Destry’s AMA H&H Race story (Ocotillo, Ca.) March 30

AMA H&H

Ocotillo, Ca.

March 30, 2008

Yesterday I did a little riding with Josh, and felt pretty good. It’s been two weeks since I’ve ridden (letting the wrist heal) and it felt better then I thought it would. I felt a little rusty, but I knew that would come back quick.

Race Day:

The morning of the race, I got out there pretty early to make sure I had a good spot on the start. The wind was really bad (40+ mph at times) so I figured if I didn’t get the best start I would still be ok. When the banner fell I was off, and David Pearson and I were going for the same spot. He got there just in front of me, and I had to back off because the roost was killing me. Then I saw Josh coming over, and he got in between both of us. I followed them, and had a good little battle with Quinn Cody, before I was able to finally get in front of him. I followed Pearson’s and Josh’s dust for the first 5-miles, and then I had a little get off. The wind was really bad, and when I hit this drop off it carried my front end to the side and put me to the ground. It really wasn’t that bad of a crash so I was up pretty quick. I was still in third, but the leaders had put some time on me. The one good thing was the fact that I had some clean air, and I could see both Josh’s and Pearson’s dust in front of me. Then around the 10-mile mark, I lost their dust and was really confused. I started to think I had lost the course, but I was still following ribbon. I ended up slowing down, and almost coming to a stop, to see if anyone was behind me. Then I saw Kamo coming up on me, so I started to pin it again. When I got to the first check I asked them what place I was in. They looked confused, and told me I was leading. I said the first two guys must be lost then. So now I was in the lead, and took it to the first alternate pit (10-miles further). When I got there they said I was in second, and over 5-minutes down to David. I said he didn’t go through the last check, and I knew something must’ve happened. I took off again, and saw Kamo and Josh weren’t too far behind me. At this point I figured they were going to DQ or penalize Pearson, so I really didn’t think much about him in front of me. Now I just worried about riding smart, and not going down again. Not to much further Josh caught up to me, and he was riding really well. I waved him by so I could key off him, but he gave me the no nod and wanted me to lead. So for the next 20-miles, until we got to the main pit, we pretty much rode beside each other. It was a little weird since I know we were both riding around 85%. It was more of a fast trail ride, but I know we were both having fun with it. We pitted at the same time, and rode down pit row together. I told him to lead again, but he wasn’t up for it. Now we started to get into the dunes, and I lost the course a few times and Josh would take the lead. We did this for a while, and it was actually the best time I had during the race! There would be times he would lose the course, and I would wait to make sure he saw me and then we would continue on. He did the same thing for me, and it was really nice having a great teammate to work with while we were racing. Halfway into the second loop we started to get into some rocky stuff, and I was able to put a little gap on Josh. I knew I needed to start to turn it up if I wanted to try and win. Every time I would look back, he was still around 20 seconds behind me. When I saw the checkered flag in front of me, it felt really good to get across it safe and for the win (not sure at the time though). I know both Josh and I cut three minutes off of David’s time on the second loop, but it really didn’t matter in the long run. I know it would’ve been a good race if David didn’t miss the first check, but I still felt I had a good shot at the win!

Overall Summary:

It was great to get the win, especially since I came here just hoping to get some good points. I know I wasn’t up to my normal speed, since this was the first time I rode in a couple weeks (it felt longer). I had a great time racing with Josh, and all I can say is that kid is going to be really good! Now it’s time to get ready to go up to Utah, this weekend, and try to pull off another win!

Results:

1^st Destry Abbott Monster/Kawasaki

2^nd Josh Morros Monster/Kawasaki

3^rd David Kamo Red Bull/KTM

4^th Steve Hengeveld Honda

5^th Matt Henderson Kawasaki

6^th Ryan Kudla Kawasaki

7^th Jake Argubright Kawasaki

8^th Aaron Tuck ?

9^th Jake Oswald ?

10^th ?

Other Notes:

Now I have a 20 point lead over David Pearson (in 2^nd), so I just need to make sure I stay consistently up front. I know it’s a long way from being over, but if I ride like I know I can, I feel pretty good about the outcome.

This National is a lot different from any of the other ones I do. I know they try their best, and this year with the wind the way it was, it made it even that much worse. When I race down here I know I can’t ride 100%, since the ground is really hard to read and you need to make sure you’re always looking for markings. They don’t have a lot of terrain that allows them to try and make the speeds slower (this year they did a good job on the second loop though).

I need to give a huge thanks to Dr. Brian Popiel for helping me out with my wrist. I was a little worried about how it was going to be, but he helped me out with therapy. I still ended up using the CTI brace, which was really good. I know by this weekend’s race it should be close to 100%.

Here’s a video Beau did from the race. As you can see it wasn’t too technical. https://promoto.tv/2008-H&H-ROUND03.html

My next race is this weekend up in Jericho, Utah. It’s definitely one of my favorite races of the year. They always seem to put on good, challenging races.

I attached some photos from the race. Courtesy of Mark Kariya.

Best Wishes,

Destry

www.destryabbott.com

2008 Sponsors:

Kawasaki Racing, Dunlop, Stephen Gall Training, GPR, Thor, IMS, Shoei, Pro Circuit, Kawasaki Accessories, SIDI, Acerbis, CTI2, Jonre Multimedia, BRP, Motion Pro, Works Connection, OGIO, Kicker, Hinson, Hoy Fox Toyota, AP Designs, Braking, Renthal, Scott Goggles, Team Hawg Racing, Twisten Wrenches, Cyto Sport, Red Baron, Trick, Zip-Ty, RK/Excel, N-Style, Maxima, ZLT, Bent, Steahly, Parkway Chiropractic, and Tire Balls.