Claremore Arenacross Race Recap
- 3rd overallHayes Edwards · Friday
- 2nd Head 2 HeadHayes Edwards · Saturday
- B Main winCodee Samples · Friday
- B Main winRiley Ripper · Saturday
After months of planning and changing directions a few times, we finally got to go racing! Claremore was our first weekend with Ronnie Orres, Hayes Edwards, Riley Ripper, and our newest addition, Codee Samples. It was also our first weekend as the Rigid 911 405 Mods Race Team, with Rigid 911 stepping up as our title sponsor and Parts Unlimited coming on board as an official team partner.
It's been a pretty crazy year figuring out what direction we wanted to take the team. After looking at the financial side, exposure, and what made the most sense for our sponsors, we decided to go all in on West Coast Supercross. It's a big commitment, but one we couldn't make without Rigid 911 and Parts Unlimited behind us.
Ronnie Orres #873
Our weekend started off pretty rough. Ronnie had some damage from an earlier crash, and we ran into additional problems during the repair. Ultimately, that was completely on us. We should've caught everything before leaving the shop, but instead spent most of Friday trying to get his bike sorted out, eventually swapping suspension between bikes just to get him racing.
I'm extremely bummed that we put Ronnie in that position, especially for our first weekend together. But I think it ended up being a valuable lesson for everyone on the team, myself included. We all took something away from it, and we're going to make sure those same mistakes don't happen when we get to Supercross.
Ronnie finished 8th overall Friday (10-8) and 9th Saturday (7-11), but those results don't show how well he was riding. He had great speed all weekend, but starts and getting caught up in traffic made it tough to put everything together.
What impressed me most was how Ronnie handled everything. He never complained or made excuses, just kept pushing. I know he's capable of a lot more than the results showed, and I'm excited to keep working with him. I think Ronnie is going to surprise a lot of people when we get to Supercross.
Hayes Edwards #146
Man, Hayes really impressed me. I hadn't watched him ride his new bike much, and with everything going on with Ronnie's bike, I missed Friday's practice. When I finally got to watch him race, I was pretty excited about what I saw.
Hayes finished 3rd overall Friday (3-4) and 4th Saturday (6-4). He also won his heat Saturday and finished second in Head 2 Head behind Mike Alessi.
Both Ronnie and Hayes were racing 250s against some 450s, and the dirt starts were definitely an adjustment after spending most of our time practicing Supercross starts. We weren't going to change our preparation for Anaheim just for one Arenacross weekend.
I really didn't know what to expect from Hayes going into the weekend, but after seeing him race, he's one of the things I'm most excited about heading into Supercross.
Riley Ripper #822
Riley finished 15th overall Friday and won Saturday's B Main after missing the main event.
One thing I really appreciate about Riley is his attitude. He's always in a good mood and willing to help with whatever needs done. When we were struggling with Ronnie's bike, Riley immediately offered his own motorcycle and helped us find parts while getting ready for his own races.
Having guys like that around makes a huge difference, especially when things aren't going according to plan.
Codee Samples #32
We also brought Codee Samples into the program at Claremore. He's planning to race most of GT Arenacross independently with support from us, along with some local A-class races and potentially a few outdoor nationals.
Codee won Friday's B Main and finished second in Saturday's B Main. It was great having him under the tent for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing how his season goes and helping him along the way.
Wyatt Reimer
Unfortunately, Wyatt crashed during practice Thursday and injured his back. It doesn't look like he'll be racing anytime soon, but he'll still be involved with our Supercross program, helping drive the truck and handle logistics throughout the season.
More Than Just Racing
For the third year in a row, we got everyone together for breakfast at Wyatt's mom and dad's house in Claremore. It's become one of my favorite parts of the weekend. A big thank you to Wyatt's parents for opening up their home, feeding everybody, and taking care of us again. We really appreciate everything they do.
I also want to thank Bayler McKellar for everything he did with us last season. Bayler has decided to step away from racing, and while I hate to see him go, I completely respect his decision. We had plenty of highs and lows together over that year, and I really appreciate the effort he put into our program. I wish him nothing but the best with whatever comes next.
Looking Ahead
Overall, we came away from Claremore with a lot more positives than negatives. After all the planning, changes, and work that went into putting this program together, it was good to finally have everyone under the same tent and see it all starting to come together.
We definitely found some things we need to work on before Anaheim, but that's exactly why we wanted to get some racing in. I'm really happy with the riders and people we've got around us, and after this weekend, I'm even more excited about what we can accomplish.
We're still putting together some of the final pieces for our 2027 Supercross program. If you or your business would like to get involved, reach out. We'd love to see what we can put together.
We've still got plenty of work to do, but I think we've got something good going here. Now it's time to get back to work and get ready for Supercross!
— Dylan Metheny
Cover and race action photos by Angie’s Photography.