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Third race weekend back & things just keep getting better
LWSM. I had a great start & played with KB for a bit, but the race got red flagged twice in only 4 laps... a bad re-start & abbreviated race meant I finished 7th outta 10... meh.
The real story behind that race was the spectacular crash of my buddies & fellow EX500 Mafia members Tom Joyce & Jason Morse.
Tom was a couple bikes ahead of me & low-sided coming outta turn 2. I was right behind Jason & he ran wide a bit at the apex & as Tom's bike came sliding down from the tire wall he was unable to swerve around it. As I pulled along side him, Jason hit Tom's bike square on the rear wheel & absolutely LAUNCHED into the air. All of a sudden I'm looking at Jason do about a 6 foot high superman air right next to me. It looked like he might have been able to save it but I think his rear wheel popped up higher than his front and he landed on the front rim & he did a nose dive into the ground in front of his bike.
Tom suffered "Mellon Knee" (man that thing was huge) in his low-side but was otherwise unhurt. Jason was shipped off to Concord and suffered a broken right hand & a pretty bad concussion.... Definitely a spectacular but scary incident and could have been alot worse, but it was really good to see him the next morning in the garages w/ a smile on his face.Heal up, bro.
Production Twins... the main event.
With Clayton absent this weekend I knew I had a shot at getting a win but it was gonna be tough w/ fast AM EX-er Jonathan Vaughan on the grid. He's been giving Clayton fits all year & I saw first hand how quick he is last race weekend but I was too far behind the two of them to give them any trouble.
I was gridded in the front row of EX500's along the outside wall, J.V. was gridded right behind me and we were in the same wave as some Motards which were gridded in front of us. I knew if I wanted a win the key was gonna be the start. I had to put some traffic between myself and Jonathan.
When the green flag waved I got a great jump. I pulled ahead of the other EX's in my row (Brendan Guy and the two Joyce's) and got past one or two motards by turn 1. Exactly the start I needed.... but sure enough, out come the red flags...
On the second start I got another great jump but as I started rowing through the gears it popped outta gear and Tom and Conor Joyce slipped ahead of me. I got it back into gear quickly & used the outside slot to my advantage and went around the outside of Tom and Conor as well as two Motards by the end of turn 1. I knew I had to put more traffic between myself and J.V. and I passed one more motard on the outside of 1a.
http://www.batmanmoto.com/photogalle...311_resize.JPG
I laid down the best out-lap of my career so far w/ a 1:29.9 and put my head down. My lap times weren't anything spectacular, mostly 26's w/ a couple 27's in there as well, but I dipped back into the 25's for the last lap. Not as quick as I was hoping but I did what I had to do & finished 1/2 a second ahead of Jonathan to get the win.
Looking at the lap times on the LRRS website, Jonathan and I ran almost identical lap times, but my out-lap was 1/2 a second faster. Jonathan's a fast guy & knows how to work through traffic but that 1/2 a second I gained on him on the start is definitely what made the difference in FINALLY getting my first win of the year.
Best part was I did it in front of a whole bunch of fellow NESR members as well as my Brother, my Sister-in-law and my unborn Nephew who came up to watch me race for the first time. Having them and all of you up there made it all that more special. Thanks for comin up, guys
Lastly, thanks to everyone that was present at the awards ceremony when I got my trophy... felt really fuckin good hearin all those cheers when they called my name. You guys are the best.
It's good to be back
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congrats!
Originally Posted by OreoGitorio
