It all started last week; Wednesday was just supposed to be a typical day. I had class from 9 to 12, and then another class from 1 to 4. I was sitting around waiting for my next class when Mark Ticen from Dragon Race Fuels called me up and asked if I wanted to go to MTF/GPF. Mark was going down to do fuel testing with two of his newly signed 2009 riders, Brandon Mays and Gannon Audette. Seeing as this was such a great oppurtunity, I eagerly decided to skip my next class and make the epic journey with him down . I ran home quickly, grabbed some clothes and a tooth brush, met Mark, and we were on our way. Cairo, Georgia is about 14 hours from Indianapolis so we were set out for a long drive. After a couple bathroom/eating/gas stops we rolled into Thomasville, GA at about 2 am and posted up in a hotel.

MTF was our first stop on Thursday morning. We arrived there just a little before 8am and sat in the front parking lot waiting for everyone to wake up. Little did we know, everyone was already awake, as about 40 kids piled out of the gym a while after we arrived. They mean business here and they don't waste any time. We quickly found Brandon Mays and set up shop. Brandon didn't have to do the normal drills with everyone that day because he was testing not only fuel, but supercross suspension as well for the upcoming Mini O's. The other kids who live there year around, Justin Barcia, Joey Savatgy, Sean Lipanovich, Steven Clarke, Sunny Drake, and Trevor Donie were out riding the outdoor track for a warm up. I witnessed them do starts, 1-3 lap sprints, 20 minute motos, and passing drills on the outdoor track. They would ride for about an hour and then go take a break. Colleen Millsaps, the mastermind and head coach at MTF, would blow a horn and all the kids would come back to the track. This time however, they started riding the arenacross track in preparation for Mini O's. The riders did the same drills they did on the outdoor track, but they focused on the whoops for a long time as well. While all this was going on Brandon, Mark, and his mechanic were putting fuel in all of his bikes and getting ready to ride. Mark brought down 3 different fuels to try, so Brandon would go out on one bike, come in and change fuel or jetting, and then go ride again. He quickly found a fuel, Legend Series JM01, he liked in his 125 and exclaimed to me that usually he hated riding his 125, but with the new fuel he thought it was fun to ride again. Brandon also found the Legend Series JMPro fuel to be the fuel of his choice for the four-stroke bikes. We closed up shop at MTF and headed over to GPF, which is literally right next door, to do some more testing.

Georgia Practice Facility is a whole different ballgame than MTF. GPF has a huge motocross track with elevation changes, trees, and a lot of sand. MTF has a large motocross track around their supercross tracks with a little sand, mostly flat, and no trees at all. As we pulled in I noticed the supercross track first; it is one of the gnarliest tracks I have ever seen. The Medaglia brothers were down from Canada getting ready for the East Regional Supercross Series, but they were also putting time in on the motocross track as well. We found the Audettes and quickly went to testing. Gannon had just made the switch to Suzuki's and he was shaking down his stock bike. Gannon started riding with one of Dragon's new fuels and did quite a few laps. He would test a fuel and then come in, try another fuel or make some changes to the jetting. Gannon tested the JM6 and the JMPro fuel, and felt like the JM6 best suited his riding style.

GPF has a few huge step ups and I was having a blast shooting Gannon and the Medaglias whipping their bikes over them. Through all the testing Gannon found a fuel that he loved, and we finally decided we should head out because it was already 5 pm. Mark did all of the driving and our plan was to drive straight through the night. We had to stop once to nap for about an hour, but we finally arrived home around 9 am on Friday. Our trip was a great success. The Dragon Race Fuel riders tested fuel and found a winning package, and I got to shoot some of the fastest amateur kids on the planet. Indy to Georgia and back in 48 hours.

Steven Clarke preparing for the 2009 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Series

Chase Couture putting in some laps in preparation for the Florida Mini O's coming up here in a few weeks.

Like Gannon Audette, Joey Savatgy also made the switch to American Suzuki under the wing of Cole Gress. Joey has quite the head of confidence after coming off two titles at the Loretta Lynn Ranch. Expect big things at in Florida.

It was a joy seeing Redbull's Brandon Mays back on the bike and ripping through corners like his old self.

After some bad luck at the Branson Amateur National, Sean Lipanovich will be back in Florida with a vegence, ready to set the record straight.

Justin Barcia - nothing more needs to be said about this kid. We can't wait to see him rip it up come Mini O's.