Race Recap: 8/21/16 Rocky Mountain Vintage Motocross at Aztec Family Raceway

So we got to go racing last weekend, and it was a heck of a lot of fun!

Vintage Motocross is probably the most accessible, low-budget, low-key, low-pressure kind of racing you can do these days. It’s a run-what-you-brung kind of racing with classes for every kind of machine, everything from 1950s and 60s bikes all the way up to modern motocross hardware with 12″+ of suspension travel at both ends. And all ages and ability levels are welcome, which is a huge plus for parents who want to show their kids what racing is all about.

We decided to run the ’78 IT250 we bought from none-other-than Travis Newbold himself a couple weeks ago. All the bike needed was a carburetor clean, a number plate, levers, air filter, and minor tuning to be ready-to-race. The bike itself was $350, the air filter was $30, and the levers and number plate ran about $40 for a total of $420 all-in for the machine we ran that day. We paid gate fees and signed up for the Novice GP2/3 class with no idea about how fast we may or may not be. It turns out we were pretty darn fast! Total cost to enter was $65 for a single class, which included practice plus two motos.

After practice, the fellow pitted next to use saw Aston, MOTO2N resident racer, using absolutely no pads and roadrace style boots… on a motocross track! What can we say?! We went into this barely prepared and without much budget for safety gear we didn’t already have! At any rate, our very gracious pit-mate offered up a pair of modern motocross boots, knee-pads, and elbow-pads. Aston says the gear made him a lot more confident on the bike.

We got the hole-shot during Moto #1 and held our lead for the entire race, finishing in first place.

We got the hole-shot during Moto #2 as well and held our lead for virtually the entire race, until second place tried to make a move on the outside with three corners to go. Aston says when second tried to pass him he saw red and thought to himself “Oh hell no! This aint gonna stick!” so he made the bike change directions as fast as he could and then pinned it into the next corner.

To that we say… we have ourselves a game, gentlemen. But not just any game. We have ourselves a race, which is the best kind of game.

Apparently Aston held the throttle open for a little too long, and he tucked the front in the very next corner… with three corners to go. He lost the lead as second place jumped right over him and flew over the finish-line jump for the win.

Because Moto #2 counted more than Moto #1, the guy who finished first in the second moto took the win for the day. Aston took second place in his class despite two hole-shots, winning Moto #1, and leading the most laps. And to that we say… THAT’S RACING!!!

Vintage motocross is a blast! If you need help putting an old Japanese bike on the track for an event like this, make sure you call MOTO2N first – (719) 565-9295.