NBL Grand National Report

In late July Luke had only been riding on the Bmx track for a few weeks and went to his first national level race. The result was a win and the talk at the local track turned to taking him to the Grands. They felt he could do pretty well. As a parent I know that Luke loves to ride/race his bike so why not take the trip.

We booked the hotel and made plans with Grammy and PauPau to make the overnight drive to Louisville, Kentucky. We would be driving overnight so the kids would sleep in the car and be semi-happy for the time we were in Louisville. The drive down went very well. We arrived at the track at 4:30am earlier then expected. This was good and bad. The kids both woke up and would stay up! We went on to find the hotel and then have breakfast at IHOP. After breakfast we made our way back to the track to get ready for practice. At big BMX races like this the practice time is broken up into age groups. Each age group only gets about 45 minutes. During his time he got in 5 laps of the track and seemed to be riding well. Know we could go to the hotel, check in and get some rest while the kids could go swimming. It would be early to bed for every one. Saturday was going to be a busy and long day at the track.

Everyone got a good night sleep and it was off to the track to get ready to race. When we arrived at the track we checked the moto board to find out when we would be racing. Luke was in moto #387!!!! That means that we would have to sit though 3 rounds of almost 400 races. At least it is fun to watch! The first races we watched was the expert age groups. These people FLY through the track. The bike handling skills and speed are super impressive. When it got close to Luke's first moto time I took him to get in a little warm up ride. It had been about 3hours since we arrived at the track.

Moto #1 for Luke went pretty good. He placed 3rd and really did not race as fast as he could. Still great considering the size and scope of the the Grands. He was racing with thousands of people watching. He had to finish in the top 4 of each moto to get to the next round. So far so good.

Moto#2 was another third place and still not racing his best but, getting the transfer spots he needed. That would be it for the day for Lukes racing. The last of the motos and the final round would be on Sunday. Saturday afternoon was the pro time to race and we were going to watch some serious speed and style. Luke being the lucky kid that he is was asked by Kathy from Trilogy who was scoring the pro race to come with her to the finish line. He got to sit at the finish line to watch world and olyimpic champions race for the win. Thanks Kathy!

Sunday we arrived at the track a little later then the day before because we knew we had time before his last moto. I talked to Luke and asked him to get out there and go fast and really race this lap! When his moto # came up he got in the gate and seemed ready. The gate dropped and he did not get a good start. He had to pass two kids to finish 3rd again. At this point I was concerned that if he raced like this in the upcoming semi-final (yes, he did advance) he would not make the Main.

When it was Lukes time to race the semi-final I said to him I need two things from you. One, is to have fun and two get a Conneticut start. He needed to finish in the top 4 to advance to the main. I did not even tell him that I knew if he raced his race he would be fine. Lets just say he got a great start and went on to win the semi. Now that's what I'm talkin about!!! It was great to see a big smile on his face and his confidence high going into the main!

In the Main he got a great start and finished second in his first Grand National main! I could not have been more proud of my son. He came through when he needed to, got a great result and a huge trophy! Special thanks go out to Luke biggest fan his sister Meghan. She was cheering for him all weekend long. Meg you are a great sister!