 Just
like a few loud voices can set up a negative first impression, a few smiling
faces and sincere "thank you's" can turn that impression around.
After a dinner for the racers and staff hosted by the Wallowa County
Gamblers Snowmobile club, the feedback at the end of Saturday's racing was
mostly of the Thumbs Up variety. While the track wasn't pristine, racers
admitted that it was better than some the series visits, and the facility and
location in general was very appreciated. Having an event smack in town allows
significant exposure for sponsors, both of the racers and the series in
general. It also means an easy in and out for the large race trailers, plenty
of lodging options, and good choices for eating, shopping and fueling. Locals
appreciated being able to easily watch the racing, as well as the business.  Win
/ Win.
We don't know what Mountain West will decide, but the local club learned a
lot about hosting such an event, took a lot of the negative with a a grain of
salt, and was already making a list of improvements for 2007. And heck, when you realize that the last two rounds of the MWR series were
cancelled, it's understandable that teams were a little testy. Wallowa County
at least gave them a place to race! Weather today wasn't quite as changing - it wasn't ever a crisp blue winter
sky, but a skiff of new snow was delivered overnight and temperatures hovered
just above freezing without worries of biting wind. Racing started right on
time and continued for about four hours, with a few short breaks for track
maintenance.  While
attitudes seemed to have improved off the track, the bumping and retaliation
that officials were concerned about heated up on the track in several of the
finals. Whether the first nudge was accidental or not, it was occasionally
followed up by one or more intentional bumps back, shaking of fists,
one-finger salutes, complaining to officials, blasting high-speed through the
pits. I think we saw exactly what was wearing the officials down.
Congratulations to the majority of you that raced safely, smartly, put on a
good show and had a good time. You will go far and and sponsors will be proud
to have you represent them. We haven't heard yet if the final ticket count was enough to raffle off the
new Honda and Bombardier four-wheelers and Yamaha and SkiDoo sleds. The Club
had hoped to make enough money on the raffle to pay for the two snowmaking
machines, but by press time, they hadn't even sold enough tickets to break
even. We bought ours! And we'll bring you an announcement of the lucky people
when they are announced. 
Don't forget to check out the video clips and
photo gallery! Our brave reporters risked life and limb to get them, so enjoy,
and pass the word. If you want to save any of these images to your own
computer, just right click and save them to your hard drive. You are also
welcome to print them for your personal use or as Sponsor Thank You's - please
do leave the Off-Road.com watermark intact, as these images are copyrighted
property. As we posted yesterday, here's your top 5 from MWR, based on finish in each
moto: Bib
| Name
| Moto
| Moto
| Moto
| Total
| Junior Novice
| | | | | | 111
| Blake Shields
| 1
| 1
| | 40
| 69x
| Taylor Dyess
| 3
| 1
| | 35
| 5
| Matt Wenger
| 2
| 2
| | 34
| 110
| Braydon Shields
| 1
| 4
| | 33
| 54
| Ashlie Hopkins
| 4
| 2
| | 30
| 333
| Nikiya Adomaitis
| 3
| 3
| | 30
| 17
| Dakota Keller
| 2
| 4
| | 30
| | | | | | | | Junior 16-17
| | | | | | 8
| Hadley Wright
| 1
| 1
| | 40
| 12x
| JR Floyd
| 1
| 2
| | 37
| 149
| TJ McCaffery
| 3
| 1
| | 35
| 380
| Trevor Morris
| 2
| 2
| | 34
| 316
| Nicklaus Urie
| 3
| 3
| | 30
| | | | | | | Masters
| | | | | | 12
| Doug Orkney
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 60
| 60
| Mel Orkney
| 2
| 2
| 2
| 51
| 126
| Kevin Buell
| 3
| 3
| 3
| 45
| 111
| Tom Gogert
| 4
| 4
| 4
| 39
| 74
| Tom Shields
| 5
| 5
| 5
| 36
| | | | | | | Women
| | | | | | 55x
| Ashlyn Kirsch
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 60
| 14
| Ali Sherbine
| 1
| 3
| 1
| 55
| 12
| Kapri Fulfer
| 2
| 1
| 2
| 54
| 105
| Deidra Dippel
| 3
| 2
| 2
| 49
| 8
| Chelsey Farnsworth
| 2
| 5
| 3
| 44
| | | | | | | Sport Open
| | | | | | 144
| Alex Townsend
| 1
| 1
| 4
| 53
| 2
| CJ Gorringe
| 7
| 1
| 1
| 50
| 711
| Trevor Keller
| 5
| 2
| 1
| 49
| 31
| Isaac Sherbine
| 1
| 3
| 5
| 47
| 970
| Matt Saale
| 3
| 4
| 2
| 45
| | | | | | | Semi Pro
| | | | | | 99
| Colby Crapo
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 60
| 163
| Sam McLam
| 2
| 2
| 1
| 54
| 943
| Brett Bierek
| 3
| 1
| 3
| 50
| 907
| Aaron Collins
| 2
| 1
| 5
| 49
| 101
| Jesse O'Rourke
| 1
| 6
| 2
| 48
| 27
| Ryan Gould
| 1
| 3
| 4
| 48
| | | | | | | Pro
| | | | | | 16
| Shaun Demarcke
| 3
| 1
| 2
| 52
| 35
| Tyler Tobin
| 1
| 1
| 5
| 52
| 700
| Joe Parsons
| 4
| 2
| 1
| 50
| 38
| Tuffy McDonald
| 3
| 3
| 1
| 50
| 4
| Frank Baker
| 1
| 4
| 3
| 48
|
Next on the schedule - Driggs Idaho on February 4 - 5. Click
on the MWR logo below for full information. | 
