Purvines Racing, Utah NHHA, NGPC Rd 5

Utah NHHA

Nick Burson

This past weekend was another NHHA race in Utah. I was looking forward to getting back on the line and getting some redemption from the previous round. At the previous round in Utah I got the flu the night before and could barely put my gear on before the race without being exhausted. This weekend I was ready to fight to be back where I know I belong. Well that quickly went out the window when my bike didn’t fire when the banner dropped. As I sat there starting my bike my race quickly went from try to get out front to try and salvage a decent finish.

I ended up making some good moves and got up in the top 10 pretty quickly but it was really dusty. The first few miles were tough but I finally made it up to 5th with Josh Knight right in front of me. I tried to make some moves quick but just couldn’t get close enough with the dust. It took me until a few miles before the alternate pit to make the pass. Right after that I pulled in to get a splash of gas from Cowboy Pearson and when I was pulling out of the pits Josh passed me back. I was surprised to see him not stop. I made the pass back quickly as I didn’t want to eat anymore dust for the day. From there I was already a few minutes back of the leaders. I came in and got some gas and a fresh set of goggles from my beautiful wife! I was back off on loop 2.

Hoping to get in the trees and make up some time. But we never really got into the trees. It was just more rough valleys and choppy terrain. I could not get any flow going and the course was just beating me up. I kept pushing all the way to the finish and ended the day in 4th overall. Not where I want to be but it was a step in the right direction. This year has been extremely frustrating racing-wise. I just have had some sort of issue every race. Sometimes that’s just how it goes and I’ve been around long enough to know that the pendulum will start swinging the other way and I will make sure that I am back up front soon. A big thank you to Ron Purvines and Collin Woolsey for all the hard work!

Axel Pearson

Utah has always been a fun place to race especially if the club puts in the work to keep us out of all the whoops! Unfortunately this year the whole 95 miles was beat up and they never put us in the fun tight trees!

This type of course didn’t suit me well since my crash a month earlier I haven’t been able to ride from the concussion and really bad sprained thumbs and a sprained pinky finger so it made it extra tough on me! I almost chose not to race with how bad I was hurting but knew I had to at least try!

My start didn’t go well, I was probably 50th by the banners, I took some bad lines trying to make quick passes which hurt me and I never got up front like I wanted! By the alternate pit at mile 35 I was up to 16th but my hands were hurting so it was tough thru all the big whoops! At the main pits I had passed up to 11th and the last 35 mile loop I made it up to 9th! It’s hard to be happy with a finish like that! But proud of my efforts! I know I’m better than what this year has shown! Our program hasn’t been working and I’ve been trying to get everything back on track to winning! It’ll be nice to have a break to heal and get everything ready for the last few races this fall! Thanks to all our sponsors, team and especially family for putting in the time and effort, I appreciate everything.

NGPC Rd 5

Justin Seeds

The race started off amazing by getting the holeshot. This was very important especially with how dusty the track was. Unfortunately Zach Bell got a run on me and got by. I was able to stay close for a little and then he got away from me. After putting I tried to close the gap but he was riding very well and after almost going down a couple times I figured I better slow it down and settle for second and finish ahead of my championship companion Trevor Stewart. I’m happy with how I felt and rode and now it’s time to put in more work during the summer break. Happy to go into summer only being 10 points behind Trevor for the championship. Thanks to all our sponsors.

Tyler Lynn

Saturday’s AA Race:
I got a really good jump and came around the first corner around 4th or 5th behind some pretty fast guys so I knew it was gonna be a super fun race with some battles. I wasn’t able to make any passes till we left the Moto track when 2 guys had made a wrong turn. This left me right behind Clay Hengeveld. I knew that if I could follow him I would have a good fast pace and learn a thing or two from him. He and I made a pass on another kid through the rock section and this would leave us I believe 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd. I chased Clay for the next lap to when I get like I could possibly make a pass. I got up right to the side of him through the rock section but was able to make it happen. So I stay on his tail until I came into a tight sand corner with to much momentum and went right through the berm resulting in a small tip over. I jumped back up shook the sand off my helmet and got back on course right behind another kid in my class. I was chasing him down until I went to make a right handed turn and my bars wouldn’t turn. I looked down and my dry brake cap had come off and was hanging by my radiator holding my bars back from turning. I hurried and pulled it off and got back on course as fast as I could. Not losing any positions I tried to catch the next guy in front of me but wasn’t able to make it happen before the finish. Ended the day out there 3rd 250AA.

Sunday’s Pro Race:
I got a decent jump and just tried to keep it on the gas a little longer than everyone and got pushed a little wide into to some old dirt mounds and got kicked a little weird so I fell back a few positions. When we hit the next straight it was over watered and had a bunch of mud. Being mid pack was not ideal for this situation so me and my goggle got soaked with mud. Thankfully I had some tear offs on or else I would have had to get some goggles right then. After that straight we got into the truck course where it was very sick dry and dusty. I tried to just keep and steady throttle through out the corners to maximize traction. I got by a few people by the end of the truck course but was still around 5-6th place. Throughout the Moto track I didn’t make any passes but didn’t get passed either. When we left the track I was right behind Nick Stover and trying to get passed him before the rock sections. I almost made the pass but his bike was just a little faster than mine so I couldn’t get around him. I battled with him for the next lap until he made a small mistake and I was able to get by. By this point the leaders had put a pretty decent gap on us so I knew I had some work to do. I tried putting my head down and go fast but my line choice and arm pump said otherwise. I was just not riding how I knew I should so I slowed down a notch and just tried being smooth and making good line choices.

I came into the pits a lap early to get some goggles and gas so I could try and get out of the dust. After my quick pit stop me and Jake Alvarez got into a pretty good battle but him getting the edge on me and pulled away. With around 2 and a half laps left something clicked and I was able to ride the way I knew I could. My Precision Concepts suspension was working flawlessly and I was able to put on a hard charge for the next couple of laps and came into the finish with a 5th Pro2. My fitness was great all weekend and had the time of my life racing. I definitely learned a few key things this weekend that I believe will help take my racing to the next level. After looking at lap times after the race I learned that I pulled the 3rd fastest last lap time tied with Tallon Lafountain and Blayne Thompson. About 14 seconds behind Zach Bell and my teammate Justin Seeds. That’s a huge confidence booster knowing that I could have the speed to run up there and to know my fitness is getting to where it needs to be. Can’t thank Ron Purvines and Collin Woolsey enough for their support. I definitely couldn’t do it without you. Also another huge thanks to all of our amazing sponsors!!