24-hour race runs without a hitch

Published 4:54 pm Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Dirt bike racers had to be prepared for all kinds of obstacles, as the 24-hour Challenge transitioned from day into night. (Photo by Brandon Sumrall / Special)

Dirt bike racers had to be prepared for all kinds of obstacles, as the 24-hour Challenge transitioned from day into night. (Photo by Brandon Sumrall / Special)

Mother Nature cooperated and the 24-Hour Challenge dirt bike race went off without a hitch during the event, which was Saturday and Sunday at Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club.

No rain allowed the course to remain the same from the drop of the green flag to final lap.

“We made no changes to the course during the race, which is very unusual,” Perry Mountain Club President Brad Belcher said.

The fact that there was no rain dried out the conditions and created a dusty atmosphere on certain parts of the course, which added yet another obstacle to an already challenging course for riders.

According to Belcher, the weather was overcast until 2 p.m. on Saturday, which provided comfortable conditions for this time of year.

However, the sun came out and the heat quickly returned all day on Sunday.

“It’s always nice when problems out of your control don’t arise,” Belcher said.

A meeting is scheduled by the club on Thursday to go over the things that went right and the things that should be further improved heading into next year.

Spectator attendance appeared to dip from previous years.

According to Belcher, the race being held on Memorial Day weekend was the main reason for the drop in attendance.

The last time that the event shared Memorial Day was about four years ago.

Belcher has plans to move the race back to the weekend after Memorial Day so that families will not have to decide between enjoying the event and going on a family trip.

“It doesn’t affect the teams and riders as much as it does the public planning to visit the race,” Belcher said.

Final results were not available on Tuesday. Check back for the results in a future edition of The Clanton Advertiser.