After starting the season at VIR with a 10th in AM GTU and 19th in GTO (due to a T7 trip in the grass) I found myself at Summit Point for the second round, hoping to continue my comeback in roadracing. I decided to do the Friday practice because I had never been on this track before (even though I live 15 min. from it) and after 5 years away from racing I still needed to get my head down and mentality right. So there I was Friday morning, a stranger in a strange land... not knowing anyone (I'm from the west coast), but I was super fortunate to happen to pit next to Smoke, Danny and Steve. Well the pit was set up in no time and the practice day went well with the laps turning in the :26-:27 range. Throughout the day I was talking with my new found friends and thanks to their help both Danny and I got down to the :23- :24 range after three sessions. With the fastest expert only turning :19's we were stoked and ready for Saturday.
When Saturday morning came around it was nice and warm-- most importantly the weather looked like it was going to hold. Shortly after 0800 the practices rolled off and my first session put me back into the :27's while I was scuffing in my new Michelins. No worries. My second session still had me in the :26- :27 range. Uh-oh, time to get my head on straight! Danny was pulling off 24's in practice so I knew I was in trouble if I didn't start focusing.
As lunch came around some friends from work and a whole bunch of my neighbors showed up to root me on. None of them had ever been to a motorcycle race before, and ALL of them were hooked from minute one. Seeing their excitement got my adrenaline going and sent me on a mission!
The third and final call resounded throughout the pits for the AM GTU race and as I rolled out of the pit with all my friends and family cheering me on all I could think of was: "No crashing and whatever I do I better not suck!" ;D ;D I was gridded in the last row of the first wave (R5) and all the guys that were fast at VIR were on the front row. Great :( As the board went sideways and the green flag flew I was able to get a great start that got me into a comfortable top 10 position. Now I would be able to methodically pick riders off one by one over the next 25 minutes. The bike seemed good, my times were down into the :23's for the first time that weekend, I had worked to 7th... things were great! As I was setting up to gain two more spots and start the late race charge the red flag came out and the race was stopped... with no intent to continue due to the amount of time to clear the accident off the track >:( Well, I had to settle for seventh. No worries, that was my best finish this year so far :)
In between races I went around the pits and talked with some of the guys I was racing with and found everyone to be super cool. I also found that I was the only guy running a totally stock CBR600RR. Whoa. This was running through my head as I lined up for the GTO race... of course in row 5 again. As the flag dropped I got the best start of my life and weeved through all of the bikes in front of me and hit T1 in third place behind Barnett and Lingwald. I then got passed in T4 by another bike but held 4th place (running low :33's for the first time!) until the 16th lap when I got passed in T5 by a Duc996. I heard him coming and I saw him going--AHHHH, not on the last lap! I managed to stay in touch with him through 6-7-8 and as we came to the final turn I was on his tail. We both roared around the last turn toward the start finish. I had dropped an extra gear going into the turn to try and get the drive, and we came up on a crowd of lappers. He cut right and I dodged left. As the start/finish got closer I was pulling in the 996 (on a stock 600!!!) and almost, almost... GOT HIM!!! It was a photo finish, we're talking thsnds of a second, clip on to clip on, fairing to fairing! Whew, nobody knows how I pulled that off, but it was the best feeling ever ;D ;D ;D
So all in all it was a fantastic weekend and I can't tell you how excited everyone was about the racing. There's at least 15 new die-hard roadrace fans now and all my friends plan on being back again and again. Cool, huh?
And here's a special shout out to Mel, Kim, Danny, and Steve-- some of the nicest people ever. They're also the ones that dubbed my Honda CBR600RR the "Sewing Machine" because of it's bone stock sorry A$$ sound!!! Maybe I'll be able to afford some suspension and exhaust work someday??? :-/
See you all Memorial Day :D