| Author | Message | ||
     Firebolt428 |
Hey everyone, To keep my fellow Bueller's in touch with what is going on up here in my corner of the U.S. with racing. Here is my race journal from this weekend. Take it easy Brad **************************************}} Hello Everyone, First and foremost I would like to THANK the following people for all the help in the pits and without them I couldn’t have done it. First would be Jeff Wieand Team Manager. Thank you for the help setting both bikes up at the track days and for laying out the plan for me on what classes to run and how to execute our team’s plans. Crew Chief Rob Haley. I guess it’s safe to say I am lucky to have my dad really involved in my racing career and all the work he does to the bikes getting them prepped and then he goes out to film the races also, unbelievable. Brett Newkirk. Not sure we have a title for him but I think it is safe to say he was a huge help in helping get the bikes ready before each race. I’m sure he will be a permanent fixture in the pits and is a welcome asset to Pushrod Racing Team. Stay tuned for his title. ; ) Thanks to my girlfriend Lindsay for help painting the bikes. Friday March 31st we tested at the track with Adrenaline Freaks Track days. The point of this was to get bike #2 (Supersport) up to speed before the weekend. I went out and did about 6 laps and coming out of turn 2 I had a huge slide and almost high sided over the bike. I landed on the seat and looked behind me to see what had happened and there it was a big cloud of smoke. I was leaking oil. I got off the racing line as fast as I could and got to the edge of the track. My mistake was getting into the grass before I was completely stopped. As soon as I hit the grass, I hit the ground sliding on my back. I got up and picked the bike up. Not much damage besides the upper body work. The main thing was finding out what had happened. Anyways by the end of the day we found out what had happened and got it fixed and ready to go for the race weekend. Saturday April 1st Formula Thunder Bike #2 (Superbike): 2nd I finished 2nd overall in this class last year and this is probably the most important class of the weekend as Buell pays for finishing in the top 5. As usual it was raining on Saturday which is fine with me as I do pretty well in the rain. I lined up in my grid spot on the second row and got a good start and moved into 2nd place going down the hill in turn 3. Darren Murray #4 on a Ducati 749 was in first. Coming into turn 9 I moved into the lead but was to far inside and Darren came back around me on the outside. I stayed with him for 2 more laps looking for a way around but I made a mistake somewhere and dropped back about a second. I’m still not sure where I made the mistake but I think I just had a lapse of concentration and that cost me the chance at the win. This allowed Allister MacKinnon #121 to catch up and eventually pass me coming out of turn 4. I was able to get back by him on the straight away to take the white flag. He again passed me coming out of turn 4. The top end power of the new bike is fantastic and we were side by side on the back straight heading for turn 5. This is probably the scariest pass I have made in my racing career. Turn 5 is a quick left with a bump on the inside and is real slippery in the rain. I held my line and completed the pass. I held him off to finish 2nd. I set the fastest lap of the race a 1:41.5. Sunday April 2nd Open GP Twins Bike #1 (Supersport): DNF I started from the front row of the grid lined up mostly against Ducati 999R, Ducati 749R, and Honda RC51’s. I was testing a new rear tire from Pirelli and normally run a 180 rear but Josh from Pirelli said to try the new 190 which would offer some more side grip but may cause me to push the front a bit more. Light goes out and I am running 4th coming into turn 3 behind Rick Rinaldo #123. He is a good buddy of mine so I was happy to see him running up front after last years crash but was eager to get around him. His new Ducati 749 is pretty fast so I was loosing ground on him on the straight away. A couple laps later a RC 51 passed me on the straight away. I stayed behind him for a few laps and noticed that we were catching back up to Rick for 3rd. This was beginning to get exciting, a 3 way battle for the last podium spot. My excitement was soon killed as I noticed my right bar seemed to move. A corner later I realized that it was beginning to loosen. I did another lap with it loose before I decided to pull off. We upgraded from blue lock tight to red lock tight after that. The bonus to that race was the new rear tire worked great and I absolutely LOVE it. There is so much side grip in the corner; I felt I could’ve dragged my elbows in the corners. I also learned a few different lines on the race track that felt a lot more comfortable. All in all we learned a lot. April 2nd 600 Superbike #2 (Superbike): 13th This was going to be a tough race. I started on the 2nd row of the 30 + field of bikes. This would be the first time I raced the Buell against the new 600’s. I wasn’t real sure about this class but it draws a lot of fans and we got the ok in the off season to race in it. I got a decent start I guess and a few bikes went by. I figured I was roughly in the top 15. The other thing that was on my conscious was that I had to race immediately following this one in Middle Weight GP Twins. I tried pacing myself but still started to get real tired mid way through the race. I backed off a bit to try and save some energy in doing this a bike got around me. Then on the white flag I was passed again. This ignited a small fire under my seat and I pushed hard for the last couple of corners. Coming out of the bus stop I got a great drive and thought I could draft them at the line but was unable too and finished 13th. Not to bad and it created a buzz in the paddock so that was nice. My best lap and fastest ever at Pacific Raceways was a 1:33.8. (Lap record is 1:26) April 2nd Middle Weight GP Twin’s #1 (Supersport): 1st As I mentioned above I was going to be doing a back to back race. This worked actually to perfection really, do to the team. I came off the track rode straight to track entrance where Jeff Wieand, Brett Newkirk and my mom were standing by with the bike and some water. I got off, downed some water, dumped some down my leathers, and away I went. I took as long as I could on my warm lap to calm down and get focused. I lined up on the inside of row one. I couldn’t have asked for a better spot as I would have the perfect line into turn 1 as long as I got a good start. I got a great start and Ian Dreycott #140 was in the lead but I stuck my front tire in between him and the inside of the wall in turn 1 and took the lead. That was the last time I saw anyone. Not sure where I got the extra energy but I definitely had my second wind. I was in a zone and was coming into lappers and was just carving through them. I had a corner worker tell me later that I was not letting up going through the lappers. When coming into back markers like that it’s your responsibility to make a safe clean pass. I feel all of my passes were safe. I was going around this back marker on the outside of turn 2 dragging a knee and my head was right next to his foot. So that was a bit weird but it was fun. I won by a staggering lead, not sure how big it was but when I took the checkered flag defending Middle Weight GP Twins Champion Alan Schwinn #2 was just coming out of the last corner. I will have lap times posted on the website along with pictures from Brandon Bones, Studio 819 so stay tuned. I think this was a good start to the season overall. Our pit set up is one of a kind at WMRRA. Thanks to XLSR Racing Team for the support and being apart of the overall goal. Thanks to the family for the food, helping in the pits, watching the dogs and everyone who came out to support Pushrod Racing Team. Everyone make sure to check out my sponsors for this year. 2006 Sponsors: Cycle Works, Phenix Group, DP Brakes, Fulmer Helmets, Pirelli Tires, Motul Oil, Witch Eye, HD Buell of Seattle, Fuel Clothing, Fastbuells.com, Gaerne Boots, and Vortex. **Stay tuned for an announcement of a new sponsor before the next race, May 6-7 @ Pacific Raceways**. Brad Haley #428 Brett Newkirk Team Support Rob Haley Crew Chief Jeff Wieand Team Manager www.pushrodracing.com http://www.myspace.com/brad428 (Message edited by firebolt428 on April 03, 2006) | ||
| Olinxb12r |
Congrats! Sounds like some good racing! Man I wish I had the pockets to take the Buell out to the track. | ||
| Firebolt428 |
Thanks. my pockets are smaller with racing and they seem to stay empty but thanks to the factory offering contingency they get refilled a bit. | ||
| Surveyor |
Bradlee, great report and well done, it's so good to read a positive race report. Great to hear you like the 190, I used a 190 on the track last year despite all the "experts" warnings I love it the grip in corners is great and I found no problems with it pushing the front end or slowing down the steering. Good luck for the rest of the season. | ||
| Sweatmark |
Brad, Congrats on the solid performance. Will you be racing down here at PIR? Might have to bundle up the Mrs. and kid to support Buell racing! Mark Oregon | ||
| Firebolt428 |
I have thought about going down there this year but still not sure. Last time I raced there I got black flagged twice because my pipe was to loud. They could have told me in practice instead of waiting until I was racing. Kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. Ya the 190 rocks man. I am so happy with it. |
