Am 969 - Loudon Classic

[sdog30]

First time ever at the Classic, had a great time. I'll start off by saying I dropped 6 seconds from Friday to Saturday to a personal best of 1:34.3. Yes...I know it's slow haters, but I feel good about it. Also completed some of my other goals for the weekend. I raced in 4 races, here's the run down:

Friday Race 5 Formula 1 - 15th/16, but more important had a great pass on someone and ended up not last due to my riding and not a technicality. #303 ended up blowing turn 1 and cut through the grass back on to the track in turn 2 by the time I was coming through. I figured he would be thrown off and so set him up for 3 where he went real wide and I was able to take him on the inside. It felt great. He even excelerated when he saw me going by, but I held on and kept position for the rest of the race.

Race 9 Formula 2 - Horrible! I had a good launch, but got thrown off by the guy in front of me botching his start and that second of hesitation allowed the whole field to get around me. I have to learn how to attack 1 better from the start line. It was a big field, too. Ended up 23rd/25.

Saturday Race 5 Starter 2 - Same deal, just got stuck behind everyone going into 1. I had faster lap times than Friday and ended up ahead of #303 again. 13th/14

Race 7 Rookie 2 - This race was fun. I ended up behind everyone, but was keeping pace pretty good. #303 (my weekend adversary) was ahead of me, but I was slowly realing him in each lap. I was setting up the pass on a couple of corners and think I would have taken him, but the race was red flagged and shortened. The good part was that was the race I was running my pb lap times and it was real exciting realing him in. I was 19th/20.

[sdog30]

I also picked up a few sponsors, so I'd like to thank AMSOIL and Heroic.

AMSOIL is one of the top synthetic oils you can run in your bike and an easy way to increase horsepower and longevity for your engine. And with Dave as a rep located right in garage 11 North, there's no reason not to run it.

And I know this is "Vanson country" at Loudon, but stop by and see Todd with Heroic. The guy is a master with the sewing machine and has a suit that has been crashed in a bunch of times on display. He also mentioned all the suits he had to repair over the weekend were all Vanson, so they aren't that bullet proof. He should be in Loudon next month and now has a dedicated rep there, too.

Big "Thank you" to Mike Arbo for taking me under his wing and mentoring me. Also want to thank Graham for letting me use his warmers again (Don't worry, I finally got a set of my own) and everyone in the garage, Brett, Steve, Chris, Pigman, Jim and Scott. Thanks to Clay's Mom for the egg sandwiches and to Clay for the trailer to sleep in...good job on your first weekend, btw.

[FirstDuc-1098]

Good job Sam. Keep it going. Turn 1 on the start is my worse also. I probably lose 3 or 4 spots going into there at each start.

[Pigman]

Killer job out there bud...........................

[Rada]

6 Seconds is a huge bite!!!! Great Progress Man!!!!!! Keep it up!!!!!!

[sdog30]

Thanks guys.

I have to say, the Qstar lap timer I bought off Lou (loudog) was pretty helpful in seeing areas that I needed to improve. Also, working with Mike has been great, too. I'll see you guys in July.

[csmutty]

Nice job man! Was great to see you again too!

[CBR929RE]

I told you, it doesn't matter to everyone else what your time is. if its fast for you then its good. a 6 second improvement is excellent.

[PainfullySlow]

Congrats on a great weekend! Dont let anyone tell you that your times are slow, every single person here had red numbers at some point and we were all there with you. The fact that you can make such a huge gain is amazing, and I am sure that there is more time to be had in the future.

Again, glad you had so much fun!

[sdog30]

Woops...it was late when I wrote this, but the title should say NV #969, but you guys probably already figured that out. Can't seem to figure out how to edit the title, though.

(thanks for the head up Kian )
Thanks for all the positive comments, too.

[loudog]

Six seconds!?!?!?!?! That's HUGE. Congrats Sam.

I'm glad the timer is helping out too, always good to hear.

[sdog30]

Thanks Lou.

I appreciate you helping me with it. It really doesn't take much to figure it out, but when someone shows you, it makes it even easier. I was able to sit down with Brett later that day and set his laptimer up just by the few things you showed me.

[CDOG1974]

Good job out there bud !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KB]

Awesome. I love reading the race reports of folks just starting out. I was there once and it was very exciting. Now it's a labor of love!!

Congrats keep up the good work.

Stop by center 6 and say hi.

KB