Round 6, HPR, Aug 27-28

Ok, long overdue write up... sorry.
Round 6 was another hotter than hell weekend out at High Plains Raceway. I got there Friday to practice and rode a half day in the afternoon, should've done the morning session because it was SO hot in the afternoon. Anyway, I got thought it even thought the bike was still running hot and I was having to top off the radiator after almost every session because it kept puking all the water out of the overflow every time I came in and shut the bike off. Luckily Saturday Dan "Otis" Turner loaned me a high pressure radiator cap that kept it from puking the rest of the weekend. Saturday I had a fun couple of races doing some battle with Zach Shearon in the Middleweight and Heavyweight Supersport races. I ended up in 6th in Middlewight and 5 in Heavyweight. The 5th place landed me in a teardown to see if my bike was leagal, and it is. They were checking for kit alternators that are illegal in the Supersport classes and my stock charging system was all there.
Sunday was where I really wanted to make something happen and try to run with Pat Lansu in both Thunderbike and Heavyweight Superbike. I tried my damnedest to stay with him, but him and that crazy fast Ducati superbike are way to fast... Got a second in Thunderbike and 4th in Heavyweight Superbike.
Off to Pikes next round I'll have another go at Pat! Here's some pics courtesy of John Chadwick (Wicked Photos).

Walnut Room

Just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to the Walnut Room for helping me so much this season. So, hit 'em up! Burr, you're a great friend and I really appreciate it.

Walnut Room

Round 5, HPR, July 30-31

Sorry for the delay of the write up...

The big change for this round was that I switched back to Pirelli tires. I tried for half of the season to get the Continentals to work for me and even after all the suspension tuning, I just couldn't get the confidence I need in the rear tire. I'm definitely not saying they are a bad tire, I just couldn't get them to work for me. I did feel bad switching only because I think the MRA Continental vendor, Mike Applehans is such a good guy and would go out of his way to help anyone. But in the end, I had to go back to the Pirellis where I know the tires and how they act and I can get my confidence on the gas back.
Practice went good on Friday. Cory from Intermountain Racer Supply, the Pirelli vendor, gave me a set of take offs to practice on and set the bike up. It went well, had to make very few small changes and the bike felt great again.
Saturday I raced the Middleweight and Heavyweight Supersport races and faired ok, two 6th place finishes. Saturday had the addition of a one off 4 hour endurance race that the club does once a season. I hadn't planned on running it, but then got asked by a team of pretty heavy hitters to be the 4th guy on the team, so I said yes and signed up. The team consisted of Mike Applehans, Glenn Conser, Rick Gross and I. We made the whole race and did pretty well getting a 4th place finish, which is in the money! I've never won purse money at the end of a race, so it felt pretty good!
Sunday came around and it was hot as hell, as it had been all weekend, and the bike was running a bit hot. I made it through Thunderbike with a second place finish. I tried like hell to catch Pat Lansu in first, but I just didn't have it this weekend. He's a super fast, experienced rider with an ungodly fast bike. It's now my season goal to catch and pass him! I ran the Heavyweight Superbike race, but 3 laps in the bike was running really hot and it had burped water all over my boot, causing me to slip off the peg a few times, so rather than risk falling, or worse, putting water on the track and causing someone else to fall, I pulled in after 3 laps. So I now have a little work to do to get her to run cooler, but I think I have it covered.




Thanks to John Chadwick for the on track pictures, and Lacy for the pit shot.
Want to throw a big thank you to all my sponsors, and Cory and Intermountain Racer Supply for the Pirellis. Couldn't do this without all of your help!

Round 4, Pueblo, July 9-10

Ahh Pueblo... I have serious demons at this track these days. I decided to only go and race on Sunday for this round since I really didn't want to ride the track as it's in such poor shape. So, I went down Saturday night and pitted with my buddy John Burr (Viva la Walnut Room!!) to ride just on Sunday. I had to keep my points up in Thunderbike if I had any chance at the championship. Even though I was only there for one day it was still a shit show. John and I went out first thing Sunday morning for practice and about 6 laps in his bike showered his rear tire with oil sending him in the air onto his head, out cold, good concussion, end of the day for him. Luckily I didn't hit the oil that was all over the track at turn 7 (Keith Easton wasn't so lucky, but he and his bike were ok). The second practice was ok, I felt like I was familiar with the track to do ok in the races. Thunderbike came and I didn't have anything for Lansu or Galefke, but was able to get a solid 3rd place, so it kept me in the points. After lunch and a long rain delay I raced a shortened to 5 laps Heavyweight Superbike race and got 4th. All in all it was an ok day even though the track is bumpy and slick and I couldn't get any grip out of the rear tire. Round 5 is at HPR in a few weeks and I'm making some changes that I'm confident will pick up my pace and get me to the speed I need to make a good push for the championship in Thunderbike. Here's a few pics that Lacy took in the pits...




Oh yeah... and the motor ran strong, no issues! Gotta thank Kevin at Foothills, Bart at Faster, and Norm at Snug Harbor, for that! Thanks for all your help guys!

Rig

A couple of shots Lacy took of the van at Pueblo. Love my 69 Chevy!

No boom this time, thank god!

New motor is in and dyno'd. Made good numbers. Ready for Pueblo and to get Fish's bike back together.

Cool Pic

Here's a really cool pic that John Chadwick took at round 3 in the afternoon when the clouds were rolling in. He did a little work on it too. Thanks John!