On The Pegs June 2020 - Volume 5 - Issue 6 | Page 102

On The Pegs 102
12005 Cherokee Enduro, First Pro Podium
Definitely one of my first big finishes was making it on the
podium at the Cherokee National or the first time. That was
the first pro podium, in 2005 from the 250 A class. I caught
Lafferty in a test. I remember doing that. I remember that
win I got in Gilmer, Texas, too, in 2008. Sometimes going to
random places that we’d never been before, like to Maine
and winning Maine. Just when I hadn’t ever been to a track
and it was new for everyone and to get a win in a new venue,
that always felt special to me. It’s like, there’s no advantage here. This is reading
the terrain, racing the grounds. I always like that a lot. You’re chasing arrows.
But it’s just a new spot, so it’s like, you don’t know what to expect completely. But
then there was a couple of those races where everything just clicks and you’re just
firing on all cylinders too. Like Indiana in 2011 when I wrapped up that championship
against Charlie Mullins. I was on a 300. I just felt unstoppable. Then Minnesota
a couple years back when I won in 2016, that race. Things were clicking off. I
didn’t just win a ton of races. The ones that I did win was when my comfort level
was just at its highest and I felt like it was easy. That’s what is supposed thappen.
2
2009: Beating Mike Lafferty By One Point For the Title!
2009 was such a cool year. Lafferty was still kind of the
Enduro man at that time. Mike started off kind of slow, The
first round wound have been Sumter, I’m guessing. Then
Georgia, I won that one. He started off kind of slow there.
Even if you look at the results, there were a handful of
races really that made it tight for the the pro class that year.
We’re not racing a fully deep field back then. But regardless
of the fact, Mike was the man to beat. I was right there at that time too. So I
just moved up to kind of being able to compete with him on a regular basis. One
of the most exciting things was racing sections against him and we would be just
seconds apart. It was definitely some of the tightest racing I’ve ever had. We always
were seconds apart, it seemed like, in the heat of our battles.