deathblow
11-21-2005, 11:07 PM
First off, what an awesome weekend! I still am tired from the entire ordeal. To think that I made a checklist months in advance, and still ended missing alot of details.
Saturday - NRS
I am pretty sure most of you have read Snuffy's race report, and he summarized it quite nicely. They reinforced what we already knew and hammered home the idea of following the line through WSIR. Safety, lines, focus and fun, keep that in mind!
Sunday - Raceday
Slept early the night before and woke up really early in anticipation of today's events. I get to the track early to take care of a few details, go to tech inspection, and don't pass! I passed tech the day before, but I guess he missed a few details, so had to take the lowers off and safety wire all the hose clamps for any hose holding liquids, yeah I know it is in the rulebook, but somehow missed that detail. I end up missing first practice, and really wanted to scrub in tires that practice and work on some things second practice. Did second practice and used that time to feel out new tires for myself (Racetecs - Thanks GP!) and scrub them in.
Kinda just relaxed the rest of the day and watched some awesome racing. Watching Kopecky do his thing and then watching Tigert just pull away from everyone else was very cool.
So our race finally is coming up, 17th race of 18, and I get super nervous. Just like the other guys, I try to focus on relaxing and have fun. I do the warmup lap and finally get to the grid. I am gridded 15th out of 21 and wait for the green flag to go up. I concentrate on bogging and end up doing that anyways, horrible start, I go from 15th to like 17th into T1! The first lap I still am hesitant and let a couple other guys pass me going into 3 and go into T8 18th, damn. The next couple laps I am able to get passed several guys and go into lap 3 14th. Pass someone on the outside of T2 and finally pass someone going into T1. After that, the next pack is a couple seconds ahead so I put it into cruise control after gapping the guy behind me. Was super tired after seeing the white flag and came in 12th. Not bad, not great either.
Yeah it was my first race and only my third time out at big track, but I couldn't believe how exhilarating, and frustrating it can be at the same time. The frustration mostly with myself. Getting a bad start and getting stuck behind some guys was difficult. At the same time, alot of guys are really fast out there, in novice and it was cool to watch them do their thing. A big congratulations goes out to Jerry and Jared, wow!
I seriously need to get more practice in, and need to come to grips with my bike. After doing some research, I found my setup to be what many complain about my bike, making it turn and keeping it leaned over. In hindsight, I should have jacked up the rear more and dropped the forks (or raise) 5mms. And for some reason, I couldn't keep the throttle pinned going into T8, lol. No more excuses though, I want to go out there more, practice, practice, and practice! Anyone want to buy me a set of tire warmers for Christmas ;)?
It was great seeing all my friends out at the track to support us all! Big thanks goes to Jeremy, Greg, Mikey, Jared, Shaggy, Jerry, Steve and Jen for the support and making me relax :). And to GP, Arnie, Roda, Chuck, Robert, Roda's bro, and Robert's son for coming out to watch us do our thing. I seriously can not wait for you guys to join us out racing there so we can just all camp out and have fun!
Also, thanks to my sponsors, McDonalds, and that Mexican restaurant for helping me keep it real! :squid:
Saturday - NRS
I am pretty sure most of you have read Snuffy's race report, and he summarized it quite nicely. They reinforced what we already knew and hammered home the idea of following the line through WSIR. Safety, lines, focus and fun, keep that in mind!
Sunday - Raceday
Slept early the night before and woke up really early in anticipation of today's events. I get to the track early to take care of a few details, go to tech inspection, and don't pass! I passed tech the day before, but I guess he missed a few details, so had to take the lowers off and safety wire all the hose clamps for any hose holding liquids, yeah I know it is in the rulebook, but somehow missed that detail. I end up missing first practice, and really wanted to scrub in tires that practice and work on some things second practice. Did second practice and used that time to feel out new tires for myself (Racetecs - Thanks GP!) and scrub them in.
Kinda just relaxed the rest of the day and watched some awesome racing. Watching Kopecky do his thing and then watching Tigert just pull away from everyone else was very cool.
So our race finally is coming up, 17th race of 18, and I get super nervous. Just like the other guys, I try to focus on relaxing and have fun. I do the warmup lap and finally get to the grid. I am gridded 15th out of 21 and wait for the green flag to go up. I concentrate on bogging and end up doing that anyways, horrible start, I go from 15th to like 17th into T1! The first lap I still am hesitant and let a couple other guys pass me going into 3 and go into T8 18th, damn. The next couple laps I am able to get passed several guys and go into lap 3 14th. Pass someone on the outside of T2 and finally pass someone going into T1. After that, the next pack is a couple seconds ahead so I put it into cruise control after gapping the guy behind me. Was super tired after seeing the white flag and came in 12th. Not bad, not great either.
Yeah it was my first race and only my third time out at big track, but I couldn't believe how exhilarating, and frustrating it can be at the same time. The frustration mostly with myself. Getting a bad start and getting stuck behind some guys was difficult. At the same time, alot of guys are really fast out there, in novice and it was cool to watch them do their thing. A big congratulations goes out to Jerry and Jared, wow!
I seriously need to get more practice in, and need to come to grips with my bike. After doing some research, I found my setup to be what many complain about my bike, making it turn and keeping it leaned over. In hindsight, I should have jacked up the rear more and dropped the forks (or raise) 5mms. And for some reason, I couldn't keep the throttle pinned going into T8, lol. No more excuses though, I want to go out there more, practice, practice, and practice! Anyone want to buy me a set of tire warmers for Christmas ;)?
It was great seeing all my friends out at the track to support us all! Big thanks goes to Jeremy, Greg, Mikey, Jared, Shaggy, Jerry, Steve and Jen for the support and making me relax :). And to GP, Arnie, Roda, Chuck, Robert, Roda's bro, and Robert's son for coming out to watch us do our thing. I seriously can not wait for you guys to join us out racing there so we can just all camp out and have fun!
Also, thanks to my sponsors, McDonalds, and that Mexican restaurant for helping me keep it real! :squid: