Rollercoaster Weekend for TLD / Lucas Oil / PPG / Honda

July 1, 2009, 2:37pm

The Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ PPG/ Honda team had a roller coaster weekend at the Thunder Valley National in Colorado last weekend. Jake Moss and Chris Blose made it clear that they intended to have breakout rides over the weekend by posting the first and fourth quickest times in the second practice session. Their young teammate, Sean Borkenhagen, logged his best qualifying time this season with a ninth in the 250 class.

In the first 450 moto Chris Blose rounded turn one in second place behind Red Bull/Honda's Ivan Tedesco. Moss was close behind in fifth but it wouldn't take him long to move up and eventually pass his teammate. By lap three Moss was in a solid third behind Tedesco and Short while Blose fell back to the eighth spot. And that's where both riders stayed until the closing laps when Reed got by Moss with just a few laps to go. Moss would make a run at him on the final lap but still cross the flag in fourth position. Blose held onto eighth place for his best finish of the outdoor season. It was a banner moto for the Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil team with both riders well inside the top ten and Moss fighting for a coveted podium spot.

The second moto wouldn't be as kind to either rider. Moss was again inside the top five rounding the first turn but it wouldn't take long for things to go sideways. Jake hit a bump on the face of a jump and it sent him flying over the handlebars. He was knocked unconscious briefly and then attended to by the Asterisk Medical team. He suffered a concussion and a small contusion around his right eye in the crash that ended his night. Chris Blose suffered a terrible start (38th position) and worked his way up to tenth after the opening laps. It looked like Chris was set to post another solid finish until a crash shot him off the track and out of the top twenty. It was not the way either rider hoped to finish off an otherwise spectacular weekend.

After qualifying well, Sean Borkenhagen struggled in the 250 class with a 15-DNF result. Sean will look to improve that score as he heads to Red Bud this weekend in his own van.

The Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/ Honda team will skip Red Bud and return to action at the Washougal round of the series on July 25th.

X Games 15
The following weekend the team will prepare to add to it's medal count in the Summer X Games in Los Angeles on August 1st.

Jake Moss and Chris Blose will compete in the Moto X event and Jeff Ward, Joey Pascarella, David Pingree and Cassidy Anderson will fight for the gold in the Supermoto discipline.

The Troy Lee Designs /Lucas Oil /Honda MX Race Team would like to thank all of the amazing companies that have supported our racing efforts over the years.

We would also like to welcome our new sponsors that will be an integral part of the crew in years to come.

Among those are Lucas Oil, Seaspan, Avia, SkullCandy, Rossignol, Epic Camera, Kasey Kahne Racing and Icon Aircraft.

These companies have come onboard for 2009 and we are excited about working with them.

We would also like to acknowledge the sponsors that are returning this year.

Those include American Honda, Wings for Life, PPG, Pacific Collision Centers, Couts Heating and Cooling, Dunlop, VP Racing Fuels, Pro Circuit,

Renthal, ODI, Excel, RK, N-Style, Selle Italia, Alpinestars, Jimmy Vasser, Cornwell Tools, Cumberland, Cycra, Malcolm Smith,

Flexfit, Hinson, Leatt Brace, Light Speed, Muc-Off, QTM, Talon Hubs, CRF’s Only and Twin Air. We could not go racing without you.

Thank you for your support of the Troy Lee Designs /Lucas Oil /Honda MX Race Team.

We would also like to acknowledge Mid-Cities Honda for their continued support of Sean Borkenhagen.