| Author | Message | ||
     Firebolt428 |
Well the time has come. The 2005 race season is now over. Its been a great season overall. Saturday: Formula Thunder 2nd Of course the weather all day Saturday was nice until our race. Which is fine with me since I enjoy racing in the rain. The only real chance I have against Darren Murray (#348) and his Ducati 748 RS is in the rain. We all got to the line for the start of the race and it really starts raining. Everyone out there is on slicks or DOT tires. The first couple of laps were crazy with the track wet and being on slicks. I am happy to say they red flagged the race and allowed us to go to the pits to change to rain tires. Luckily right before that I had my rain tires mounted on my spare rims. So Rob and Brett got the tires switched out and I was ready to go. My second start was just as good as my first one. I got the hole shot but by the time I hit second gear Darren and another Ducati 748 went by me. I got around the second Ducati on the brakes in turn 2. By the second lap Darren had put about 2 seconds gap on me. It took a few laps for me to get in the groove of riding in the rain on rain tires. You would be amazed at how well rain tires are. At the half way point I was getting into my groove and getting more and more comfortable on the bike. I had closed the gap to about .5 seconds as we went across the finish line for lap 8. As we went into turn 2 I was right on his back wheel. The mistake I made before the start of the race was I didn't change my visor and it kept fogging up on me. So on the back straight and the front straight I would have to open it so I could see. Coming into turn 10 I was right there. White flag out and I had one chance to make my move. Darren held a fairly tight line in turn 2 and I moved over so I was on the inside right next to him. At that point it was a late braking duel and I held off until the last second and took over 1st. With me braking so late it pushed me a bit wide but I was able to hold it together going into turn 3. Turn 4 is a corner that will bite if you aren't careful and I was a bit too careful as Darren got on the gas a bit earlier than I did. He drove past me to take back the lead. Turn 9 I couldn't really see as I was breathing pretty heavy and fogged up my visor which made me run wide. Darren held me off at the line to take first. A great race! Sunday: Middle Weight GP Twins 1st Right before we went out for this race it was misting all morning so it was a guess on which tires to run. the track was dry in certain areas but the back section of the track was still wet. There was 14 registered for the race and only 5 of us were out there. I think with the way the weather was a lot of riders decided not to risk it. I decided to run slicks and gambled that it wouldn't rain anymore and the track would dry out. I decided to take it easy the first couple of laps to see how things panned out. Joshua Ellingson #169 took the lead and got a bit sideways a couple of times on the back part of the track. Allen Schwinn on the next lap made his move on Joshua and moved into 1st. Not wanting him to get away too early I made my move and got behind Allen. I took the lead on lap 3 and that was the last I saw of anyone. I won with about a 3 second lead. Allen won the Championship for this class but I was determined to win the last race of the year. Sunday: Open GP Twins 4th I decided to run this race as this was the last race weekend of the season and I wanted to move up the overall list a bit if I could. I was starting from row 3 and there was about 15 or more riders lined up on the grid. I was surrounded by Honda RC51, Aprillia Mille, Ducati 748-749 and Ducati 998-999. Which all have about 15+ horsepower advantage on the Buell. This race was crazy from the word go. Light goes out and we are all bunched up. Going into turn 2 we are three wide and almost rubbing elbows we were so close. I think at that point I was 12th or something. I got pretty aggressive and passed a couple guys on the brakes going into turn 3. Coming into turn 9 there were four or five guys lining up for the corner. I left my braking a bit later and got two of them on the outside then passed another two coming into the bus stop. I had a smile in my helmet as I went into turn 2 as none of them got back by me on the straight away. I could see two other potential victims a few seconds ahead of me.. I put my head down and pushed it as hard as I could and caught them. The first I passed was a cool Bimota on the straightaway. Then the final victim was a friend of Pushrod Racing Team's, Allister McKinnon #121 on his Aprillia Mille. I wasn't sure where I was at as far as placement but I couldn't see anyone in front of me. By this time I was really tired and just maintained the pace to the finish line. As I was coming in the Team Manager Jeff Wieand was there to congratulate me on my 4th position. I was pretty excited to finish the season on that race. Thanks to the Pushrod Racing Team for everything. Crew Chief Rob Haley, Team Manager Jeff Wieand, Brett Newkirk, Lindsay and Mom for keeping us all in line and fed. Couldn't of done this with out all of you. Sponsors played a key part in my success this year. I hope to have them back for next year. Harley Davidson of Seattle (Cycle Barn), Monster Energy, Fulmer Helmets, Motul, Phenix Group, Fuel Clothing, Utopia Optics, Vortex Racing, Himalaya Leathers, Buell Racing, RacingMotorcycles.com, XLSR Racing, Gaerne Boots, Pirelli, and DP Brakes. Bradlee Haley #428 Rob Haley - Crew Chief Jeff Wieand - Team Manager | ||
| Indy_bueller |
Well done! | ||
| Imonabuss |
Awesome weekend, and report! Darn, wish I wasn't too old to race anymore! |
