Round 2 & 3 Hastings, Nebraska
With a double point’s weekend in mind Ricky, Casey and I headed out early Friday morning with the intentions of open practice; as we arrived into Hastings there was too much lightning and the track was closed for safety reasons.
Day 1
Waking up Saturday morning with the ground wet and the weather in the 50’s I decided to sit the first practice out in order for the track to dry a little. Morning practice went well, getting familiarized with the track and working on my lines. Going out for my first race, Novice GTU I felt confident. Leading the race with a lap left I was a little too hard on my brakes coming into turn 5 I lost my front. Later realizing that I had made the biggest mistake since I have started racing; (a hard lesson to learn) not checking my tire presser. With one race left that day mechanic Ricky and I were attempting to get the bike fixed and ready to ride; unfortunately I had snapped my faring stay that holds my body work on. Dave Van De Weert once again offered me his bike in order to get very valuable championship points, unfortunately with a Red flag (riders ok) on the first lap we lined up on pregrid again. With the warm temperature, and the hot bike the radiator overflow cap popped off; with water spraying on my leg I had to pull off. As I was walking Davis bike back into the pits Jason Leleck ran up to me and yelled “get out on my bike, just complete one lap GET SOME POINTS!” I couldn’t thank him enough; it held me in 3rd place over all for my race the next day.
Day 2
After walking around the pits looking for a faring bracket and not having any luck, Bart from Faster came through. As I’m asking him if I have any options he picked up his phone and called the shop Faster Motorsports, and had his personal faring bracket taken off his own bike and brought out to Nebraska in order for me to complete my weekend. Bart thank you that was beyond anything I had ever expected, you SAVED my ass. With 4 races in the day and having crashed in one of the classes the day before I had my work cut out for me. Starting in the 2nd row for Novice GTU, I had a good launch going into turn 1 in 4th position. Picking away turn by turn I ended up behind Rocky Mountain Kawasaki teammate Gary Signorelli with 5 laps left. Having some troubles with the bike dropping out of 5th gear into 3rd gear every time on the back strait; and realizing something was starting to go wrong, I was content with holding 2nd position and blocking my lines. After discussing the problem with some mechanics in the pits it was sounding like my transmission was going out. With 5 races left in the weekend I was hoping it would make it the rest of the way. Going out in Amateur GTU the problem only happened twice on the back strait but I did hit a false neutral coming into turn 11, a sharp right, (thinking in my head I just missed a shift) I ended the race 7th. The 3rd race of the day, Amateur GTO, a very competitive class teammate Casey and I started on the front row next to each other for the first time. Having a terrible launch fighting my way up into 4th position on the 4th lap; I left a little room on the inside of turn 4 allowing another rider to get by. Looking directly at the bike on the inside of me slowly sliding towards me, I lost focus of my line for a second and ended up off the track. Quickly getting back on and finishing the race somewhere in the top 15 I believe. With the last race of the day being Novice GTO and only able to do 1 lap the day before, I was pleased to only be pushed back to 8th over all position lined up on the 3rd row. Off the launch I hit another false neutral going from 2nd gear into 3rd; coming into turn 1 in 15th position I knew I had a lot of ground to make up. Putting my head down and running the fastest lap time of the weekend I managed to get into 2nd position on the 4th lap. With the leader in my sight, I planned my pass; but I hit another false neutral on the bike only this time I was grabbing a gear down from 4th to 3rd. Engine braking being a big part of slowing the bike down in order for it to turn correctly, I knew the chances that I was going to crash were big and it was going to be at very high speed. Fortunately crashing before helped me in this situation! With the day coming to an end and my bike done for the weekend I was pretty disappointed; working with Bree at Xbam helping my mobility after my crash Charles Greenwood had hared over the intercom about my crash. Not exactly knowing what happened he offered me to use his bike in one of my races the next day to salvage some valuable points.
Day 3
Two races left for the weekend and only being able to race one of the two due to my transmission issue and not having a bike to race. As well as Amateur GTO being the last race of the day and the weekend; I hung around the pits helping out the team and watched races all day. Going out for the last race my mind set was to just go out and get points, after a long weekend of disappointing results, points is all I need; ending around 20th position.
Once again I’d like to thank everyone that help me make this weekend possible Thanks to my team Young Blood Racing – without you guys there would be no drive to succeed Thanks Casey Ricky, David, and Jen Vanmar/Michelin Racing – Mark and Tammy you guys are unbelievable. I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t go with the best tires on the paddock. Thanks again for all the HELP! Rocky Mountain Kawasaki – for the unbelievable support and acquiring me on the team this year (BEST MOVE OF THE OFF SEASON WAS TO SIGN WITH THEM and move to a KAWASAKI). Brother BBQ, www.urweekendtoy.com ,The Sports Authority – for all the sponsorship support to help make all this happen!! Faster Motorsports – Bart, well what can I say you cover my ass every time something goes wrong; Jason, Mike, Brian you guys have not only been a support to my racing but the trackside assistance is priceless and I can’t thank you guys enough for all you have done for me over the past year. Jason thanks for letting my use your bike in Novice GTO. X-BAM (Xtreme Bike Action Massage) – Bree not sure where to start… You have been such a BIG help every time I work with you, THANK YOU!!!! Performance Imagery – Keith for all the photos that make me realized what I’ve been doing wrong, and how to prefect my riding. Monster Energy – thanks for coming down and supporting the entire team through the past year. Motorex Oil, Power Stands Racing, Vortex Racing, Motonation (Sidi Boots), Regina, Fuel clothing, Hot Bodies Racing, VP Fuel, and 12 VOLT Tavern – thank you for all the racing sponsorship and support through out the year.
Next round back to Pueblo June 28th