Race Report: June 17 - 18, 2000
77th AMA Loudon Classic
Team Daemon Racing survives racing with the big boys of the AMA in the
77 Loudon Classic at NHIS! Paul finished 24th out of 35 in the 600SS
race and Bruce finished 14th out of 40 in Pro Thunder and even brought
home some cash! Check out all the info on the AMA
site!
A big thanks to all our sponsors and everyone who came out to watch
and support the team! Apologies to our sponsors that got chopped
off the AMA result sheets. In their infinite wisdom the AMA has limited
the sponsor space to just 50 characters. I tried to abbreviate as
much as possible but there just wasn't enough room. Extra big thanks
to teammates Paul and Rob for their help throughout the weekend as well
as the whole Team Lady Luck crew. And I can't forget John and Patrick
who, besides being so cheerful all the time, took pictures and dyno runs
respectively (53 hp for the curious).
So here I was getting ready to enter my first professional race. To borrow (with slight modification) a quote: "Racing is 90% mental. The other half is physical." I was about to go up against Ducati 748s and Buells on my single cylinder MuZ Skorpion and both of my "halves" were at less than 100%. In my last three outings (two roadrace, one flat track) I hit the ground each time and even took a "nap" on the track after the flat track crash. My body was banged up and my confidence was not at its peak. But you know what... this is motorcycle racing not shuffleboard! Time to suck it up and ride. This became even more relevant come race time...
A few days before the Nationals at Loudon I took part in the Penguin two day Pro School. While I was able to learn a tremendous amount the school actually slowed me down! How's that!? I picked up so much information that I had new things to try on every part of the track. This resulted in my trying to make too many changes at once and while, on any given lap, I was certainly faster in certain sections, my overall lap time suffered. I have no doubt, however, that I'll soon put all I learned to good use and see a corresponding drop in my lap times.
One exercise we had a chance to try was sliding an XR100 around on pit road. Anyone who has met and talked to Peter Kates knows he's a good guy. Now I'm convinced he's a nut without any sense of self preservation! In my first attempt I get on the XR and decide I need to hang *way* off in order to get a knee down. It didn't work. I kept lowsiding long before I got a knee down. On my second attempt Pete comes over and tells me I'm not riding the bike, I'm riding beside it. He gets me straightened out and I start turning wobbly circles. Meanwhile Pete stays no more than two feet outside the circle I'm turning, coaching me the whole time. I get my knee down and now Pete is, so it seems, almost on top of me telling me to push the bars down and get the tires sliding. Doesn't he realize I could lose it at any time and plow into him?! Well I don't and I get the tires sliding, keeping the bike off the ground with my knee. I'm not quite ready to try this on my Skorpion but hopefully I'll be ready to attempt a save if it happens by accident.
Thursday rolls around and I pick up my new lowers that Jim had put together for me while I was out playing. I wasn't running lowers for the club races but the AMA requires a belly pan (as will LRRS next year). The lowers come in three pieces from Beasley so some fiberglass work was required to seal the seam on the bottom and build a dam toward the rear. Jim took care of this for all three of us. (This became a source of amusement for us [well, not for Jim] as Galen and I breezed through tech inspection while Jim was required to build a new dam more toward the rear of the bike.) I get up to the track, get myself registered for Pro Thunder, and set about mounting the lowers. By the time I finished it was too late to go through tech inspection so I set up camp but then headed home for one more night.
Friday morning I bid farewell to my kids for the weekend and head to the track. I blow by a NH State Trooper sitting by the side of I-93 while I'm doing about 80 mph but I keep my foot in it, maybe even speed up a little, and eventually see the trooper pull over the guy that was behind me (both were the size of small dots in my rearview mirror). Phew! Get to the track, through tech, and head out for first practice. I'm still trying too many different things and one time I even blow T12 and take to the grass (without incident). We only have two practices all day so I have plenty of time to relax before the afternoon practice. And that's what I do. Second practice is a lot better and though my speed isn't where it should be I'm a lot smoother and relaxed.
With practice over I take time to clean up the bike and apply sponsor stickers to the new lowers. I wasn't sure if I was going to run the lowers for the rest of the year's club races but they've grown on me and I think the bike looks a lot better with them. Not to mention that the sponsor stickers look a lot neater and are more visible!
Saturday morning practice goes well and I'm feeling comfortable. Our heat races are scheduled to start shortly after 11am so I just hang around our garage, relax, and make a final check of the bike. As grid time approaches there are no grid sheets posted! Apparently a version had been posted earlier but it was taken down and a revised one wasn't ready. Grid time comes and goes and still no grid sheets. I have no idea if I'm in the first or second heat race or where I'm gridded. Paul and Rob try to get me to relax but I'm not. Jim had seen the early version and was listed in the first heat so he heads to the grid. He comes back after a while. Eventually they announce that they'll announce the grid over the loud speakers. They mangle my name but I'm in the first heat. I head to pre-grid and AMA workers are standing by to confirm our grid positions. I'm near the back.
The heat race is five laps and is fairly uneventful. I chase a Ducati but can't quite close the gap on him and finish 18 out of 21, turning 1:26s. Not where I wanted to be but I end up qualifying 35 out of 41 and I'm gridded on the second to last row for the main event. The final grid was limited to 40 so only one rider didn't qualify.
I spend the rest of the afternoon helping Paul during his qualifying round for 600SS and watching the other qualifying sessions and final races. I also decide to put fresh tires on. I probably didn't need to (as it turns out I *really* didn't need to) but will put the old ones back on for a club weekend.
Watching the "big boys" run, even compared to our fast club racers, really makes it clear why they get paid to do this.
Sunday finally arrives and I'm feeling good. I've qualified for my first pro race and I'm not starting on the last row. On the other hand I'm well off the pace of the front runners so I may as well just go out and have fun! I use the morning practice to scrub in my new tires, turn a few laps at speed, and then come in.
The 600SS final is in the morning so Rob and I help Paul. Neither of us is willing to wear the umbrella girl outfit so Paul does without. He was bummed. (Not, mind you, because Rob and I weren't dressed as umbrella girls but that he didn't have a real umbrella girl. Next year Paul, next year.) Paul doesn't win but he does well (see his report) and Rob and I don't trip on the grid so Team Daemon's first pro race is a success!
The afternoon schedule is supposed to be 250GP, Superbike, and Pro Thunder. The 250 race completes and the Superbikes are gridding when the rain starts up again. Being on slicks it was understandable that there would be a delay. But the Superbike riders didn't even want to go out on rains and everyone was left standing around hoping the rain would stop. It didn't seem likely to happen. So local fast guy and Pro Thunder rider Bob Robbins proposes that we, the Pro Thunder racers, run our race, in the wet, before the Superbikes. A meeting was called in the tech garage and much gnashing of teeth takes place.
I hate racing in the rain. Even before I knew we were going to race in the rain, as we were sitting around in the garage, I went so far as to offer my rains to Nick because I wasn't going to race in the rain. (Luckily he didn't take me up on the offer.) I race because it's fun and I enjoy it. I don't get paid to race. In fact, I spend lots of money so I can race. Racing in the rain is not my idea of fun.
So there was lots of "discussion" during the riders' meeting. The promoter really wanted to have something for all the diehard fans to watch. All our local guys were ready to race and Jerry Wood was doing his best to convince everyone that, with full rains, the track was perfectly fine to race on. In the end the promoter stepped up and doubled the purse and the AMA declared it a non-points paying race. We were given time to switch to rains and then run a short practice.
I wasn't exactly thrilled.
But you know what... time to suck it up and ride! A flurry of activity ensued and Galen, Jim, and I, with lots of help, got our rains put on and suited up for practice. I pretty much tip-toed around without incident and, other than some very minor spills, everyone made it through practice. Galen discovered his radiator was leaking and, thanks to our great garage crew, soon had a new one installed.
29 riders lined up on the grid and took the green flag. I can't say that I had a good race or a rocking good time out there but I didn't crash, I finished the race, and I wasn't last. I ended up 14th which was even good enough to bring home the second race payout of my career. (The first from having won the inaugural Skorpion Cup race at Loudon last year.)
There was much rejoicing back in the garage as Jim and Galen kicked some butt taking 6th and 9th respectively. It should also be pointed out that all four MuZs (all engines built by BikeWorx) that entered the race also finished the race while not a single Buell could claim the same.
Overall it was a great weekend! I just hope next year will be dry.
I survived! My first outing with the "big boys" of the AMA was a success. How do I define a success? I practiced, I qualified, I raced! I finished (not last!)!
But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. We need to go back a few days. In preparation for the AMA race weekend, Bruce and I took the Penguin Pro School on Tuesday and Wednesday before the race weekend. This was the second time in two years that I had taken the school, and it probably is not the last time. A great school. I highly recommend it.
Thursday was practice, but I took the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Patrick was going to be at the track with the Factory dyno. So instead, we played with the F4's jetting all day. And boy, did we play. I think no fewer than a dozen jetting changes were made over the course of 3 days. I got very good at pulling the carbs off the F4. But it was well worth it! By the time Patrick was done, he had managed to find an extra 3.2hp on the top end, and improved the power across the whole rmp range. Just take a look at the before and after charts! Patrick is a god.
Friday was practice. During practice, I was not running as fast as I knew I could, mostly 1:20's. Something was not quite clicking. I knew what I needed to do, I was just having a hard time applying everything that I had learned in the Pro School. Throughout all my practices I was consistently in the low 1:20's, with the occasional 1:19. Hmm, something is not right.
Saturday was some more practice, then the one and only qualifying session. I did some quick math, and figured I needed to run 1:21's or better to qualify safely for the race (112% rule in effect). During qualifying, I had Rob and Bruce in the pits, I came in every few laps to see how I was doing. After running a string of low 19's, I knew I had qualified, and called it a day, not wanting to waste tires or risk a crash. Plus, I wanted to get off the track for the last few minutes to give the big boys a clear track.
Sunday, The race:
http://www.ama-cycle.org/prorace/00rr/loudon/ls/m/index.html
It was cool, going around the track on the parade lap. Coming back to the grid and lining up and having my team there, putting the bike up on stands and putting the tire warmers on. The only thing missing was an umbrella girl. I need to work on that one.
After a few minutes, the horn blew, and off came the warmers, down came the bike, and Rob and Bruce cleared the track along with everyone else, and we were sent out for our warmup lap. I was thinking to myself "This is just a GT race, nothing more." as i circled the track. Back on the front straight, we re-lineup, and get ready for the green lights.
The lights went green and we were off. Like usual, i got a pretty bad start. I really, really need to work on my starts. I made up for the poor start by getting around a lot of the slower riders going into turns 1 and 1A. After that, it was just a matter of putting my head down, and keeping with the main pack, which I knew I could do. I was starting to catch up to the next pack, and figure out how to get around them, when one of the bikes went down in turn 2. The rider was OK, but the bike went into the tire wall and spilt some water onto the track, so after 6 laps the race was red flagged. We all head back into the pits. I find Rob and Bruce and pull in. We soon realize we are going to be stopped for a few minutes, so Rob runs and gets an extension cord. We put the bike up on the stands, and put the warmers back on and plug them in. As Rob came back over to where Bruce and I was, he could not help but comment on how amateur looking we were compared to all he other teams. Well, duh. :)
After about 5 or 10 minutes, we were signaled to get ready to go back out again. We did another warmup lap, and then regridded, based on our positions when the race was red flagged. I'd moved up a row! :) On the restart, I once again get a poor start, and everyone passes me. I'm last entering turn 1. I do managed to get around a few of the slower bikes in 1 and 1A, but I get stuck behind 2 bikes. I'm faster than the bikes I'm behind, I had gotten around them in the first start without any problems, but for some reason, I just could not get a clean pass. Every time I try to pass, I either got the door slammed on me, or I made a mistake. I decided to just back off a bit, take my time, and hopefully get around them. The lead bike came by us over the hill in turn 5 on around lap 18. I tried to jump on Yates' tail and get towed around, but he was just a bit too fast for me. :)
The lead pack caught up to me as I was entering turn 1. Nothing like having Mr. Bostrom pass you on the outside entering turn 1, and hang the back end out to throw your concentration a bit! Anyway, i knew the fast guys were coming through, so I held my line through 1 and 1A. Coming out of turn 2, I held a tight line, giving up the fast outside line to the fast guys. Little did I know, but Nicky Haden was behind me and had set me up for an inside pass. Ooops. Sorry Nicky. He peered over his shoulder as he went by. I was tempted to wave, but thought better of it.
Ant that's just about how the race ended. I was stuck where I was, didn't want to push it too hard trying for a pass and throw away a finish, so I stuck were I was and finished 24th out of 35! Not as good as I wanted to do, but I was very happy with the result.
The rest of the day I spent watching the rest of the races and helping the other racers.
I had a great time, and will definitely do it again. Much
thanks to the team, especially Rob and Bruce. Also thanks to Team
Lady Luck for all their they help and company in the garage. Thanks
also to everyone who came up to watch! Also to Falvio for being the team
photographer for the weekend. Somehow Rob managed to convince the
AMA that TeamDaemon.com was an e-zine, and got John an all access press
pass! :) And many, many thanks to Patrick, for all the
time and effort he put into tuning the F4.
