This was the final LRRS weekend of the year. Due to previous commitments, several of the team member were unable to attend this event, but that did not stop Kit and Scott from carrying the TDR banner with flying colors!
 
 

Find all of the weekends race results at the LRRS website here.

Scott's Report

LRRS at NHIS - 10/2-3

The Last LRRS Race Weekend of the Season

With Paul and Bruce out in California for Adam's wedding, and Rob and Kevin unable to attend, it was Kit and I making the final showing of the season. We both arrived on Friday afternoon where I was surprised to see Dave Siple and Kim Morin in our garage - They had decided Thursday to come up and take Penquin Racing School Friday. They had a blast - Dave was getting the feeling back in a big way (he used to race TZ700's - Eeeuw!), Kim was supercharged to be on a track and pushing herself. They elected not to run the races on Sat. but to wait until next year.  Hmm, new team members? They went off to find hotel space while Kit and I set up shop. I had some finishing touches to do to the bike, but no serious prep work. I actually got a good night's sleep.

Saturday dawned chilly and moist, but the sun was rising to warm and dry the pavement.  I went out in the first practice and just tooled around to get my braking points settled in, pick my lines, gradually working up the speed. By the second practice the weather was perfect, and I really started pushing my limits - finally putting a knee down in T6!! It was weird, but not scary. I never did it again all weekend. Patrick had ridden up Friday night (3:30AM) and was enjoying the low-key atmosphere, offering assistance where/when he could.

Sat 10/2 - LW SPORTSMAN - Race 4
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I was gridded mid-pack and got a fairly good start. Mike Isabelle and Paul Conley both got better starts but I was right behind them with another rider between me and them. On the second lap, I was passing that rider into T1 when he decided to turn into me. We bumped, stood up the bikes, I went straight, around the oval again, but this time I knew where I was supposed to be - Paul was right in front of me and that's where I put myself. I went after him and Mike. For a whole lap I chased them around. Then, coming into T6, a slower expert rider, then Mike, then Paul, then me, I chose the outside line with faster speed and picked them all off in one turn! It was a great feeling to make that decision and make it work!  I finished out the race with a best lap (7) of 1:28:8. I would have finished 8th but the cornerworkers took a dim view of my choice of re-entry from the oval and I was penalized 3 positions. Next time, I'll just turn left and go with the course - t'hell with the oval.

Sun 10/3 - GP SINGLES - Race 5
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After my run on Sat. I was pumped for the Singles race. Patrick had suggested dropping another main jet size in an effort to eliminate the misfiring that seemed to occur late in the race, thinking it was running rich. A series of miscues caused me to miss my first practice; the engine was idling at 5000 rpm, then the slides weren't synched, then the idle was too low. We pulled it together for me to get two laps to warm the engine and it still ran great.  The second practice was uneventful but everything was working.

I was again gridded mid-pack and couldn't get a fast breakaway, but managed to beat by Paul in T3 on the first lap. I could feel myself building speed and getting faster each lap, but Paul Conley was too, chasing me around the whole. On the 6th lap he snuck by me going into T3, only to take a too-wide line and I passed him on the inside going up the hill of T4. He almost tried to get me in T6 but couldn't get passed and we were nose-to-tail all the way around again. On the 7th lap he got by me again in T3 and I didn't have the drive to catch him this time. I chased him around for the last lap hoping for an opening or a mistake but he held his ground and I finished right behind him in 6th place. That last lap recorded my fastest time ever - 1:28.6! We returned to the garage and congratulated each other on a great race, we were totally stoked!

I finished the season with 55 points, lowered my lap times from 1:34's to 1:28's, 10 races, no crash's, and a very satisfied feeling of accomplishment. I had built a competitive racer and successfully raced it with nothing breaking.

For the second weekend in a row, special thanks to Patrick for coming up and assisting anywhere he could; His knowledge of carbueration and mechanics in general was genuinely appreciated!

Big thanks to all our sponsors: Factory Pro Tuning, HJC, Jodi F. Solomon Speakers Bureau, Lockhart Phillips, Fog City/Modern World Ventures, North Reading Honda/Kawasaki, PK Suspension/GMD CompuTrack, Parametric Technology Corporation, Sharkskinz, Spectro Oils, Street & Competition, The Knee Dragon, Vanson Leathers, and Woodcraft/CFMotorsports.

My personal thanks to all the members of Team Daemon Racing for a fun and supportive season; To Bruce and Kevin for showing me faster and better lines; To Paul for coordinating the paperwork, webpage, reports, food runs; To Rob for carrying a positive spirit and helping out anywhere/ anytime (and his wife Anne-Marie for great chicken cooking!!); To Kit for reminding us what it was like to be an Amateur, always racing, always doing better, always cornerworking.

Also my thanks to all our friends who came up to watch, support, and help out - it means a lot to have you there.

For Y2K, I plan to have more horsepower, lower lap times, and higher finish positions - and continued fun! Thanks again to all!

Kit's Report

The Final Farewell - October 2-3, 1999
 

Out of context quote for the weekend:

        "Don't mess with me Scott; I'll keep you up ALL night!"
 

Friday

Friday afternoon, the traffic was nasty, and I was taking a different route than my usual Route 3 from work. I'd stopped at REI on the way to the track to pick up a couple of blankets and some luggage. Forgot to buy either of them and wound up with windproof pants, hoping to high heaven they'd fit under the perforated leathers (they did). 93 was a parking lot all the way to Manchester, and I spent most of my daylight hours wondering why I never bought a helicopter for commuting purposes.

When I arrived at the track, I found Dave S. and Kim M. in the TDR garage, decked in leathers and talking animatedly. Kim was in my leathers, since I'd let her borrow the chicken hawk and the leathers for Penguin Race School, and she and Dave had done the spur of the moment Loudon trip as a result. I had to laugh at the confusion generated, when the girl with the red hair on bike #858 with the obvious bumble bee leathers took Penguin. Kim got a lot of over-friendly enthusiasm from a lot of total strangers, before people figured out she wasn't the droid they were looking for. ;) Despite the mixups, it was obvious that Dave and Kim were having a great time, and they totally set the tone for the weekend with their excitement.

Scott showed up a while later, and after bringing some of my bedding inside to dry from its week out in the rain, the four of us went out for dinner at the famous Brookside Pizza. After stuffing down as much garlic bread as they could turn out, we headed back to the track to turn in for the evening. I tried to convince Kim to run her rookie race and do practice in the morning, but she resisted my persuasive skills. (Next time, I'll have to *break* that arm, Kim!)

Dave and Kim decided to get a hotel, and I decided to schlep my tent into the garage to dry it more, and eventually sleep there. Scott had some work to do on his bike. A couple hours later, however, when I was finally getting settled in, and Scott was nearing completion of his mechanical fiddling, Dave and Kim reappeared, with a "Hi Mom, we're home!" from the next garage. Turns out the area hotels were booked with wedding guests and leaf peepers, and there wasn't a place in the area to stay. So, we divvied up my impressive stash of blankets, and Dave and Kim played Chinese Fire Drill until they both fell asleep in Kim's car.

I awoke around 3 am to the sound of the garage door being opened, and the step of race boots on the concrete. I wondered vaguely wtf was going on, but I was pretty asleep, so I eventually took a brief look outside my tent, to see Patrick's smiling face. Whee! Patrick came to play again! What fun! :) I think I mumbled something to him, and then promptly passed out again.
 

Saturday, Practice 1

This morning's first practice was cold cold cold, and I had to get re-adjusted to riding again, since I hadn't ridden all week. Also, the bike, having been totally torn apart last week by Patrick, was a different animal. Hey, it works so well now, uh... how do I ride this thing?! It shifts so smoothly, I don't know what to do half the time! This paralyzing fear I used to feel when downshifting is just... not supported by any data anymore. Need practice practice practice!
 

Saturday, Practice 2

Hrrrm. I appear to be getting faster. Faster every lap, even. I never lost the people ahead of me this time out, but I did get held up by a (literal) sight-seer who got in front of me in Turn 1A, for almost three laps. Who would believe that someone would be holding *me* up!? I thought I was the slowest person out here. Guess not. This guy was in my way in the turns, faster than I wanted to be passing on the straights, and then there was traffic passing both of us, which prevented me from trying passes I might otherwise have attempted. Finally, on the checker lap, I got fed up with the guy. I'd noticed I had the better line in Turn 3, and despite my dislike of that transition, I figured I'd go for it. He kind of cut across the turn, so I didn't make it entirely past him until the exit of 4. I was so psyched to get around him, though, that I wound up dragging my peg in Turn 6. Woo. I tried not to panic and stand up the bike or drop too much throttle, but I didn't have 100% success with that. When I got back to the garage, Patrick told me I'd been within two seconds of my fastest time ever, on that practice (at least before I got behind the tourist - ahem). Damn. This is getting fun. It was really nice to have someone timing me on a practice, too. A little personal touch I'd been missing this year.

I had such a good morning hanging out with Patrick, Kim, Dave, and Scott, that I forgot to register for a race, until the announcement that grid sheets were out. D'oh! I dragged Patrick out to corner work with me, and showed him a little side of racing he'd never seen before, which is a very good thing. He was bored a lot of the time, but I believe that perspective is often just as important as constant challenge, so I wasn't too upset that he didn't love every second of it. ;) Of course, when I left him by himself for just a few minutes, I came back to find four bikes down in Turn 4, and three ambulances parked in the track. (Jeez, Patrick, I leave you alone for ONE MINUTE! Durned hooligan. ;)

Dave and Kim left sometime during the day. In the evening, Scott cooked the remaining food from the previous weekend, and Patrick and I reaped the benefits of his fantastic grill technique. After that, the three of us headed over to the corner worker dinner in the Checkered Past, and had the second meal of the evening. Plus, we got cake, which was prepared for the soon-to-be-married corner worker couples, Ann & Rob, and Barry & Ava. After dinner, we did some work on my bike, while counting down the minutes until our own corner worker couple, Adam & Crystal, busted out the vows and the champagne on the left coast. Scott decided to sleep in the garage this evening, so we had a slumber party. Patrick and I giggled far into the night while listening to drunk racers at the other end of the garage tell The Same Old Race Stories we all tell, and Scott snored obliviously the entire time. (Aren't ear plugs wonderful devices? So many excellent uses!)
 

Sunday, Practice 1

This practice was just solid good. No impressive speed, but real practice, in all the ways that count. Also, it wasn't slick on the track, even though it was wet. Thank you, NASCAR, for not coming around lately.
 

Sunday, Practice 2

Better! Faster, too! This felt good good good. And exhilarating. Decided I should probably get times for today's practices, just to see how I was doing. I was finally beginning to really push in this practice. Of course, things were going so well, it had to start raining, just after my coolest and fastest entrance into Turn 3. I downshifted, the bike was totally smooth, I felt totally confident coming into the turn, and then *SPLASH* on my helmet's faceshield. Just then, the corner workers came running to the edge of the turn and pointed at the sky. I gave them the thumbs up to signify I got it as I turned through 3, only afterward realizing that I'd been going one-handed through T3 in the rain!!! (What am I *doing*?!?!) Heh. One thing I noticed during this practice is that I was not riding nearly as well through Turn 1 as I used to, probably due to having no clue about shifting points any more. I kept wanting to chicken out of Turn 1 because I thought I was going too fast, but I managed to avoid that trap all weekend, somewhat to the detriment of my formerly stable lines.
 

Sunday, Race!

Patrick rode the Gold Wing home in the rain and his somewhat tatty gear, and I decided to go out to corner work. Lisa showed up to hang with Scott, and we'd invited Paul Conley into the garage for the weekend, so he was around a bit, too. After it started raining, I also dragged Makoto and Yukio in, when I'd put my tent away to make more room in the garage. Being wet all day is no fun.

I popped back in from corner working after the first race to get ready for my Race #3, LWGP (as usual). I was gridded in the third row, which isn't quite comfortable for me, but I figured I'd live through it, if I wasn't stupid. I went pretty fast, for me, in the warmup lap, and I was happy with that, because I didn't feel like I was holding up the crowd (even though I might have been ;). I got a bad start when the green flag came out, because I just didn't clutch right, but it was okay, because I hate getting tangled up in Turn 1, anyway. A bunch of guys were starting from pre-grid, since they didn't hear the first, second, and third calls (I didn't either), and I was a little nervous about having so many people behind me. It didn't turn out poorly, however. A few guys passed me right away, but I knew there were some folks back there; I just didn't know *where*. My first lap I was just trying to stay with the people ahead of me. I had some success with this, and for two laps I kept ahead of all those invisible guys in the back. At one point, someone showed me a wheel on my left side, and I got intent. (No WAY are you going to pass me. Where the heck have you been? If you haven't passed me by *now*, you don't get to. *Roll on the throttle a little bit harder. Wheel vanishes. Ha!*) Eventually, Chris Pouliot got around me, which was okay - I know he's running at least 20 seconds faster per lap than I am, so I wondered where he'd been all this time. Then I was alone for a couple of laps (with the feeling of wolves at my back). The front runners started passing me, obvious by their speed and because they'd been in front of me on the grid. As I came into Turn 6 I saw an amublance flag coming out in the corner of my eye in Turn 5. There was a waving yellow in 8, and an ambulance at the edge of the track in 9. I saw some red leathers, and thought, "is that Chris down there?". I slowed down a little bit because of the incident, and then got on the gas again hard on the front straight. White flag. Whew. I came around again, and spent another second gawking and confirming that it *was* in fact Chris getting an oxygen mask strapped to his face while lying there not moving. I bolted past the finish line, and got into the garage as fast as possible. When I pulled in, I ripped off my helmet, gave it to Scott, and went racing to infield medical on my bike. I got there just as they brought Chris in on a backboard, and waited for about 3 minutes until they wheeled him right back out. One of the ambulance guys who knows me from corner working made the transporting EMTs stop so I could talk to him. Chris said, "Hi, Kit!" in a kind of chirpy voice, and then they took him away. I was psyched that he was talking and moving, and relatively oriented, and I got the phone number of the hospital so I could check on him later.

I helped Scott and Paul get out for their race, and then I went searching for the remains of Chris' bike, and for anyone who might be at the track who knew him. The workers brought his bike down from Turn 4 for me between races, and I brought it painfully back to Chris DiTrani's garage, where Wade Bartlett helped me put it in the van it came to the track in. (Thanks, Wade!) It was kind of hard to push, since the handlebars were bent and the clutch needed to be in to roll, and it wasn't quite going the direction I was pushing it. It also had a major break in the left side case, which was fun to look through, but probably won't be fun to repair. The frame was also filled with gravel and bigger rocks, which is going to be a blast, too.

I checked my lap times for the race, and they really made me happy. Of the real lap times, my first lap was one second faster than my previous best. The next lap was one second faster than that.  The next lap was one second faster than that.  The next lap was one second faster than that.  Then was the ambulance lap, in which I gained a second. Then the gawking at Chris lap, which added another second. Still, four full seconds dropped in this race, and the two slower laps were *still* at least two seconds faster than my previous fastest. And it didn't even feel out of control, like I expected it would. I was pretty psyched, circumstances notwithstanding.

I finally made it back out to corner work, as Scott was preparing to leave for the weekend. Between races, I kept calling the hospital, and every time I got the information that Chris was still in X-Ray. Finally, the day was over, I was mostly packed up, and I managed to talk to Chris DiTrani when I called the hospital. Everything of Chris's appeared to be packed up, so I left my bike (whine) for yet another few days, and headed into town.

I had dinner with Barry & Ava, at a place in Concord I've never seen before, but which has good barbecue and steaks. After dinner, I spent the evening in Chris's hospital room, getting acquainted with his brother and sister-in-law, and just hanging out talking, until the hilarious hospital staff threw me out. Chris was pretty mellow from the drugs, and completely entertaining as a hospital bed host.  I completely forgot how bummed I usually am at the end of the race season, although I'm hoping Chris won't feel the need to crash next year so that I won't be depressed.

- - - - -

As I look back over the last four Loudon weekends, I realize that I've dropped fourteen seconds in that time. Wow. I'm not ready for the season to be over. I want to keep going and going and going. Now that my bike runs better, I'm Really Ready To Learn More, Do More, and Ride Faster. But I will have to wait.

Many thanks to Patrick Burns for his tireless work on my bike and for all the laughter during the weekend. Also to Scott Lilliott for his unswerving support and words of wisdom from the voice of experience. To Dave, Kim, and Lisa, for being great fun at the track, and to Wade for being such a great neighbor.

Also, thanks to our sponsors and their people who've made this whole season so awesome: Jodi Solomon of Jodi F. Solomon Speakers Bureau, Peter Kates of GMD/Computrack, Eric Wood of Woodcraft, Maggie, Steve, and Matt of Vanson Leathers, Myles and Dan of Street&Comp, HJC, Fog City, Lockhart Philips, Parametric Technology, Knee-Dragon, Factory Pro Tuning, North Reading Honda Kawasaki, Spectro Oils, Sharkskinz, Mark at MCE Signs & Graphics, and everyone on Team Daemon and in the US Marshalls. It was a great season!