RACE REPORT --- BULL'S GAP, TN --- 6.20.09

    We arrived late to the track on Friday night after spending some time with Nick Cummings and family at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. We woke up to a sticky, sunny, typical, Tennessee Saturday. We had watched the weather during the week and noticed a lot of rain activity in eastern TN and figured at least the track would be fairly wet when we arrived. Boy was I wrong. I guess 32 degree banking drains pretty well.

    We had a fun time unloading everything in our truck and hand carting it into the infield for our TV race on MAV TV. It wasn't too bad until the track guy decided to water the track while several of us teams in too big of trucks were unloading. It was kind of comical there for awhile. When you see her, ask Tommra from the IMDA about it.

    On track in our first practice, I felt pretty decent as I wasn't pushing too hard. I had gotten around Coolbeth early but felt some pressure from behind. As I had felt I had just gotten up to speed the checkered flag came out and I looked back to see it was Mees applying pressure. I figured he was pretty amped up as he was the winner of this race two years ago. Man that was a quick session. Times in the high 16's and fourth fastest.

    On to qualifying and we tried our other bike to see how it felt. I gave Coolbeth some room on the track so we wouldn't be racing each other and Mees did the same for me. I got going and felt pretty good and crept closer to Coolbeth as the laps wound down. I maintained the gap to Mees and felt like I went a little faster than before. Still fourth fastest behind Sam Halbert, Don Taylor and Jared.

    Last round of qualifying I went out on the original bike with a few changes and felt pretty good. I got a little more aggressive and changed my entry points into the corners and experimented with some lines and was able to go slightly quicker than before. Still fourth fastest behind the same guys as before.

    As we prepared for the heat race we kept waiting to see what the people in charge were going to do with the track. When you know who that is will you let me know? The two hour wait from the end of qualifying to the start of the first heat saw Zero track prep. Needless to say, the track was dry and the first two heats started chasing the track down toward the bottom. Prior to our heat, Mother Nature graced us with a fine sprinkle of water on the track but not much to make a huge difference. I had Mees, Coolbeth, Russell and others in my heat and knew that a good start was going to be key for a chance to make the dash and get on the front row for the main. I guess I may have put too much pressure on myself as I had a terrible first corner and went down into three in fourth. And that is where I stayed for the entire heat as I struggled to make up time on the guys in front and had to ride defensive to keep Brandon Bergen from stealing the last transfer spot to the main.

    While watching the Dash and the semis Kenny Tolbert, Bubba Bently and I decided we needed some change if we wanted to move forward in the Main Event. So we changed the offsets, changed the gearing, and I changed myattitude about how things were going to go. As we were getting to stage for the Main the "Pro's" were running with a slight sprinkle coming down. The AMA received the red out just in time before a very good drizzle came down for the next five minutes or so. This completed the changes we were looking for as we now had a new racetrack. They rolled thetrack in for about fifteen minutes we were allowed a couple of laps to see how it was. Some guys felt we needed a couple of more laps so we made a couple more and lined up on the starting line.

    I lined up in the middle of the second row behind Joe Kopp as he usually gets good starts. Now all I needed to do was get one with him. I got off okay, around mid-pack and went as high on the track as this 42 year old dared. I tried to get around a few guys going into three but I never could get into three as deep as I would like as

a handful of others had the same idea as I did. I was pretty much stuck in eighth place until a red flag came out after six or seven laps for a downed rider. We lined back up in 8th and got off the line in 8th. I had committed to the high line early and felt I could go faster than the guys in front of me if I could just find a way by without hurting somebody. As the track dried a little, guys started to run a little lower into the corners. When that happened, I was now able to enter at the speed I wanted too. I was able to find a way by Kopp and Russel and move into a battle with Weidman for fifth. A battle I lost as he was able to make the bottom work for him better than I could the top late in the race. So we finished 6th. Not what we were looking for but not terrible.

    Now if you have read this far, I would like to take a moment to thank all of the riders, fans and crews who have congratulated me on my pursuit of a 200th podium. We know this isn't a stat that is common amongst the AMA record books. However, in all forms of motorcycle racing that I have seen in my years as a professional, the top three riders have always been honored. No official record of podium finishes has ever been kept. But you see, my father Gerry is a bit of a statistics freak. He brought it to my attention after my podium finish at Springfield that I had visited the podium for the 199th time that day. I passed on that info to the AMA and before I knew it we had a press release issued to the entire motorcycle industry. Although we haven't reached 200, I know we will. If you want to know any other stats, especially as they pertain to me, well, go ask my Dad. He has plenty of time on his hands.

    I am currently "On Vacation" at Holiday World in southern Indiana. I'll be training with Pam and the boys on the water slides and the roller coasters for a couple of days. We'll stop by and see Nick and his family on our ways to Lima. Thanks to those of you who have signed his guest book over the last week and we'll let you know about his progress.