An early morning rain made for great track conditions at the seventh annual Extremity Games (eX7) motocross event, held May 26 at the Baja Acres track in Millington, Michigan. There was sufficient moisture to keep the dust down and the dirt sticky enough to provide good traction.
Eric Brumagin lines up at the starting gate for the stand-up division moto. Photograph courtesy of Eric Robinson.
This year, following the typical two-moto format for each of the race categories—stand up (riders with amputations) and sit down (riders with paraplegia)—was a third, "shootout" moto that allowed riders to get some more track time. According to Extremity Games Motocross Director Jim Wazny, "Most riders travel from so far away that we wanted to get them as much track time as possible." This year was no exception. Riders came from New Jersey, California, and several states in between. Joel Dolan, a racer in the stand-up division, crossed the border from Pickering, Ontario, Canada, to compete.
Despite taking both hole shots in the stand-up division motos, Jim Wazny took second place with a solid 2-2 finish. Defending champion Mike "Monster" Schultz scored a 1-1 for first place, and Nick Mardis made a podium appearance in third with a 3-3 score.
In the sit-down division, Nick Pappas had a strong start, finishing first in the first moto. However, he went down in the rhythm section early on in the second moto and was not able to finish a complete lap, which posted as a did not start (DNS). Darius Glover took first with a 2-1 showing, Jesse Gildea took second with a 3-2 showing, and John Harris claimed third with a 4-3 finish.
"Competition was pretty tough this year," Wazny said. "We had some new riders, and they were a great addition to the Extremity Games rider line-up. We look forward to having the guys back next year and, hopefully, expanding on Extremity Games Motocross."
