LOUDON, NH (September 27, 1998) - This weekend was the AMA Grand
Championship at New Hampshire International Speedway.  This gave Team
Daemon Racing the opportunity to see where they stood compared to the
best from around the nation.  The weather was great, the racing close,
and the team had the largest turnout of the year, in racers, crew, and
fans!


The short version

Kit made her transition from cornerworker to racer, taking Penguin on
Friday, and racing on Saturday. She even managed to keep the rubber side
down!  Paul, with the help of an incredibly generous Patrick Burns of
Burns Racing Machine, managed to pull out a 5th place finish in MW
Sportbike, and a 4th in MW Endurance. Kevin, well, Kevin raced, and
didn't hurt himself. Kevin came in last in his first race, due to
mechanical gremlins, got tangled up with another rider in his second
race and got his first ever DNF, but came back on Sunday and worked his
way to an 8th place finish in a grid of 30+ bikes. In his last race of
the weekend, Kevin lost it coming into turn 1, but still managed to
gather himself back up and take the checker.


The long version (we mean it, it's long)

The weekend started at *ohmygod*:30am on Friday. Adam met Paul at his
place before the sun even came up. Cooch was looking at the silly humans
wondering why the hell she was out of bed.  They did a quick check to
make sure all the gear was packed, and were on the road by 6am.  Paul
Almost got killed on Rt. 128, when some old lady in a land barge decided
she like the lane he was in better than hers, and proceeded to change
lanes right into him.  Only his superior driving skills saved a major
accident from occurring.  :)

Adam and Paul arrived at the track and met up with Kit, who had come up
Thursday night.  They proceeded to unload the bikes, and set up the pit.
Kit took off to attend the classroom session of the Penguin Roadracing
School, while Paul and Adam made the finishing touches on the pit, and
prepping the F2.  Paul had planned on pulling the front wheel and
running over to Keene, NH to get it straightened, but a little
persuasion with a rubber mallet, blocks of wood, etc., and the wheel was
straightened and rebalanced in the pits.

Paul and Adam made a quick food run, while Kit made the finishing
touches on the CB1 to make it track ready.  While Kit went out for her
track session, Paul and Adam spent the afternoon cornerworking.  

Paul registered for two races, both as an amateur, since he was a 1st
year junior, and had the option of either running with the experts or
amateurs, he choose the latter.

Around 6:30pm, Patrick Burns, of Burns Racing Machine
(http://www.lifenet.com/brm/brm.htm) shows up and after setting up shop,
rips into the F2. He then proceeds to stay up until 4am, degreeing the
cams, cleaning/re-jetting/syncing the carbs, and basically going over
the machine.  In the process of degreeing the cams, it is discovered
that the exhaust cam was one tooth retarded!  Paul had been racing on it
like that all year!  While Patrick was working on the engine, Paul
swapped out the front brake rotors with ones that weren't bent.  

Mike Lambert showed up and set up camp, full of enthusiasm and energy,
just brimming with excitement at the opportunity to wrench for TDR! 
Around 11pm, Kit and Mike call it quits for the night. Adam and Paul try
to stay up with Patrick, but come 2am, they call it quits.  Patrick,
armed with a 30-cup coffee maker, was no match for them.

Around 2:30am, Kevin showed up.  He unpacked, set up a little, and
bedded down for a few hours of shuteye.  As it turned out, he didn't get
enough sleep.

Saturday: The team woke to gorgeous, early fall morning.  There was a
slight nip to the air, but you could tell it was going to be a beautiful
day once the sun had a chance to rise into the sky.  

Kevin ran over to registration to sign up for his races, also opting to
register as an amateur.  Paul, Kevin and Kit all went through tech, and
got ready for practice.

Rob arrived with the new TDR pit board.  Rob wasn't racing this weekend,
still waiting to get the engine back for CA, but was there to help out
in the pits, and take pictures.

Kit went out for her first practice and did very well, managing to drop
her times each time she went out, learning a bit more every lap of the
track.  Being her first race weekend ever, she opted to take the
conservative route.  Smart.

Next out was Kevin. The first warm-up lap went just fine.  Kevin was
taking it slow and remembering the lay of the land. On his second turn
around he and the bike parted ways in turn 1a.  Several of the pit crew
ran over and got him restarted, but the practice was red-flagged as soon
as he went out.  The combination of a cold track, cold tires, and a cold
brain was to blame.  Back in the pits, the crew went to work to replace
any bent/broken bits so Kevin would be ready to go out in the next
practice.

Last out was Paul.  He took it very slow, trying to learn from Kevin's
mistakes. Paul felt good, and the bike was running great after all the
work Patrick had done.  The bike had much more punch out of the corners,
and revved much faster than before.  Even so, Paul kept the time in the
high 1:20's, wanting to take it slowly at first, and save it for the
races.  Paul gave Patrick a little feedback when he returned to the
pits, and some small adjustments were made to the carbs.

The second round of practice went well for all the racers.  Each
managing to drop their times from the first round, and gaining
confidence with each lap.

Crystal showed up mid morning to help out in the pits, as well as a
number of NEDoDers, including Christine Deignan, Scott Lilliot, Lisa
Rydan (sp?), and John Falvey. Many TDR T-shirts were purchased and
passed out, and there was much rejoicing.

At some point in the morning, Speedvision noticed Kit, and, as they were
doing a bit on woman racers, asked if they could follow her through the
weekend.  She said "Yes!" threw on a TDR shirt, and got interviewed in
front of the TDR banner!  Major TV coverage for the sponsors!!

After lunch, Paul left to cornerwork for the afternoon.  The first out
for a race was Kit, for her 3-lap rookie race.  Kit did everything she
needed to, and then some.  She finished the race without incident,
successfully earning her amateur racing license!

Next out was Kevin racing in race 5a, LW Supertwins. He was gridded in
the 2nd to last row (of 8 or 9). As usual, Kevin got a very good start,
which is to say that he was mid pack by the time they entered turn 1,
great considering he was starting from the back of the grid. By lap 4
Kevin had managed to pick his way through traffic (and there was lots of
it) and was sitting on the rear wheels of the 4th, 5th, and 6th place
riders.  Somewhere between turns 1A and 3 the bike started to misfire
badly. Kevin couldn't get the bike to pull past 6000rmp (it redlines at
twice that). He was pulling alongside the 6th place rider and setting up
to take him and the 5th place guy when the bike just started to misfire,
all of a sudden he found himself going backwards. Kevin pulled of the
track in turn 3 and gave the bike the once over. Everything looked good
but the bike sounded horrible.  After a few minutes it sounded like it
was clearing up so he decided to go out and see if he could finish the
race. Back on the track the bike started to clear up a little and Kevin
started passing slower riders but it was to no avail.  He had lost two
much time in turn 3 and was down at least one lap. He finished last, but
finished nonetheless.

Kevin's next race was race 7 LW Thunderbike:  
As with the first race Kevin is gridded towards the back of the grid. He
gets another good start and is once again mid-pack entering turn 1. The
team was trying out the new pitboard for the first time during this
race.  By lap 4, Kevin had worked his way up to 7th place. Again he is
right on the rear wheels of the 4th, 5th, and 6th place bikes.  Going
into turn 2 Kevin dives under the 6th place rider. As the two riders
exit the turn, neither is willing to give up the line. There is contact
while both riders are hard on the gas exiting the turn.  During the
contact Kevin's brake lever gets snapped off! Kevin saw it bounce off
his forearm and fly off behind him. He initially thought it might have
been just the tip of the lever, but when he looked down he saw the whole
thing was gone! His only thoughts at that point were "I've gotta get
this thing stopped before three or this is gonna hurt". Kevin
frantically downshifts and is hard on the rear brake as he headed into
turn 3.  He wasn't completely stopped but he managed to slow down enough
that the US Marshalls were able to grab him and stop him before anything
worse happened.  A DNF, the first one he's ever gotten.

Back in the pits, the help of the crew was invaluable.  The team tore
into the bike. They pulled and cleaned the carbs and drained the tank
to see if the cause of the misfiring problem could be found. The brake
lever was replaced and a new set of Woodcraft bars was put on.  The
bike seemed to be running well now and was ready for Sunday's races.

Next out was Kit for her first "real" race, race 9, LW Grand Prix.  She
chose this race hoping to be able to hang out in the back, and not worry
about getting in the faster riders way.  Unfortunately, the race was
split, with her in the first wave!  

Kit got a good start, and was in second to last place going into turn
1.  By turn 6, the second wave caught her, and she was being passed.
She did a great job of holding her line, being predictable, and not
making any sudden movements, so the faster bikes were able to pass her
without any problem.  Kit finished her first race without falling
down.  And there was much rejoicing.

After a long day of racing, the team retired to the pits where the grill
was fired up, and various types of beast were grilled to perfection. The
favored dish of the night was the steak strips that Rob had brought. 
Combined with shish kabobs of onions, peppers, and tomatoes, it was
first to disappear.  Galen Miller from Bikeworx/Team Lady Luck came over
and joined the group, and there was a good time had by all.  Hanging out
under the stars, eating some fine food, and sampling some fine ales.

Some critical work was done to the bikes (oil changes, etc.) -- big
thanks to pit maniacs Rob Opiela, Mike Lambert, and Crystal Trexel.
Everyone retired to their tents to catch a good night sleep, to make
up for the night before.  Around 5am, some serious thunderstorms moved
through the area, waking some of the team and soaking the track.

Sunday:  The team awoke to a damp morning.  The rain had stopped, but
the track was soaked. Kit went out for her first practice on the wet
track. Being very conservative, Kit was able to get through practice
without any problems.  Next out was Kevin, and then Paul.  Both kept the
speeds down, and worked on being smooth on the wet, cold track.

By the time the second round of practice was up, the sun had come out
and the track had dried off.  As a result, the lap time started
falling.  Kevin reported that the bike was running fine in practice, and
the team had done a great job tracking down, and taking care of the
rough running issue.  Our pit crew kicks ass!

After lunch, Kit took off her racer hat, and put on her cornerworker
hat, and went out to work turn 9 for the afternoon. 

Both Paul and Kevin were in race 4, Paul in MW Sportbike (wave 1), and
Kevin in LW Superbike (wave 2).  Paul was gridded in row 5A, not bad,
but he would have preferred an outside grid position, while Kevin found
himself back in row 14C!  The flag drops, and they're off!  

Paul gets a good start, but gets stuck in traffic as the 30+ bikes
jockey for position going into turn 1.  Exiting turn 3, a bike lowsides
right in front of Paul.  Immediately, another bike runs over the downed
riders legs, and yet another T-bones the downed bike, using it as a
ramp, and getting launched into the air.  Somehow, Paul makes it through
unscathed.  The red flags come out, and the bikes return to the grid.

On the restart Paul gets a better start, and finds himself running in
5th or 6th place after the first lap. Paul puts his head down and starts
to make a drive towards the lead bikes.  On the 3rd or 4th lap, there is
a waving yellow going into turn 3, Paul slows, but the bike behind him
doesn't, and passes Paul and another rider.  The officials don't call
the pass, and the other rider is not penalized. Paul manages to still
come in 6th, be we are calling it 5th, since the bike finishing in 5th
is the one that passed Paul under the waving yellow. Not bad for a filed
of 33 bikes.

Kevin got another good start, but the bad grid position took its toll. 
He was quickly able to move up to 8th place in the early laps, but hat
was as far as he could make it.  The combination of running with the
amateurs, and the sheer number of bikes on the track (56 total!), made
passing a very dicey issue, and Kevin opted to make sure he finished the
race, rather than throwing it away trying to work his way any further
through the pack.

The next race was Paul's, race number 7, MW Endurance.  Paul found
himself in a pretty good grid position, 3B, in a pack of 24 bikes.  He
got off to a good start and found himself running in 4th place early on
in the race.  Several incidents during the 30 minute race brought out
the waving yellow, which doesn't work too well for Paul, as he tends to
slow down too much, and looses ground on the bikes he's chasing, and
gives up ground to the bike behind him.  There was also some confusion
with the TDR pit board, leading Paul to believe he had more time on the
bike behind him than he really did.  At one point, he fell as far back
at 9th, but when all was said and done, Paul took the checker in 4th
place, loosing the 3rd place position only a lap earlier.

The last race of the weekend for TDR was Kevin's race, race 9A, LW
Supersport.  Kevin was gridded in row 8D in a field of 30+ bikes.
Another good start from the back sees Kevin in 14th as he enters turn 1.
By lap 2 he was in 10th and on the next lap he moved to 9th.   At this
point he was several seconds behind the next 4 riders.  By the end of
lap 4, Kevin had managed to close the gap to less than a tenth of a
second; he was clearly pushing hard.  At the start of lap 5, just when
it looked like he would be able to make a pass into the next group,
Kevin over-braked and lost the front end (at about 60-70mph) while
entering turn one.  Kevin slid about 50 yards and then started to
tumble.
 
The team was already running in his direction by the time he stuck a
hand in the air to signal that he was okay.  The bike had managed to
leave an impressive display of sparks as it slid another 70 or so yards
up into Nascar turn 1.  Kevin checked himself and got up and walked
toward the bike. Kevin was glad just to be in one piece after such an
impressive get-off.  He hadn't even thought of re-entering the race
until he checked over the bike, and saw it was OK.  He waited for the
white flag lap and then re-entered to take the checker, so he would get
credit for the race.

That would be the last race of the season for Kevin, as he is taking the
next week of to work race control in preparation for organizing a safety
crew for Team Pro-Motion.  However the rest of the team will be back,
racing the final LRRS weekend, October 3-4, in final preparation for the
CCS Race of Champions in Daytona at the end of October.

TDR would like to thank everyone who lent a had this weekend,
especially Patrick Burns for giving up so much of his time, sleep,
effort, and knowledge, to bring Paul's F2 to life.  TDR would also
like to thank everyone who came out to turn a wrench, check gas,
mount/unmount tirewarmers, etc., particularly tireless pit maniac Mike
Lambert.  All of our fans who came out to cheer and offer moral
support were MUCH appreciated.  The team really appreciates all the
support they have received, and hope to see everyone back at the last
race of the season at NHIS on October 3-4.