What a dream of a weekend--and an emotion-filled weekend. It started when we got to the track Thursday night late during a strong storm. I was pretty tired from the trip so we watched the weather and went to bed.
We woke up to rain on Friday morning but it was only practice that day. I wanted to get back on the back after the wreck at Road America and I knew I was going to be a little nervous. I was one of the first people out to practice, and the track was kind of wet from the rain. I had a couple big slides, so I came in and waited for a while. In the afternoon it got very nice out and I got good track time with consistent lap times. I met up with Ed Bingham and he helped out huge with showing me great lines and braking points; he shaved seconds off instantly!
Saturday was my first race that started with the GTU, which is a 30 minute endurance race. The goal of the race was to get good times and not to wreck. I did not push it nearly as hard as usual, but that was good. The race ended at the half-way mark because of a rider down. I finished 12th. Next up was the Middleweight GP race and I was running my fastest times ever. I finally broke into the teens. I was running a great race but had some exciting moments. On turn one a rider went up the inside of me so I gave him some room but I didn't see ole SuperBike Ike on my left. We collided and bent my clutch lever pretty good, so I had to get that figured out flying down the front stretch. Then on the last two laps Nick Pal and I were really dicing and trading positions when he went on the outside of me in the carousel and I held my line and he came into my line. It was either take him out or tuck the front using the front brake.
So the nice guy I am: I was flying across the pavement thinking it was much slower than last time in the kink. I tried getting up once I got into the grass but realized I was still moving at a high rate of speed and it threw me right back down! Once I finally did stop I got back up and grabbed my bike, which had badly bent handle bars and a broken windshield and ended up finishing 9th. That was the end of that day. The bike wasn't bad, so I had time to hang out with the family--my mom and dad made the trip, and my crazy aunt Judy. We all sat down and had a good dinner at the track. Judy showed up with plenty of water and plenty of ear plugs--go figure. We got in a nice walk around the track, too. That night we hung out with the fellow racers and had a few bubbly-- some had more than others, as in wayyyy more than others, I keep myself pretty much in check at the track but my crazy pit crew in the other hand went to bed a little later than I did.
Then came Sunday, the day I will never forget. It started out looking really cloudy so I bought a pair of rain tires. I was scheduled for race one and the track was dry but it started to sprinkle at the riders meeting. The official declared the track a "wet track" which means we can mount up some rain tires. I had never ran on rains and knew they were much different. The announcer said we had only 10 minutes until the 1st race. We went into panic mode. We started ripping off tires and had to get the front tire unmounted and the rain mounted before the race. And everything had to be safety wired back up. Mom, Dad and Heather were running to the Dunlop guy. Johnson and I were taking off the wheels and Judy was helping with the replacement of the cush drive and sprocket. We did it with 13 seconds to spare. I flew out to the grid and was ready to race.
The green flag came out and we were off. I got a good launch by turn 3 I was in first and staying in first! I was flying. It was a two wave race which means we raced with the experts, but they get a 10 second lead then they let us Amateurs go. By turn 4 I had passed a handful of experts and was still in first. By lap 4, I passed all the experts! I couldn't believe it. I was passing people I had been watching for years. When I passed my licensing instructor, SuperDave, I really thought there was a problem. But at the end of lap 4, I passed all the experts. I couldn't believe it. I was still pushing it pretty hard though. I didn't know how far back Ike was. Johnson was at turn 4 yelling "slow the $%@# down" at the top off his lungs. I couldn't hear him but could tell by the gestures I had a pretty good lead. On the last laps I was lapping the guys I usually battle with. I just couldn't believe it. Finally it was the last lap. I dropped it down a notch and headed for home. I came out on the front straight and usually by now the checkered flag is waving. The only person the flag dude was waiting for was me as I got closer it was in slow motion: she threw the checkered flag for me! I absolutely could not believe it. I looked back and there was nobody in sight. I got first place of the Amateurs and Experts.
I was going nuts and flew on the cool down lap and heading into pit lane. All my family and friends were waiting with big smiles and high fives. I had the biggest smile of all, though. Then came the PA Announcer. He came running up to me and started interviewing me wondering how I did it, I said "we are used to driving in the snow in the U.P. so this rain is nothing!" Then I got to thank all my sponsors and pit crew and I dedicated the race to my mom, because it was Mother's Day. What a dream it was. I could of packed up and went home after that race. But I had two more to go. Plus I needed more wood :-). The second race was heavyweight superbike which was filled with 750cc and 1000cc bikes. The only problem is that the track was drying out which meant: TIRE CHANGE. We rushed again and got it done in time to put back on the Dunlop slicks. I entered this race for the track time, not thinking I would place. I ended up getting 5th place. The last race of the day was middleweight supersport. It was really pouring down by now and there was lots of puddling on the track. Ed Bingham said to watch for rooster tails. But, you guessed it, a tire change again. By this time everybody had a job and they knew it good by now. Mom and dad ran over to the Dunlop guy, Heather was handing tools, Johnson was on the front wheel, I was on the back with Judy switching over the cush, sprocket, and spacers. We did it with lots of time left.
I wanted to finish this race without crashing. So I went at a steady pace and followed Simon Kowalski for most of the race switching positions a couple of times. I was in 4th place when Ike crashed out in turn 5 and ended up passing Simon for 2nd place! I got some more wood and, best yet, a bike I can ride back to the pits. I was really happy. For my 3rd event ever, I was getting used to this stuff. And I loved it.
I really could not have done it without Big Johnson, Mom & Dad, Judy, and Heather, and The Dunlop Dude for keepin' it sticky icky, my sponsors for helpin' out and having faith in me, Matt Drucker at MD racing for over-nighting LOTS of parts in order to help me race, and Ed Bingham for taking me under his wing Friday and showing me where the good stuff is. Most of all, I continue to thank the big fellow up stairs for looking over me and granting me a safe and successful weekend.
