So I was watching Fontana, but as I was talking to my wife I heard them mention Montez Stewart. I missed everything but his name. Does anyone know what the announcers were saying? He wasn't in that race, so they must have mentioned him for some other reason.
I noticed that Kevin Hanson came in 29th. Dang. He's so fast at club races, but in AMA he comes in 29th. Guess I know where I stand...
They were saying that MJ was there spectating and was there with his team and rider Montez. Superbikeplanet.com said he rode his ducati to the race! Thats pretty cool.
They were mentioning that Michael Jordan was at the track that day and how he is a motorcycle road racing fan. So much so that he is sponsoring Tez.
Dawn :)
Dang Stumpy....
Don't you know to allow age to go before beauty?
Dawn ;)
Sorry Dawn....I'll wait 1-2 hours next time ;D
Stumpy
hehe !!
He was racing in Superstock I think.
When I was at the track they were just announcing what time he would be signing autographs.
Saw a pic on Superbikepalnet of Jordan, Nicky Hayden and two other unidentified dudes.
Corey...
One of the Un-Identified dudeds was 4x World Champ Doug Polen....
OR WSB and AMA number 23....
Tez was a cool dude.... Tristan introduced me to him.. Nice guy all around...
The Club racer of notice for the weekend... SW adn PAC's Nick Moore... 12th in 600ss, in his first AMA race, with a stock motor, on a HONDA... First non Dunlop bike in the field.
One man, in a van, with a plan, and a Dad... They did a great job, and Nick should be gettin scooped up quickly...
Way to go duuuude!
I went to Fontana a couple of weeks ago to do a trackday. We were pitted beside Nick Moore. I saw this kid come in and say to his pit crew (Dad and some other guy) that his front end was pushing and pogo'ing. I just thought he was a whiny spoiled kid... then I went and watched him put in laps in the expert group.
I'll tell you why his front was pushing, he was FAST! His turn one entry speed was phenominal, as was his entry back into the infield.
He is riding on outdated equipment with essentially no technical support. (When we were there, the guy helping his dad was on the phone, talking to some other guy, making two or three MAJOR suspension changes each session.)
With a little support, I predict he will do well.
Did you see how the top guys were attacking Fontana? There's a lot to be said for track knowledge. In several places the riders have to jump berms and curbs to make up time. I think if Tez and Kevin had someone observing what the people with track knowledge were doing, they could have made up a lot more time, and possibly finished higher.
I can't wait until they both race at Road America (home field advantage).
BTW - did it seem like the flat track racers had an advantage at Fontana. There are an abundance of left turns at that track. I saw so many people backing it into the turns.
Anyway, best wishes to Tez and Kevin in the next round.
Yeah, Jordan's Duc is pretty nice! Chromed Frame, wheels, swingarm, levers, pegs. The rest of it is all black except the Air Jordan logo is in red in the tank under clearcoat.
He's got a nice custom jacket as well. Also good to see he had a helmet. (an Arai)
Dunno if it's a 748 or 996, but one of the 2.
(He had his bike shipped to the track with the racebikes so he could ride it if he decided to show up.)
Hey guys,
The tough thing about Fontana was trying to get up to speed with no thursday practice. Try going 3 practice sessions and trying to qualify within 110% if Mladin's qualifying time. It gives new meaning to strapping it on!
In saturday SB qualifying I still had to find 2 seconds! Somehow I pulled 2.5 out of my butt.
The track is cool, easy too learn but much tougher to go fast. This was JJ Roetlin's third year and he was just getting up to speed.
Unfortunately I was getting absolutely killed on the straightaways. I was down 15mph to decent privateer guys at the start/finish line. Part of it was me and the other part was the bike still not setup quite right and just kept burning the tire on the exits. Those 2 sections cost me a minimum of 1.5 seconds. I was good through the rest of the infield and could actually catch some really good guys on the brakes. I'm heading to 4 & 6 friday to GMD Computrack the bike and get the thing setup right. The new Gixxer 1000 is much better than the older generation though.
Not the finish I wanted but at least I've spent a day riding Infineon before it poured down rain last year and I've been to every other track. The future looks brighter!
It's cool being able to catch up with Tez. You guys want pressure, be in his shoes! It's hard enough just trying to qualify at all new tracks besides having the PR scrutiny he has. We had a good race going in Superstock on the restart until I highsided in front of him.
My butt still hurts. ;D
Way to go Kevin !!! Im rooting for ya !!!
Keep us low life club guys up to speed on ya, since Speed TV only shows the top 3 guys for 95% of the superbike races !!
Kevin,
Awesome race report. I watched a tape of the Superstock race. I saw you limping. Are you okay now? Are you racing at RA next weekend? I wish there were some way to watch the privateer battles during races.
Yep, I'm ok. My right butt cheek just has an enormous black bruise and I was just sore!
I ran the superbike race right after that. I stiffened way up after the race and could hardly get off the bike. My butt is now turning different shades of yellow, green, red.....etc. ;D
Can't do RA unfortunately. I have to leave for CA to do some Safety presentations for kids the beginning of the AMA week.
You should see the new race hauler I got though! This thing is sweet. I'll have to send some pictures of it.
QuoteDid you see how the top guys were attacking Fontana? There's a lot to be said for track knowledge. In several places the riders have to jump berms and curbs to make up time.
Not necessarily.
See Mr Moore.
That was the name I was impressed to see.
Really has very little experience period.
Previous good experiences doing other motorcycling activities, personal hand/eye coordination, attitude, etc. and make the difference...even without experience of the track.
12th is very impressive.
Doesn't take anything away from anyone else, but the others aren't going to have the opportunities to use what they can do for other teams.
For the mortal riders out there, yeah, we need the extra time on the track, but we wouldn't make a difference in the overall result.
Motorcycle road racing....it's not knitting.
SD,
He (Mr. Moore) may not have been racing for long, but he just raced there a few weeks prior to the AMA event, which I am sure paid major dividends come the AMA weekend. I hope everything works out for him in WSS. To be young and fearless again.
Kevin,
Look forward to seeing the photos of the new rig. Were you leathers and paint scheme different? Unfortunately, I only saw it laying on the track while you were hobbling away.
Yep, paint scheme is different on the bike. Still the police scheme but way cooler than last year.
New leathers didn't get done in time for fontana. They will be pimpy though! Will have them for sears.
Kevin,
Do you have a web site up? Hint , hint.
If so, are their pictures on it? Hint, hint