Destry’s WORCS Race Story

Pre-race:
After a disappointing last week at the H&H, it was time to focus on the last couple of WORCS races. My last WORCS race I went to was in Utah, where I hit the ground really hard and was out for a few races. I?m getting closer to being at 100% again, and then I?ll be feeling a lot more confident. Kyle Krause, from Phoenix, was nice enough to bring mine and Jonny’s bikes to the race so we could fly in. On Friday, we were able to ride a little bit before the day was over. The mx track here at Oak Hill is really fun to ride, but this was my first time riding my KX250 in almost a month. I?ve been spending so much time on the 450, that I haven?t rode the 2-stroke in a while. I would be racing the 450, but we?re still waiting for a tank. Otherwise, I would be more then happy to race it stock. It?s really that good! The big news of the day was my mechanic Jonny crashing and breaking his leg. He was probably only going 15 mph, but it was one of those weird crashes and the bike hit him wrong and broke his Tib and Fib. He spent the night in the hospital and had to have a rod put in his leg. I hope he has a quick recovery and gets back to riding here in a little over a month.

Saturday:
Today I got up really early! It was actually only 6:00 here in Texas, but I kept thinking it was 4:00 back in Arizona. I wanted to go out and ride the Unclassified race at 7:30 to get a little more time on my KX250. It was a good idea, since I was felling a lot better after the race. Right after that, it was back to the hospital to see how Jonny was doing. His surgery went really good, but I could tell he was still in some pain. After spending a little time with him, I went back to the track to ride the top 10 pro practice. I had a good 45-minutes on the track and felt like the bike was working really well. I washed it off and did a couple of things to it, then it was time to see if Jonny was going to be able to get out of the hospital. The Doctor decided to keep him one more day and then the plan is for me to pick him up right after the pro race on Sunday. We?ll be going right to the airport and flying home. I know he wants to get back home pretty bad. As far as the course goes, it?s on the faster side compared to most of the WORCS races, but it should still be fun. It?s definitely a 450 course, but I?ll be sure to try and keep my 250 pinned.

Race Day:
Due to a time change, I ended up getting to the track a little earlier then planned:) I didn?t realize the time had changed last night. In the good state of Arizona, we never change our time. It actually worked out really well, since I finished race prepping my KX250. I had Matt from Kawasaki help me out with a few things. Then it was time to get ready for the riders meeting and Chapel service . Not to long after that I was heading to the start line. I had a pretty good gate pick, but I hate starting on concrete starting pads. We did two different parade laps before the race. The first lap was for Gary Ratliff who passed away yesterday. I heard he had a heart attack during in his race. I believe he was in his sixties. I wish his family all the best. After the National Anthem, it was time to go racing. When the gate dropped, I spun a little bit but it still wasn?t to bad. I got pulled going down the straight away, and came out around 18th or so. The track was pretty hard to pass on, but I was still able to make a few passes before the end of the lap. I believe I made it up to 14th. I was pretty frustrated trying to get around some of the guys, and just wasn?t feeling confident enough to be pushing it to the edge. After a few laps went by I was able to get up to 12th, but the leaders were on the gas. There were a few times I had some good battles with Bobby Garrison, Matt Karlsen, and Eric Rhoten. Just before my first pit stop at the 45 minute mark, Semi Pro rider Brenden Ritzman was on the gas, so I just waved him by (since he?s a Kawasaki rider). On that same lap I made my first pit stop and the guys at Kawasaki did a great job on a fast pit. The bike was working really good, but I just wasn’t riding like myself. I would put in a couple of good laps, and then I would back it down. It was kind of frustrating, but at the same time my goal coming into the race was to just get back into riding shape and get some points. I never really had any close calls or went down, but then again I wasn?t going as fast as I would?ve liked:) The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I pitted one more time, but never had any races with anyone again. I was happy to get some points, but I know the next WORCS race I should be 100%.

Results (Overall) Top 15:
1st Nathan Woods
2nd Juha Salimen
3rd Mike Kiedrowski
4th Ty Davis
5th Russell Pearson
6th Lance Smail
7th Ricky Dietrich
8th Brenden Ritzman (1st semi-pro)
9th Josh Demuth
10th Matt Karlsen
11th Bobby Garrison
12th Destry Abbott
13th Eric Rohten
14th Justin Soule (2nd semi-pro)
15th Kurt Caselli

Other Notes:
I?m actually still in Texas right now. We were supposed to be flying home, but the hospital wanted to keep Jonny one more day. So it looks like we?ll be flying out some time tomorrow (we hope).

Nathan Woods put in another great ride and clinched the WORCS championship for the second time, with one race left on the schedule.

Kurt Caselli was also putting in a great ride and was going to finish second overall, but ran out of gas ? mile form the finish. He tried pushing it until his body just gave out. He ended up having to get an IV to help him out after the race.

Josh Demuth showed up to give a WORCS race a try. He was on a KX 250 and finished ?. The rumor is he might be racing the WORCS series next year. Just another fast guy to try and beat.

Another fast MX guy Sean Hackley raced the pro class, but ended up having a crash and pulled out.

Tony Acosta from MRO (and our Chaplin for WORCS) did a great job with supporting the riders and family?s this weekend.

I was told they had 776 entries for the weekend.

On Tuesday I’ll be going up to Las Vegas for the SEMMA show. I’m doing an autogtaph session for American Racing (one of my sponsors).

I?d like to thank all the people that stopped by and saw Jonny at the hospital. He really appreciated it!

My next race will be the Endurocross and the WORCS race, on the same weekend (Nov. 19-20). It should be a great weekend of racing.

Best Wishes,
Destry
www.destryabbott.com
2005 Sponsors:
Kawasaki, FMF, Thor, Dunlop, ACME, Kawasaki Acc., Scott, SIDI, CTI2, Motion Pro, Bent, Works Connection, Hinson, IMS, Scott?s Performance, Jonre.com, Cyto Sport, Acerbis, BRP, Pro Clean 1000, Trick, Varner, ZLT, Sprocket Specialist, DP Pads, Shoei, UNI, American Racing Wheels, RK/Excel, 909, Wiseco, Zip-Ty Racing, Motorex, N-style, V-Force, Top-Speed, and Twisten Wrenches.