Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
We’re back and had a great time in Vegas. It was good to get away for a week, as well as race. As you know, my husband has been working long hours and needed the break. The only bad part is coming back home to reality 🙂
We flew out of Detroit on Wednesday, April 30th. The kids loved the plane ride until we got stuck in Phoenix for three hours. We had a layover at LAX, and unfortunately for us their radar was down. When we finally landed we had missed our plane to Las Vegas, however we were upgraded to first class on the next plane – woohoo! It was a long day of traveling, but walking out of the airport and feeling the heat was worth it. Thursday was registration and track walk followed by a dip in the pool. It was so nice to sit by a pool after the winter we’ve had.
Friday was practice day. Everyone was excited to get onto the track. Preston was riding well but complaining that his bike was bogging. Justin was standing in the mechanics’ area so he couldn’t really see or hear it. I heard it from my seat in the stands. Justin tried everything to get it to stop, but Preston kept complaining. Because of the bog, he didn’t feel comfortable to jump any of the jumps; he’s had a bad experience before. Once his bike was bogging and he tried to jump a double; his bike bogged and he went over the bars. We couldn’t blame him for being scared, but all the other kids were jumping. He finished the day with second and third fastest lap times. He was really upset with himself, though, for not jumping and he was determined he’d do it in the race.
Saturday was hot! A lot of the kids went to Supercross but we decided not to. We got up early and went for a walk along the strip. Preston blew my mind – the kid that jumps if a fly lands on him, held a giant lizard. I kept thinking as I was taking pictures that if that lizard looks at him he’ll throw it away. The M&M store was a hit as well with the kids. After lunch we headed back to our hotel to sit by the pool. It was too hot to do anything else. Our hotel had lots to do: bowling, movie theatre, arcade, ice cream store, etc. Preston would have spent all his money in the arcade if I’d let him.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early! It was finally race day! Heats started at 8am, so we didn’t have much time. Justin wanted to try and fix the ‘bog’ before Preston went out to race. Brooklyn and I got down to the pits half an hour before the races. Justin was happy that the bike was running good. Preston had done the track walk himself and was determined he was going to do the jumps. The 50cc arenacross.com class was second up. Obviously, I was a nervous wreck. I was sitting in the stands with my fingers crossed that everything would go well. The start is outside the arena where they do an ‘S’ turn and come through a tunnel into the arena. I could hear the ‘buzz’ of them coming but I had no clue if Preston was up/down, in front or at the back. He came through the tunnel right at the front, jumped and cleared the step up and then cleared the big double. I almost had a heart attack, I couldn’t believe he did it on the first lap. I was so proud of him. He went on to win the heat. It wasn’t a typical heat because everyone in the main was involved. It was just a race for your gate pick for the main event. As soon as the race was over I went running down the stairs to find him. He was so happy! I asked him what made him do the jumps on the first lap (keep in mind there was no practice on race day, that was his first time on the track that day) and his answer was “because if I didn’t, other kids would have landed on my head.”
The winners of all the heat races were part of opening ceremonies. He got to ride out and the announcer said his name and number; it was pretty cool for the kids. The day went great, he tried so hard. We couldn’t have asked for better racing. He finished the day with 4th overall in the arenacross.com main (he had a bad start, someone clipped his peg so he started in about 9th and had to work his way through the pack). In the 7-8 Limited class he finished 2nd and in the 4-8 Open class he finished with a 3rd. All the other Canadians did great as well. Definitely made Canada proud! It was a great experience, and it was worth the trip to Las Vegas.
It’s always sad once racing is over, it means your vacation is coming to an end. Monday was our last day. We did some shopping, Preston has a new love for Freegun underwear and wanted to go buy some more. Haha. We went for a drive into the desert and walked down the other end of the Vegas strip. We were all a little depressed that we had to go home the next day.
It was definitely a great trip. Great racing, family time and lots of memories made. Thanks to everyone who sent ‘good luck’ messages, we really appreciate that you think of Preston. Thanks so much to Jeff and Tanner Ward who drove our bike out there, it sure helped us out. Thank you to MXP for sharing our story and to all our sponsors who help us out along the way.
