Jean Turner | November 11, 2019
It’s been a while since three-peat winner Justin Seeds competed in the Harvey Mushman feature race at the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix, but the Purvines Yamaha racer made his return to the classic race to take his fourth overall win, his first since 2012. Seeds defeated Kawasaki-mounted Ryan Surratt and SLR Honda’s Ricky Dietrich in the 100-mile Mushman race, Saturday, November 9, at the 51st running of the race.
Conditions were extra dusty along the six-mile course at the Elsinore GP, with its signature fast, hard-pack dirt roads combining with the asphalt section through the town’s historic Main Street for a course much like the traditional format that appeared in the 1971 film On Any Sunday.
Grand prix specialist Trevor Stewart made an appearance at the Elsinore GP, contesting the 450 Pro race on Saturday morning and taking the win head of Seeds and Surratt. But the JCR Honda rider couldn’t stick around for the Mushman race, leaving Seeds to take the overall victory, leading nearly the entire way. The extra practice from the 450 race worked to Seeds’ advantage in the Mushman 100, where he was able slip past early leader Dietrich on the first lap.
“Dietrich ended up getting the holeshot on me, but he checked up on a section where we go from pavement to dirt,” said Seeds. “It’s pretty rough if you don’t really expect it. I knew I had to get by him or I was going to eat dust, so I went full send and got by him. It was a little squirrely but I made it and was able to lead from there on.
Dietrich ran second for much of the race, gaining a gap over third when Surratt suffered a flat tire in the early going. He admitted that racing the 450 event would have probably given him the edge he needed to maintain the early lead.
“It took me a couple laps to learn the course then around the middle of the race I pulled on Seeds and got pretty close to him,” said Dietrich. “I think he picked up the pace a little bit and just with the dust… I felt like I would have had to take really big chances to get by him.”
Dietrich ran into his own misfortune on the final lap when he ran out of gas. But with a lap over the rest of the field, the SLR Honda rider was still credited with third overall.
“I was going to ride it in to a steady second place and then last lap up on the ridges, the bike ran out of gas,” said Dietrich. “Just a small little error in calculation. I was able to get fuel from sweep, and as it turns out, all top three of us lapped up to third place, so I only lost the one place to Surratt. Not too bad at the end of the day. It’s good to push your bike home and still get third place. You can’t say that very often.” [laughs]
The Vet Open race saw Dennis Stapleton take the overall win ahead of Calvin Melauey and KTM Adventure bike-mounted Quinn Cody. In the Women’s Open, Viviana Contreras took the win ahead of Shonie Showmaker. In the Harvey Mushman Sportsman class, Kurt Samuelson edged out Thomas Dunn and Brandon Petersen for the win.
The foremost appeal of the race continues to be the timeless nature of the Harvey Mushman 100, and the spirit of racing through town on dirt bikes the way Steve McQueen and Malcolm Smith did so famously during the golden age of motorcycling. The classic spirit is not lost on Seeds.
“I was the first one ever to win it three years in a row, 2010-2012,” said Seeds. “My dad raced this race when he was younger. I’ve always been around it and I think it’s pretty cool how long it’s been around. To be able to say that I’m a winner four times now, it’s an awesome feeling. I enjoy coming here.”
Even the rough track with its heavy dust, square edges and blue groove is all just part of the classic experience, according to Seeds.
“It’s hard to get water on the track, obviously, with the fires and all that. But I think the guys did a good job with what they could. I mean, this really puts you to the test. They didn’t have water trucks back then when Steve McQueen was out here. So we get to go out there and ride like they did. Obviously we got a lot better bikes and suspension than they did, but we get to ride the track the way it was. It’s pretty cool.”
When asked if he did the obligatory wheelie down Main Street, Seeds replied with a laugh, “Yep! I definitely had to do the wheelie and give a good ol’ rev at the finish line! I couldn’t pass it up. I was super ecstatic.”
Lake Elsinore Grand Prix Results