From His Goggle View: A Note from Jason Holliday – Round 6 – Anderson Acres

I’m no weather man, but I knew Sunday was gonna turn out pretty close the way it did. Hot muggy day in July usually brings storms. Mostly around the time the quads go off the line! I was prepared for this race with a fresh set of ITP GNCC Holeshot tires and the mindset that it was gonna be a mudder. Which is fine because I’m not a big fan of dust at all. Over the last couple years I’ve been a couple real mud fest races including the Mammoth GNCC 2013, I learned from my good friend and Media All Stars team mate Mark Batson that when everyone else is hating the weather, you have to be the one that LOVES IT! It’s off road racing! We all have to race in it, so ya might as well learn to do well in it!

This just hasn’t been my year really. From mechanical problems, work obligations, hitting deer with the truck, and trying to learn a new quad that is bone stock. I’ve been just taking it one race at a time, reminding myself how fortunate I am to even race at all! So I’m on a 2010 YFZ 450 X this year, and so far I love it! Virtually stock, but with the addition of a Yoshimura exhaust, at least I had a couple extra ponies under the hood, and sounded like a “big boy” quad again! Lol. Doing a full quad build during race season is tough, but I’m getting there.

After the storms passed and the race got underway, I found myself getting a great start, third into the woods! There were several bottlenecks on that first lap, but I had confidence not only in my ITP tires, but in myself and riding ability. Lots of racers seemed to push to hard and were spinning out while I took a more calculated approach to my line choices, letting the tires eat and rode a very clean, flawless first lap. I was able to get around Dale Batson and take over the lead . The rest of the race I focused on picking up the pace while NOT racing over my head. At one point I was in 9th overall ( a personal best ) I wound up getting my first win in nearly TWO YEARS! Along with 16th overall. My best so far this season.

Here’s the thing, I’m NOT the fastest guy out there, but that was MY DAY. Sometimes, slower is faster. With that being said, you also have to make decisions and take risks. Those decisions may land you on the top box of the podium, OR upside down in a ditch. I’ve done both. Bottom line you can NEVER give up. Never assume the fastest guy in the class is going to  win or that you won’t have a good race because you got last of the line. You have to give your best regardless. Do that, and the W’s will come. Capitalize on those rainy, muddy races. Learn to prepare for them. I have a few tricks that help me every muddy race, and they help. Mud is the “Great Equalizer” Be smart during those races. This is the best part about WEXCR, there’s a ton of legit fast, and talented riders in several classes to learn from. Couple that with the fact Tim and his crew go above and beyond to make great and challenging tracks for us to race each weekend, and you can’t help but become a better racer if you just put the time in.

This win was cool, but it’s time to get back to training, and preparing for the next round. I would like to thank the following. My parents, Mark and Dale Batson, Sarah Batson, Jorge Cuartas, for their support, friendship, and the opportunity to be on such a great team as the Media Allstars. Also, friends and co-workers for their support. I’d also like to thank Stan Digby at ITP tires, Powermadd, Lone Star Racing, Smith Optics, Fox Racing Shocks, Precision Stabilizers, Honda East of Toledo, Oury Grips, ITP Tires, One Industries, EVS, Maxima Oils and Lubes, DG, Tim & Vikki Wood, everyone who helps build the tracks, stands at the road with flags, takes money at the gate, the folks in the yellow trailer doing registration and the track sweepers for always helping pull us out! Most importantly, God for blessing me with this “family” and all the things He’s blessed me with.

Jason Holliday

Adult Quad Vet30+ #545

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