ABA Grand Nationals Tulsa

Holy Cow what an amazing event this was!  We spent our very first Thanksgiving away from family and took Tyler to the ABA Grand Nationals for BMX in Tulsa, Oklahoma this year.  There were nearly 4,000 BMX riders that came in for the event from all across the country.  This is literally the Super Bowl of BMX and the first place trophy is about 8 feet tall.  

This was our first year for an event like this and it was rather intimidating for both Wendy and I to make sure we had everything organized for Tyler and I'm sure it was rather intimidating for him as well knowing that there were 4,000 BMX riders who came from all across the country to race.  He had 56 riders in his category and while we didn't come home with a trophy this year it was a tremendous experience and he had a wonderful time! 

Tyler getting ready to Race at Grands!

 The track he was racing on was AMAZING!  It was about 1,300 feet in length and the jumps were HUGE!  Well, at least it seemed that way to me but I'm not a young kid anymore.  The length of the track is only about 200 feet longer than our local track but it was much more complex and the hill at the starting gate was pretty big!

Tyler in the Gate at Grands!  He's on the far right of the photo in the Red Helmet

 While we weren't able to come home with a trophy this season, it was a great experience and Tyler is already looking forward to going back to Tulsa for next year.  I think the part that amazed me the most is that Wendy is becoming quite the "Racing Mom".   For a lady who was never much into racing it's been funny to watch her get into the sport too.  Don't expect to see her on a bike anytime soon but she's picking things up really quickly and she's keeping me on my toes as well.  But then again, that's nothing new.... 

Racing is basically over for us until the new season starts locally in March - April of 2012 but Wendy has her eyes on taking Tyler to some races out of State this Winter.  We may be back to Oklahoma a little sooner than I expect....

 

Racing Season Nearly Complete

WOW!  What a season....  The Kart racing season is done and BMX Season is nearly finished.  Tyler will race this weekend at The Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma and it will be our first trip to the "Grands".  From what people tell us there will be literally thousands of kids there racing from all across the country.  They even come in from Hawaii and Canada from what I understand.  Tyler is really looking forward to it and Wendy and I just hope the size of the event doesn't overwhelm him.  He's currently ranked #27 out of 176 riders in our district and he's done quite well this season so hopefully he'll have a lot of fun in Tulsa!

The go kart season wrapped up at the end of September and Tyler finished up the season on a really strong note.  For two years we've chased the current Champion and while we didn't beat him in the points this year we only missed the Championship by 23 points and Tyler was able to beat Luke in the final race of the season!  It was a huge victory for us and watching Tyler smile when he came off the track was worth every minute of effort we've put in this season.

Tyler Gets 2nd Place Mazda Heartland Sprint Series 2011

Now we move on to next season and Tyler moves up to the Tag Cadet Class where Tyler will be able to go 60mph in his kart.  The Kid Karts top out at about 40mph and despite the fact that he could stay in that class for one more season he's ready to move up to the faster more competitive class.  To say he's excited would be an understatement!  Before we could move up to the next class we had to sell his kart and I chose to sell mine as well so we could get him in some good equipment for next season.  Tyler's shown that he's got some real talent when it comes to driving because we were racing with a very old Kid Kart and we were up against some kid with much better equipment and yet we still were able to attain 2nd place in the points and score one race win this season.  They told us we'd never make it to Winner's Circle with the kart we had.  It just goes to show you that there's no substitute for determination!  

Now comes the hard part....  Just when I was getting to understand that little motor we had on Tyler's Kid Kart it's time to move up.  So now I have a totally new engine to learn!  I'm excited about it because a good friend of ours will be racing the same type of kart we're racing this coming season so it will be nice to have some input from someone else as well.  So now Tyler and I will spend the off season getting ready for the Tag Cadet class in his new Arrow AX9 with a Parilla Mini Swift motor.

Tyler's new Hot Rod!!!

 This is the only photo I have of the kart right now but it will have some slightly different decals on it when we're done with it and of course it will be #26 again in 2012. 

Look out everyone we're already getting prepared for the 2012 season!!!!