FTR AT THE 24 HOUR CHALLENGE

from Florida Trail Riders - July 2022

Photos courtesy of Perry Mountain M/C

FTR AT THE 24 HOUR CHALLENGE

Story by Kurt Lucas

While it is not an FTR sanctioned event the Perry Mountain 24 Hour Challenge in Maplesville, Alabama draws a huge crowd of FTR members, so I decided to do a little write up about the event. The Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club has been putting on this event for over 20 years and they do an outstanding job. This year’s event sold out with 125 team entries and pit row was absolutely slammed! This event is one of a kind and is a true test to both racer and machine.

This is my third year competing in this event, last year our team, Blue Calf Semi-Factory Racing, took home the win in Expert and were looking to repeat. This year’s team, now backed by Ol’ Red Racing Products/HBD Motografx, consisted of the same riders as last year: Tommy Hill, Shawn Clark, Clay Lyons, Martin Cox and myself. The only difference was our sixth rider, Alex Mitz, was unable to race this year so we picked up Joey Medina to take over. Ol’ Red Factory Fresh Racing was equipped with matching graphics so looking fast was never in doubt. We had a few familiar faces as competitors in the Expert class this year: Sarasota Powersports, Team L-Cross, Slightly Stoopid and Team Enduro all consisted of FTR members.

HBD Motografx had the bikes looking “Factory Fresh”

Shawn Clark and I made the eight-hour drive up from the Tampa area to Central Alabama on Thursday. We got there with just enough time for an ebike ride on the course. I could tell right away that this year’s conditions would be less than favorable with it being very dry. The track consisted of a lot of fast, flowy wooded sections that featured many hills and stumps as some of the land had been recently clear-cut. Normally the dust doesn’t bother me but at night the vision is very limited and can be a bit frustrating at times.

On Friday we got our team signed up and started setting up our pit area. This year we were able to pit beside Sarasota Powersports who absolutely dialed in our area with floor coverings, fans, a trailer with tools and extra parts. It really felt like a factory effort, thanks Mike Hall! After getting setup I went on another ebike ride around the track, this time with Max McNary and Nick Doerr of the Slightly Stoopid team. This is when things started to go downhill as Max managed to get two flat tires about a mile into the lap. Nick and I kept going as Max headed back, a few miles later Nick somehow managed to get a stump stuck in his rear wheel, destroying the wheel and derailleur. We were stuck. We found a service road and managed to head a few miles in the wrong direction. Next thing we know we are about 25 minutes away from the pits, by car. Luckily Max had made it back and was able to hop in my van and come track us down.

Saturday morning came around and the excitement started to flow through the pits. Shawn Clark was the starter for our team and after watching the preview video 793 times he was ready to lay down some heaters. 10am rolled around and the race began with Shawn Clark getting an amazing start and leading the Expert class around on the first lap. After three strong laps Shawn Clark

Shawn’s first session was done and Clay Lyons was up next. The team quickly realized that our strategy of doing three laps at a time was going to have to change, with some riders doing two laps. The track was so rough and choppy, and it was scorching hot, minimizing fatigue was the new strategy if we wanted to end this race strong and upfront.

I was fifth in the rotation and as my turn was approaching, I began to get nervous. I was recently coming off two ankle/foot injuries and I hadn’t ridden very much before this event. I knew I was in for a struggle. I was right, it was like I forgot how to ride out there. I was making mistake after mistake and after my two laps were over, I contemplate packing my stuff up and going home, I was the weakest link on our team.

A few hours into the event we settled into a good pace and were running a strong second in Expert. The NAP/XCGear team was on the move and they put quite the gap on us. As the race went on, we knew were going to be in the fight for second with none other than Sarasota Powersports. As the race began to close it was up to Shawn Clark to close over two minutes on Korbin Dinkel, FTR A 250 Hare Scramble Champion. Korbin rode amazing and we were unable to close that gap, we finished third in Expert and fifth overall. Although we didn’t repeat, we still had such a great time. Heading home I swore I would not race this event again the next year, but here I am typing out this report already getting excited for the 2023 24 Hour Challenge.

Thanks to all who put on this event

Ol’ Red Factory Fresh Racing: Martin Cox, Kurt Lucas, Tommy Hill, Shawn Clark, Joey Medina, Clay Lyons (not pictured)