Daytona stories

[RickyRacer]

Post your Daytona race story. Don't let be the only one. I'm sure you guys must have way more interesting stories than mine.

[JAHAWK]

Where's your's Ricky? ;)

[sportbikepete]

Nate Kern kicked AM ass, end of story.

[RickyRacer]

I posted my at the end of another tread. But I'll post it again to keep it together.
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EX/AM LW Supersport, two waves race. 3/1/02

Temps were in the upper 60's and the skies were overcast. This met that my tires would take a lot longer to warm up than I'm used to.  I still had no clue how to approach turn 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.  And getting on those high banks was very freaky. I needed more track time before I felt even a little confidant.

I was grided toward the inside of row three. The start was classic "RickyRacer" and I jumped right into third place going into turn 1.   Coming out of turn 1, I almost high-sided.    For some reason my tires kept sliding in the infield. I never even came close to getting a puck down.  And after having the bike do one wild-ass fishtail maneuver coming out of turn 1, I decided to just cruise around and try to learn the track a little better.  I concentrated on the part of the track where I felt I had good traction, "The Chicane".

Well, to my pleasant surprise, I finished 6th out of a field of 15 and my best lap time was 2:27:39.    Yep, pretty crappy.  I could have gotten some wood but I missed a few too many shifts and that cost me.  For just cruising around, that's not too bad.  

EX/AM LW Superbike two wave race. 3/2/02

During the worm-up lap, I felt a big improvement in grip. (My tire PSI was way too high before) I was grided on the inside of row three.  The field contained 21 AM racers.  Definitely the biggest group I have ever raced in.  
The start went well but this time I only made it to fifth by turn one. Going into the West Horseshoe, two riders went pass me. By the time we get to the chicane, I was able to catch up and keep them with in sight. But I blew the International Horseshoe and Terry (66x) went by me. I was able to stay with him till we came back to this spot again. Here, Terry and two other riders screw each other up and all went wide. I stayed to the inside and got passed them all. Thank you!!    

Lap 3, we come onto expert riders. Going into the chicane, an expert racer blocked my entrance going in and ruins my drive out. But I managed to get pass him and chase the three racers that got passed.

Lap 4, going into the West Horseshoe we come across lap traffic. One of the lead riders runs right off the track. The other two must have been watching him and slowed up cus I got passed them on the out side.  Terry came up beside me trying to out break me going into the chicane.  So I got off the breaks early and dove in over the rumble strip. In the excitement, I made a big mistake and short shifted to fourth gear on the banking.

That was it, I knew Terry would be coming by now. Sure enough, as soon as I shift to fifth, he came by on the outside. I tuck in behind him and into the draft. He continued to pull a little bit but soon I started to makeup some ground. I was not able to stay in his draft and he pulls away some more before the finish line. He beat me by about three bike lengths.  So 7th out of 21.  Man was that fun!!!  

Oh, I got my lap times down to 2:21.

I am now looking forward to coming back to Daytona in October. Baring mechanical failure, injury, illness or death, you can bet I'll be returning home with some wood next time around.

[Eric Kelcher]

I have posted mine before. here is how not to do Daytona. ROC 2000

Loaded up 12 bikes in the company trailer and headed out to Daytona from Texas World Speedway. Mamnged to get a garage for all of us. Entered couple races on each of my two bikes one I thought I would do well in but brought my GSXR750 just have the rush of speed on banks of Daytona.  Well first round of practice went out on on my single ran through infield heh this is pretty cool :) ran out out onto banking shift cool shift DUH!! out of gears. Well I ran around to pit lane got back thinking dummy you forgot to swap out counter shaft sprocket. Nope had largest counter and smallest rear on this was NOT going to work :(  Well I guess I'll have fun on the GSXR in the GT race and Heavy Super but I was going to get my butt throughly kicked in those classes. I was one of the first ones out and ran through pit out/pit lane then as I went to acclerate onto track it fell flat on its face. I looked down just in time to see gas pouring out of air box and down over engine and steaming off head pipes  :o :o I stopped at the corner worker stand he wanders over asking if I was overheating NO NO GAS GAS. Well luckily the pipes were not fully hot orGOD was looking down on me and bike did not go up in flames. Wait through practice for crash truck never shows so I push the bike back to pits. I find that a float had gotten stuck in the trip from Texas adn fule pump filled airbox adn by then number 3 cylinder full of fuel. I clean everything up and go to thumb the starter to blow the gas out of cylinder. Well I just tap starter over while holding a rag over the cylinder. Engine fires up :o I forgot to disconnect 1/4 coils. As I shut engine off gas errupts in fire ball, remember I am in a garage, bike is on fire I spin grab an extinguisher and put bike out. Fast reaction times as air box hoses did not have a cahnce to melt. Well I was so mad and dejected I said screw it I am not riding/racing this weekend something is telling me NO so i popped a beer and sat down to wtach everyone else, Did I mention this is Thursday AM and I haven't made a lap yet?

Well i sit around help my buddies out Friday and Sat then Sat afternoon I decide well I guess I ought to clean this bike up then I figure what the hell I might as well get at least some of my money's worth and I 'll ride Sunday morning. FE stuff got in the open #3 cylinder and it was recomended to me to out plenty of oil in there to lubricate and clean that stuff out so I did. Cool bike is all ready to go Sunday morning, I decide I am just going to run practice and fire bike up and make it over to pit out sitting there letting bike heat up, remember the oil I put in number 3? well as bike came up to temp all that oil that is in the header starts to smoke. NO WAY you can't go out there with that bike, no amount of pleading it is just oil int he header will allow me out. I went back to the pits to "burn" it out of there. Well I make it back to pit out and next group is laready lining up push shove my way to front and get out. warm up tires warm up tires don't push calm down :) hit banking Oh YEAH that's it run it towards redline oh wow the chicance comes up fast hey made it through okay nobody passed me cool I guess. Ripp it around Tri-Oval hey what is that guy doing at start/finish No No No damn checker flag.
that one lap at Daytona had to exceed factory race teams expenses per lap. $2200/lap

2001 went much better I had sold the GSXR and ordered different gears for single dropped 6 teeth and still need 2 smaller. Ffinished 3 in one race but other race was the really cool one started like 40 something and finished sixth :) If I had only known that guy in front of me was for the podium :(

Daytona you have to have your stuff together I learned.

[David Kern]

Nate Kern kicked AM ass, end of story.

:D 8)

Thanks, I think so too!
Nathan's Dad

[Brett]

Got sick, puked for 2 days. Tried to ride anyway. Crashed on a new try it and see if it works tire. It didn't! Was very sore for qualifying and the race, but made it. In the end it wasn't so bad got 22nd was 18th but had to stop for gas with 6 laps left.
Me Daytona 200 2002
http://www.randrracing.com/new%20Daytona.jpg

[Scott]

Sure Nathan Kern ruled the amateur class at Daytona.  Because he should be an expert not an amateur and he is racing a Hooters Suzuki!!
Nathan's dad, your son is a cheater!!!

Scott

[r6_philly]

maybe he did so well because of the Hooters Suzuki, we all know it is a horsepower track anyways.

Did CCS make Kern expert after Daytona? 6 wins in the AM classes should probably do it, right? Besides if he can share bikes and mechanics with Micheal Barnes, maybe it isn't entirely fair to the rest of us slow amateurs who have to work our behinds off, and still end up with a slow bike. We took a week off from work and begged and dragged (lol) friends to come along and put aside their times too.

We will see how the regional races go, maybe he isn't that great to justify moving up, lets hope it is only the bike. If he is good and he gets to ride a pro. set up bike, then he should call CCS and asked to be moved to expert. It wouldn't be fair to take contigency money away from other am racers who paid out of their own pockets

[Fabri-Tech_Designs]

Or, maybe Nate is just a natural.  I mean he was only on the track like 10 times before Daytona this year, and 3 of those times were with NESBA.  I doubt his success was just because of the bike he was on.......

Right sportbikepete?

[rsmith]

Here's my $0.02 regarding Nate, so take it for what it is worth.

I have ridden with, correction attempted to keep up with, Nate at several NESBA events and can honestly say that his talent\abilities back up his wins at Daytona.  Besides, I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that it takes more than a fast bike to be competitive let alone win races in this sport.

FYI, I understand that Nate is moving up to expert starting this weekend at VIR so us AM's don't have to be concerned with this anymore.  The experts on the other hand might want to keep an eye on #60.
 ;)

[r6_philly]

I know some of us are more of a natual than the rest of us, maybe he is. How was his finishes last year? The reason I think most people question is, Daytona is a horsepower track, you can tip toe through the infield and still not get left behind if you bike is more powerful. If he whips everyone at VIR or Summit, then we know it is not the bike.

Then on the other hand, if he is that much faster, then he deservably should be an expert, and it is great to hear that he is moving up. It was just in the past others have stayed or even petiitioned to stay as AM's just so to win more races. The best luck to Kern, I will be watching him, and routing for him at VIR.

BTW, how can an inexperienced am get to ride a pro bike? I wouldn't  mind ;)

look at the times of 750 and 600 times by the same rider, we are talking at least 3-4 seconds per lap difference... If the hooters bike make 114 hp as the limit allows, and I am on my humble 100 hp bike, don't you think a 5 sec /lap time is not unreasonable even if we are the same skill level?

[Brett]

No way will 14 horsepower make that much difference. What kind of lap times are you doing at Daytona R-6? Every one says if I had more power. Daytona is not all about power. It helps some but how do you think the fast guys go 1:53s on 600s? They have less horsepower than my 750 and I only did a 1:57. They out road me is what they did. Faster in, faster out, That's what makes good lap times. ;)

[r6_philly]

look at the times of 750 and 600 times by the same rider, we are talking at least 3-4 seconds per lap difference... If the hooters bike make 114 hp as the limit allows, and I am on my humble 100 hp bike, don't you think a 5 sec /lap time is not unreasonable even if we are the same skill level?  
 
 

I am talking about the same guy with more power and the time he gains on himself.

I didn't get timed at Daytona, probably slow as ... lol it took me 2 days to learn to go around that track at a decent pace and then it rained on Sunday. I will see how it goes in Oct.

For the record, Kern is really cool, I was saying the competition may not have been fair, either the reason is equipment or skill

[Nate Kern]

  If you guys dont mind me stepping in,  I would first tlike to thank all the people who support me on various levels.  Sportbikepete, your the man!
  As many of you may know I have bumped up to Expert this past weekend at VIR.  New track and new competition.  I was entered in 8 races and had (2) 1st places, (2) 2nd places, (2) 3rd places, a 4th and a 14th.  Call it talent but please dont call it Hooters horsepower!  My GSXR600 is my own with Hooter's bodywork on it.  Its still being financed (alot left on it) and it makes 102.9 at the wheel.  
  This being my 7th race weekend ever, Im just happy to be doing it! There are alot of people that dont ewven have the chance.   Again  I would like to thank everyone especially, Mike Godin and Frank Angel.  I cant wait to come back to VIR!

Nate #60

[Frank Angel]

I'll try to put this issue to bed. You can believe it or not, it's your choice. I'm Nate's crew chief, and I know what I'm talking about on this subject.

Nate's Hooters 600 GSX-R is a bone stock 2001 that he bought in July of 2001 from Woodbury PowerSports in Woodbury, NJ. It is NOT a Team Hooters-Suzuki bike. The motor has NOT been touched from stock, in fact it has not even been freshened yet after last year's short season. It was raced in five CCS weekends last year and two this year. Penske rear and Traxxion forks. PC III (not IIIr) was added for VIR, prior to this past weekend there was no PC. K&N. TiForce full system. That's it, no tricks, no mods. The Hooters paint on the Sharkskinz is courtesy of Team Hooters/Mountain Dew/Suzuki and we thank Mr. Steve DeCamp for his support. Steve is a mentor and friend, and recognizes talent when he sees it. Team Hooters did not provide the bike, and they do not provide direct financial support. For the 600, we do have financial support from Atilla Wings, owners of eleven Hooters restaurants in NJ/PA/DE. That's why we can carry the Hooters bodywork. Orient Express/Ti Force are also sponsors, along with a few others.

Hooters has nothing to do with the 750, which is completely supported by other sponsors, primarily Mount Holly Kawasaki-Suzuki of Vincentown, NJ, who owns the bike. The bike was purchased privately just before Daytona this year. It's a 2000, and also has a stock motor, PC III, Penske shock, Traxxion forks, M4 full system. We will have a full TiForce on the bike by Summit.

I own the GSX-R600 that Nate and Michael Barnes won the Daytona Team Challenge on. It's a bone stock 2001 that was a salvage bike with just over 2k street miles. Stock motor, Penske shock, Traxxion forks, PC III, K&N, full TiForce. No motor work. We literally finished building the bike Thursday morning at Daytona. The first lap the bike ever turned on a race track was the warm up lap for the race. Neither Nate or Michael ever practiced on it. That's a true story.

Michael Godin came to VIR to help us out this past weekend and really got the suspension dialed in. Michael is one of the finest technicians in racing today. He also worked on Len Santangelo's suspension - you can ask Len about whether Mike's settings helped him. The Pirellis worked wonderfully. The results that Nate displayed were due to his talent and hard work and the support of his team.

If anyone doubts any of this, throw up a protest and have a motor torn down. You'll lose, because there's nothing there that's not in your bike - Suzuki built these motors on their assembly line and they havn't been touched since.

If you saw us at VIR, we were working out of the back of Nate's pickup truck, just like always. We aren't rich, and we don't have money flowing in from everywhere. We don't even have an enclosed trailer yet. We've been lucky to land a few good sponsors, and we appreciate their support and are thankful for what we have.

The truth can sometimes sting. If you want speed, look inside yourself, that's where you'll find it. All the horsepower in the world won't make a great rider.

Hope this helps clear the air. Please e-mail me if you want to discuss any of this.

[Fabri-Tech_Designs]

Well said Frank.  
Should confirm what some of us already knew.

[prov431]

Frank,
I don't believe one word of it.
Next you'll be telling us that you stayed at some couples house for the weekend and not your lavish 50' motor home.
You can't fool me, I saw you guys at the track  :o
And Nate....oh come on....I know your secret.   ::)
Godin tunes suspension? Oh sure he does.  :o


Suspiciously and humorously replied by:

[Jamie]

Just to get the record straight, I would like to say that Nate is definitely NOT a cheater and has earned every win that he has achieved.  I have been Nate's girlfriend for the past 6 years, and he never even owned a motorcycle until a couple of years ago.  His bike is NOT a Hooters Superbike set up by Mike Godin, it only has the bodywork because he is sponsored by a local chain of Hooters restaurants and the team owner happens to see enough talent in Nate that he can run the team name.  I know everything about the bike because I bought it for Nate and until last October it was our streetbike.  I observe everything that happens with Nate's bikes and the team, and just because Mike Godin happens to be our friend and wants to help Nate out with mechanical issues doesn't mean Nate is running a Superbike.  Up to now we have personally financed everything related to Nate's racing career, and believe me we do not have the budget to pay for a set up race bike.  Up until last year we showed up to the track with a truck and a gas can and Nate still made it to the podium.  The only difference then was that he was racing a 1997 GSXR that was way down on power against new bikes.  Anyway, I just wanted to point this out because Nate deserves the recognition he has received and he is on his way to a successful race career because of his talent, not his bikes.

[sportbikepete]

Boy thanks Jamie! "1997 GSXR down on power" just great make me feel good, this is my first year and guess what I'm starting on? A 1997 GSXR, I'm no Nate Kern so just look for me in the back of the pack getting lapped! ;D And as far as Nate well some race and some guys are racers. I know we all want to believe we are Mladin and "I could win only if I had more power" well that ain't so, a good rider on a bad bike will always beat an average rider on a good bike or in my case give me rocket power and I still will lose. Nate hats off to you man, I'm just glad I do not have to run against you. Hopefully I'll see you at Summit and do not forget the Hooters wings LOLOLOL! And as far as him in AM well how long do you think he was riding in AM class? What was it less than a year Nate?

[unoigo]

I hate to drag this story on but ever since I saw/ met Nate I have admired him! He is truley a remarkable person. The real reason why he kicks everyones butt is because day in and day out he works his butt off! He eats and sleeps motorcycles. He understands it takes dedication and hardwork. Hell he has lost over 50 lbs in the last year just to get in shape, why? because he knows what it takes and is willind to sacrifice to get to that point! As stated earlier, he works out of a Ford truck, no fancy trailer or motorhome. The kid can flat out ride, it is just that simple, he is a natural. I don't know why it is so hard for you guys to just take it as it is. Some people are better at things than others! Lets just say he had full factory backing at Daytona and his results were the same. Then what would you be complaining about. Can anyone here honestly say if they had factory backing they would be that much faster and winning races? I don't think so. Congrats Nate, keep up the hard work and Good Luck this season!

Jacob Warren
CCS am #817

[sportbikepete]

If I had a factory ride I would not be faster but would be a whole lot happier! ;D