A1 and Phoenix
By: Scott Cram

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace. It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” - Martin Luther

I have to say that I am glad that 2006 is over and long gone! 06 had to be one of the toughest years in my life, to date; it seemed that if anything could go wrong last year it did. I left the ministry I was involved in, I had a ton of problems with racing, and my job situation came to a dramatic halt. Through it all I have learned that I have been given more then is beyond measure. It's a strange and sort of amazing thing when you lose the things that you thought were so important to you, just to realize the things that are really important are left standing right in front of your face, where they have always been.

This year I received an email from the AMA with the pro package information to sign up for the 2007 SX season on a Friday, I printed it out and sent it back that same day with overnight delivery in hope of being accepted. With the rules being changed regarding who would be accepted; it was more of a hail mary throw sending it in. I didn't think I was going to be accepted, but luckily I raced the night event in San Francisco and made it in by making 1 night event in 2006, which is what was required.

After the Las Vegas SX in 2006 I took some time off to go to a doctor and figure out why I was getting tired all the time. I was putting in the time at the gym and track, but I never seemed to get over the hump where I could perform at the level the other guys were. I finally found out that I had exercised induced asthma, which pretty much changed everything as far as riding, training, and how I look at the whole thing.

After getting medicine to treat asthma, I have had more energy then I ever had. Training all of a sudden seemed a lot easier and I could reach higher intensity workouts with less effort, not to mention riding was going a lot better. About a month after finding out about having asthma I landed on my head and tore the muscles in the back of my neck, resulting in a month off the bike and about 2 more months of taking it easy since my neck continued to hurt for 3 months after the crash.

That really threw a wrench in my plan of racing all summer and getting my speed up to make a legitimate shot at making night events in supercross and really doing well. All this happened in about the middle of the summer, leaving enough time to heal and get ready for supercross… thankfully.

This year I have been able to ride SX tracks a lot more and even start earlier then last year. I always talked about starting to ride SX in October or November, but it never ended up happening until this year. It has been a big relief to start getting everything down with time left to start putting laps together. Since I have more energy, my focus has also increased dramatically.

My main obstacle now is being able to push my body to the level it needs to be at. Since I had problems breathing I was only able to push to a certain level for sections of the track, now that I can ride and train harder it has been challenging for my body to adapt to being pushed to that level. My trainer Mike Healey met me out at the track to help me out one day and he was pretty stoked on how I was riding. I like bringing Mike out because he won't beat around the bush with me, if I'm not riding good he is going to let me know about it. But he pretty much told me that I was looking really good, especially compared to the past 3 years. I did all the jumps within the second lap including the triple which I had a mental block on a year or so ago and I did it all while having arm pump. It feels really good to have all of that behind me now and to be able to be putting full laps in.

Anaheim 1 rolled around and everything seemed to be good. I was hoping to ride really well in the first round and get this year of racing started right. Unfortunately I got really bad arm pump and I wasn't able to ride to the ability I think I am capable of. I still got most of the track down except for doing the rhythm sections like the really fast guys and skimming the whoops. But all in all, it felt good to get the first race out of the way and still be healthy; the first race is usually a really tough track that seems to claim quite a few riders.

After the first race I made some key suspension changes, which I felt needed to be made after the super technical track at the first round. This year has been really cool because my friend Travis Flateau from TBTracing.com is helping me out with my suspension as well as helping put race pistons and cams in my motors. He made the suspension changes the next day, Sunday, and I was able to tell on Monday that it helped a lot.

I wish I had more to write about A1, but with the new timed qualifying I only rode two practices, which due to my arms feeling more like cement then muscle I didn't get a lot of laps in. The good thing is that I wasn't nervous or worried about anything. I am riding and feeling more confident then I ever have and really got the track down quicker then I thought I was going to.

“God is, and all is well.” - John Greenleaf Whittier

The week before Phoenix went really well, I got a lot of riding and training in as well as a race bike put together. My mechanic, Travis, is planning on leaving after the Anaheim 2 race, so I figured that I better get a race bike now or else I won't have anyone here to help me put everything together. Also, I switched to Fly Racing gear this year. It didn't show up before A1, which I was a little bummed about, but as I was loading up to go practice on Monday the UPS guy showed up with a box of new race gear for me. It just feels good to make some changes this year and start off in 07 with a new feel.

I have to admit that when I think about racing supercross a few thoughts come to mind….. “It's too expensive, It' so much work, what if you get hurt……” Still every time I listen to what God is telling me it's always “look how far you have already come, don't give up now that you are so close.” My life is drastically different from the previous years in that I don't attend church regularly anymore. I know it sounds strange, but at the same time my job fell through, I left the ministry, and I got hurt; the church I was going to every week changed in a major way. It was pretty clear to me that it wasn't a place I was going to get what I was looking for spiritually. Now when I do go to church I go to Saddleback Church , where I started going to first when I moved to California . I now mainly listen to Bishop T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, and Jesse Duplantis on TBN. Every time I listen to those guys I get something really good out of it. To be honest it's almost a relief to be able to do that since I have so much to do now with racing and training.

One thing I am really happy about now that supercross has started again is getting to attend Chapel Service with the Chaplain Steve Hudson. I remember at one of his services he mentioned that for some of the riders the chapel service was the only church service they will attend during the week. Well, it seems to be the only one I am attending right now. The message right before Phoenix was to ask for God's favor, which I believe I have now for sure. About a month ago T.D. Jakes had the same message, except his message was Favor isn't Fair . It made me stop and think: I bet a lot of people wonder how I got into supercross after hearing about a few people that didn't get in, but probably should have. Well that is the only answer I have, favor isn't fair. But at the same time I believe I deserve another shot at racing supercross especially after trying so hard the last three years just to find out that asthma was the major limiting factor on my attitude, physical performance, as well as my mental awareness.

Back to the Phoenix Supercross, the track was a really fun layout. Phoenix has always been one of the best tracks to go to for Supercross. The first practice session went really well, I rode a lot better then A1 and my arms didn't pump up quite as much. One problem I did have was over jumping the triples almost every time; as well as the finish line. For the second practice I made a gearing change, going up one tooth on the rear sprocket to slow my bike down a bit, which really helped a lot. The whoops were still eating me up, but none the less a big improvement over the first race in Anaheim . For the first time since racing supercross I had double digit lap times instead of a minute plus, but still 7 seconds from the night event. The competition this year is tougher then any other year I have ever seen it. The new rules leave a really fast and tough field to compete against!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17 , New International Version).

I feel like 2007 is going to be a really good year for me, my attitude and overall mental focus is very good this year. After 2006, I really learned who is behind me and who my real friends are. I also know my family is 100% behind me; they really helped me out a lot throughout 2006 when everything went down hill. I know why and what I am out there racing supercross for. I am going all out this year in hopes of doing really well and stepping up to where I know I can ride. But regardless of how I do this year I know that I have great family and friends as well as a God that wants the best for my life. As of late, I have realized that God is more than a savior and master, He is a father. There is a scripture that says it best, “If you, who are evil, want great things for your son, what do you think I, whom is holy, wants to give to you?” Although I don't recall the exact scripture that is and I wrote it from memory, it is something very important for me to keep in mind. I am His child and He only wants to give me the true desire of my heart. He built my salvation on His mercy and grace as mercy rules over all laws.

“In the most lopsided deal of all time, Jesus took our filthy rags of sin and gave us His robe of righteousness. Our righteousness is not our own, it is from Him. Dare we brag of our goodness now?” - Paul C. Brownlow 

This year feels different in a lot of ways, like something deep down in me has changed, but in a lot of ways it just feels like I am being brought around to the same issues I didn't get right the last go around. One thing that is really hitting me is that grace is a gift that has to be accepted; it can't be earned or worked for. No great dead can win the prize of grace; it's just given freely to me by God. That is the biggest thing I am having a hard time accepting, that I have to take something without giving anything back in return. But it's like me getting the opportunity to race supercross again in 2007 over a lot of other people that deserve to be racing as well, that is just how it is. I am learning to accept that and use the opportunities given to me to make the most out of the life I've been given. So, coming off the best ride of my supercross career I am looking forward to improving more at A2 and hopefully qualifying for the night event without the mud (San Fran in 2006 mud-fest) this time!

Scott Cram
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