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Teach McNeil reports on Stuntwars 2008 |
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Posted by Staff
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
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 Chris “Teach” McNeil gives
you the inside scoop from his latest victory at this year’s Stuntwars
competition in Lakeland, Florida.
By Chris McNeil
Photos by David Avila
Held in Lakeland, Florida, Stuntwars is considered by many to
be the single biggest stunt riding event in the country. The event is internationally attended and
continues to attract the eye of the industry insiders. My personal history at Stuntwars is rather
dismal and littered with injuries which have prevented me form competing,
including 3 broken vertebrae and a torn ACL.
I had high
expectations this year and was feeling confident in my riding, although I was
disappointed that I wouldn’t be riding my new BMW F800’s due to some essential
parts which were not available in time. With
my move to California from New Hampshire 5 months ago, I had no winter
weather excuses and the pressure was on!
 After a
ridiculously long and uneventful drive from San Francisco to Florida with my fellow competitor, Kane
Friesen, we arrived on Monday ready to get to work. I had flipped a stoppie the day before we
left so my bike was in shambles and I had to have some parts shipped in to
tighten the machine up. We hit the track
all day Tuesday through Thursday and got a chance to adapt to the surface and
work on some of our moves.
I had a few
close calls during Friday practice when I hit the wall in a switchback
headstand (a headstand while facing backwards at 45 mph!); and then was hit by
another rider while I was doing an endo, nearly resulting in a serious head
injury. Thanks to my Scorpion helmet and
Shift gear for keeping me safe and sound – I was able to get back on the bike
and ride with no injuries only an hour later.
Saturday’s
qualifying was great. Three minutes is like
taking a nap for me and I nailed my run flawlessly and ended up the #1
qualifier for Sunday’s main event.
Sunday called for intermittent showers, but the rain appeared to be
holding off all morning. I was more
nervous than I usually am but was feeling confident and felt like I was the guy
to beat.
 Unlike XDL
Championship events, the running order is not determined by your score, so I
was set to run 3 out of 12.
I did my introductions and as I sped in for my first pass, the run was
called and the rain began. After a 2
hour rain delay we had no choice but to ride in the wet conditions – something
I’ve won in before but was not excited about.
I was up first after the rain and the track was drying, but not nearly
fast enough. In the end I had the
wettest track of the day and it definitely put a damper on my aggressive and
reckless style.
However, I
came out swinging and vowed that I would “win or crash going for it”, starting
off with a nice series of acrobatics.
The track was slick and I had some difficulty with the painted lines;
but my Maxxis tires hooked up well and I was able to keep it rubber side
down. The competition was fierce and I
had a little luck on my side as Bill D and Christian Pfeiffer had crashes that
took them out of the top spot. In the
end, I came out on top by 3 points or so, continuing my domination of the U.S. competition circuit.
You can
catch me next at the 2007 XDL National Championship in Long Beach, CA on March 22.
Visit Shift Racing at www.shiftracing.com
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