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GTL – Gridded 3D out of 20. I was trying to focus on my starts a little more this round, and it definitely worked (a little). Went into T1 7th on #41 BJ Worsham’s tail, and passed him on the outside of T2. Chased the first five for a while, then got passed by a yellow bike (somewhere)…shut the door on an out-of-region guy a couple times before he got by me, and there I stayed for most of the race. About 15 mins in, coming up on an Amateur exiting T6, I missed an upshift causing me to go wide. I saw an orange blur on my inside, but was able to shut the door…until said Amateur’s line sucked in T9, and the blur passed me…#76 Old Man Draghi!! I chased him for a lap (why did I give him advice for T3?!), and got by when he took NASCAR 1. There I stayed for the rest of the race…though I DID shut the door on Ricky Doucette as he tried a similar pass in T7…but he quickly got by exiting T10…which is where Scotty Mullin and Seth Hahn got by on the next lap. Finished in 8th place (my highest position of the season), with a best lap of 1:20.560, and outlap 1:23.412. 18 of 19 laps were all between 1:20.5-1:21.5, so at least I was consistent. I know exactly where to stop being a vag as well.
LWGP – Race 9 – Gridded 3B out of 26. Terrible start (I was probably in the 20s position-wise), but we get a red flag on the second (?) lap. Restart is better, but not great considering I’m up against modded bikes. Went from 18th place on the second lap to 10th place (passed LOTS of bitches on the inside of T3). Three laps in the 20s, two 21s, one 22. I got passed on lap 6 by the ASRA national champion; then on the final lap, the ASRA national 2nd place guy passed me coming over T5, but I held a little longer and took him back on the inside. Somehow he got me right at the checkered flag (I guess that’s why he’s the national runner-up); finished 13th out of 26. Best lap of 1:20.736, outlap of 1:25.417.
Sunday, Race 7 LWSS – Gridded 3C out of 13. Can’t remember the start, but made up four spots: red flag, regridded in 2C yay! On the restart, exiting T1 #215 Sam Witham’s rear end gets loose and almost tosses him, causing him to get pointed towards the tire wall. I continue on my line (which now means I’ll be going inside him in T1A), but when he steadies the bike he immediately cuts back onto his intended line (which would mean imminent contact with me). Somehow (thanks Tony’s Track Days for awesome training!) I realize that if he hits me while we’re both leaned over, we’re both going down; but if I stand it up, I have a chance to get on the binders a little and ride out the impact. Sure enough, he clips my front tire with his exhaust, I go into a tank slapper, then get hit from behind since I had to check up. Somehow I get everything settled, rubber side down, but way off line of course. David Dayon, with a fresh motor in his SV, gets by me on the outside, and I dip back into line chasing him and Witham. Dayon seems a bit off in T3, and I’m able to sneak under him entering that corner on a subsequent lap, but threw myself off enough that he got back under me entering T4. There I stayed for the rest of the race, unable to actually execute a pass on those two. Finished in 9th (AGAIN). Best lap of 1:19.951, outlap of 1:24.013, and five laps in the 20.1-21.1 range.
In all, an awesome weekend. I had a ton of fun despite not performing as well as I would’ve liked. Huge thanks to my teammates and all my awesome sponsors below. I’ll be missing the next round sadly, but plan to have at least TWO 19s in the SAME weekend for October.
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