Well, I can officially say I made it through my first time racing in Phoenix. I am now safely at home and back at work. In Phoenix we didn't catch up with everything fast enough to be able to make the show. Of course I was disappointed to not be racing on Sunday. However, I feel pretty good about our time there mostly because we learned some big lessons. Any time you are learning, is not wasted time.

On our first pass, we had a bit of an oversight when we put a new rear slick on the bike. The wheelie bar height was set too high. When I launched the bike, the front wheel went straight into the air and when it came down it caused the back tire to unload. That makes it awful hard to get the bike down the track, so I ended up aborting that run. On our second run, we just couldn't get hooked up to the race track and spun really hard. Now I have to be honest and admit that our second run was a real eye-opener for me.

When I got to the finish line, I got on the brakes and something caused my front tire to wash out. Instinctively, I threw my foot out, and then tried to drop the front brake as fast as I could to set the bike back up right. Needless to say, the bottom of my foot got pretty hot and it definitely got my heart pumping. It was really humbling to have something like that happen and it's a reminder that you can never take what you're doing for granted, because anything can happen. I was able to get the bike and myself stopped and off the track without doing any real damage, and at the end of the day that's just like winning.

The next day we just couldn't quite get everything to come together. After not making it into the show, I could see that my dad and Mark where a little down so I made sure to remind them it's all a learning process. Now we just take what we learned and move forward. I really have to give a huge thank you to them, because they really did work so hard this weekend.

Now that Phoenix is over, I feel good about Vegas. That race in Phoenix was one more learning process and one more weekend of experience we can add to our growing list. Rome was not built in a day, and I am learning that neither is a successful race team.

There are also a couple of other reasons I look forward to Vegas. It is one of my personal favorite tracks. That is where I met the Gann's who helped me make my first professional start in Pro Stock Motorcycle. I love the track and the facility. I also love the fact that it's Halloween time! I haven't figured out my costume yet, but rest assured it will be good. Even though Halloween falls on a Monday this year, I think celebrating a day early at my favorite place in the world won't hurt. Hope to see you there, don't forget a costume!