The 2006 TT course included a larger jump than seen in previous years and the course was challenging and well-prepared. Chris qualified well and was running among the top five or six when mechanical gremlins forced him back to an eventual ninth-place finish.

At the Mile, it was once again a battle of the last five laps, and after an eventful race that included several crashes, Chris cam out on top once again, holding off perennial Springfield front-runner Jay Springsteen by just inches at the flag.

The series resumes at Syracuse, New York on Father's Day weekend, June 18.

Springfield TT

"Well, it was going pretty good, I felt like we were in position for a decent finish. I got an okay start from the second row, I was running about fifth or sixth there toward the end, and I'm not quite sure what happened, but we lost a significant amount of horsepower going down the front stretch, and the bike wasn't running quite as well as it had. I mean it was quite a different issue than we had at Daytona, but the thing felt like you just threw an anchor out behind it going down the straightaways. I also kind of put myself down a bit from there and missed a downshift kind of late and lost another position or two, but considering we had a problem the last six or seven laps, I'll take ninth. We were running - like I said - a pretty solid fifth or sixth. That's the way it goes."

Springfield Mile

"The track was really fast. I was actually somewhat surprised with the speed of the racetrack for May. Usually May is anywhere from three-quarters of a second to a second slower than the fall race is - for whatever reason. But the track crew did a great job. The track was pretty smooth other than a dip that they've been trying to get out over the years down the backstretch going into turn three. They made it better, but one part of it was worse than normal. But I know they're trying, so I'm not throwing any rocks at those guys. Everything else was tip-top and perfect.

"We had a good day. Qualifying went well. I hooked up with Springer in my qualifying round. We put in some good laps and he ended up second, I ended up third, so we knew we were competitive, it was just a matter of waiting out the day for the main event. I had a pretty good measure in the heat race of Rich King. He got the better of me in the heat race, which didn't concern me all that much because it doesn't pay anything. I knew what I was capable of doing with him, and I'm sure he knew the same. We just needed to store that stuff away and go to the main event.

"We went to the main, and we had a little mishap with (Mike) Hacker going down and a red flag. With the second start - I got going, just sat in fifth, sixth, seventh the whole time. We got to about lap fifteen, I started inching forward, Springsteen broke a shock, I gained a position there, moved up into fourth, and then the next lap, King goes down, and I was basically in third spot. King got a flat tire - that's what I've been hearing anyhow - and that was unfortunate for him.

"So we lined back up third, and because we went back one lap, Springsteen was running third that previous lap, or something like that, we lined up with (Kenny) Coolbeth in front, Springer in second, myself in third, and got a good start, got by Springer, diced with Coolbeth for a while. I dropped the hammer and went back and forth with whoever took their head. In the last five laps, I mostly dealt with Springsteen - that's what it appeared, anyhow. I took the lead at the white flag and never gave it up to the end of the race. That was a first for me - I don't think I've ever led the whole last lap at Springfield. We put in a good lap when we needed to and took the win by about a foot or so."