Just updating this site since I haven't all year.  This year has been pretty good so far, almost every track I've been to has been a new track to me so I'm learning a lot and the competition at the pro-am races has been really fast.  The beginning of the season I was a little rusty, but my speed/ lap times at the last few races are on par with the top 10-15, but bad starts have been holding me back.  The last couple months I am starting to feel a lot faster though and as soon as I can get a holesot down I'm confident I'll be in the top 10.  My goal right now for the Pro-Ams are top 20 finishes (when they have a full gate) and I've met that a few times and hopefully by the end of the year I can raise that goal higher.  I wanted to race a couple CMRC Nationals in July as well, the competition up there is solid with a lot of veterans in the top 10 but I think the speed/ pace at these Pro-Am races are a lot higher through the mid pack since the pro-am races are usually shorter sprint motos.  With the longer motos up there I hope I can make it to a race soon to try something different.

Unfortunatley though at my last race in Muddy Creek I got taken out by a high speed first turn crash on the outside and a handlebar that hit on the end of my elbow has caused a deep bone bruise/ contusion.  I let it rest a couple weeks and started riding but it swelled but up to where I couldn't move it again so I'm not sure how long it will take to heal.  For now I'll have to rest it and when it gets better I can only ride corners for a while because it can't hold my weight landing off jumps.  As you can see below, I got a duck elbow guard for now and we'll see how that helps me get through motos (if it doesn't work I'll try a different pillow pet).

Thanks to all of the companies supporting me with there great products (check them all out at http://linemanmx.com/Racing.html .
 

Febuary I rode a lot in North Carolina.  Our friend, and master track builder Paul Blackwelder built a new natural terrain sand track at his private lot and it was really rough and sandy.  Besides there we rode some at Jacksonville MX Park in Jacksonville, NC.  JMP is a nice track, it's fast and when you find good lines it flows really good.  While we there we checked out the Marine base and then it was off to Virginia Motorsports Park where we stopped in on the way home to hand out promotional items for the new push-up bars.  Next trip down we visited Sandridge MX Park which is another fun, fast sandy track in the Jacksonville, NC area.  We had a training camp Feb. 26 at Sandridge MX Park.  Everyone learned a lot and got a lot faster by the end of the day- I'm looking forward to the next one.  A Lineman MX Push-up Balance Bar was given away at the Carolina Extreme Winter Series Banquet- rumors are a Marine took it home doing 70+ push-ups straight! 

My first race of this season is going to be at Lazy River MX in Georgia coming up on March 20.  It's an AMA Pro-Am and I'm excited to see how I do.  My goals are to ride hard, but smart and just see where I stand so when spring breaks up here in PA I can work everyday to bridge the gap to more speed and progress with better results through the season.  I feel pretty good already so hopefully I can race well and I'm looking forward to riding with some tough competition.

We just got back home from North Carolina.  I got some good riding in down there, all on rough sand so it was a good workout and I rode well.  I threw in some pictures from that and also I have updated my race schedule for next season on the Racing page of LinemanMX.com.  I am training a lot and I am more prepared than ever for this year.  I want to get enough Pro-Am points this season to race AMA Nationals next year, and my race schedule will take us around the country so it will also be good for my business, MotocrossTracks.com and also to promote Lineman MX.  Hopefully I will be able to add a bigger sponsorship this year as well.  I will be going to NC and Florida a few more times, and then probably Texas for a Pro-Am in April to kick off my season.  Also Lineman MX is now a Hammer Nutrition dealer so you can order all their top sports nutrition products from us (when you get that new push-up bar)!  There will be 1 more day training camp coached by me in North Carolina sometime in late Febuary and then in April we will have camps at the Lineman MX Facility in Oil City, PA. 

More photos at http://photos.linemanmx.com 
 

Hey- it's been a while since I updated this blog but I've been real busy so I think that's a good thing!  This past fall a raced a few races in the WNYMA and visted a few tracks up in that area as well.  WNYMA is a great series with great tracks!  Most of my races were just for fun, I am getting faster on my Suzuki 450 and I think after riding a good variety of tracks I am finally feeling fast and up to a real good speed, which I felt I lacked at races this past summer.  The last local race I went to I had the fastest laptimes out of everyone there and rode really hard.  I had a couple crashes in the first couple corners and a few bad starts but I made over 50 passes by the end of the day on a 1 lined dusty track!  The one holeshot I got (in my 6th moto) I ended up getting taken out in the 2nd corner with a pretty dirty move, luckily I was ok but I finished the moto with a bent subframe, twisted shut head pipe, and a few broken bolts so my bike was in bad enough shape that I had to sit out a few days waiting on parts.  

My 2011 RMZ-450 is getting set-up with Ohlins Coppersmith Suspension and I am doing a lot of off the bike physical training since the weather is getting bad up here in PA.  I will be heading south next week and I plan to race the whole Carolina Winter Series which starts at the end of November.  I have a few different sponsors so far for next year- I have switched over to MSR for my riding gear and also to use some of their hard parts and I am also now with Utopia Optics for the next 2 years.  Of course there is my company, MotocrossTracks.com that is my biggest sponsors because hopefully I can make some extra cash off that to help out my racing career.  

My rider training is also picking up- I have a couple camps planned so far in the Carolina's and am lining up some 1 on 1 training.  I did a weekend session at my track with Lauren Plate who is an up and coming women's racer out of District 6 in Eastern PA.  It was a good weekend and the next weekend she put some of her lessons to use at the Suzuki Triple Crown at Doublin Gap.  For more info on my training check out the Training Camps page on my website.  

I'll keep this updated at least once a month so I'll be on here after I get down south and get another race or 2 in there. - Russell Lineman
 
Lineman MX Trained Rider Lauren Plate #347- Pulling the holeshot over an 85cc class full of boys at the Triple Crown Shootout


    A corner on the new sawdust track at Lineman MX.  This is the track to practice up for rough sand!





Me at Switchback Raceway in Butler, PA

I raced Miles Mountain the day after Unadilla and it was a mud race.  In 14-24 class I got the holeshot and opened up a quick little lead before I crashed a couple corners after the start.  I broke some stuff on the bars so I DNF'ed the race and got back to the truck to fix it up for the 450A moto.  In that moto I had a bad start and actually rode conservative and slow but it payed off in the end because I stayed on 2 wheels and got 3rd.  The 2nd motos were canceled. 

A lot of fun riding the best track I have ever been to!  It is so awesome with all the steep hills and natural terrain jumps.  The best part was definitley launching the 120 ft. Skyshot tabletop and landing way down the hill!  The competitive part of it was kinda bad, I ended up around 12th or better because I got a terrible start and went down on the 2nd lap and had to straighten up my levers and stuff.  The last lap of the race was the best I rode by far, I started clicking with the 2-stroke and passed 3 guys back that were way in front of me when I got back up. 

Here are a couple pictures from the race-

Hey, this is obviously a late post but I was super busy last week.  Sand Del Lee, in Ottawa, was a fun weekend hanging out at the track but bike troubles in qaulifying caused me to go to the LCQ where I crashed and bent my bike up a little bit and had to pull out.  It was a frustrating race day but nothing we could really do besides wait for the next race and keep practicing.

Hey,
Last weekend I went to ride at Sand Del Lee in Ottawa, Canada on saturday to get ready for this weekends national there.  I got a couple video clips from there below... Then Saturday night we drove down to Elkland, PA to race a WNYMA Pro-Am Series race at Miles Mountain.  I went 14-10 there for 10th overall and it was alright day but my riding was a little slow because I was pretty wore out from the riding and traveling all night 2 days in a row.  I just heard I got accepted into Unadilla's 2-Stroke Challenge on August 14 at the Rockstar AMA Pro National so that will be a chance for me to get back on the 250 and tear it up.  Alrighty, this weekend I am going to race Sand Del Lee.  I actually got some sand hauled into my practice track at home so hopefully it pays off.  

The last couple weeks I didn't get to go racing because I have spent my weekends testing on my new 450.  My Dad has had a busy work schedule so we could only really test the bike on the weekends and after the first weekend it wasn't quite right so I tried to ride it the way it was then this past weekend we finally got it set-up just right and I've been riding it hard this week.  I am opting out of the 20 hour drive to Riverglade MX for the CMRC National because I need a little bit more time to be where I want to be on the bike so instead I am gonna go to Log Road and Grattan MX this weekend to get a decent race in on the bike before next weekend. 

I'll let everyone know how it goes this weekend, take care!