EDMONTON, AB – The month of October has not been kind for two Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series competitors. Both Kevin Wheeler and Jason Beaulieu are nursing cracked and broken bones in separate off-season motocross incidents in their home provinces. Wheeler crashed hard at an Alberta Oldtimers Motocross Association event on the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. Two weeks later Beaulieu went down at a motocross track near his Campbell River, British Columbia home. “My entire side is still bruised,” says Wheeler from his home in Whitecourt, Alberta, “I also cracked a couple of ribs.” After a second and third place finish in the first two races at the Antler Lake track near Sherwood Park, Alberta, Wheeler went down during the third race of the day. The driver of the #3 KW Mechanical Dodge is known to have a pretty good sense of humor. Wheeler however was not laughing in the days following the crash. “It hurt to laugh, it hurt to sneeze. I’m still pretty sore right now. My hip is not as bad but my ribs still hurt.” Wheeler joked about his future as a motocross racer. “You probably won’t see me competing at any more motocross events…… but never say never.”

Jason Beaulieu meanwhile shattered his left wrist in a wicked motocross crash on October 15th. “I just got back into riding (non-competitive) about 7 months ago to keep in shape,” indicates the 2007 NPP Series Champion, “I gave it up 10 years ago after a bad crash. It was nasty. I broke my ankle, broke several ribs, tore my ACL and bruised my kidney.” Beaulieu and his soon to be son-in-law (Colton Mclean) were riding at the Campbell River Motorcross track. “We basically were playing follow the leader. He led and I followed. I did keep pace with him for two laps,” laughs Beaulieu, “but I quickly found out why he’s a pro and I’m not.” Beaulieu was tossed off his bike after a hard landing. Ironically this crash was exactly ten years to the day of his last big motocross crash. “I knew something broke. I got my helmet off, scraped the sand out of my eyes and all I saw were bones coming through my wrist.” Beaulieu underwent surgery less than 24 hours after the crash. “I had pin’s in my wrist and a cast up to my shoulder when I woke up.” Beaulieu planned on racing his open wheel modified at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Duel In The Desert event next month. “The cast comes off in three weeks. I still plan on being at this race. If I don’t feel up to it, the backup plan is my son Chris will race.” The 14th annual Duel in The Desert features over 200 IMCA Modified competitors from all over North America.