…as I came off the tri-oval banking with a huge slam, clearly bottoming out my suspension at 160 I started to wonder exactly what I had got myself in to…

This past weekend we went down to Nashville, TN for the first round of the wera nc regional sprint races. Isn’t nashbilly in the south, you may ask yourself? Why, yes it is. 9 hours south of Detroit to be a bit more precise. So how does a race in nashtucky fit in to the north central schedule? This week-end was combined with the south east and mid central regions. Why? Again, nashcountry is clearly not in the north. It’s kind of central…I guess? 80% of the grids were made up of north central riders, so where was the south east and mid central support? After all, we were south of the mason-dixon…right? I mean, I clearly recall seeing mesh hats with confederate flags on them for sale at the local gas stations…

I have never been to the Nashville Superspeedway. Most every single NC rider that I spoke with had the same silly grin when asked why it was that we ran down here in the land of nash. “Don’t ask…” was a common reply. “I’m wondering the same exact thing right now” was another good one, spoken as yet another rider went down. This time in turn one at about, oh, 140. He cracked his swingarm in three places, sub frame looked like a fat girl was playing trampoline on it, and I’m pretty sure his wheels and triples were toast as well. “I got labeled a whiner when I asked this question last year” another well known rider told me. O.k., so I get it. The general consensus is, yeah it sucks that this race falls in our region, so just shut up and race.

Back to the team…My dad and I drove through the night on Friday and arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. Oh yeah, it was raining. After getting set up in one of the garage spaces, we made our way to tech. Everything went well and we put the warmers on. The rain didn’t let up, it became stronger. I skipped the first round of practice hoping the rain would stop. It clearly had no intentions of slowing down, so I went out on d.o.t.’s and tip toed around the track to get familiar with the layout. “Late on, and early off” is what you always hear about this track with regards to the banking. Well, when you’re entering the banking at about 120 with your knee on the ground, it’s easier said than done. Actually, entering the banking is harder on the bike than exiting most times. I’ve talked with a few riders who have cracked their frames in years past by entering incorrectly. However, there is a smooth line on and off the banking, and once that line was found the track was much more fun.

The sun came out at lunch time and we mounted a new set of Michelins. It looked as if we would get some dry laps after all. I had entered the Middleweight Solo 20, which was race #3. Words can’t describe how anxious I was to get my first race on the new bike under my belt. I didn’t get the best holeshot of my life, but it wasn’t the worst either. Turn two was jam packed and I made it through safely. Being that I was still learning the track, I wasn’t trying to push myself too hard just yet. I followed a few guys, watched their lines, then passed them one at a time. After passing a few, as well as getting passed by a few, I started to feel a bit more comfortable. After four or five laps, there was nobody in sight. I had a clear track in front of me as well as nobody in sight behind me. I started to think that maybe I should pit in and wait for a group of riders to come by to latch on to. I decided against it, and continued on. My times were fairly consistent and I learned where I needed to go faster. All in all, Saturday went well and we knew what we needed to work on for Sunday. Time for much needed rest.

The weather was beautiful on Sunday morning. Chirping birds woke me up and I couldn’t have been any happier knowing the rain was gone…or was it? Morning practices were great. I got with a group of 5 riders and went back and forth all session. I turned a low 1:06, which was far better than my best time in Saturday’s Solo 20. I continued that pace in the second practice session and came off the track very happy, knowing that there were still a few areas where I could improve.

My first race was C-Superstock. The sun stayed out and the track was perfect. I finished in 12th place, which I was not very happy with. I ended up getting stuck behind a pack of 4 slower riders and could not get by them. Considering this was my first point’s race, I played it safe and didn’t push the issue. And then came the rain…

My next two races were in the pouring rain. I finished in 5th place in B-Superstock and C-Superbike. The new Michelin rains were excellent. I was getting so much traction that the bike was pulling the front tire up between turns 2 and 3! Everything was smooth and I was very happy with the results.

The last race of the day was B-Superbike, and the rain was coming to a halt. We decided to stay with the rains, and thing got a bit greasy. I was spinning the rear all over the place and decided to play it safe and maintain the position I had gained. 6th place was the final result. While I knew I could’ve pushed harder, I was still happy with the result and the points gained.

All in all, we were pleased with our first WERA race of the year. My dad was a huge help and I could not have got through the week end without him. It was also nice to work with Dave from Michelin. He went out of his way to help me out and we won’t forget that. Although James couldn’t make the trip, he was there in spirit and was able to help me out via telecommunications on several occasions.

Next on the agenda is Nelson Ledges this coming week end. The whole team will be out, and we’re looking forward to a long, successful week end.

Kevin Callaway
Team-trs.com
WERA #9

In spite of last year’s sponsorship agreement with Michelin, Safety First Racing has chosen to run Pirelli tires for the 2008 AMA Pro Supersport season. According to team owner Kevin Hanson, he enjoyed his team’s working relationship with Michelin [sic]. Hansen said, “The riders were still looking for some more feel from the front tire, and feedback-wise, essentially ultimately what it came down to is we were still waiting on the new tires from Michelin France.” Pirelli provided what Michelin kept promising. A front tire that provided the feedback that riders Bobby Fong and Gabor Rizmayer were trying to get out of the Michelins. He seemed frustrated by Michelin’s tendency to not deliver, and stated that the team could not wait 6 months for tires. Though it is clear that this was a difficult decision, Mr. Hanson seems pleased with his choice.
The issue will be a moot point next year, when all the riders will run on spec tires.

to say that i was grinning ear to ear inside my helmet would be a drastic understatement. i was literally laughing out loud and couldn’t stop…more on that later.

this past weekend james and i made the trek to barber motorsports park for the first test of our new 2008 yamaha r6. we picked barber due to the challenging layout of the course. with several elevation changes, barber puts your suspension through a very good workout. there is no time to rest on this course, and this is exactly what we were looking for. this was our first time working at the track together. we were fortunate to have former wera national champion, bryan nelson, come out for the day to lend a hand. having someone who i’m familiar communicating with, in addition to james was very beneficial.

back to the helmet laughter…the grin started as i came out of the carosel and powered up the hill at turn 4 and eventually turned to laughter after the bike sliced through the kink in the back straight. this is by far and away the most amazing motorcycle that i’ve ever been on. handling under power requires very little rider input. it’s almost as if the machine reacts to how you are thinking. having only raced a cbr 600 f3, the r6 is light years beyond the old honda. i’m used to quite a bit of chassis and fork flex with the f3. the yamaha feels more like a precise knife in comparison.

as the day went on, james threw different suspension changes at me and we’d make adjustments after each session. after feeling a bit more comfortable, i picked up the pace near the end of the day. the harder i pushed this bike, the better it felt and the more it asked for. we’ll be using michelins this year, and i couldn’t be happier. the front end feedback was good and the rear gripped like glue, only breaking away when i was too abrupt with my right hand.

brakes are far better than i’ve ever experienced. quite often i found myself overbraking, therefore having a much slower corner entry speed. where i’m used to a light tug to scrub some speed after downshifting, now that same tug results in my helmet quickly approaching the windscreen…the modulation of the apex levers is amazing.

being that this is the highest revving engine that i’ve used, i was worried about abrupt delivery. however, power is very linear, and the exhaust note of the kr-tuned is music to my ears. the bike pulls hard all the way to redline without any dips or dives. the motor didn’t feel peaky at all and had very useable torque.

all in all, we were very happy with the first test. i was able to get a feel for the new bike as well as working with a new team. the future looks bright…

kevin callaway
team-trs

A press release from Eddie Kraft posted by RRW

Eddie Kraft finished off the 2007 season by securing the WERA North Central 600 and 750 Superstock class championships at the AMA Roadracing Grand Championships held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this past weekend, while finishing runner-up in the 600 and 750 Superbike classes, aboard a TRS-built Yamaha R6.

The second-year 600 rider consistently ran at the front throughout the entire season and grabbed his first 600 and 750 race wins in the process at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex earlier in the year. Building speed and confidence as the season progressed; Eddie continued to improve at Mid-Ohio against top-level, national competition.

“I’m very happy with how the season turned out. I was able to go significantly faster at every track we visited this year, on nearly the same bike,” Eddie said. “In the Pro/Am 600 race on Sunday, I started from the third row and was heading towards a potential podium finish before the race was red flagged. I had just put in a 1:31.37 pretty comfortably, as the Pirelli combination we had was perfect. It was a melee into turn one on the restart. I had to grab the front brake while leaned over and lost the front, sliding off into the gravel trap.”

“I had a great team of people helping to get back out there and I want to say thank you to everyone for their help. Once back out for the 750 Superstock race, I just wanted to finish on two wheels and make sure we had clinched the championship.”

“We made so much progress this past weekend. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to push into the 1:29’s. It was doable and I left it out on the table by crashing. I apologize again to the team for that.”

“I can’t put into words how much I appreciate what our team did this year. My dad (Joe Kraft) and Doug Cornett took care of everything each weekend, which truly let me focus on riding. These two could work on an AMA team; they’re that good. Thank you to everyone. I’m already looking to next year and can’t wait to build on what we’ve accomplished this season.”

As the first installment in an upcoming series of articles we will be reviewing and scrutinizing different situations that occur on the race track. Some incidents will be reviewed for editorial opinion, some for technically related issues, but always for the benefit and interest of the roadracing fraternity. The pictures framing this post are the beginning and the end of an incident between two riders at Nelson ledges earlier this year. Thanks to Jeff Kovack we have the best seat in the house. TRS will attempt to lend its experience and discern as we see it whether this was a racing incident, rough riding, rider error or something else. If you have not yet seen the video (it’s pretty cool) you can view it here. Please leave your feedback. We think this incident can be judged in several ways. The conversation is proposed; we think we can make a ‘fair’ case as to what actually happened. RSS users can subscribe for free….

Please bear in mind that we are not interested in condemning anyone, this video obviously and ultimately is ‘a racing incident’. It doesn’t matter to us who the riders actually are. We’ll post all your comments regardless of opinion but will remove intentionally derogatory comments. Thanks for playing…

Article published in Roadracing World, Sept. 11th 2007: More From This Past Weekend’s Various Races

Total Racing Solutions (TRS) backs up its commitment to motorcycle roadracing by winning. team-trs.com’s (Total Racing Solutions’ racer support program) rider Nathan Dressman won the only WERA National Endurance Series Race he’s entered this year. ARNCHU Racing took the 600 SB Class victory at Nelson Ledges this past weekend. ARNCHU riders Nathan Dressman, Randy Sherman and Mark Crozier rode a TRS-built Suzuki GSXR 600 motor to the 6 hour, 600 SB Class win and a fourth overall finish.

Ed Kraft and his TRS built Yamaha R6 are currently leading the points in the WERA North Central, Middleweight Supersport Championship. Ed Kraft rode the TRS engine/chassis package to his first two 600 wins at the Beaver Run, WERA event on September 2nd.

WERA announced its ‘Team WERA North Central’ lineup to compete on their behalf at the upcoming AMA/WERA Grand National Championships at Mid-Ohio and two out of three riders (Ed Kraft and Dave Grey) are team-trs.com riders.

James Bhathena, TRS Tech. Director says “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort of the riders and the teams. Everyone has put forth an amazing effort and the results reflect it. Between the local stuff and our AMA Pro effort for Safety First Racing it’s been an excellent year and it’s not over yet. I feel really fortunate to be in the situation again where I can be wholly focused on racing and for being surrounded by such talented and committed people.”

The ARNCHU press release reads as follows:

“ARNCHU RACING RETURNS…and wins!

This past weekend at Round 8 of the WERA/AMA National Endurance Series, ARNCHU Racing returned to action at Nelson Ledges Road Course in Ohio and came away with first place in the Middleweight Superbike class and 4th overall.

The 2006 Heavyweight Superstock Champions returned to action to contest the Middleweight Superbike class aboard a SuzukiEast of Toledo-sponsored GSX-R600. Riders Randy Sherman, Mark Crozier, and Nathan Dressman once again showed the skills that propelled ARNCHU to its many wins.

Riding first was Crozier who took the team from gridding last in the field up to 7th overall during the first stint. Dressman followed and Sherman took on a new rear Michelin tire during his stint. The team used 1 front Michelin slick tire during the race, with an average speed of nearly 100mph. Their tire strategy was developed with Mize Mobile at a local Fasttrax 3-hour endurance event (ARNCHU won that overall by 5 laps).

The race was not without some drama, however…

ARNCHU was gifted first in class when Chris Ulrich and BP Concepts’ Brandon Parish made contact. Ulrich was two laps ahead and passing on the 140mph back straightaway, after being passed by Parish in the previous section. Neither Ulrich nor his team was fined or penalized, as WERA classified it a racing accident.

ARNCHU’s motorcycle preparation was handled by Dressman, who built the custom 6.5 gallon tank and quick change hardware, while the motor build was performed by Total Racing Solutions. Dressman noted, “It was excellent to be back out here with the National Series teams. They are fast and it was a good test for us to be back here running up front with them. We miss the series as a whole and look forward to coming back to contend for overall wins again at some point.”

Team RightsForBikers.com, a series competitor in Moto-ST, allowed ARNCHU Racing the use of it’s pitboard, custom Pitbull front stand, Speedcom radio communication equipment, and fueling equipment.

The team wishes to thank WERA, the cornerworkers, and RoadRacing World’s John Ulrich for enabling safer racing events around the country. Sections of Airfence were transported in from around the country in an attempt to make the fast and bumpy course a bit safer.”

As we usually do we’ll let him tell it…

We won our first race (two races actually)!

To prelude the weekend, my dad and I almost didn’t make the trip to Pennsylvania. It wasn’t an official WERA North Central round, but it was a North East event. Since we liked the track and had done well there earlier in the year, we thought we’d make the trip.

We arrived at the track late Friday night. Up and into practice Saturday morning, we were up to speed and into the 1:00-range by lunch time. I signed up for both the Middleweight and Heavyweight Solo races, finishing 3rd in both. Sam Gaige won both races convincingly. I started from the 6th and 5th rows respectively (in signing up for the races that morning), so I was glad to move to the front throughout each race. I had another great dicing with Jeff (Kovack) in the MW Solo. We went back and forth a handful of times and it was good fun. We got into the high 59’s in both races, but I was a little disappointed at not going faster. I wasn’t riding as well as I wanted to and felt tight and uncomfortable in both races.

That night my dad and I talked at dinner. We had made some suspension changes earlier in the day that we were unsure of. The next morning we would go back to our original settings and work from there. I was focused on challenging for a win. Normally I’ve been focused on laptimes - getting a certain frame of where “I needed to be”. I kept telling myself I didn’t care about laptimes now; I cared about winning - whatever the times were. This was it. There were a lot of fast North East guys in attendance, but Sam was the man to beat. He had posted the fastest times so far, but I had been able to beat him before - so this was our chance. Of course fellow North Central guys like Kov and Agnes would be running up front as well, not to mention guys like Blake Kelly, James Rispoli, J.P. Shanin and Tony Leone - all who were moving quite fast throughout the weekend.

My dad and I were at the track early Sunday morning and ready to go. We posted the fastest 600 time in each of the three practice sessions we were in. The bike felt good, and I personally was riding better. I worked on technique and was much more relaxed on the bike, which was clearly helping. We had Kirk and the crew at Racer Supply mount up some fresh Pirelli rubber during lunch. We were ready to go.

The first race of the day was 600 Superbike. We were gridded on the outside of the 3rd row. After a red flag on the first lap, we regridded, restarted, and I had a decent start into T1, although still 7th after the first lap. I pushed and passed someone each lap. I worked my way up to Kov who was a couple seconds behind Sam in the lead. I was able to pass Jeff under braking, on the outside of turn 10, and then set out to try and catch Sam.

We were already into lap traffic which wasn’t helping things. Sam was catching most of the guys on the straight and I was pushing to pass them in some less than ideal areas. On the second to last lap, I had a bit of open track and was able to close up to Sam . We both came roaring up onto the front straight when Sam got held up by a lapper. The guy had missed a gear, wheelied his bike and Sam had to check up. This allowed me to get within 5-10 bike lengths of him on the front straight, as we saw the white flag wave. Going into T1, Sam was passing the lapper and I came alongside both of them and passed Sam for the lead. Before I had time to realize I was actually leading a 600 race, I was more concerned about running a clean lap and not making any mistakes that would easily let him back by. I kept things in line, didn’t make any mistakes, and took the checkered flag first. Phew, what a feeling. I could see my dad on the guardrail excited, jumping up and down. It was great. We set the fastest time of the race (and the 2nd fastest overall time of the weekend), and had made great progress starting back from the third row.

750 Superbike was the next race. I had a solid start and was 3rd behind Agnes and Rispoli. Rispoli was trying to get around Agnes, which in turn made it tough to get by either of them. Kov. was right on my tail, so we basically had a 4-bike freight train the entire race. I was doing all I could to make something happen, but I getting left behind on the straights. Agnes was on his 750 and Rispoli weighs 130 pounds. I would claw back through the tight stuff, but lose it all when the track opened up. I looked down at my laptimer and I was going a good second slower than in the 600 race. If I could just get in front of them, I would check out. Frustrated with two laps to go, I figured I would just be settling for 3rd place.

Things got interesting on the last lap however. Rispoli made an attempt to pass Agnes in T1. They were side by side and it didn’t work, but it let me gain some ground on them earlier in the lap than I had been. Agnes ran ride through T2, and Rispoli snuck up the inside of him, taking over the lead. By now, I was about two bike lengths behind Agnes. Going through T4, I squared it off and carried a touch more corner speed, trying to get a drive into T5, which is a good passing spot. Agnes had been able to out-motor us to the spot before, but he had a slight rear-end slide exiting T4, which allowed me to stay just close enough to force a pass into T5, taking over 2nd place.

Rispoli was about 4-5 bike lengths ahead by this point and I closed right up on him coming through T7 and onto the back straight. I knew to keep him within passing distance I had to stay in his draft. We went through the left kink, then the right kink, where I had the throttle pinned in 5th gear with my knee down (quite a rush). Rispoli sat up, braked, and I waited a hair longer, diving to the inside and making the pass. It wasn’t over though. Coming out of T10 and onto the front straight was where he and Agnes were hanging me out to dry the previous 9 laps. I pinned the throttle, clicked up through the gears and ran as hard as I could up to the checkered flag. I was waiting for him to come buzzing by, but it didn’t happen. We won a second race, which was awesome. As it turns out, the finishing order was quite close:

Pos. # Name Laps Race Time Diff.
1 48 Eddie Kraft 10 10:08.740 -
2 71 James Rispoli 10 10:08.790 -0.050
3 7 Jeffrey Agnes 10 10:08.987 -0.247
4 30 Jeff Kovack 10 10:09.463 -0.723
5 27 Blake Kelly 10 10:10.283 -1.543

As an added bonus, Kov has the whole race on video, which you can see here.

We had a transmission issue cause us to DNF/DNS our third and fourth races respectively. I had a great launch in the third, 600 Superstock race, filing in 2nd place behind Sam into T1. After pulling in, my dad and I stood in the pits with mixed emotions. This kind of thing happens.

Overall, the emotions of winning that first 600 race felt just like when I won my first race ever; and it’s something I’ll always remember. All the hard work both last year and this year. The people that have helped us along the way. The long nights in the garage. The many nights of driving back and forth to TRS where James made sure the motor hung with the latest 600’s. The money spent; and the times when I questioned whether or not I could do it. It all paid off and crossing that finish line ahead of everyone else is something I just can’t put into words. It seemed that everyone knew this was our first win. As competitors, Sam, Kov and Rispoli came over and congratulated me. People who were just watching the race came over and said the same. Even the WERA officials congratulated my dad as he stood on the wall watching the finish of the race. The look of excitement and pride on my dad’s face afterwards truly tells the story. For two guys who don’t always show a lot of emotion, as soon as I hopped off the bike, I gave him a big hug and said, “We did it!” Both a little misty-eyed, you’d have thought we just won the MotoGP championship. It was just two races; but important races. They were both hard-fought. Nothing was given to us. We didn’t start from the front and cruise to a win. We worked for it. The taste of winning is pretty good. I hope we can do it again before the season’s over.

This was our first time going to the track with a non-running bike. The previous weekend at Nelson Ledges, the bike wouldn’t run past 12k on the tach. We tried a number of things that didn’t work, and the troubleshooting proceeded into the following week. Upon some recommendations, I ordered a new fuel pump on Saturday from the track to have, just in case. With an important Grattan round coming up, I didn’t want to take any chances.

The following Tuesday we didn’t have any luck (or the fuel pump yet) and took the bike to James. By that point, the bike didn’t run at all. James wanted to check the motor mechanically to make sure there were no problems stemming there, and all checks came back good. He found two spark plugs to be bad that we hadn’t gotten to; however replacing the entire set didn’t cure the problem. By Thursday evening (at midnight), James and I stood at Rec Leisure, out of time. My dad and I would have to take the bike to Grattan with us and figure out the problem there.

Once at the track Friday morning, we checked a few other electrical and fuel related things, but ultimately swapping fuel tanks solved the problem (thanks to Michelle and Doug Shelfoon for letting us borrow Doug’s R6 as a parts bike). We had decided to put Doug’s gas tank on our bike and try it. Upon connecting everything, the bike fired right up. Problem solved. It didn’t ultimately make sense that the pump was the problem, as it would build pressure when flipping the ignition switch and then stop, signaling what we thought to be adequate pressure being built up. In any event, the different tank and pump combination fixed the problem; good enough for us. We put the new fuel pump in our tank, mounted the tank up and were good to go.

We hadn’t missed out on much. The track had been pretty green from rain on Thursday and after getting in one afternoon practice session with the bike screaming like normal again; it started to downpour, essentially closing down the track for the remainder of the day. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out under our canopy with Gina, my dad, Bob, Nik, Eric, Shelley, Jonas, Wes, Jan, Andy, Steve and a number of others who were jumping from EZ-Up to EZ-Up.

Saturday morning, it was still wet. Doug and Marion had arrived and Doug was ready to go. He and my dad make a great team and it’s been extremely beneficial to have them both at the track. The three of us all get along, work well together and troubleshoot problems in a logical and systematic manner. Everyone brings something a little different to the table without stepping on each other’s toes - and it’s a natural progression of tackling problems and going faster as the weekend progresses. This weekend would be no exception.

Virtually no one went out in the morning practice sessions, as the forecast was calling for clearer skies in the afternoon. Naturally we didn’t need to practice in the wet, if we would be racing in the dry. The problem with that though, was come race time - not everyone was up to speed, comfortable and ready to race.

Our main race was the Middleweight Solo 20. After a bad start into T1, I moved into 5th place behind Brent (Bennett), Jonas (McCluskey), Jeff (Agnes) and Jeff (Kovack). Jonas highsided right away coming out of the bowl, as he probably hit a patch of sealer/concrete that was still damp. He slid out of the way, unharmed as we raced on. I passed Kov And then Agnes, moving up into 2nd place. As the laps continued, I felt awful on the bike. I was stiff on the bars, stiff on the bike, missing apexes - it was pathetic. I was getting the signal that Kov was right on me, and just past the halfway mark, he passed me going into T1. I really didn’t mind it, as I was hoping I’d then relax a little bit, knowing someone wasn’t right on my tail. It didn’t seem to matter too much though; I was still riding poorly. I could tell Kov was making similar mistakes. He’d blow an apex, run wide, and then I’d do the same. It was almost comical how bad this was - yet we were still running in the top 3. Brent was on cruise control. I could see him not far ahead - I think with a drink in his hand; I couldn’t tell for sure.

Kov stayed in front of me for the next 4-5 laps. I finally told myself to just get back to the basics. I mean, seriously. Looking ahead through the turn, not being so tight on the bars - basic stuff. I set my fastest time of the race during that stretch, and was able to get back by Kov with a couple laps to go to finish in 2nd place. 2nd has been my best finish up to date, but given how bad the race felt - I didn’t take it for much. I actually had gone faster at a track day. Certainly running in a race should have brought about faster lap times.

I ran the last half of the Heavyweight Solo after my dad and Doug tracked down an ignition switch connection that had come loose right before the start of the race. We had made a suspension change between races, so while I wasn’t competing on the same lap once we got out on the track, I was able to tell that the change wasn’t better and we reverted back to our original setup to start out for Sunday.

Sunday morning practice went well. We were firing on all cylinders; both literally and figuratively, and were 3rd fastest in three of the four practice sessions (and 4th in the other; where we had tried a change that ended up not working), behind Brent and Jonas. I tagged onto the back of Jonas in the last practice and stuck with him the whole session, which was a first. He helped drag me into the 1:22 range with a 1:22.719; my fastest lap around Grattan to date. The bike felt really solid and we were ready to go for the races.

600 Superstock was our first race. I had a terrible start and wasn’t far from last going into T1. I worked up into 5th place behind Agnes and it took me a few laps to get around him. He’s a demon on the brakes and nearly impossible to get by when it comes to braking. Even if he runs the turn wide, he still generally is able to maintain his position. Once past him, Kov was up ahead, and while I was able to narrow the gap with each passing lap, I ran out of time and had to settle for 4th place. Brent and Jonas had great starts and checked out, finishing 1/2 respectively.

750 Superstock was our next race. Agnes jumped out of the gate into the lead on his 750, while Jonas, Kov, Scotty (Van Hawk) and I gave chase. Jonas got around Agnes, then Scotty did the same, but crashed in the bowl soon thereafter. Kov and I were then trying to make our way around Agnes. With a couple laps to go, Kov tried to pass him into the hairpin. The pass didn’t work and Kov ran wide coming out, hurting his drive up the hill to T10A. I was able to run up the inside of him and take over 4th place. I continued to chase Agnes, trying to pass him several times, unsuccessfully. He’s flat out strong on the brakes. On seeing the white flag, I knew something had to happen. I tried getting him into T2 and T3, but it didn’t work. Once over the jump and through the esses, Agnes and I both came screaming out of the bowl, heading through the sweeper. Agnes ran it in hot and a touch wide, and I dove inside of him, as we drag-raced to the hairpin. I had the better drive and the line, so I was able to get ahead of him into the hairpin. Up the hill and onto the straight, I kept my head down and my arms and legs tucked in, and took the checkered flag in 3rd place. It was a good race with both Jeff’s, and the first time I’ve been able to beat Agnes on his 750. The family and friends we had at the track had been watching from the bowl, so it was great that they were able to see some last-lap action first hand.

600 Superbike was next. I was again 5th going into T1 with a less than stellar launch. I was behind the familiar bikes of Brent, Jonas, Scotty and Kovack. Scotty had a great start, but was holding both Kov and I up. Brent and Jonas got into the low 1:21 range, so they were distancing themselves from the three of us. Kov was still trying to get by Scotty, but to no avail. On the 4th lap, I forced myself get a better drive than both of them through 10B and onto the straight. I knew I had to latch on for a chance to draft by one of them and get them on the brakes into T1. Kov had the same idea, as once we hit the braking zone; he was past Scotty and into 3rd place. Fortunately I was outside both of them and was able to brake later, sailing by both of them into T1. I put my knee down at the curbing, picked up the throttle and was off. I then cranked out my fastest laps of the weekend, with a 1:22.330 being the fastest lap of the bunch. Scotty crashed out again in giving chase, and Kov finished 3rd. This was a great race, primarily by being patient and able to make up for my lackluster start off the line. I was frustrated though that I hadn’t gotten a better start so I could have tried to run with Brent and Jonas. Once back into the pits, my dad, Doug and everyone else were stoked at the double-pass into T1. I kinda was too.

750 Superbike was our last race and one marred with a questionable plan by myself. I started the race 4th, behind Agnes, Jonas and Scotty. Jonas pushed to the lead. Scotty was trying to do the same, and threw a pass on Agnes that stood him up in the esses. It stood him up long enough where I was able to get through as well. I was sitting in 3rd behind Scotty. Since Scotty had crashed twice earlier in the day and looked to be pushing the bike around a little unpredictably, I decided to sit back and wait to pass him on the last lap. I looked behind me a couple times and didn’t see Kov, or anybody else. I looked down at my lap timer and I was a good 1-1.5 seconds off my pace and was comfortable just sitting on Scotty’s rear wheel. I found three places where I knew I could pass him. I even figured I could draft and pass him on the straight as a last resort if I had to. I was literally rolling out of the throttle on the straight each lap so he wouldn’t see me, as I could have drafted right by. The plan sounded great at the time, except that it took too long to happen. As we took the white flag, Allan Pett came buzzing by both of us on his 750 machine. Dammit. Stupid plan. I immediately tried to make up for it, but it had already backfired. Scotty got caught up trying to chase Allan once he was by and I couldn’t get around Scotty. I finished 4th. Quite a disappointment for what should have been a 2nd place finish. So lesson learned: when you have the chance to pass somebody (more than once), take it.

Overall though, the weekend went extremely well. We dropped over two seconds from where we were last year at Grattan. We finished in the top 4 in all our races, while also grabbing the 600 Superstock points lead in the process. We had a great turnout of family and friends who came out to watch, and I’d like to thank all of them for coming out. I’d also like to thank James for his dedication last week in helping us figure out why the bike wasn’t running. He went above and beyond what he needed to do to ensure there wasn’t something serious wrong with the bike, and I genuinely appreciate it. You can check out his website at www.totalracingsolutions.com.

I would have liked some better starts so I could have ran with Jonas and Brent. I’m pretty sure they would have helped drag me into the 21’s without too much of a problem. To be up front dicing with them is something I’m definitely looking forward to. Just need to work on those starts ..

Originally posted on fast48.com




This is from WERA’s Nelson Ledges round last month, involving Eddie and Randy.

Courtesy of Jeff Kovack.

“BeaveRun went extremely well. We went faster and had our best finishes to date on the 600. The forecast originally called for possible rain all weekend and for the most part, we avoided it all three days. Sunday’s results included three 3rd place finishes and a 4th place finish against some stiff competition.

Friday practice went pretty smoothly. Oddly enough, we didn’t turn a knob on the suspension during the day, and actually all weekend. We had two setups, picked one of them to use, and never turned the screws again. What we spent the most time on was gearing. We changed gearing on the bike at least five times before the weekend was said and done. One of the things we realized was that we were running the wrong gearing at some tracks last year. And what we’ve known already but are realizing even more this year is that correct gearing is quite important on the 600.

So the learning experience continued. The first path we went down was finding gearing that put us higher in the rev range where the power was - so that we weren’t lugging the bike through corners. As our speed progressed however, that gearing had to change. And unlike most tracks, it didn’t click right away as to what gearing was the “right gearing”. BeaveRun has a few fast areas where shifting occurs while leaned over. What we were learning was that the bike was great going into these corners, but as I was going through them, I wasn’t gaining any additional speed. The reason for this was because when the bike leans, it goes onto the edge of the tire, which has a shorter diameter than the center of it does. This causes the revs to jump up. It just so happened that in two key areas, being leaned over and accelerating was putting the bike past the range where it makes power. So another set of gearing changes occurred once we were able to realize that I was losing time in these key areas. Ultimately it was a series of compromises. One set of gearing was better in one spot, where another set was better in a different spot. We also then made adjustments in terms of gear selection (using say 3rd gear instead of 2nd gear) in certain spots based on our gearing choice.

In the end, we spent more than on gearing than we ever have. And to be honest, there were really only three different combinations we cycled through during the weekend (anything else would have drastically altered our wheelbase/geometry), but this became necessary as we started going faster. BeaveRun is a short track, so you can only make up time in so many places. Things like gearing can make a difference when searching for tenths of seconds. We ended the day with a best time of a 1:01.2 - not near the goal I had that morning, but faster than I had ever gone around the track so far.

Saturday morning was rough. I broke two quickshifters, along with one shift rod during morning practice. Our bike has some miles on it, so the transmission is a little finicky when shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. What had become necessary was shifting with a little extra force to ensure the bike didn’t pop out of gear. This caused added pressure on the shift rod and quickshifter, resulting in the breaks. We ended up completely missing practice, as this happened on the out lap each time. Fourth time was a charm however, as my dad worked his magic and came up with a shift rod that worked flawlessly the rest of the weekend (albeit without a quickshifter until we can get another one).

To make up for the loss of practice, I signed up for an extra race that day. Normally running just the Middleweight Solo 20-lap race, we added on the Heavyweight Solo 20-lapper. The Middleweight race went well. Treating it like a race-paced practice, I dropped from a 1:01.2 to a 1:00.4. I finished 4th out of 27 bikes, which we were happy with. Chad Lewin, Sam Gaige and Randy Sherman finished in front of me - all extremely fast guys. Chad is a wicked fast guy from California who had traveled out to chase Suzuki contingency money. Sam is also an extremely fast guy who happens to have the best looking setup in the pits; and a real nice guy too. Randy is part of ARNCHU racing; who won the WERA National Heavyweight Superstock Endurance Championship last year. Very cool guys and all exceptional riders.

Since I signed up for the Heavyweight Solo at the last minute, we were gridded on the last row in the 2nd wave, which was row 15. There were 28-30 bikes in this one and we ended up finishing 7th. We had the second fastest time of the race at a :59.5, only a tenth off the fastest time set during the race. I made steady progress forward throughout the 20 laps, working on passing, lines and overall being smooth. An added bonus was that we were now only half a second off the goal I had wanted to reach coming into the weekend of getting into the 58’s.

Sunday morning was damp from rain Saturday night. I took the pit bike around parts of the track and could see the track wasn’t completely dry everywhere. I decided to pull the “For Sale” sign off the Pirelli intermediate tire we had sitting out all weekend, and mount it up on the bike. By the time our practice session was up, we really could have run DOT’s and been alright, but I had never gotten any good laps with an intermediate tire before, so I wanted to give it a shot. The first couple sessions I took it easy, checking out the track, getting up to speed and seeing how the rear tire felt. It felt stable and I got comfortable with it pretty quickly. In the last practice session, I tried to put in some solid laps and did a :59.7, which was only two-tenths off my fastest time, and the quickest time of the morning. I felt really good with doing that in practice. The intermediate tire however, didn’t feel quite as good, as it was pretty much gone afterwards - probably from conditions that weren’t damp enough to warrant using.

For our first race of the day, we mounted up a new rear DOT and were ready to go. This was the 600 Superstock race with Suzuki money up for grabs. It’s generally the most competitive class of the weekend. Off the start, I was 5th going into T1. I stayed there for the first three or four laps, right in tow with Chad Lewin, Sam Gaige, Randy Sherman and Nathan Dressman. We were all basically nose to tail the entire first half of the race. Around that time I realized, “hey, I’m sticking with these guys, why don’t I try and pass some of them.” So I started to do that. Chad and Sam had gapped us a little bit, while Nathan and Randy were running nose to tail in front of me. I was able to pass both of them going into T1, moving from 5th up into 3rd place in one turn. By then Sam had taken the lead over Chad, and I was working to catch both of them. I made a late-braking pass after the long back straight on Chad, but ran just a touch wide on the exit. This gave Chad a chance to come alongside me, where we were running side by side coming onto the front straight. He had the line and the better drive, so I had to tuck back into 3rd. On the next lap, Chad got by Sam into T5, taking over the lead. The previous lap, Sam almost lost the rear in T5, so I thought I might have a chance to get him there as well on the next lap, as he might be a bit tentative through there. I did get him into T5, but ran it a little wide, losing my drive through T6 and T7, leading onto the back straight. That gave Randy (who was now behind me) enough of a drive to pass me on the back straight. Randy and I passed back and forth again once or twice (I can’t remember to be honest) and he ended up getting the better of the deal, finishing 2nd, with us in 3rd, out of 24 bikes.

I was stoked about the finish. This was our first podium finish in a points race, and I had a legitimate shot to win it if I could have made the pass on Chad stick, and gotten Sam where Chad proceeded to get him in T5 on that next lap. 3rd was a great finish though, and the amount of dicing during the race made it the most fun of the year I’ve had. Chad, Randy and I were congratulating each other afterwards on a great race. Definitely a fun race to be a part of. Sam finished 4th and I think Nathan crashed in the closing laps, racing with Dave (Grey), who was forced to run off the track to avoid hitting him, while also dealing with clutch issues. What we were able to take away from the race was that we had set the fastest lap time, with a :59.1. Dave and I talked afterwards and not that anyone was held up, but with all the dicing going on, I think we could have gotten down into the :58’s with a clear track. Although, everyone else probably felt that way too.

750 Superstock was the next race. Down on horsepower to the 750cc bikes, we managed to finish 3rd again - our best finish in this class as well. Out of 26 bikes, we had set the 2nd fastest time just behind Chad, a touch slower at a :59.2. I had a good battle with Jeff Agnes for 2nd place. We passed each other back and forth several times and he ended up getting the better end of the deal when the race was red flagged due to a crash on lap 6. With two more laps, maybe I could have gotten by, although he’s really strong on his 750 and tough to pass. Once back in the pits, I commented that the rear was sliding in a couple spots during the race. My dad checked pressures and the hot pressure had jumped two pounds higher than normal. He dropped that down, which eliminated the problem for the rest of the day.

600 Superbike was the third race. Keeping consistent, we finished 3rd yet again, behind Sam and Randy. Continuing the trend of this being our best finish in the class, I was a bit disappointed that I was apparently now stuck at a :59.2 for a best lap. Randy dropped the hammer and got down into a :58.9, which was flying. I was running with both Sam and Randy the entire race, but was losing time on both straight-aways. I would gain a little time in some spots, but would lose it all there. I don’t know if it was being down on power, a gearing issue, or my not getting on the throttle soon enough. I was catching them ever so slightly in the braking zones, and I felt running even with them coming onto the straights, but they would just gap me after that. I was even trying different shift points to make sure I wasn’t waiting too long to shift. It may have been my own doing, as I wasn’t getting off the bike as much as I had been previously. I generally drop time as the races progress, but I was definitely stuck in a bit of a rut, unable top the times set in the first race.

The last race of the day was 750 Superbike. I had an awful start and was in 9th place going into T1. I moved forward throughout the race and ended up finishing 4th. We set the 2nd fastest lap of the race, but it was only a :59.5, even slower than the previous three races. It was faster than Jeff’s best lap, who had won the race. Maybe with a better start, I could have latched onto he and Nathan (who finished 2nd) and gone a little faster.

I left the track with two questions. One was the front tire. It held up great all weekend, but we had never put so many laps on a front tire without replacing it. The tire had 40 laps from Saturday, plus four practice sessions and four sprint races on Sunday. I don’t have any doubts on the grip of the tire, but I was left wondering if the profile had changed/worn down with all those laps, making the bike not turn as well. I found myself fighting the bike more on Sunday, but that leads to my second complaint - I’m not in good enough shape yet. My arms and legs were sore and I had to load up on Motrin during the day to deal with it. The shoulder injury from Grattan isn’t a valid excuse because once on the bike, I don’t even notice it. After feeling fresh in practice Sunday morning and doing a :59.7 on a track that wasn’t completely dry, getting into the :58’s should have been no problem. I just trailed off in the races, which is no excuse; but something I need to take care of for next round. I don’t know, maybe fatigue didn’t make a big difference, but I need to eliminate it from the list of possible reasons I didn’t go faster.

Overall though the weekend was a success. Behind Randy’s :58.9, we set the second fastest 600 time of the entire weekend. We were running up front with the lead pack which is something we weren’t doing last year at BeaveRun. A sincere thank you to my dad for his tremendous amount of help throughout the weekend. We lost out on valuable track time Saturday morning, but with his fixes, we were able to keep moving after that without missing a beat. His work, suggestions and ideas each day were a huge reason why we were able to get down to the times we did and run them consistently. If we can find a half second next time we’re there, that would be perfect.

Thank you as well to James. It’s been a bit of a challenge keeping up with the newer 2006 and 2007 bikes out there, but he’s made it happen. With the gearing and suspension dialed in, we’re able to hang in the draft and keep up with the boys on the newer equipment. The bike is holding its own and James even thinks he can get a little more out of her before the season’s over.

Lastly, best wishes to a friend of mine Dan Sheehan, who took a nasty tumble into the guardrail Sunday morning. He’s at the hospital now and doing better, but he’s likely to be there for a few days recovering from a punctured lung and broken ribs. No matter who it is; but especially when it’s a friend, it’s tough to see someone go down and have to take an ambulance ride to the hospital. Dan’s the kind of guy who would help anyone and didn’t think twice about lending us a quickshifter Saturday morning when we needed a replacement. Then we went and proceeded to break it. Sorry Dan. I’ll be buying that one off ya. :)

Nelson Ledges is next on the schedule in a few weeks .. ”

Originally posted on: www.witchkraftracing.com