The 2009 season looks very promising for 16 year old Eric Saunders. Fresh off of a breakout 2008 season , which brought Eric plenty of wins and a load of new sponsors, Eric looks to add on to his good fortune in 2009. Eric and his family (Father Irish, Mother Sheila, Sister Nicole, and Brother Garret) all made the trip to Hangtime MX Park in Akron, IN for the first of many 2009 Loretta Lynn Qualifiers.  This year Eric is riding in 5 different classes: 250 B stock, 450 B stock, 250 B Mod, 450 B Mod, and 4 Stroke.
Eric started his weekend with a few rounds of practice on Friday evening to get a feel for the new track setup. Saturday morning Eric started the day off right. His 250 B class was the first class to race for the weekend.
Eric came out of the gate in eleventh heading into the first turn. Not at all the start he was looking for.

Eric: I got a bad hole shot. My gate was on the side where all the mud was. I really couldn’t get any traction to get up where I needed to be.

Eric was quick to right his wrongs though. Before the first lap was over Eric had picked his way up to 4th.Eric then set his sights on the leaders. Eric made quick work of the 3rd and 2nd place riders and went for the pass on the outside for the lead. The leader went up to block the pass and Eric rounded his turn off and cut to the inside to take the lead. Eric never looked back. For the rest of the race Eric rode flawlessly making the first heat race win of 2009 look easy.

More of the same was to come in Eric’s 450 class. This time Eric had a much better start coming in third after the first turn. Like in his 250 class, Eric made quick work of his competitors working his way into the lead. From there Eric went on to win the 450 B heat and Eric was qualified for the main event in both classes that he entered on Saturday.

In the 250 B main event Eric once again was stuck in a tough spot off the start. Eric came out mid pack and had to once again make his way up to the front. Quickly passing many riders Eric found himself in 4th with only 2 laps left.

Eric: I just couldn’t get past them (third and second place riders). I knew I was faster than them and could pass them; I just didn’t want to force it and make a mistake.

Eric played his cards right and found a way past the 2 rider with only one lap left. Eric couldn’t get close enough to make the pass on the leader even though he was gaining ground. Eric ended up finishing 2nd in the main event but was 1st overall for Saturday since his overall average finish in moto1 and the main event was higher than the rider that finished 1st in the main.

Eric had the same results in the 450 B main but a totally different start. Eric got off the line in a good spot when a chain reaction crash took place. The rider two gates to the right of Eric lost the front end of his bike and steered right into the rider to the left of him. That rider in an attempt to get out of his way went left and ran right into Eric. Eric fell about 50 yards from the starting gate. Eric got up right away but had to quickly check his bike to make sure he could still ride it. By this time the pack was all the way to the second turn. One last time Eric was put in a position where he had to play catch up. Eric with only five laps caught and passed all of the riders but one. He was able to finish in 2nd again. Just like in the 250 class, Eric’s average finish was better than the rider than beat him in the main. Therefore Eric won 1st again.