Texas Racing has really been heating up, sure the temp outside has been sub-teens but hey it's Texas just wait a day.  Our riders have been on track and up front.

First off I want to say a big congratulation to Jason Norman who not only put his CX50 Sr. on the top overall podium of the Texas off Road National, but he also took the top notch aboard his CX65 in the 65 class as well. He's had a long hard season with many ups and downs, but he kept digging and pulled it out at the end. Most of the season he ran out front, but stumbled a few times, but nothing to worry about. He smoothed it out and took home the goods. We're proud to have him on the team, he's been a King Cobra of Texas rider for years and yet again he proved himself worthy and we're all proud to have him in the Cobra family.

Nathan Smith has been doing his homework and during the 2nd stop of the Honda of Houston series, Nathan toped all the riders with 2 first, showing confident speed with a cool smile. It's going to be fun watching this little guy grow and we're excited to be a part of it. Darren Kelly went to the Blizzard series in Oklahoma and froze his tail off while winning the open and icing a 2nd in the age class. Super fun hard working kid. Parker Mashburn has been training and really fine tuning his skill. Come Whitney it's on and should be good! Hunter Budd has a birthday this week, to celebrate he took every holeshot and win at the Lafayette, then winning the 10-11 at Southwest MX park fighting with Rooster for the open, but came a little short. Next he was off to Oklahoma and the LazyE for a cool AX race. The place was packed and the gates were extra cool. Hunter had to mix it up with a few northern riders. Starts were strong and ground speed solid, but Bret Welch had to much for Hunter in the rhythm section doing the doubles with style. Hunter was able to scratch out a 2nd in the Open and 3rd in the age. Great night of racing.
 

Next we plan to hit the AX series more, we'll be in Kansas City MO. for the AMA Arenacross, followed by Tulsa and San Antonio. We're super excited to hope for Vegas and with some luck we'll be in the big show watching the big boys battle.

The year 2009 was good to King Cobra of Texas, we made it to a ton of races, met a basket full of great people, and still we look to 2010 as another stealer year.

With the government trying all it could to trip up the youth motorcycle industry and the economy itself tighten its belt to the point of near starvation King Cobra of Texas was able to wade through the trouble times and come out the other side looking to the future.  The turn of the new year has many challenges and speed bumps ahead, the Lead law mix up never died it was just delayed and with much luck and the assistance of those who participate in the sport we love, I expect that this law will be looked at with more realistic plans and it will be tailored to the needs of just what the law intended, and that was to keep lead toys from the youth of our great country. We have some fun plans this year, racing includes the AMA Arenacross and hopefully a trip to Vegas in May, of course we'll be doing what we can to attend the local events and support our customer base. We also plan to grow out motor building more on that in later newsletters.
 

On the past race scene our guys have done super, Nathan Smith (COB 51) went back to the flooded mess at Branson and was surprised just how well the NMA had done getting the facility back up to speed after the flood had destroyed the whole area.  Going back to Branson was a good and a bad thing for Nathan. He was able to show he had top speed with several good starts and top 3 laps, but it would be trouble keeping both wheels on the ground that would haunt Nathan eventually ending in a trip to the medics and a cracked wrist. Bummer for Nathan but the comeback has been without issue, taking the top spot at Nocona in both the 7-8 and the open and backing that up with solid finishes at Freestone. A 2nd and 3rd On the senior bike with top national riders, big gates. So we look to Nathan to continue the growth.
 

Hunter Budd (COB 399) has also been taking it to the track. We went to several cross countries with Jason Norman and lite the place on fire with sweeping wins in the 65 classes, we also spent some time in sunny Florida for the World Mini Olympics at Gaterback track. Trouble was it wasn't sunny; it was cold and wet plenty of wet for sure. The SX event was a mess and was mostly a free for all. Hunter almost had a 6th overall but laid it down on the last turn before the flag and ended way back after not being able to get the bike up the hill. Putting the sun and fun of Florida behind us, Hunter has bounced back and really gotten back to his old winning ways, doing his work at Nocona and Freestone, with Holeshots and top finishes. We look to head in doors now and hit the AX scene with the Cobra CX65.
 

Congratulations to Jason Norman (COB 239) for winning both the 50 class and 65 class in the off road series of the Texas OFF ROAD Nationals. He had a really long series, but toughed it out to come out on top, placing his Cobra CX50 and Cobra CX65 right where he has been all year, on top!
 

Little Bobby Joe Millican has been developing just perfect, he's proving to be a tough customer to many on the gate, at Village Creek he took the overall, and this past weekend he put his Cobra in front, taking a 3rd overall in the O/I class and if not for one mistake in the second moto of the 4-6 he was on track for a top 5 on a stacked gate. So we look to Bobby to continue the improvements we've seen.
 

King Cobra of Texas has also added a CX65 rider, little guy we call Darren Kelly, his race number is 728 he's off the 50 now and only running the CX65 at local races, but he also plans to contest the AX series and we look forward to helping him get to his goal of Vegas baby!!
 

Parker Mashburn has been doing what he does, destroy competition and win races. Training like a prize fighter for a heavy weight battle, parker is one of the most determined racers we have known. At the mini O's in Florida he was strong, but unfortunately we had some bike issues and a crash that kept him from highlighting his talent, but we have many other opportunities to show the skill he has.

Coming up we'll be hitting the AX scene with Darren, Nathan and Hunter contesting the track and other for a chance to race in Vegas. So look for us at an arena near you. As the year moves forward we look forward to helping our moto families keep the dream alive. Thanks for the chance to be a part of your racers life and let's have a safe fun new years.

Lately King Cobra of Texas riders have been doing super, taking some strong wins across Texas.  Halloween took Hunter Budd and Jason Norman out to a legendary cross country track on the red river, a little place called Muenster. Home of the Red Bull last man standing epic rides and
also the home of Texas off-road racing organizations opener for the winter series. Hunter and Jason set the tone with strong holeshots and backed them up with wire to wire wins, putting both Cobra 65's on the top box.  With the weather being so good and the track calling me out I
decided to ride also and knocked down a solid 4th, not to bad having not really ridden in years except for a little playing here and there. The following weekend all the guys converged on Freestone for the Texas state championship. Parker Mashburn, Nathan Smith, Bobby Joe and Hunter
Budd all come together with the simple goal of putting their Cobras up front. Parker set the tone with serious leads taking him to the wins in the 50 7-8 class, with Nathan Smith battling out for the 2nd and 4th on the open and age, Bobby came in with a solid 3rd in the 4-6 while Hunter
watched from the sidelines with a dislocated elbow on the recovery. Needless to say it was a great weekend with our guys, all of them rode to amazing finishes and we look for more in the upcoming races. Nathan will be back at Branson for some 7-8 action with Parker and Hunter heading to
Florida to race the O's.

Welcome to Branson MX 2009, enter at your own risk and be sure to bring rain coats and pontoon boats. The race was a complete bust, we managed to get 2 65 practices of 2-3 laps and that was nothing but a mud fest. After drive in day which was amazingly great. A sunny 80 with no rain, the parking was a little slick from rain the days before. As soon as I pulled in I sunk my van and trailer and had to get towed to a safe perch overlooking the lower tier. Soon I would realize just how nice it would be to have suck a high landing. Thursday met with down pours of Amazon proportions, I mean sheets of rain but nothing like they had up stream. After a few wraps of practice they ran 8 motos of survival training, I mean just staying up right was impossible for some. Then the announcement came that was curious, the announcer said a voluntary evacuation for the lower tier was out. They said the river was going to crest just to the lower tier, then I looked at the road in and thought we got to haul butt out over hear, some wanted to stay, but they quickly found the police and fire department telling them get out now and fast. The river came up fast taking some by surprise, but the morning showed just how bad this was. The race was called and nothing but clean up remained. We went back out to help a friend get his trailer out. I was amazed just how high the water got. Two trailer didn’t make it and all you could see was the top of the trailer. Porta potties floating around and mud as slick as a used salesman.

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King Cobra of Texas riders, Nathan Smith (COB 51), Josh Lippard (COB 220), Jason Norman (Cob 539) and Hunter Budd (Cob 399) meet up for a battle with the West Texas riders in what was deemed the East vs. West championship.  The racing was top notch and the guys held there own.

Nathan Smith showed a glimpse of things to come next year as he topped the 4-6 class with style and turned in a 3^rd in the open falling short only to Carte Halpain and Josh, both will be aging out so we look to Nathan to fill the gap the senior riders will leave.

Josh came out after a few months out on injury reserved.  Once he jumped on his Cobra it was like he never left. Josh laid down some solid laps taking a 2^nd in both the open and the 7-8 classes. It was great to see josh smile and we’re all proud of how he rode.

Hunter Budd came out to play also putting his Cobra 65 way up front in the 65 9-11 class and pulling every holeshot he gated. In the open Hunter and Carter put on a show dropping lap times to match the big bike classes.  Hunter had a get off in the open that cost him the overall, but he was not hurt and that was the most important thing.

Jason came out to get his feet wet in the MX scene after a very long time of not taking a gate. Jason rode with some real fight, passing and charging with cat like skill. He’s been riding the cross country scene and is doing super well. Next week he’s have a real challenge getting back his points lead in the Torn series. We wish him much luck.

Parker was off to Alabama to show boat his skill, not sure how the finish was but I’m sure he styled with his skill.

Next up we have the finishing races for the Full Moon seres, The best of Texas series kicks off, and we head to Branson in October. We really look forward to branson, the guys will be contesting the 50 and 65 classes and I’m getting the feeling this will be when we bust the top 10 for all our guys. Looks to be good fun and hope to see some of my great customers on the track.

[SUMMER UPDATE] 

Well the mid-summer big shows have finished. King Cobra of Texas riders have been on the go for months competing in qualifiers around Texas and the country. All the National riders made the big shows they were shooting for. Nathan Smith (COB 51) and Hunter Budd (COB 399) made it to Ponca, Josh Lippard (COB 220) also made it but was unable to make it because of a slight stinger in his neck so he missed out. Parker Mashburn (COB 223) made it to Loretta’s this year being only 7 and running the 7-8 class this is a really impressive feat only a few 7 year olds make it in a class that’s stacked with 8 and 9 year olds.

At Ponca Nathan has some solid lap times, but mistakes would take him out of the top 5 overall finishing 10^th in the PW Mod 4-6 and 11^th in the PW 4-6 STK class. This being his first big national he showed a lot of maturity and rode super on the tough track. Since Ponca he has rebounded to his winning ways last weekend jumping on his King in the open and winning the overall. Proving he's a front runner most everywhere he goes. The smile he had after that win was priceless. He sill begin to compete in the Sr. class more through out the rest of the year prepping Nathan for the jump to the 7-8 class next season.

Hunter Budd would take the track at Ponca with a really great start in the first moto coming across 6^th, but clipped the track maker bending his shifter around his peg. This one thing set the tone for what would become a tough bunch of races. Hunter has moved to the NMA 9-11 class and is the younger one of the bunch so not to bad. He laid down some solid lap times but the jumps killed any chance of the top 20 we had in our goals for our first older age class. He did make the main in 2 of the classes, but was way off pace. Since the race he’s been off getting some R&R so we’ll have to see how he springs back.

Parker being the young rider of the class also struggled with mistakes and crashes. First moto Parker showed he had top 10 speed, but the mental side of racing got to the little guy and he began to get concerned with the wrecks and less focused on the drive. He’ll grow and next year will be his year to show just what this little guy can do. He made it to Loretta’s with solid start and some serious skill and he’ll only get better.   

Next up our guys will get back to the business of racing and training. We’ll have the Full Moon still in stride and The Texas Big Series kicking off.  I look forward to Branson coming up in October and if things go right and we plan good Nathan, Parker and Hunter will be on hand to display just how good they are.  The Mini-O’s will be around Turkey day so that will be a road trip we’ll have to decide on later.

Locally the scene as been a little off, Justice has been riding here and there but not doing much racing and with Josh injured he’s been on the bench also. Of course little Bobby Joe has been doing his thing with some really good finishes in the Full moon and a few local series down south.  

On a special note for my family we had some great times together at Ponca this year. Hunter took the time to show his little sister how to ride a bike without training wheels and that was priceless. Moto is more about the family to me then all the fluff that goes with it. Few things you could do in life will keep you closer then this sport. We might not have had the results we planned but we left as a family with some great memories. I hope many more families had the experiences we have had through the years of riding the dirt. Beside how many 4 year old girls can say they learned how to ride without training wheels at Ponca!

Check out a few new pictures of King Cobra of Texas riders Nathan Smith 51, Josh Lipard 220, and Hunter Budd 399

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[29 May 09] King Cobra of Texas riders have been mixing it up big time local and around the country.  50cc national rider Parker Mashburn (COB 223) was on a road trip recently in the North West for the LL qualifier at Washougal. Parker posted top results winning both classes by a good margin. After the North West trip he headed to Colorado and Lakewood for yet another round of riding bliss. Parker rode super, but had a few crashes that cost him the overalls. Next up for parker will be Glen Helen in California ; we wish him the best of luck.

Our other riders have been taking it to the track, riding out front and really making a name for themselves. Nathan Smith and Hunter Budd both ducked out of the best of Texas series to get valuable track time at Ponca City during the Oklahoma state series.  Hunter Budd aboard his CX65 Cobra got some really good starts, and had excellent corner speed, running just a few seconds of the lead pace. With strong gates of 35 and 38 hunter posted a 4^th and 5^th overall and we gained some real track knowledge. We know where the time was and we’ll be working on our weak point’s preparing for a return. Nathan Smith (COB 51) had no issues and handled the track like a pro, taking the overall in the 4-6 and a strong finish in the open class. Nathan shows he’s got what it takes and can run the lead pace; taking the pressure like it’s no big deal, look for this guy to be a major front runner in the future.

Josh Lippard (COB 220) headed to Lake Whitney for the best of Texas and a rematch with a few old buddies’. Turns out all the homework had paid off, Josh had excellent starts and up front finishes, advancing his place in the overall, next he’ll head to Swan and capitalize on the momentum, We’re pulling for him for sure.

Jason Norman has been kicking some tail in the TORN series, with some real tight racing in both his classes, Jason will take it to the wire and we look for him to pull out another Torn national title.

Justice and bobby Joe have been on a little race break, and we hope to see them in the mix soon. Justice has been putting the laps in at a few practice tracks and trying to stay razor sharp for the next big race. Bobby Joe and his brothers have been doing some local events down south and his numbers continue to improve.

We’re proud of all our guys and look forward to providing top notch service and support. Next up we head to Swan for next round of BOT, mix it up in the East/West race, then off to the pro national June 6^th, the guys will be racing the following ay on the same track as the big boys, talk about excited. We ‘ll be on hand for sure all weekend helping out at the national and then support for the Amateur day.

[30 Apr 09] Racing in North Texas has been super the last few weeks, King Cobra of Texas riders have been doing great. A few weeks ago we raced Freestone and the Best of Texas series, with solid results.  Our new addition Rider 51 Nathan Smith came out with solid wins with some impressive speed. Hunter ran strong with consistent results and great starts, taking 8 out of 12 holeshots, but Josh Lippard (COB 220) showed the most improvement, keeping a strong pace.

The past weekend, King Cobra of Texas went to Oak Hill MX Park, known to be a national caliber track with tough sand and whoops. Our riders all ran strong, Hunter ran in the 9-11 classes. On Saturday Hunter rode well closing with a 4^th in all the classes he ran, the competition all ran super and the finishes mixed up well. On Sunday Hunter came to the track eager to improve and that’s what he did, turning his 4^th place finished into 2 2^nd place and a 3^rd, not to bad.

Also in the house was Justice and Josh both were running the 50 7-8 classes, and both riding well.  Both riders had flashes of greatness mixed with blotches of mistakes. Crashes and ay downs for Justice and Josh even cracked his frame.  Nathan Smith left town with some hardware for a first on Sunday and a few 3rds, this is one to watch. He’s the little guy on the crew, but he rides big.

So the Ponca qualifier ends with our riders getting those valuable points to help get to the big show. Ponca is a good time and we look forward to the showdown in the mid-okie state.

Next up we’ll be Oak Hill for the Loretta Lynn's qualifiers, combined with the Best of Texas, while we have no plans to attend LL we’ll be on hand to get some more points in the best of Texas series, weather permitting we’ll be at Badlands for the finish in the Central Yamaha series. Then in a few weeks we’ll head to Del Valley to collect just a few more points for our planned Ponca trip.

Thanks to all the support from the moms and Dads, who do what it takes to keep the smile on their little racers face. Oh and Dads don’t forget that Mothers day is fast approaching, for all you do for the racing effort don’t forget the hub of the wheel, the one who helps the racing go round and round.

[24 Mar 09]  This is a little story I’d like to call “Wrecks and Relaxation” one of which we had plenty and the other was scarce to find. The story is set at a little track we like to call oak Hill.  Last week oak Hill held the 2009 GNC national. Now since it was spring break and we just happen to do a little racing here and there we headed off to match wits with the nation’s best.  Riders like Jacob Hayes and his brother Justice, Hunter Budd, Riley Allen and Parker Mashburn all went to Oak Hill gunning for some action and they got plenty. All the guys showed flashes of greatness, and real skill, but on the flip side of that all the riders made mistakes that cost a little more then a pound of lobster at the Ritz. 

After the frustrations of the week, many of us headed back to neutral ground to get our heads on straight. Hunter Budd, Josh Lippard, Bobby Joe Millican and Riley Allen all took it to the track at Village Creek during the Central Yamaha series. Josh had battles that reminded me of the day hunter and Tyler knocked bars, and Riley stepped it up with a win also. Hunter and Rider Floyd had some serious speed on the track, with hunter getting the gold.

(Check out large versions of the photos ...)

[5 Feb 09]  This past weekend, Oak Hill MX Park hosted the 9^th Annual AMA Texas Winter Series, and what an awesome race it was. Loaded gates with divisional cuts, riders from around the country and lots of warm sun to keep the track as hot as the riders did. King Cobra of Texas riders turned out to try their luck, Justice Hayes (cob 808) came to oak hill to get the crash monkey off his back and he sure did with some strong finishes in a very talented field.  Little brother Jacob Hayes also began the long rode to racing greatness moving from the PW to the Cobra JR. he did well and grew lots of confidence.

Riley Allen posted some hard fought results, in a stacked class riding super and fighting off a ton of other races to finish well.

Parker Mashburn (COB 223) came to play and play he did, posting some serious laps only getting taken by 2 factory cobra riders, but we’re working on that. The young guy had the skill and cleaned up in both the 50 7-8 and Open. Parker also showed lots of promise aboard his 65. We will be dialing in and getting prepared for Whitney coming soon.

Hunter Budd didn’t have the luck on his side during practice we had a motor go south for the winter, but got super luck with a loan from one of our customers Chris Lippard, and we could not have been more thankful. Hunter did struggle with the setup. We had no time to get the bike dialed in so Hunters results were not what we have come to know in the past.

Jason Norman will be contesting the TORO series and to day has done great and has set himself up for yet another state championship in the cross country series.

Coming up King Cobra of Texas riders will be all over the map, Hunter will be headed south to Austin for the MAP O’Riely Arenacross.  Jason Head North to Bulcher Creek for the TORO series, while Justice, Jacob, and Parker will be pounding out the laps. Riley Allen will most likely be at River Valley for the Texas Spring Challenge. As you can see much going on this time of year and we hope you have much riding to do also. Thanks and ride on!

                     (Check out large versions of the photos ...)

[29 Jan 09]  Racing in the last few weeks for our Riders has been great, we’ve been on a few road trip following the Cycle City Promotions and MAP O’Riely Arenacross, Also attending the Texas off Road Nationals awards banquet, So much going on for sure.

A few weeks ago we attended the Monroe AX, that was so much fun we hit the road to attend the Lafayette AX the following weekend, Hunter Budd (COB 399) would have some strong rides in the 50 and 65 classes posting a win in both 50’s and solid results in the 65 classes against some hard charging talent. Hunter posted a 2^nd  in the 65 7-9 and what should have been a 3^rd  in the 65 open,  was posted as 4^th but hey the score keepers in AX had there hands full keeping track of that class it was so tight. We were more then pleased with the results.

Off to Odessa and the opener for the MAP O’Riely AX. Odessa always brings out the best that regions has to offer, top notch riders with heats in both the 50 and 65 classes. Hunter Budd would post top scores again winning against a field of orange in the 50 classes, and topping the 65 7-9 while finishing 2^nd in the 65 Open.  A great night showing Cobras off in the sold out arena would lead to a road trip home for the TORN banquet where Hunter Budd and Jason Norman would receive there titles for 50 Ex and 50 INT classes, Hunter also claimed a 3^rd in the 65 INT and both guys were in on the Team Award when team Pee Wee Power took the top spot, way to go guys!!

The following weekend it was off to Waco for the second race of the MAP O’Riely AX. With the Houston SX not to far the turn out was not as good as Odessa , but still had some good gates. Hunter Budd and Riley Allen (Or Kiley as the announcer called him) put in some stellar rides. Riley Allen (COB 306) posted a win for the 4-6 aboard his CX50 JR the backed it up with a strong finish in a field of SR bikes. Hunter Budd won the 50 open and 7-9 as well as 65 7-9 then finished close behind Austin McKinney for 2^nd in the 65 Open class.

So as you can see AX has been good for us and we love it, this weekend we move to the out doors for the Texas Winter Series, on of the toughest race series Texas has to offer. The gates will be full of skilled riders, as Oak Hill is the home of a great track. Many out of state riders will be on hand to put treads on the track in preparation for the GNC in March. We’re excited about coming to Oak Hill because our other team riders will come out of practice riding and put it to the track. Parker Mashburn and Justice Hayes will also be on hand to show off the things they have been learning over the last few weeks.

 Soon after we will head to Austin for the MAP AX then it’s off to Whiney.   Always busy around Cobra land, racing a riding, but I need to take a moment to recognize a few riders who showed what they had at the last AX in Waco . Jed Smith aboard his new Bud bike really killed us all on starts taking the first turn every gate, also posted some good finishes with some great racing against Jesse James Millican. Next up I saw little Wesley Mahil who had not ridden in a year, place his O/I in 2^nd on his heat, then came Mathew Curler who is the youngest, smallest guy out there, placed his Cobra up front with steady riding, we’re always happy to see the little guys show well, but these guys have really worked hard to progress and I think all turned heads that night. Way to guy guys!!.

 2007 News Archive