Destry’s WORCS Race Report: Hangtown, Ca.

 

Race Day:

After Saturday’s practice I knew this race was going to be a fast, hard-packed, and hot one! I felt pretty good during practice, and was actually looking forward to it. I figured my conditioning would shine in these conditions and that was a good thing for me. The start was around 12:00 (on Sunday) and I believe it was close to 100 degrees and a little humid. I didn’t have the best jump, and got squeezed off right out of the gate. Going into the first corner, someone hit me so hard that I was just about full sideways and figured I was going down. Somehow I saved it and missed the big pile up just to the right of me. I came out of the first corner in around 10^th or so. The first lap was a little dusty, but I felt pretty good. Then on the second lap, I started to get really tight and lost a few spots. I was really trying to focus on staying loose, but was having a tough time. On the third lap I stalled it in a corner, because I was having a tough time using the clutch and Caselli got by. I fired it up, but the same thing happened a few corners later and this time Gary Sutherlin got by. I did the best I could, the next few laps, and then started to get up to speed. I could see the leaders had checked out and were on the gas! I believe I was around 14^th at one point and had some work ahead of me. First I got by a couple guys in one lap, and then got right on Gary and he was cool enough to let me by. Then I saw Ryan Orr and was able to get by him. Things were going good and I felt I had a good pace going. The worst part was the fact that my left hand started to shred, and before the halfway point I already had blisters that opened up and started to bleed. It wasn’t that bad when I was on the gas, but when I was slowing down I had to put pressure on them. The lap before I pitted, I was able to get by Kyle Summers and get into 8^th. I had a great pit stop and now I had Woods in front of me. He was around 40 seconds ahead of me, and I would close the gap one lap and then lose a little the next. With about 30-minutes to go I really wanted to give it one last charge. I still felt good, but just had to deal with my hand issue (which I know a lot of guys did). I was making up some time, and on the last lap I was around 20-seconds back. I kept charging, but came up 10-seconds short of Nathan.

 

Overall Summary:

 

Results (top 20 overall):

1^st Ricky Dietrich

2^nd Bobby Bonds

3^rd Kurt Caselli

4^th Tim Weigand

5^th Justin Soule

6^th Sean Collier

7^th Nathan Woods

8^th Destry Abbott

9^th Taylor Robert (1^st Pro 2)

10^th Jamie Lanza

11^th Gary Sutherlin

12^th Russell Pearson

13^th Kyle Summers

14^th Ryan Orr

15^th Damon Huffman

16^th Nick Brozovich (2^nd Pro 2)

17^th Dennis Stapleton

18^th Brad Goolsby (3^rd Pro 2)

19^th Ryan Abbatoye (4^th Pro 2)

20^th Kendall Norman

 

Other Notes:

As many of you might have heard Josh Morros had a big crash down in Phoenix this last week. He’s been coming down to my place, on and off, to do some training. I actually had to go out of town on Tuesday so he went out to ACP (MX track) and took a big soil sample. They ended up air-lifting him out to the hospital (Wednesday night). He stayed in the hospital until Saturday. These were some of the things that Josh had done; 2 fracture in spine (but they were most likely from a crash earlier in the year), bruised lung, bruised kidney, cracked rib, fracture shoulder, and a small cut in his spleen. I know he’s at my place right now and plans on going home Tuesday to recover. He’s doing great now and I know he’ll be back soon.

 

This week I flew up to Mammoth Mountain to do some photos on the new 09 KLX (on Tuesday). It was for some adds, catalog, brochure, and a commercial. I had a blast and they have some awesome riding up there. I even got to play around on the track before I left (Friday). After that, it was straight over to Sacramento for Pro practice that afternoon.

 

Ricky D. has really been on the gas and if he keeps this up it’s looking like he might get his 2^nd WORCS championship. Bobby Bonds had the lead at one point, but went down and lost it. Justin Soule was also on the gas early and led for a few laps. This series is just stacked with a lot of talent.

 

I brought some of my new ISDE t-shirt to the race and it was a huge hit. I’m planning on having them up for sell on my site this week!

 

The guys over at GPR (Ralph and Randy) really stepped up and helped me out for my ISDE trip. They became one of my main sponsors for the ISDE. They’re some of the best people and I really recommend supporting them! THANKS AGAIN!

 

It was really great to see our big boss, Reid Nordin, make it to a WORCS race. It was a hot one to come to, but I know he still had a great time. Hopefully we can get him to more racesJ

 

I have a couple weeks off again, and then it’s time for the first Endurocross up in Vegas. If you haven’t been to one, this is your chance. I guarantee you’ll have a great time!

 

I attached some photos from www.fastphotolab.com. This time I added a lot of different photos from other racers and things that went on during the weekend. Thanks again Mike!

 

 

Best Wishes,

Destry

www.destryabbott.com

2008 Sponsors:

Kawasaki Racing, Monster Energy, 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.