13 Is Lucky Number For MDK/Lucas Oil/Yamaha's Kyle Tobin
March 5, 2007
Newbury Park, CA.: In just his second Supercross race ever, Dana K/Wonder Warthog Racing (WWR) Intern Kyle Tobin raced his MDK/Lucas Oil Yamaha YZ250F to a solid 13th place finish in round 2 of the Amp’d Mobile Supercross Lites East Series, held Saturday night at the Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO.
After posting the 35th fastest Lites qualifying time last week in Atlanta, Tobin and his mechanic went home, put their heads down and worked hard on his program. All week long Kyle pounded out the laps in his Wonder Warthog special edition O’Neal gear, while Steven tweaked the MDK Speed equipped Yamaha until both were satisfied. Their hard work was immediately apparent when Kyle’s number 335 jumped to the top of the leader board during each of his timed qualifying practices early in the day. When Steven pushed Kyle’s bike to the starting gate after opening ceremonies, it was as the 15th fastest qualifier…an improvement of an astonishing 20 positions in a division some say may be the toughest ever assembled. Tobin’s newfound earned confidence helped him place 7th in his heat and a direct transfer to the main event.
Darrell Saldana, Race Director, stated “This was a breakthrough week for Kyle. He showed that he belongs here, on the world’s biggest stage. We look forward to seeing how he progresses the rest of the season.”
The endorsement process that allowed Kyle to race Supercross could only be described as rigorous and demanding. The team would like to thank Keith McCarty, Mike Guerra, and especially Bob and Terri Hannah for their instrumental role in giving Kyle this shot. Kyle dedicated his benchmark performance to Hannah, who apparently had to be restrained from calling Kyle just before the main event. “He REALLY wanted to call him BEFORE the Main...but I told him it would just make him NERVOUS!!!!” said Terri Hannah. WWR gives Mrs. Hannah a big tip of the snout for her ability to control and reduce the rider formerly known as “Hurricane” to a mere Tropical Storm level while listening to the webcast on www.supercrossonline.com
Zach Ames, after making the Lites main event last week, won the Asterisk Medic Card while both Antonio Balbi and Jacob Saylor just missed the main in their classes. Balbi stalled his bike while running in a comfortable transfer spot while Jacob Saylor didn’t quite get the jump he needed out of the gate.
The team has now placed nine different riders in a total of 19 main events while winning the Medic Card five times.
Seven riders qualified for the night program. The qualified rider roster this week included Ames, Balbi, Ted Campbell, Dave Ginolfi, Saylor, Tobin, and Bryan White.
The next stop on the 2007 Hog Haven Tour will be Friday, March 9th at the Daytona Motor Speedway. Hog Haven apparel can be purchased at the LiveNation merchandise trailer in the pits or at www.SmoothIndustries.com. All WWR proceeds go towards funding their privateer support programs. Drop in to visit the entire team at www.WonderWarthogRacing.com
