David Culpepper is expanding it into a 12 race series next year. Steve Burrell will be spearheading 2 Houston ATVCCS 4 race Short Series at their new West Houston Off Road Race Park and Dirt Dog's. This is a great thing for ATV racers in TX and I hope more and more people will join in the fun.

Hunter Harper roosting his way to the Mini Class victory. Photo provided by Denise Bain

I was very impressed with the whole production and it is very family oriented. There is a class for everyone to race in, from the junior pee wee to the beginner sport quad racer and the utility rider. Girls aren't left out either and they put on a great showing. For some just plain fun, they even had an ATV/bike show and a wheelie contest. Saturday they had the motorcycle races and the "buddy race". The buddy race is basically a team race like a desert race where the riders take turns riding. The neat thing is you can mix a motorcycle and a quad together! That race seems to be a popular one with the racers.

Two riders pushing it to the limit through the Dirt Dogs track! Photo provided by Denise Bain

The course was laid out nicely through the trees and along a fence line. Total mileage around the track was approx. 7.8 miles. It was a tight track, much tighter than I am used to. Rain had muddied the course Thurs. before the race. There were a few mud pits to negotiate. It was just muddy enough to make the track interesting and make it difficult for the scorekeepers to see the numbers. Plenty of spotters were available on the course to keep the racers honest.

Although the Teixeira Tech/Guilty.com/Vtr Racing Honda 250R was not setup for that type of racing, we did pretty well until the chain snapped. I was racing in the Vet/30 plus class with another rider, Greg Petty, who was riding on a Kawasaki. Greg got the holeshot and I was unable to catch up to him and he ended up winning the class. Great job Greg!

John Fox Branson, Pro Class rider who ended up having some ignition troubles and vision problems after leading overall most of the race. Photo provided by Denise Bain

This was definitely a course for the 4 strokes. The low end torque of the four strokers was a plus on this tight, twisty track. The average lap time was around 20 minutes for most on the long race. This was 1 ½ hours plus 1 lap. The hotlap went to the two Pro riders, John Fox Branson and Randall Moon, both turning in a 16 min. lap.

Also, Vet rider Greg Petty cranked out a 16 min. lap on the second time around the course! Randall Moon took the overall and the Pro class win. Jeff Honeycutt took the Open A class and 2nd overall for his efforts. The Sport Quad A win went to David Maholick Jr. In the 250 A class, Cody Burrell went the distance with the win. The Junior A class win went to #707 Chase Honeycutt. The Lady A class win had Paula Fricker taking the checkers and the Lady B class win went to Bunny Petty. In the Mini division, Hunter Harper brought in first in his class.

Justin Inglet on a nicely modified Blaster catching some air. Justin was a last minute entry and had a good showing. Some good riding skills displayed as he and Vet rider, Marc Choquette swapped positions all day. Photo provided by Denise Bain

This was a great weekend of racing. I would like to thank David Culpepper from ATVCCS and Steve Burrell from Dirt Dog's ATV Trails for inviting me to this event. Plans are in the works to make the 2004 a bigger and better year for the ATVCCS series.

www.atvccs.com
www.dirtdogtrails.com