LOUDON, NH (October 4, 1998) - The final LRRS weekend of the year was a
cold one for Team Daemon Racing.  No, we mean it, it was damn cold.
Electric blankets are a good thing!


The short version...

Paul, saving money, body, tires, etc. for the Race of Champions in
Daytona at the end of the month, opted to only run 1 race this
weekend, GT2. He walked away with a 6th place finish, after dicing
with another rider the whole race, and loosing the 5th place finish by
a wheel at the line.  Kevin hung up the racer cap for the season, and
ran race control this weekend, but still helped around the pits after
the racing day was done.  Kit ran 2 races, one each day, managed not
to crash, and finished both races, dropping her lap times by over 5
seconds (more like 7 considering the new track layout) and looking
much smoother and confident.


The long version...

Kit and Kendall left the Boston area Friday afternoon and, as it
turned out, made the right decision, skipping rt. 128/I93 in favor of
rt. 3.  Paul, on the other hand, made the mistake of heading up
rt. 128 to I93, and as a result, got stuck in traffic, taking him 3
hours to make the usual 1.5-hour trip.  Gag.

Paul arrived at the track, was amazed that registration was still
open, and signed up for his race.  He arrived in the infield to see
that Kit and Kendall had already set up camp, and were currently off
on a food run. Paul went about unloading the trailer, and setting up
the rest of the pit.  When Kit and Kendall returned, the finishing
touches were made on the pit. Paul and Kendall then set off on a quest
for a picnic table.  One was located, loaded up on the trailer, and
whisked away to be relocated at the TDR pit.  Kit wanted to take a
picture of the table on the trailer, but Paul didn't want any record
of the event.  (Oops, ignore that last part, it never happened, ok?)
:-)  It was discovered that the battery on the F2 had died, so the
charger was hooked up, to see if it could be ressurected.

Once everything was set up, everyone retired to his or her tents for a
good night's sleep. Both Paul and Kit had thought ahead and brought
electric blankets with them, Kendall had not.  Big mistake.  While
Paul and Kit were nice and toasty in their tents, Kendall shivered the
night away.

Around 2am, Kevin and Joey arrived and unloaded everything.  Once
everything was unloaded, they quickly headed for bed, to get something
that resembled sleep.

Saturday morning:  Damn cold. 32 degrees cold according to the
thermometer in the Audi.  Frost covered everything.  Cooch was happy.
This is her weather, she loves the cold, and this change in
temperature saw quite a change in her, much more alive and perky.
Paul complained that the electric blanket was too warm, and he had to
turn in down in the middle of the night. Kit had to hold Kendall back,
and prevent him from beating Paul senseless, having suffered a
shivering night in the tent.

Kit ran off to register for her races, Paul checked out the bikes to
make sure they were good to go, Kevin ran to run race control, and
Adam arrived.  It was discovered the overnight charging efforts had
failed -- the F2 battery was still toast, refusing to hold a charge.
Luckily, Joey had an extra battery, so a quick battery swap latter and
everything was ready to go.

Practices went well for everyone.  Kit was getting much smoother, and
dropping her time every time she went out.  The cooler weather was
agreeing with Paul, who felt really good and smooth.  Everyone was
making the most of practice to try and figure out the new turn 10
arrangement.  The new turn 10 was much sharper then the old one, and
incorporated a new chicane, slowing lap time down 2-3 sec's over the old
setup.  As the morning progressed, the temperatures rose into the 50's
and low 60's.  Cool, windy, but really nice racing weather, almost
perfect.

First out for a race was Paul, race #1, GT2.  Paul had an ok grid
position, sitting on row 6B.  Kendall and Adam were ready and waiting
along the pit wall with the TDR pit board, poised to pass on as much
valuable information as he could to Paul as he came screaming down the
front straightaway.

The first wave (experts) left the grid, Paul brought the F2's revs up.
Up came the 1 board, it went sideways, then the green flag.  Paul
rockets down to turn 1, entering the tun in about 9th position.  About
half-way through the first lap, an incident in turn 1a, brought out
the red flag.  Everyone returns to the pre-grid. The incident is taken
care of, and out they go for the 2nd warm-up lap.  On the restart,
Paul gets a better launch, and enters turn 1 in about 6th place.  Paul
hangs with the lead pack of 6 bikes for several laps, but gets stuck
behind another rider, who is slower than Paul, but just fast enough to
make passing really difficult.

About the half-way point of the race, Paul sees that the 5+ second lead he
had had on the bike behind him is now 0, thanks to the pit board, and
sure enough, he can hear the bike on his tail.  Paul holds off the other
bike for a few laps, but he gets by him, and the bike Paul is trying to
pass going into turn 3.  A few laps later, Paul finally manages to pass
the bike that has been giving him so much grief for the whole race
exiting turn 3 and heading up the hill to turn 4. 

Paul holds onto the position for a few laps. The lead bikes start to
lap Paul, and as Peter Kates passes Paul on the front straight, Peter
reaches over, and gives Paul a little tap on the shoulder as he passes
him, both doing 130+ mph and mere inches apart!  Paul tries to stay on
Peter's tail for a few laps, but can't maintain the pace.  With only a
few laps to go, the rider Paul had been stuck behind and finally past,
outbreaks Paul into turn 1.  Paul lets him go, and sits on his tail
for the rest of the race.  On the last lap, Paul sets up for the pass
for the position.  Coming out of turn 12, Paul gets the inside line,
and a much better drive onto the front straightaway.  He gets about a
bike-and-a-half jump on the other rider, but the other bike has more
motor than the old F2, and the other rider out-motors Paul, beating
him by a wheel at the line. Paul finishes 6th.  "The other guy just
had more motor than me.  I could keep with him and even pull away from
him in the turns, but on the front straightaway, he just walked away
from me," Paul reported.  Back in the pits, the team downloaded Paul's
times from the on-board lap timer, and discovered that he was running
extremely fast times -- if the track layout had been the old standard
one, Paul would have been running as fast as his previous best.

Next out was Kit, for race number 7, AM LW Superbike.  She did really
well, hanging with the rest of the pack for a majority of the race,
looking very smooth, and much more relaxed out on the track.  As the
race came to an end, Kit was lapped by the leaders right at the
finish.  Not knowing what to do, Kit, pitted with the leaders, instead
of taking her checkered flag.  Unfortunately, due to this little
mix-up, Kit was scored as a DNF. The team protested this, but no final
word has been given as of when this was written.  Since it's the last
weekend of the year, it's really no that important.  Adam took off for
the rest of the weekend, and visited North Reading Honda/Kawasaki on
his way home to pick up an off-season training bike for the team (a
Honda CR250R.)  Way to go Adam!

Saturday night, the whole team feasted in the Checkered Flag
restaurant at the end of year cornerworkers dinner.  Afterwards, back
in the pits, it was decided that since the temperatures were supposed
to drop into the 20's overnight, it would be wise to drain the water
from the bikes.  While Paul, Kevin, and Kit tackled that job, Kendall
ran into Concord, to buy his own electric blanket.

Come 9pm, it's damn cold.  No, really, really cold.  No one has any
desire to hang out around the pit, so everyone heads for the tents.  It
was quite a site, all the extension cords, running from tent to tent,
powering the electric blankets.  An electrical fire, just waiting to
happen!

Wake the next morning to a crisp, clear, 26-degree morning.  Cooch's
water bowl has a coating of ice, but the water wetter from the bikes is
still all fluid.  The whole place is covered in frost.  Kit runs off to
register for another race, while Paul and Kevin start refilling the
bikes with coolant.  Once again, practices go well for both Kit and
Paul, with the only downer being that during Paul's last practice, a
bike lost an oil fitting on the front straight, oiling the whole thing,
and cutting the practice short.

After lunch, Kit got her photo taken for the Motorcyclist Post, as part
of the "Broad Squad", made up of her and her CB1 and Ann DeMagistris
with her CB1.  Kevin went back up to race control, and Paul went out to
cornerwork the rest of the day. Rob showed up, and lent a hand around
the pit, then went off to cornerwork.

Race #9, AM LW Superbike. Kit grids up and takes the green flag.  Once
again, she looks much more confident and smooth on the track, each lap
dropping her lap times. This time Kit takes the checker and gets credit
for the race.  She did come in in last place, but she finished, which is
all she and the team wanted.

Well, that concludes the Team Daemon Racing's 1998 LRRS regular
season.  One race weekend remains, the Race of Champions, in Daytona
Beach, FL at the end of this month.  Paul will be racing, while Adam
will be running the pit.  Cooch is heading down with the team, but
will be stuck in Orlando, since the Daytona security weenies don't
allow the K9 folk.  Talk about discrimination!

The whole team would like to thank everyone who came out this year to
cheer on the team or turn a wrench. We really appreciate it.  Plans
for 1999 are already in full swing, and it promises to be another
stellar year for Team Daemon Racing.  We would also like to thank all
out sponsors that have helped everything go so smoothly.  HJC,
Parametric Technology Corporation, Woodcraft, North Reading
Honda/Kawasaki, Street and Competition, Sport Cycle Products...
we couldn't do it without you guys.  Thank you very, very much.

That's it, see everyone in 1999!!