The race is also the opening round of the AMA Hot Shoe Series, with both the premier 750 class and the 505 single-cylinder class on the docket. Chris entered both classes, easily winning the 750 race and enjoying a hard-fought battle with a pack of young chargers in the smaller capacity main event, where he ended up taking the runner-up spot behind Ken Coolbeth.
"We had a real good night on the 500. We ran our new KTM in our stock chassis on the half-mile there for the first time. It worked out real good, sitting on the pole for the main event. I had a great battle with (Bryan) Bigelow, and Jared Mees, and Kenny Coolbeth. I came up a little short at the end and finished second, right behind Coolbeth. It was a lot of fun.
"In the 750 (race), we got the holeshot in that one and pretty much checked out - until the oil spill. We pretty much had the race covered, so it was a real good night for us - good all the way around with a first and second.
"We went out to Barberville Saturday night and ran the Pro-Am race, and the track conditions were a little suspect. People were getting hurt. It was just one of those things where we weren't having any fun. We decided, because we weren't having any fun - and knowing it was going to be a daytime race - that we're just going to go to the beach instead (on Sunday.) So, me and my family went to the beach, and Kenny (Tolbert) and the boys got a well-deserved day off.
"Now it's just a matter of getting ready for the stadium. Racing (at Volusia County) doesn't do a whole lot for preparing us for the stadium, it's just a chance to ride a different track. If you're not having fun, it's not worth doing. That's one of the reasons that I race - to have fun. I knew I wouldn't have any fun out there on Sunday, so we parked it."