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Blais Racing Services Race Report!
District 37's Summer Night Race Series hosted
by Prairie Dogs MC, Sponsored by Baja Designs
Patty Blais approaching pit row.
Photo by Matt McGowen.
Garrett, Sean & Patty |
Johnson Valley OHV, Lucerne Valley, CA. 6/19/10
- It was another great night out in the Southern
California Desert! The weather has been
much cooler this year with temps dropping down
into the 50's on this night.
46 teams mounted up lights and geared up for
the 4th Annual Prairie Dogs MC night race!
They marked a 25-mile loop with reflective tape
and arrows up and around the North Anderson dry
lake area in Johnson Valley OHV. The race
teams had the option of racing for a total of 5
hours or 3 hours, depending on their skill
level.
The Expert ATV team of Patty Blais and
Garrett Severen would take to the start line at
8:00pm with Patty running the first lap.
There were four ATV teams participating in this
night race and as the banner dropped at approx
8:15 for the ATV's, off they raced into the
dusk. Patty had a flawless first lap and
came into the pits in 3rd overall, in just about
55 minutes. After some minor clutch
adjustments in the pits, teammate Garrett
Severen would hop on the quad for his first time
ever ATV race. "I was worried for my
teammate as this course was more technical than
expected and this would be his first ever race
on a quad" stated Patty.
Garrett came into the pits in just around the
60-minute mark, surprising Patty with his
wonderful lap time. "I high centered on a
rock and the quad rolled over but I got going
again pretty quickly with no other issues".
Garrett was excited when he came into the pits
and was having a great time. "We had to
make another clutch adjustment in the pits; it
was slipping a little and the course was so
technical that we really needed our clutch to be
working well" he stated. Patty hopped on
the quad for her 2nd lap, the team's third lap.
"I had a minor issue and got wedged between a
tree and a huge 10-foot high boulder, ha ha.
It happens!" Patty spent only a few
minutes trying to get dislodged. She
headed into the pits at approximately 11:45 pm
and handed off once again to Garrett, which
would possibly be there final lap - it would be
cutting it close for the 1:00am cut off time.
Garrett's second lap was going great until just
after Checkpoint 2 where he would find a hidden
rock behind a bush with the front end, which
would send him up and over the handlebars and
having the quad land on top of him. The
course workers saw this and ran over to help
him. He got up, straightened up the lights
as the light bar was luckily the only thing that
was bent, and off he went. As Patty
and her crew were awaiting Garrett's arrival,
the clock was ticking closer and closer to
1:00am. Patty was geared up to do another
lap but at around 12:55, she decided that this
would be there final lap. Garrett pulled
into the finish chute at 1:02am in 2nd Overall!
"I had a great time on Patty's quad.
Her Honda TRX450R is one mean desert racing
machine and I now have new found respect for
quad racers. We had no flat tires all night
long as all of the other ATV teams did.
Thanks Patty! I would team up with her
again for any team race." Patty states, "We
finished and that's all that mattered to me
tonight! When you have a new person racing
with you, you only care about two things - their
safety and finishing; and finishing in 2nd
Overall was pretty dang sweet too! We had
a great time. Thank you to the Prairie
Dogs MC, Baja Designs, and to my friend Garrett
for racing with me. It was so much fun and
I can't wait to do it again!"
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