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Woot! Just got home from another great race weekend
SATURDAY
Arrived Saturday morning since Friday was a wash-out & I wasn't about to set a tent up in the rain...
Practice 1 - Raining off & on... I got to the track just as practice started & I had to bring my spare rims over at BostonMoto getting my rains mounted so I sat that one out.
Practice 2 - Damp & drying... The weather cleared up and the warm track quickly began to dry along the racing line. I went out to do a shake-down and things felt good. I was sliding around a bit in some places due to the damp conditions, but I got into a nice comfortable rhythm and laid down some 22's which I was more than happy with.... turns out it was the fastest lap of that practice (the track was pretty empty. Not many fast guys out there.) so I won practice!
Race 7 - Lightweight Superbike: Out-motored & out-chassis-ed, I need a great start to stay in the top 10 in this race. I started from 2c, got a great launch & slotted into turn 1 in 3rd position behind Brett Guyer and Nate Mandell. I turn a 1:19.8 on lap 2 and stayed in 3rd for almost two full laps until I was passed on the outside in the entry to turn 11 by super fast guy Todd Babcock. He got 3/4s of the way past me as we both turned in... Only he was turning in faster than I was and I ended up running the corner wide by about 6 inches.... Not a good time to be getting passed around the outside by a guy who thinks he's all the way past you.
Out of my peripheral I could see his tail section getting closer & closer to my upper fairing. Just before we made serious contact I stood the bike up and braked as hard as I could. I hit his rear wheel pretty hard but he was able to keep it upright. My front tire jumped about 6" to a foot out to the left and I immediately released the brakes. It regained traction and I rode straight into the grass, through the "ravine" and up into turn 4. I looked to my left, saw a giant conga line going through T11 and looked at the corner workers... they were all like(I'm sure my eyes were as big as theirs, I dunno how I kept it up) but they didn't tell me to stop, so I looked for a gap & gunned it. I ended up only losing 1 or 2 places and re-passed one of them down the straight to regain one of those lost slots...
Despite the contact & off-roading, I still ran a 1:20.388 on that lap & followed it up with a 1:19.086 (I'm sure the extra drive coming from NASCAR turn 4 helped) my best lap around NHMS ever by over a second.
During the rest of the race I backed up that 19 with a 20 flat (also better than my previous personal best) and a couple more 19's (my #1 season goal!!!). Despite my new found speed I still found myself falling back in the pack due to a lack of motor... most LWSB bikes are built up SV's and Duc 1000's putting out a lot more power than my stock motor (minus pipe & PCIII).
Finished 10th out of 15.
1:23.145
1:19.813
1:20.388
1:19.086 ("started" that lap from NASCAR 4)
1:20.093
1:19.817
1:19.750
1:20.948
SUNDAY
Sunday morning I hit up both practices & felt good, clicking off some 21's with ease. I let Harrison Schmidt take the SV out for one of his practices & he loved it.
Race 7 - LWSS: Lightweight Supersport is the class my bike is built for but it's still a very competitive class. I got a great start and was running 3rd going into turn 1, but I got pushed a little wide in 1, then REALLY wide in 1a, dropping back a couple spots to 5th or maybe 6th.
I tried staying with 888 Chris Cucinotta but the heat & humidity got to me a bit and I couldn't stay with him. I ran one 1:19.9 on lap 2 but that was all I could muster as he faded off into the distance. I finished an exhausted 7th out of 12.
1:23.686
1:19.963
1:20.634
1:21.753
1:20.335
1:20.720
1:21.307
1:21.827
Race 10 - LWGP: After all of Jersey's shit-talking to Oxx, I had to do somethin to back it upIt wasn't looking good as I jumped on my bike & realized my tire warmers were still unplugged.... But I hammered the gas & brakes on the warm-up lap to get as much heat into them as I could.
I got a little bit of a wild launch & lofted the front wheel a good 12" in the air, but rode it out nicely and still got into turn 1 in the top 5. I got picked off by a couple of riders here & there as my tires squirmed around a little until getting some heat into them. By the end of lap 2 they were up to temp and I got a LITTLE bit of a tow from John Burbank who pulled me back into the 1:19's, but he slowly slipped off into the distance. Then I had a nice little back & forth battle with MotoMarket's Paul Conley on his Honda RS250. That little bike's got some power & he motored right pass me & up the inside as we peeled off the wall for turn 1, but I surprised him by re-passing him around the outside as we came down onto the apron. He tried to follow it up with a pass up the inside of T3, but I out-broke him and held my position. He finally got me going into the bowl but I stock onto his rear tire for the rest of the race. I tried for a last minute move as we exited T11 on the last lap and ALMOST stuck it, but I didn't want to force anything and t-bone him so I backed off and let him take 6th as I crossed the line 7th out of 12 with 5 sub 1:20 laps... definitely a performance to be happy about!Unfortunately the Oxx/Oreo battle never materialized as Oxx exited turn 2 in the opening lap in 5th gear and promptly lost about 3-4 spots. He tried working his way back up but I was long gone by then.
1:23.583
1:21.178
1:19.832
1:19.958
1:20.252
1:19.997
1:19.651
1:19.855
As always, a huge thanks goes out to my ECK teammates... they always make my race weekends easier & more enjoyable. Couldn't be happier to be working with them.
Thanks to everyone who came to watch, hope we put on a good show for you this weekend! Wanda at the front gate said they handed out about 25 Sunday $5 coupons which is down from last weekend, but with the iffy weather I'm not surprised.... So huge thanks to those that braved the touchy conditions!
Thanks to Tony's Track Days, Pine Motorparts/PBE Specialists, Phoenix Graphics, Woodcraft, Moon Performance, RJ's Motorsport, Motorcycles of Manchester and BostonMoto-Pirelli for all of the help, we couldn't do it as good as we do without you guys.
Here's to doin teens!
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"why tip-toe through life to arrive safely at death?" Tony Campol
Originally Posted by Tricky Mike
I ALMOST got him on the final lap, but no dice... wasn't quite close enough. Maybe next time! 
Thanks, guys 
