Monday Kickstart – Hangtown

A new series, a new sponsor and new girls.

No, Justin Barcia did not steer directly into Pourcel off the start, but it sure looked like he was going to. The sophomore pro did not have the same shining performance that he did last year at this race, but he stilled faired well is and is well within the championship hunt with a fifth overall.

Blake Baggett was near the lead pack for much of the first moto and came out pretty well. Unfortunately a first turn crash in the second moto took him out for the rest of the day. Hopefully we will see Blake back up to speed come Freestone.

Several gear companies were showing off some new threads. Dan Reardon sports some very slick looking new MSR gear. The number 122 came away with 15th overall on the day.

Ben Evans is back on the scene aboard a Ti-Lube KX450F. You may recall Ben running well within the top 20 for most of the season during last year’s Nationals in the 250 Class. Now Ben has bumped up and is looking to do the same on big bikes. Keep an eye out for the number 42.

Apparently Chad’s break from racing didn’t affect him much. Reed had the class covered in the first moto, leading wire to wire. A poor start in the second moto forced him to charge through the field and he made it all the way to third place for first overall. There is a reason he has the number one plate.

The 450 Class this season is perhaps the most stacked it has been in years. There are so many riders who are returning from injuries, contractual issues, and the like, that they are hard to keep track off. The key thing is that this will be one heck of a year for racing.

Kyle Regal zips by the mechanic’s area. At the onset of the year, Regal was a VMS/Yamaha guy but has switched over to privateer equipment for outdoors. The talented youngster came away with a ninth in the first moto.

The weather up in NorCal was just about perfect. Cool temps and partly cloudy skies kept the dust down and the soil moist throughout the day. You could not have asked for better conditions.

Alessi celebrates his second moto victory. The controversial 350 machine answered a lot of questions in a short period.