ROUND 3 - MAY 24, 2009

Round 3 had a great turnout with over 100 entries on Sunday. Unfortunately there still aren't many women coming out, so BRM Team Riders Missy Barrett ran in the 30+ 'A' class instead. The other groups were considerably larger and made for some exciting bar-to-bar action all throughout the day. Jeff Barrett was running in the 40+ 'B' class and we were excited to check out our new GoPro Helmet camera.

Race 3 was the first Quad race to run after the Unclassified and Trophy Karts, and BRM Team Rider Dawson Turner lead the way thru lap one on his Apex in the 90cc class. He had the lead on Dakota McNeal and they kept a tight battle thru much of the race until Dawson ran into motor problems, and finished 3rd. Tone Razo was also struggling back in 3rd on his DRR but was able to make a late pass to clinch 2nd. With Dawson stalling several times, Dakota was able to walk away with a first place victory.

Jeff Barrett and the other 40+ B racers were the third group off the line, of race 4, and they all went hard into the right hand 1st turn the lead them onto the mx portion of the track. After the MX section the racers were funneled into some tight and technical single-track that lead them across the property and over to the arena on the south end. After crossing thru the arena, it was into the first wash section then back up across the trophy kart track, thru a portion of the pee-wee track, and into the scoring area before heading out to the long desert section on the north end of the facility. The track was probably about 7 miles in length (maybe longer), had some great technical terrain without any gimmicks throw in like tractor tires, boulders, or logs. It made for some great racing that was a true test of physical endurance and not what was going to blow your quad up.

Jeff was in a great battle much of the race with Ken George as the 2 of them kept the action nice and tight. They had a few lead changes and in the end it was Jeff taking the checkers just a few seconds ahead of Ken.

Race 6 was started shortly after noon and the temps were only in the mid 90's, a nice surprise for late May in Arizona. Missy Barrett was lined up in row one with the 30+ 'A' class. With their left hands in the air, the green flag was waved. Missy got a slow start, but made up ground quickly and passed for the lead before the the end of the mx section. To her surprise she was leading the pack of a pretty fast field... for the rest of lap 1. Going into lap 2, three racers from the 30+ 'B' class got by her but she passed one of them back on the mx section and was right behind the other 2 for the remainder of lap 2.

Unfortunately for Missy Barrett, she started getting fatigued half way thru lap 3 (of 5). Her thumb was just not cooperating with holding the throttle open while pushing thru the long, rugged terrain. About midway thru lap 4, she could feel the blisters developing, but didn't think much of them, just kept trying to 'will' her thumb to step up to the challenge. She would get burst her and there, but not enough to keep a good steady pace. She finished 2nd in class and 8th overall.

Race 7 featured BRM Team Rider Jonathan McVay who had a good run in the Pro class. The warm temps were taking a toll on all the riders, but there was exciting racing the full hour and a half they were out there. Jonathan found himself in 5th at the end of the day, but it was still a great day of racing for everyone.

Round 3 pix and the Grinding Stone's race schedule are posted below. If you have a quad, dirt bike, or UTV and would like to learn more about Grinding Stone, visit their web site.

stay young, have fun, PLAY!