Adelanto GP Destry Abbott Race Report
February 21, 2009 Adelanto, CA
Race Day:
Let me start off by saying that this was a really busy weekend for me! I went and rode practice at the WORCS race, not too far away, (early in the morning) and then made it over to race the 30+ race for the Adelanto GP. This is a race I haven’t done since 2003 (I believe). I saw that they had a $15,000 pro purse and $5,000 went to the winner, so I asked Monster Kawasaki if I could do it (which they said yes to). The only bad part about this was the fact that it was going to wear me out, and I would miss Saturday’s pro practice at the WORCS race. I ended up signing up for two classes at the Adelanto GP; the 30+ which was at 12:30 and the pro race at 3:00. I had a lot of fun in the 30+ race and won that. Then it was time for Jonny and I to make some small adjustments before the big pro race. As I was sitting on the start line spectators were everywhere. This is, by far, one of the biggest and most popular races I’ve done in a while. It was like being at an outdoor national. Anyway, the start was dead engine and that hasn’t gone to well for me this yearJ Luckily I had a first kick start and was in second at the first corner, with Nick Burson leading. I made the pass not too far in, and started to put a little gap on the field. Going out on the second lap I had a pretty good get-off, but was able to get going before the pack was able to get by. I was really feeling good and the bike was working awesome. At this point, I really felt confident and knew I had a great shot at this win! The next few laps everything was perfect and I had over a minute lead on everyone (Burson, D. Pearson, Childress, and Crawford). Around the 45-minute mark, I stopped for a quick splash of gas and was out. The course was really getting rough, and my wrist and left hand started to feel it (my hand started to bleed from blisters). I was still able to put more time on everyone, and then the white flag finally came outJ. The last lap I backed it down and, more or less, enjoyed the lap a little more! I was able to take the win and felt really good about the way I rode.
Pro Race:
1st Destry Abbott
2nd Morgan Crawford
3rd Nick Burson
I know there was no way I would’ve been able to race this weekend’s races if it wasn’t for Dr. Popiel’s help with my wrists. He’s been a huge help for me this last year! Thanks!
It was really great to be able to race the Adelanto GP again. If you haven’t made it to the race you would be shocked to see so many people at one off-road race. It was packed with spectators around the whole 10-mile course. In years past, they would get around 3,500 entries for the weekend and way more spectators. It was really cool that the Kawasaki guys let me do the race too.
I was checking out Sunday’s paper (Daily Press) and was pumped to see I was on the cover in the sports section (from Adelanto’s pro win). It’s pretty cool to see the press getting into motorcycle racing more (see photo above) .
Best Wishes,
Destry
www.destryabbott.com
2009 Sponsors: Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing, Thor, Dunlop, GPR stabilizers, Shoei, Pro Circuit, Stephen Gall Training, SIDI, IMS, Zip-Ty, HoyFox.com, Motion Pro, BRP, Braking, Works Connection, Concept2, CTI2, Maxima, Kicker, OGIO, Steahly, RK/Excel, Renthal, Bent, Hinson, Jonre Multimedia, Steahly, Scott, Cyto Sport, N-Style, UNI, Parkway Chiropractic, Acerbis, Tire-Balls, and ZLT.
