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AMA Grand Championships Recap – Day 4

Sunday:

Sunday morning we found out that we would only be getting one round of practice due to time constraints. It didn't make a lot of sense, as WERA/Sean Clarke had previously run behind because of simple things like starting the riders meeting late, or not getting practice started on time. In any event, we had one round of practice. I was fine with that, as we were running pretty well and one round would be sufficient.

In the Middleweight practice group, we started off quickly and were down to a 1:33.6. Still the fastest WERA bike there, Matt Lapham had picked up speed and was right there with us (I had told Matt earlier we needed to put some times down and catch up to these CMRA guys; he completely agreed). In the Heavyweight practice, we were "officially" 3rd fastest behind Ben Thompson and Cory Burleson, with a 1:32.962. This of course didn't factor in Chapman and Westby, who were again slightly quicker than we were. I was happy though getting into the 32's with only one round of practice.

By now my parents had arrived. Back from their wedding, my dad had made sure they were on the road early to get to the track as soon as possible, which was awesome. We put a new rear tire on for the races and were ready to go. I also spent a few extra bucks and went with VP's MR9 race fuel. I don't normally run it, but we needed every bit of horsepower we could get. Sure our bike was quick and TRS made it as fast as it could possibly could be, but the truth of the matter was that we had probably the oldest 600 on the grid. And every other bike out there was smoking fast. I could tell just by coming out of the keyhole onto the back straight. I would close up on riders exiting the keyhole with a good drive out, but by halfway down the straight, if I wasn't in their draft, I was losing ground. This of course makes it hard to pass into T6. It also makes it tough through Thunder Valley (4th gear, flat out) and on the front straight. It was no surprise that the tighter, back section of the track was my strongest and favorite area. So while forking out the extra money wasn't tops on my list of preferred things to do, it had to be done.

Three races on the day. The Pro/Am 600 was the first race. I was gridded on the 3rd row and had a decent start. I was 7th going into T1. I was ready to move to the front. I followed Tony Kasper and Chris Fillmore for a couple laps. I was able to get a better drive onto the front straight and able to get by Tony going into T1. Coming out of T1 and setting up wide for T2, I saw his front wheel out of the corner of my eye and we briefly touched (I later would find black and blue marks on my tail section). I kept the throttle pinned and proceeded to catch up to Chris.

In the first few laps, I had been watching Chris back the bike into T6 on the brakes. With his Supermoto background, I guessed that wasn't a big deal to him, but he was getting crazy-sideways, almost running off the track once or twice. He kept it up each time though and still got great drives out of T6 into T7. About a lap after passing Tony, I locked onto Chris' rear wheel coming out of the keyhole and was able to draft-pass him just past the kink on the back straight. I didn't want to get into a braking duel with him and was able to pass him just before the braking zone, where I had the inside line and didn't have to worry too much about it. I still broke deep, as I didn't want him coming around the outside, and then pinned the throttle heading to T7, moving up into 5th place.

I could see two red bikes in front of me. One was Danny Kelsey and I'm not sure who the other one was. I was catching them though. I looked down at my lap timer and I had done a 1:31.3; my fastest time yet. I was closing on them and could tell they weren't running the pace I was. We came through the carousel and a yellow flag was waiving. Westby had crashed coming out of the carousel and his bike was lying on the edge of the track. We all raced past, as the halfway flag was waiving. Westby's crash had moved us up to 4th position. The problem however was that a red-flag was waiving, stopping the race.

The red flag threw everything for us. I'm not going to question anything in regard to safety, but after the crash, Westby was up and walking. His bike only had to be moved off the track, which would have been pretty easy to do. Instead the race was stopped, and they were going to restart it completely, using the original grid positions. Westby had another bike, and he, along with the guys we had passed so far would be starting ahead of us. A lot of talk was going on in the pits as to whether this was legit or not. I didn't have a problem with it. I knew Westby was one of the guys to beat, and if I could latch onto him – great. I was disappointed that the race was stopped in the first place. We were definitely heading into 1:30 lap times and a potential podium finish. Arg.

The restart was less than impressive. Heading into T1, someone checked up, or came across in front of me, because I was suddenly closing up on another bike fast. I reached for the brake lever and before I knew it, I lost the front, slammed down and went tumbling. As I bounced/slid, I saw Sam Gaige trying to avoid me, as he ran off into the gravel (sorry again Sam). Both the bike and I slid into the gravel trap, coming to an abrupt halt. I jumped right up to make sure I was alright, and to check the bike. The motor was already shut off and the bike on its side. I picked the bike up, but the gravel was so deep, I couldn't move it, so I had to lay it back down. Corner workers were on the other side of the track (which I had just realized didn't make a lot of sense) and couldn't do anything until the race was over. I walked up against the fence near the hay bales and waited for the race to end, while the bike laid in the crash zone. I'm not sure how I felt about that. As a rider, I'd rather have a waiving yellow in the turn for one or two laps, while corner workers remove the bike from the crash zone. By keeping the bike there, if another ride goes down in T1, the potential to hit another bike isn't an especially safe or appealing option.

Crashing is a mixture of emotions. I was mad, upset, disappointed and bummed out all at the same time (yeah they're kind of the same, but still different). I was mad that I had made the cardinal sin of grabbing the brakes while leaned over. Everything had happened so fast, maybe I wouldn't have hit that other bike and things would have been fine. I was upset and disappointed that I had crashed to begin with – especially after moving to the front before the red flag happened. And I was bummed because I was supposed to be selling this bike later today! Eric had ridden his Zuma around the track and to the outside of T1 to make sure I was alright. He had his phone ready to call over to my dad and Doug, who were getting parts ready back in the pits. I couldn't tell all of what was needed, but it didn't appear to be anything too extensive.

Back in the pits after getting a ride from the crash truck, a quick nod that I was alright was all we needed to get going. My dad and Doug immediately started going to work. Nik started helping. Jeff Agnes came over and was helping. Mike Book's offered any parts he had available to help with. Sam Gaige's entire crew of guys were over lending a hand. Gina and Joy were cleaning the gravel off the bodywork. Even Eric Cetnar (my former boss who brought his kids for the 2nd year in a row to watch the racing) was helping. It was awesome. As much as I could tell, I was okay, aside from my knees throbbing. I didn't dare take off my leathers to look – especially with my wife and parents there. :) I just jumped in and helped where I could.

After an incredible display of teamwork and help from everyone, we ran the bike over to the hose, rinsed the dirt and dust off the bike, then headed down to get the bike reteched. We had already missed the 750 Superstock race, but fortunately we had the class virtually locked up and didn't need to race in it to clinch the championship. The guy down at tech made some smart comment, asking where the lower was. I curtly replied, "when was the last time you tech'd a bike with the lower on?" He rambled something and then let us on our way.

Back in the pits, warmers were on, the bike was fueled, running and ready to go for the 600 Superstock race. It actually looked pretty good, aside from some bodywork damage. To lock up the 600 Superstock class, if I didn't score any points, Jeff (Kovack) would need to finish 4th or better to win the championship. On the start of the race, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thinking about the championship, and thinking about selling the bike later that day. I wanted to push 100% – especially for my dad and Doug after all the work they, and everyone else did. But at the end of the day, a championship was worth more than one finish for the team. While I knew exactly why I crashed earlier and how to not do it again, there were no guarantees that something out of my control couldn't happen. And the first lap of the 600 race showed that. There were two/three bikes down right off the bat. There was a cloud of dust through T2, and then another cloud of dust in the keyhole. It was like riding through a war zone on the first lap.

I looked back exiting Thunder Valley on that first lap and saw Kov was back there. I didn't need to finish in front of him, but I ran smooth and consistent laps for the rest of the race and was able to stay ahead of him. My fastest lap was barely a 1:32, but I was fine with that. I crossed the finish line in 11th place, out of roughly 27 bikes. We had won both the 600 Superstock and 750 Superstock class championships, and the season was over.

From last year, we dropped three seconds at Mid-O and won two class championships. We were the fastest WERA team there all weekend, from start to finish. Those were the good things that happened. On the flipside, there was more time to be found there, which we surely would have done had I not crashed on Sunday. The CMRA boys of Chapman and Westby really were the class of the field, and I'm happy that we weren't too far off the times they were putting down. Yeah our results weren't spectacular, but our times were constantly improving all weekend – and rather quickly too. Westby and Chapman were just a step ahead of each day, and it showed. The got down into the 1:30's and really no one else did. It was a great weekend in terms of riding for me personally. I pushed and rode as hard as I have all season. The setup and tires of the bike were great and in hindsight, the proof that I could go faster was right there in the tires. We were having great tire wear (which was the complete opposite of last year) and had perfect grip everywhere. The fact that I didn't have to slide and spin the bike around to go fast was proof that we had some more speed in the bike. We just needed more time, which the crash ultimately prevented.

We finished the Team Challenge in 2nd place, behind CMRA. With Dave not being able to ride, we picked up Mike Flis who rode great and to a 3rd place finish in his Heavyweight Twins class. Sam also rode extremely well – especially for his first time at Mid-O, grabbing a 2nd and 3rd place finish on his GSXR-1000. I was the weak link on the team with a 6th place finish, but overall it was good enough for 2nd place, and a cool trophy.

We ended up selling/delivering the bike Sunday afternoon and the guy who bought it rode it at Mid-O the following Tuesday and set his fastest times yet around Mid-Ohio. Fortunately a new set of bodywork was included in the sale of the bike.

I'm now just laying low and letting my bruised knees heal up. One is the size of a melon and looks sweet. It's freaking Gina out, which is pretty funny. Thank you again to everyone who helped us throughout the weekend. Pitting with Nik, Dave, Eric and Sam was great fun and really brought a team atmosphere to the event; not to mention the team of guys we've been racing with all year who are always there to help each other out. It's what I miss most now that the season has come to a close.

So now I'm without a bike .. but I'm already thinking about next year ..

Cheers,

- eddie

Thursday, September 27th, 2007 | POSTED AT: 6:49 AM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports

2 Comments on “AMA Grand Championships Recap – Day 4”

Eric wrote on 2 October, 2007, 10:54 AM
We had a great time once again. Even my parents enjoyed the weekend. Thanks for going fast!!! I still dont understand the red flag and gridding in the original order. You were having a great race. It still turned out OK.
Thanks again…

PS: Brent wants his t-shirt signed by the champ.
Eddie wrote on 2 October, 2007, 11:09 AM
Yeah I know, but whatcha gonna do.

Thanks again for coming Eric. I’m really glad you guy could make it. And sure, I can sign the shirt. :)