Walsh Race Craft's Jeremy Lawson Finishes 3rd in 2011 AMA/ATVA Motocross Series

Aug 19, 2011

Walsh Race Craft and Lawson finished the 2011 AMA/ATVA Motocross season in a very respectable third overall.

Mechanical uncertainties and the strategic interaction between man and machine is what creates the addictive unpredictability of racing. Or, from a different perspective - if it ain't one thing, it's another. For K&N backed Walsh Race Craft and Jeremy Lawson their 2011 AMA/ATVA motocross season was often as up-and-down as the tracks they competed on.

Jeremy Lawson thanked K&N for helping to keep his Suzuki LT-R450 running at peak performance.

Although Lawson was time and again the fastest rider on the track the unpredictability of racing too often prevented him from running away with the series. At times just when it appeared as though Lawson was ready to pounce to victory, a rider would run up his backside, or an undiagnosed physical issue produced a mediocre moto, and Lawson would then need to utilize all his skill just to salvage a good finish. In the final tally it came down to Lawson's repeated improvisational cleverness that saved the season with a third overall in the 2011AMA/ATVA Motocross Series.

Lawson has been Walsh Race Craft's "in-house" rider for the last two seasons, "This means that we manage the entire racing effort and own the ATV's, Jeremy is responsible for getting to the track (but may ride with us in our truck) and he keeps 100% of all winnings and sponsor bonuses," explained owner Mike Walsh. "We do most of the maintenance on the ATV's but Jeremy also works on them some."

Lawson and Hetrick battled for the hole-shot in Round 10 of the series.

"As for the rest of our sponsored riders, we supply parts at a negotiated rate (sometimes free) such as A-arms, steering stems, swing-arms, etc. You will not see Walsh Race Craft in magazines much because the rider support stuff is how we have always promoted Walsh Race Craft brand products."

In 2004 Walsh Race Craft moved from the non-descript house located in the Connecticut countryside that was their origin, to a 12,000 plus square-foot building in Live Oak, Florida. "Now have more machinery, a dyno, a serdi valve machine, and we are slowly, but surely becoming a Pro Circuit or Yoshimura style company," says Walsh.

Owner Mike Walsh says with all his new machinery they are becoming a Pro Circuit or Yoshimura style company.

"We have also started servicing shocks and do maintenance on many makes of ATV's, dirt bikes and street bikes. We have eight employees, and look to keep it that way for a little while, the way things have been for the past two years in the ATV MX industry, we are trying to save and be more economical and grow wisely."

Commenting on how the 2011 season ended Walsh says, "Jeremy was definitely happy to move up in the points standings, and being in third after Unadilla actually left the door open for us to win the championship, of course we would have needed perfect races, and Natalie and Upperman would have had to have some poor races, but the door was opened."

"However, a collision with Joel Hetrick at Round 10 in Red Bud, Michigan, left us holding on to third place. Jeremy was the fastest qualifier at Red Bud and he was passing Hetrick for second when they crashed. Anyway, to answer the question fully, Jeremy was not doing so well after Round 10, but he got back together for the last round and finished the season respectably."

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