It has been a slow year for the midwestmotocross.com race team. First, midwestmotocross.com Senior Correspondent Mike Keefe Sr. breaks his Big Blue Bitch and pitifully spends all of five months securing the parts he needs. Then, bike test consultant Noah Holter watches his Polini go through clutch parts and top ends faster than a Sierra Club paper shredder chews up honest environmental impact studies. Toss in some hectic real world work schedules, and there have been more than a few cogs missing out of what by now should be a well-tuned machine.

Nevertheless, the editorial staff did manage to drag its sorry butts down to Fox Valley Off Road (FVOR) in Wedron, Ill., on Father's Day, June 16, for the facility's second harescramble of the year. From smallest to biggest, here's what our racers and associates experienced on a perfect day for riding dirt bikes in District 17.

Who you calling a sandbagger?
Unfortunately, the reliability bug also has bit our other bike test consultant Mikey Keefe Jr. (shown in the picture to the right). With Mikey's Polini finally eating through its clutch on Saturday and his PW50 hindered by a crack in the engine case, Mikey was left to ride midwestmotocross.com official co-pilot Elliot Holter's PW50.

Mikey's a true racer, though, and just was looking for an opportunity to compete, although there wasn't much competing to do. Only one other oil-injected bike signed up for the race, and while the kid gave it his all, Mikey clearly had a couple years of experience on the other racer, winning easily.

So, what did Mikey say was the big speed secret that all that extra experienced was good for? "Just go fast and beat all the wimps," Mikey said.

"Now, be humble, boy!" berated A-class mini dad Keefe Sr.

"OK. It was very generous for him to let me pass," obliged Keefe Jr.

Added Keefe Sr., who was happy he didn't have to expend any energy himself in the "third moto" (a.k.a, protest time): "Anyway, the most important thing is that I didn't have to force the issue."

Nazi Dad in training, Keefe Sr. wasn't happy with his son's first place effort and discarded the plaque accordingly. "If ya don't lap em more than three times, it ain't worth it, boy!" he was overheard saying.

Getting his legs
Noah (shown in the picture to the right) was competing in his second race on his Polini X3. Noah did make the first Fox Valley harescramble, but it was disappointing for him when his bike threw a ring on the seventh lap of a 20+ lap race. This time, however, Noah's bike held up and he was quick to term the event "terrific."

Although Noah managed only a sixth place finish in a field of seven, he was proud of his effort on the 50 senior class bike, which more than met the standards his dad and midwestmotocross.com Editor James Holter set down at the beginning of the race: no bad crashes and have fun.

Shortly after the start, Noah learned an important lesson about harescrambles: Keep your eye on the course arrows. When the leaders and most of the pack blew a critical corner -- a mistake that would plague the entire field of one of the "big bike" classes later in the day -- Noah ran near the front for a little over a lap.

continue...