

Oct 282012
 

The penultimate round for Minimoto USA 2012 was in Atwater—the first place Evan ever turned a wheel on track. Evan got a few rounds of practice in on Friday afternoon and was turning some of his fastest laps ever at Atwater. On Saturday he was able to adjust to some changes in the bike looking for a little extra speed and qualified on pole.

Race 1 came up quickly after a cool morning of practice. Evan got the holeshot and stretched out a lead over the first 7 laps of the race. Then he relaxed a little bit on the last lap and almost got passed on the final straight when Peyton made one heck of a charge. Evan ultimately held on and got the win by about 2 bike lengths!

Unfortunately, Race 2 after lunch didn’t go quite as well. Evan got caught up in an incident during the warm up lap. He was fine, but his bike started running a little rough. Evan made it to the line, but didn’t get a very good start as the bike stumbled under full throttle. He did one lap and then came into the pits to say that something was wrong. With no time to make any fixes he went back out to finish the race a lap down, his bike gurgling across the finish line every lap.

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 8, Reno

Oct 142012
 

Evan missed the first Reno round earlier in the season, so he went into the weekend motivated to learn the track layout and get up to speed. He really enjoyed turn 5, which everyone was calling a mini Thunderhill Cyclone—it was great to see some elevation change at a kart track. Evan did a great job learning the track, but was still 2 seconds off pace for pole and qualified 2nd. After all the qualifying sessions were done and everyone was thinking about dinner, Evan asked if he could get back out on track. Miles had to put his clear visor on since it was getting dark, but there was still just enough light to go out. With the sun setting behind the desert mountains, Evan turned it on and put down his fastest laps of the weekend.

Evan got the holeshot in Minimoto Beginner Race 1, stretching out a few bike lengths lead on Peyton, the kid to beat, by the end of lap one. Then coming down the hill on lap two they ran into some lapped traffic, and Peyton was able to get around Evan. Peyton stretched out a lead over the rest of the race, and Evan finished a strong 2nd.

Evan had another chance for a rematch in the afternoon during Minimoto Beginner Race 2. He got a killer start and leaped out ahead of the field. Peyton got caught up in traffic and Evan was able to pull out a good lead over the first three laps. Then Peyton made his way into second place and started coming after Evan, but Evan didn’t give up any ground and crossed the finish line for the win!

AFM 2012 Round 7, Thunderhill

Oct 072012
 

It was the last race weekend of the 2012 season in Thunderhill. Miles was ready for a great weekend. He had the Novice 650 Production championship all wrapped up and a shot at 3rd overall in Clubman Lightweight.

The Clubman Lightweight race was up before he knew it on Saturday. The green flag dropped and Miles settled into position by the end of the second turn. He was running a little off his fastest pace, turning 2:06 and 2:07s, which wasn’t enough to hang with the guys up front. He finished in 7th which put him in 4th overall for the season—by only 2 points, argh!

After a great night of hanging out in the pits for the last time in 2012, Miles got ready for the final races of the season. Novice 650 Twins went well, and it was the race that Miles turned his fastest laps in. He got to do a little dicing on the last few laps and pulled out a 5th place finish, good for 4th overall.

Novice 650 Production was a very lonely grid, but Miles got a good enough start to tag along with the experts. After setting up a difficult pass for two laps, Miles thought he had gained a position right before the checkered flag. Except he had stopped racing a lap early. What a way to end the season—at least the championship was already locked up!

See everyone next year!!!

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 7, Redding

Sep 162012
 

After missing the previous round, Evan was ready to get back to the track. As an added bonus, he got to learn a new track along with all his racing buddies. This was the first time Minimoto had been to the Redding track, so everyone was in the same boat. Evan had a full day Friday and half of Saturday to learn the track. He did a great job of consistently improving from session to session, and was able to qualify on pole! He then had a great practice session on Sunday morning and was ready to race!

In Minimoto Beginner Race 1, Evan got the holeshot and pulled away. All his practice served him well and he developed a commanding lead. He stayed strong and brought it across the finish line for his first ever race win with Dad waving the checkered flag and Mom in tears. Evan was even given the checkered flag to do a victory lap in recognition of his milestone accomplishment.

Evan got yet another holeshot at the start of Minimoto Beginner Race 2, stretching out a lead for the first half of the race. This time the competition was reeling him back in towards the end, though. Before they could reel him in, Evan crossed the finish line to sweep the weekend. After such a great time, Evan declared, “I want to race motorcycles for the rest of my life!”

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