This was Evan’s final race of the season. He had been having trouble getting used to launching with a clutch all year, so Miles and Evan had gone out to work on his starts the day before. The practice paid off and Evan was much more comfortable keeping the revs up and controlling his launch with the clutch. He had a good start in his first heat, and had a great battle with Justin Hanna, only narrowly beating him out for first position.

Evan’s second heat didn’t go quite as well. He kept his revs up and didn’t bog it, but let the clutch out a little (way) too fast and looped the bike. He hopped back on the bike so quick it didn’t even need to be restarted. He caught up to the group ahead but it wasn’t long before he fell back and it was apparent something was wrong with the bike. He came off track and Miles and a few other awesome dads got to work on the bike. The front master cylinder was damaged when the bike went down and they just didn’t have what they needed to get it working right.

To play it safe, Evan started from the final spot in the main and pulled off after completing a lap. It wasn’t the race he was hoping for, but he was able to salvage as many points as possible, clenching the 65 GP championship. He was really looking forward to battling it out with Justin for the win. Justin is a class act and showed us all what true sportsmanship is when he came by after the race, shook Evan’s hand and congratulated him, telling Evan he deserved to win the championship. You are a champ in our book Justin! Evan is really looking forward to competing with you again next year. Thank you to Allen, Teresa and the whole Lil 99 staff for your hard work out there. We appreciate it.

Special thanks go out to Evan’s sponsors for all of your support this season: Amsoil, Cycle Gear, Motion Pro & Woodcraft. To Jim and Nickie at Catalyst Reaction – Evan’s new suspension is amazing and he is so happy with it. He said the bike moves so much better under him now!

Evan was finally going to get the chance to try out the dirt sections with Supermoto USA at round 4. It turned out to be very . . . interesting. Suffice it to say that he spent some time on the ground as was getting just a tad frustrated learning to ride in the dirt on slicks. He only got one practice in the dirt since they were working on getting those sections dried out for a good portion of the morning. His first heat of the day was Youth Supermoto Combined, and he went down exiting the second dirt section on his first lap. He finished the rest of the heat without incident, but it took him a while to get his bike started up, so he finished pretty far back. His next heat was the all-asphault class Mini GP2. Evan got a great start and was holding his own in 3rd place. He lost his drive out of one of the corners when his back end stepped out, and Justin Hanna was able to get around him. Evan fought back immediately, but pushed it a little too hard off-line on a pretty dirty track. He low-sided, and once again, his crash put him pretty far back.

Evan regrouped and got ready for his mains after lunch. He was doing well catching up from the back, but he made a pass on a corner exit and ended up carrying too much speed into the dirt section. He hit the dirt and watched everyone go by as he tried to get his bike started. He finally got going again and finished the race, but needless to say, he was quite disappointed. His Mini GP2 main went much better. He got a decent start, but got held up in traffic a bit, letting the top 3 get away from him. He ended up finishing in 4th, but ran a consistent pace, and best of all stayed upright!

On Sunday Evan had his Youth Asphalt Combined race. Evan was the only 65, and he tried to keep up with the bigger guys, but just couldn’t quite make it happen. He put his head down and raced his own race, finishing the weekend on a good note. A big thank you goes out to Catalyst Reaction for this weekend. If they hadn’t fixed his suspension up before this round, it would have been an absolute nightmare! Their handiwork made Evan more comfortable on the bike and he was able to handle it so much better since it was lower (no more tip-toes). As frustrated as he was during the weekend Evan was excited to give it another go next time—he’s going to get this dirt thing down, yet!

Unfortunately due to family obligations Miles wasn’t able to race AFM round 5, but the good news was that freed up the weekend for Evan to Race with M1GP in Santa Maria. It was Evan’s first M1GP event, and it was a great experience. It was also Evan’s first event at Santa Maria Kart Track, which he really enjoyed learning and riding. After a morning of practice on Saturday, there was a 2 hour endurance event. Evan and Miles teamed up and took 30 minute shifts with Evan on his CRF50F and Miles on his CRF100F. After many laps, many smiles and a little low-side for Evan, the boys came in 2nd place!

On Sunday Evan competed in the 50 Cup Races and 65 GP Pro. Evan came in 2nd place against some stiff competition in both 50 Cup Races. He really enjoyed getting back on the CRF50F, and riding the little bike helped him hone his skills for the 65. The 65 GP Pro race was a pretty long one, and Evan really enjoyed getting a few more laps in during a race. After a hard-fought race, he ended up just on the box in 3rd place. The weekend was capped off with the Road Warrior race. It was something new, and Evan isn’t even sure where he placed, but he had a good time running it. He’s looking forward to his next M1GP event!