Race reports

July 1-2: Summit

Andy #93

Nice uneventful ride to the track.. Great weather, just got a lil later start than I really wanted... Lib was not home with the wk-end grub yet so I decided to wash the truck... Can't go to the track dirty ya know... So I pull into the pits to look for my reserved spot and I see the retard working on his Motard @ 11:30 (You guessed it) it was Brian...
The usual hand shakes and good to see ya again remarks start flyin around, we B.S. for a little while and I get settled in... Thanks for the A/C Jeff... And much thanks to NJ, the MRS. and the whole bunch for the canopy space, food & some borrowed power for the warmers... Oh yeah, I owe ya some Dzus fastners.. Thanks...

divein6: (Mike) is was good to meet ya...

SATURDAY:

I get tech'd (No Problems), come back and discard my 3 sessions old VESRAH pads... Installed my SBS Dual Carbons that I like so well and proceeded to install my hard wired lap timer... I ended up missing the 1st practice session bacause of it... When the 2nd practice rolled around I was 1st in line & Brian (NJ) was right behind me... So we go out & play cat and mouse for about half of the session switching up positions now and again... Practice was good fun... Brian bested me by .3 if I remember correctly... I've been telling myself all year that I have to figure out how to launch that 1000RR without lofting the wheel to 12 O'clock on every start... Results to follow... Man was it HOT... I think I consumed 3 gallons of H2O alone on this day... Ate a good solid High Carb/ Protein lunch with some more H2O... Now I was trying to stay relaxed awaiting my 1st race of the season... I hate getting
butterflies... and those unscheduled bathroom breaks... I am trying to get saturday in before I change tires...

Down to business:

Race #3 GTO (Ex & Am):

I loft the front for the warm up lap just to break the ice and mellow out befor I flip the switch... So I'm gridded Row 1 Position D (Inside)... AWESOME... Just where I wanted to be when experimenting with a new launch tecnique... They show the 2 board, I flip the visor down
(The switch has DEF been flipped)... I bring up the RPM's to about 4500 and hold her steady as I await the 1 board.. I can feel the pressure to perform building by the millisecond... The board goes sideways and I timed the flagger just perfect ... I pulled the friggin HOLESHOT 1st time ever... I was going into T1 and saw NOBODY on either side of me... I held 1st thru T5 and had a bobble in T9 and lost some drive going up the hill losing a few positions but still pressing along with a job to do never giving up... Jeff, (Da Sheep R Skeered, Captain) even came by me from the 2nd wave (Talk about a wake up call) That was it... I motored back by him a few laps later and CHECKED OUT... by dropping back into the low 1:22's... I had some very close calls in tight quarters with a few other bikes, but I did not give the spots away... I made them earn it... CCS kinda screwed up a bit because we did not get the crossed flags @ the halfway point and I was like MAN we have to be half way by now, but NOTHING... I kept on pressing, trying to catch back up to the guys 2 turns ahead of me... With 3 laps to go I really started spinning up the rear and it was getting bad loose in T6, T9 & T10 so I backed it down a notch and rode it to checkers in one piece... I ended up finishing 7th.. I was told by many that I was ALL over the PA system during the start...

Race #9 UL SS:

I was gridded Row #1 Position C... This one was a bit different mainly due to the thrashed tire I was milking out.. I did however pull the HOLESHOT again and was outbraked into T1 by a bike or two... I ended up 3rd coming out of T1 and still felt good until I hit T6 and I thought I was going for a Hi Side Ride... Rode it out and decided to bring her home in one piece... Still had some good battles with a few guys back in the pack... The bike was all over the place going into & out of the R Hand turns... Best I could muster up was 1:24's... I ended up finishing in 10th...

Post Race: Changed out mytires, cleaned up the bike, lubed the chain got everthing situated for Sunday... Lib (Wfe) & Skyler (Son) arrived @ the track with fireworks and some lovins for me... Had a few cold ones with the fellas & ladies, talked about the days experiences/ results Lit off some decent explosions... Went to bed for the night to do it all again on Sunday...

SUNDAY:

WOW was it humid...

Practice went as expected without incident... I think the experts got a few extra laps today... managed to pull out some 1:23's with cold muscles... Satisfied with practice I added some fuel to prepare for my next race...

Race #1 UL SB (10:00 am)...

Did not think I was ready for this one...

I was a gridded Row #1 Position D... Seems like I've been here
before... Got another great start, but not the Holeshot... I ended up 2nd into T1 and held it for 3/4 of the 1st lap... I stayed with the front 2 riders for the first 3 laps and they checked out never to be seen again... I had a great battle with the the 2 guys that fought to get by me as I was feeling the fatigue of the wk-end from the heat & humidity... This was my best finish of the wk-end.. I finished 5th, finally claiming some wood as an expert...

UL GP Qualifying: This is the part I was kind of not looking forward to... I normally don't do so well with nobody around me from a pressure perspective... I went out with the same intentions as I did last year and followed Arnie Hastings & BMF around for four laps with all I had to give... My best last year was 1:21.7... This year I topped my best and ran a 1:21.6 for what was hopefully a good grid position...

Race #9 UL GP

I was Gridded Row #3 Position C... Just as last year Arnie Hastings came rocketing past me just off the line and we went into T1 nose to tail then Rick Beggs came up on my inside and took away my (Carrot), Arnie was gone...ALL of the super fast guys were out to win the money and I was out there just doing my best... The heat & humidity took it's toll on me cause I just wasn't feeling I had what I needed to get the job done to place in the top 5 again... I kept my laps in the real low 1:23's as I rode my heart out to bring it back to the pits safely one last time... I finished 9th...

All in all it was an awesome wk-end and I am so stoked that I finished all top 10 and of course a top 5 finish is just the icing on the cake...

I would like to thank my sponsors ELKA Suspension, Clinton Cycles, LP Racing, Revlimiterracing, Tucker Rocky and of course my wife (Lib) and (Son) Skyler for providing me the opportunity & equipment to do what I love...