Slednecks Racing Announces Plans for 2009 AMA Race Season. November 12th 2008- Denver Colorado and Vancouver BC- Privateer racers Josh Galster and Misti Hurst are excited to announce their individual plans for 2009. Throughout 2008, Galster and Hurst traveled and raced nearly all of the AMA nationals together as part of a privateer racing effort, Slednecks Racing. “We had an amazing time together.” said Hurst “Without Josh as my teammate, I never would have been able to get so far in accomplishing my dreams. We made an awesome team and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner and friend.” Near the end of the season, Galster suffered a bad highside during the Supersport race at Atlanta that subsequently broke his neck and badly mangled his wrist and hand. With a fractured C2 vertebrae he was put into a halo and flown out to California where he had an appointment with a specialist in the motorcycle industry, Dr. Ting who put his wrist socket back together and put some plates and screws into his wrist and hand. Galster also met with spine specialist, Dr. Sonu who looked over his neck injuries and made sure the halo was positioned and installed properly. Galster is currently in Denver Colorado staying with his parents and going through vigorous physiotherapy 3 times a week for his wrist and hand and seeing progress at every visit. As for his neck, he is set to be wearing the halo until the first week of December. At that time he will get a new set of CT scans and with a good report, graduate to a hard neck brace and begin physical therapy on his neck injury. Prognosis is great with Galster set to recover fully from his injuries and he is more than determined to be present at the first round of the new AMA season March 4-6th at Daytona under the lights as part of Slednecks racing with continued support from EDR Performance, the California Superbike School, Arai helmets, Bazzaz Performance and Leo Vince Exhausts. He intends to race the entire 2009 AMA Schedule of events and better his best finish of 18th with a top ten that he knows he is capable of. “The new season looks promising with the new class structure and restrictions, with a spec fuel and spec tires, so it should make for a more competitive class. I’ll be ready to go and will be giving 100% to my racing.” said Galster. As for Hurst who has spent the past two years doing everything possible to accomplish her dreams of qualifying and racing competitively in the challenging AMA circuit, she has decided not to race in 2009. “It was a tough decision for me as I contemplated a life without racing and being on the go all the time, without the challenges of putting a privateer race program together and the rewards of achieving my goals, without seeing the people at the track that have become a kind of a “family” to me.” said Hurst. “Of course, finances have played a big role in my decision. The sponsors that worked with me were incredible, but even with such generous support the sport is still extremely expensive. I put all I had into racing and giving it my best effort and am pleased with my results. I have no regrets.” So, what is next for Hurst? “My husband John Parker and I have decided to take on something much more challenging than motorcycle racing”¦”¦.. parenting! We are pleased to announce that we are expecting our first child at the end of May 2009.” This will also put an end to Hurst’s five-year stint as a level 3 coach for the world-renowned California Superbike School, which has been “more than rewarding and an incredible job.” Not content to sit idle, Hurst is intending to pursue her love of writing and photography and will continue to write for the Canadian magazine Motorcycle Mojo and freelance for other industry magazines. She also hopes to publish a book in the next few years. “I want to say a sincere thank you to all my family, friends, sponsors and fans that supported me over the past few years.” said Hurst. “Without your encouragement and support none of my racing goals could have been achieved. I will miss all of you very much! I hope to make it to a few of the events next year to cheer on Josh and my fellow competitors and friends. Ride safe everyone.”