Photo by Kinney Jones

Andy Lagzdins gave DirtFirst Racing its first race win of 2012 at the first round of the National Hare and Hound Series held in Johnson Valley, California on January 22nd. It was a great start for the current NHHA champion’s title defense, and showed that Lagzdins was not only racing the series again in 2012, but looking to repeat last year’s dominant performance on his DirtFirst Racing Honda TRX450R. “It feels good to come back after the long break and find that I still have what it takes to win,” stated Lagzdins after the race.

The 40 mile, single loop race was held in dusty conditions, making a good start on the 3-mile bomb run an important advantage. Andy’s Duncan National Kit equipped motor fired instantly, and powered him into the lead pack of quads by the banners. After taking over the lead, Andy missed a turn which allowed Keith Carlson to get past. Keith is a top ProAm rider in the Big 6 GP Series, and was making his debut in the NHHA Series at this race. Andy overtook Carlson on a rocky downhill before the halfway point and built up a 6 minute lead by the end of the 2 1/2 hour race. “I got up to the top of a ridge and noticed that I hadn’t seen markers in a while. I turned around and saw Keith making the turn that I should have made on the previous ridge. I stepped it up a notch to get back into the lead, and carried the momentum to the finish,” recalled Lagzdins. Yamaha-mounted Bill Markel, who won the last race of the 2011 season, battled his way into second place at the finish. “My race went well. I got the holeshot and was first to the bomb. Had a good battle all day with Mark Ornellas and Chris Dobbins, and ended up second,” said Teixeira Tech-sponsored Markel after the race.

Backing this year’s DirtFirst Racing Team are the familiar sponsors that have helped the team riders win championships all across the United States and Mexico. These include Duncan Racing, Roll Design, Elka Suspension, ITP Tires, RPM Axles, TireBalls, and IMS Products. Andy’s personal relationships with Moose Racing, Alpinestars, and ATVRiders.com will continue through the 2012 season, basically arming Lagzdins with the same successful package that he has enjoyed since his days racing the GNCC’s in the East.

Round Two of the NHHA Series takes place in Ridgecrest, California on February 12th. For information check out www.Nationalhareandhound.com.

The DirtFirst Racing sponsored Christy Racing/Duncan Class 25 Team finished in 4th place at the 44th Annual Score International Baja 1000. This year’s event was run on a 692 mile course starting and finishing in the oceanside city of Ensenada, Mexico. Unusually damp weather in the area created mudholes and water crossings that are rarely seen on a Baja race course. The traditional start area in the wash heading out of town needed to be excavated with heavy equipment before race day, but even so the motorcycle and quad racers rode the high sides of the wash to avoid deep water on the straightaway. With a Score truck-only race taking place in the San Felipe area a few months prior to the Baja 1000, much of the race course in that area was rougher than expected and put an extra toll on machines and bodies.

Starting the race for the #6A team was DirtFirst Racing’s very own Andy Lagzdins, on the Lenny Duncan-tuned Honda TRX450R. Unfortunately, a broken rear axle just outside of Ojos Negros set the team back nearly two hours due to the remote location of the mishap. “At first I thought the wheel had come off, but then I looked down and the axle was broken clean off!” recalled Lagzdins after the race. “I had to ride sitting on the front hood for a few miles to get within radio range so I could tell my team what was going on. Once they knew what the situation was they came out with parts and next thing I knew I was back in the race.”

With the inspired riding of Dave Scott over the Summit, and Cody Mitchell through the Laguna Salada lake bed down to Borrego, 6A kept motoring at race pace. During a rider change just past San Felipe, the pit crew noticed the swingarm skidplate was missing. Closer inspection revealed the mount bolts had been sheared off, and the call was made to replace the swingarm, remarkably only a 15 minute swap with the dedicated Duncan crew.

Dave Scott pounded through miles of whoops heading north from San Felipe. “It was hard to choose lines at night through there,” commented Scott after the race. “Even with prerunning it felt like I was off the course sometimes, there were so many choices.” The course overlapped itself for roughly 10 miles through Borrego, which made the twice-traveled section of whoops extremely rough.

Jose Ramirez and Robin Fawcett piloted the 6A machine across to the coast where Craig Christy took over and brought the quad into Ensenada for the finish after 23 hours and 35 minutes of racing. “We’ve raced 18 Score races, and this marks 16 finishes,” said Craig Christy at the finish. “I never could have achieved this without my riders and my support crew.”

The Christy’s Team is looking forward to the 2012 Score season starting with the San Felipe 250 in March, and hoping to regain the form that netted them the 2009 Score Overall ATV Championship.

Andy Lagzdins leaves the start line in Ensenada at the 2011 Baja 1000.

For more great pictures from the Baja 1000, check out MyBajaPhotos.com.

For more info on the race and results check out www.Score-International.com.

For more race coverage of the Baja 1000, check out the full report at www.ATVRiders.com.

The 44th running of the infamous Baja 1000 will begin in Ensenada, Mexico on Friday, November 18th. DirtFirst Racing’s frontman Andy Lagzdins will once again be a member of the powerful Christy’s/Duncan Racing team on the #6a Honda. The team is in a position to win their first Class 25 Championship to add to their multiple Class 24 Titles, sitting only three points behind the defending champ Wayne Matlock, but only two points ahead of Rafael Torres’ team. The tight points race should make things very interesting at the Baja 1000, as it is the final race in the Championship.

At the first Score race of the season, the San Felipe 250, Team Christy’s Honda TRX450R was the first quad to cross the finish line. After penalties and disqualifications were handed out by the Score officials, the team would find themselves bumped to third place due to a missed virtual checkpoint. Sadly, it was a missed opportunity to capitalize on a rare mechanical meltdown by Matlock’s 1a squad, who could only salvage a seventh place finish after multiple suspension issues.

At the Baja 500 things were looking good for the team as Lagzdins came over the Summit to find Matlock’s TRX700XX on the side of the track with a broken tie rod end. Lagzdins’ lead didn’t last long however, and while running across the dry lake bed at Laguna Salada the 6a quad came to a halt with a broken timing chain. Head Mechanic for the team, Lenny Duncan, and his son Danny were able to get the quad back together, and with the remarkable performances of the Christy’s team riders they ended the race in third place.

The Christy’s Team is led by Craig Christy, who is a veteran of the Score series and in addition to being a fast rider he is also an expert in logistics and race strategy.

Dave Scott, a New Mexico native and past Best in the Desert Overall Quad Champion, is the go-to guy for pounding out miles and miles of Trophy Truck whoops. He has a reputation for being tough as nails, and has been known to put 100% into his section of the race to the point where he requires medical attention after he gets off the quad.

Felipe “Lipy” Velez Torres, whose team won the Baja 1000 in 2010, has teamed up with Christy’s Racing this year. Lipy is a resident of San Felipe, and his combination of blazing speed and familiarity with the terrain and line choices makes him arguably the fastest man around the San Felipe section of the course.

Andy Lagzdins comes off a dominant season in National Hare and Hound competition, going undefeated and claiming the National #1 Plate in his first attempt. Andy’s expertise in extreme terrain, which he developed though years of racing on the tight GNCC circuits of the East Coast, gives the team an edge through the most demanding sections of the Baja course.

Wildcard rider Garrin Fuller, whose multiple WORCS ProAm wins and Quad-X ProAm Championship this year served notice of his incredible speed on an ATV, is making his Score debut at the 1000. Garrin is learning the ropes and will be ready to take on miles of racing if duty calls.

Duncan Racing builds the motors for the Christy’s team, and the reliability of the FatBoy 4 equipped powerplants has helped the team win many championships in the desert. The Elka shocks and Roll Design suspension components the team uses are state of the art, and mandatory if you want to finish and win grueling races such as the Baja 1000. Check out the 6a quad at contingency if you are in Ensenada for the race!

Click here to check out the Score International website. You can find out info on the race, start positions, course maps, etc.

Click here to find Baja 1000 race coverage in the forums of Race-Dezert.com.

Thanks to MyBajaPhoto.com for the above photo from the 500 earlier this year. Check out their site for more great pics.

Thanks to Harlen Foley for making DirtFirst Racing look good. I mean, real good.

Check out the rest of the photos in Harlen’s Wallpaper gallery here: ATVRider’s Wednesday Wallpapers

DirtFirst would like to thank our sponsors for helping us wrap up the 2011 AMA National Hare & Hound Championship!

RGEAR Worldwide
Christy’s Racing
Duncan Racing
ITP
DWT
Moose Racing
Elka Suspension
Roll Design
Vortex Ignitions
Alpinestars

NNHS SoCal MC – Round 9 – Johnson Valley, CA – October 9, 2011 

Lucerne Valley, CA 10/12/2011) - Andy Lagzdins scored the overall quad victory at Round Seven of the National Hare and Hound Series that took place in the Johnson Valley OHV area near Lucerne Valley, Ca, and in doing so clinched the 2011 Pro ATV Championship with one round remaining.

The event, which was put on by the AMA District 37 club SoCal MC, was laid out over 38 miles of the most challenging terrain in the California desert. The race began with a dead engine start and a mile-long bomb run across the desert. “I picked a bad line on the start and Kyle Penner and Bill Markel got in front and dusted me out bad. It wasn’t until we got into the tight rock sections that I could see enough to make a move on those guys” said Lagzdins after the race. “The last thing I wanted to do was break the quad by hitting something in the dust, and not score any points.” After making a pass for the lead on Penner at roughly the halfway point of the race, Lagzdins made no mistakes and opened a minute gap at the finish.

Lagzdins, a veteran of the East Coast-based GNCC Series, now adds an AMA National Series to his 2007 OMA Nationals Pro ATV title and 2009 Score Baja Overall ATV Championship. “I can’t thank everyone enough who stood by me when I made the move to the West Coast. It took some time to learn how desert racing is done. The mental game of racing at high speed through this terrain was tough to get comfortable with, but it’s coming easier to me now,” said Lagzdins.
The series concludes on October 23rd with the 100’s MC National also taking place in the Johnson Valley OHV area. This 189,000 acre BLM-regulated portion of the desert is currently in danger of being converted from a public recreation area to a live ammunition testing ground, an issue that the American Motorcyclist Association is aggressively fighting.

To find out more about the National Hare and Hound Series, click here to check out the NHHA website.

Back in 2008 Ken Hill shot DirtFirst Racing Team rider Andy Lagzdins riding the Honda TRX450R that he used to win the 2007 OMA Nationals title. You can click here to check out the complete gallery from that autumn day in the slate quarries of Whiteford, Pennsylvania.