First Lady of ICE

This weekend marked the final round of the 2011 ICE season, but before I get into that final I would like to briefly recap where I left off last….

Heading into the Bloomington, IL round a few weeks prior I was really nervous. With a 51 point lead, I knew I had the opportunity to clinch the championship. It would not be easy however since a whopping 35 quads were on hand that round. Now remember, only eight make it to the main event at night’s end. I was trying to be as confident as possible but I noticed that I had Drew Berguist in my heat, and he’s been a top contender at every event he has attended this season. Luckily, I didn’t have my father/teammate in my heat, but unfortunately for him he had stacked heats of his own. Right before the races, one of my dearest high school friends and her husband showed up to watch J&M Racing. The two of them have become such great supporters of mine and they have made the 3-hour trip from Chicago the past two years. Talking to them allowed my nerves to settle before heading out for my first heat.

 While lined up for the start of the first heat I made a huge mistake. The Harley quad (Wiggins) is known for timing the light perfectly, and this time was no exception. Instead of watching the tape, I caught a glimpse of him lurching and it threw my timing off. Wiggins on the other hand got an awesome launch and I fell into second. I got a little impatient and rammed the back of him which was a bad move on my part because that quad is like a sled. My foot slipped off my foot peg going under my bike and I proceeded to spin around in a circle when I got stuck under the quad. I was so mad at myself for not being patient and I ended up getting 3rd. After patching up the front end of my quad I went out for my second heat. This time there was no hesitation on my part as my Hoosier tires hooked up and launched me off the line in first. By the time I got to turn three I was a straight away ahead of 2nd place. This fortunately gave me enough points for the LCQ which was a total cluster. Three riders (Wiggins, Mills and myself) all had 13 points and there were only two spots left. All spots are decided by first heat qualifying times EXCEPT the last spot available for the LCQ. If two or more riders are tied in points, there is a run-off to fill the last positions. Well…..we went to the starting line and lined up in the 6th thru 8th positions, then out of nowhere Jensen comes out on the track saying he should be in the last chance qualifier because he had 16 points. At the time I didn’t know the reason we were all slid one spot over putting me in the 9th position on the 3rd row by myself and the only other racer I cared about that evening on the second row in the 8th starting spot.

Upset that I wasn’t given a chance to eliminate Wiggins or Mills in a run-off and start on the 2nd row, I put my head down and told myself I could do this, even from the third row. I needed to go from 9th to at least 4th in four short laps. It wasn’t going to be easy but I knew I had the ability to pass which is something only a handful of racers on the tour can do. The gate went up and I started of course last but lap by lap I reached my way to fifth. Then, in the final corner of the last lap I set Sam up and cut underneath him and pinned it to the checkered flag. Thankfully my Curtis Sparks 250R had enough power to pass the Harley quad by half a tire. I have not been that pumped after a race in a looooooooooong time, it was like I had won the feature for the night. Of course there was controversy because the entire thing was a cluster but in the end, I started 8th in the main event and cautiously finished 5th, not wanting to risk taking myself or someone else taking me out, I wanted to finish the night with a comfortable points lead, which I did. I was in first place with 73 points in front of 2nd (Sam Wiggins) and 82 points ahead of 3rd (Jeff Brodil).

Getting there isn’t always easy
Okay, two months off to absorb the fact that I just needed to show up to the final round of the 2010-11 I.C.E. Series to be crowned champion. Seems pretty easy right? WRONG!! Thursday night J&M Racing headed north towards Johnstown, PA for a great weekend. Four hours in we decided to stop and stay the night in Frederick, MD to get a good night’s sleep for a great day to follow. Friday morning we woke up to a cruddy breakfast but then thankfully found a Starbucks for the two hour ride we had left.

The Cervantes Trio was riding with my Mema and following my mom and dad who had the trailer. Two and a half hours later I told my mom we needed to pull over. I turned on our GPS which proceeded to tell us we still had two hours to go. WHAT! I still don’t know where we were headed but we finally made our way to the arena around three that afternoon. Thank goodness we set everything up prior to leaving and could roll the quads out of the trailer, ready to race minus tires. I was hoping to go relax at the hotel for an hour since I was so tired from doing all of the stressful driving. It was only fitting that the hotel we were going to stay out was full and we had to stay 20 minutes away. Note to self, always book a hotel room prior to departing for the trip. We got checked in long enough to order a pizza and head back to the track. Of course there was an accident on the way, getting us there just in time for the riders meeting. In my head I kept thinking, “Do not pass go, do not collect the championship”. Something that seemed so easy, just getting to the event, had become so exhausting.

YES!! J&M Racing finishes1 and 2 for the season!Finally, my daughter Amelia and I were dressed and ready to race. Being there were only 12 quads at this race, we were given a throw-a-way heat. With nothing to lose, I decided to try racing my Honda 450R
with my Hoosier Tires. I was a little skeptical because in past experience I just spun my tires off the line and out of the corners. Well, after my first heat, I must say my Curtis Sparks 450R and Hoosiers make better combination than I first thought, but I wasn’t as comfortable on it as my 250R so I decided to switch back to what has gotten me through this season. The second heat was what mattered for #62. I lined up at the starting line, the gate went up and I officially started the race…..Wahoo, I am officially the 2011 and 4x World Championship ICE Racing Champion! That moment was very short lived as it was time to focus solely on what my teammate needed to clinch 2nd place for the season. Unfortunately he drew Sammy Wiggins who was nine points ahead for his first heat. When they lined up, the Harley quad (Wiggins) jumped the line but this time he broke it. The referee let the race go for some reason, Wiggins finishing first and my dad finished behind him. All you can do is say he got away with one and move on, which J. Brodil did. He won his second heat as I did and Sam Wiggins finished third in his second heat.

 

Final Main Event
Going into the main event for the night, it was J&M Racing in between Team Race Technologies, which consisted of Calvert on pole and the Harley on the wall. J&M Racing just needed to get a clean start and finish in front of Wiggins. The only concern I had was that Calvert would take my dad out if he jumped out to the lead so his teammate could finish 2nd overall. When the tape went up, it was J&M Racing who ended up hitting each other off the line. When I got acclimated, I tucked behind #56 who was in second, Calvert was in first and I had no clue where Wiggins was. In the end, J&M Racing finished 2nd and 3rd for the night. It was the first time this season that we have been on the podium together. When all the points were tallied, Mandy Brodil finished 1st, Jeff Brodil 2nd and a mere 2 points behind was Sam Wiggins in 3rd. What a great season!

Johnstown Podium

Thanks to Answer Racing I was able to give away a #1 jersey of mine to a lucky fan

Thank Yous
I just want to thank my lord, family, team and sponsors for all of their support. I could not have done any of this without you. I have to take the bike to victory but it takes a lot of prayers and work to get J&M to and from the races each and every week. MavTV asked me what the most memorable moment of this season has been. Without hesitation I said, “Watching my little girl ride around on the ice hamming it up to her fans.” Second would be celebrating this championship as a family. My teammate “Daddy Jeff Brodil” was able to finish in 2nd, making us the first father/daughter duo to do this. I am so proud of him for working through the ups and downs of his season and rallying back. I know he would have liked to have finished first but in the end, a BRODIL is on top and that is what we went into the season wanting. I didn’t think I would be able to have a family and race, yet alone win and I have! It’s a very surreal feeling and I’m thankful that I can show my daughter that you can do anything you put your mind to, and that includes competing against boys :)

Next Year’s ICE Plans
I look forward to another great year in 2012 with the #1 on my back with the support of the following: J&M Racing, C3, Curtis Sparks Racing, Answer Racing, HTMA (Hoosier Tire), Lone Star Racing, ESJ Graphics, Turners Honda of Elizabeth City, SMX Optics, Werks, LA Sleeve and Custom Axis for dialing in my shocks so perfectly. Also thank you to all my friends and local support that I have received.

I’m excited to announce the partnership of Moto Activ and Mandy Brodil for the 2011-12 season. We established a sponsorship program after doing a video review with Freddie Shepard of Moto Activ at the Indy Dealer Expo. I felt their products were very high quality and offered a lot of cutting edge style. I’m looking forward to running Moto Activ products soon.

What’s Next for this year…
On April 15-16 I’ll be in Budds Creek, MD for the Extreme Dirt Track Race with the girls of ATVs Most Wanted. Look for us on vendor row during the MX and EDT race. Besides myself (Miss January), Miss May and Miss December will be there. They’ll also be the official Trophy Girls for the AMA ATV MX National at Budds Creek on Saturday afternoon!

Follow me on:
Facebook
Twitter
www.icespeedway.com
ATV’s Most Wanted Calendar

Tags:

Comments

comments