Hi guys! Just checking in after a long weekend in Sonoma and boy was it fast. It seems like every track we go to this year the records just keep dropping and dropping. It’s unreal! The fans were awesome in Sonoma. They were packed in there from Friday to Sunday. I can’t imagine what it is going to be like in Brainerd, not just because of the cool weather but the fans as well. The Zoo is unreal, need I say more. But that is a whole other week and a whole other story.

As for this past week, we did pretty well. We had some problems on Friday with the bike. The first pass on Friday oil was overflowing all over the place after the burnout, so I didn’t even get to make a pass. I was shut off., which is very frustrating for not only me but my team as well. Therefore the second pass on Friday I was the first bike down the track, and nobody wants to be the first bike down the track, especially when you have no data from the pass before. Every pass is important and where you run in the run order is important as well. Even if you make a bad pass down the racetrack is always better than no pass at all. It is extremely useful in that you have data to analyze on the computer in order to see what can be done to improve the next time down the track. In other words you want to make it all the way down the track, no matter how bad or how slow the run really is. As for the run order you never want to be the first one down the track because a lot of people go off what other bikes look like going down the track. Whether it is where they are lined up going down the track or how fast they go. There is always changes to be made after watching others go down the track, no matter which class you are in.

So we made are second attempt to qualify on Friday and we ran decent, but the motor just didn’t seem up to snuff on paper. So Saturday morning we changed motors, and boy did it help. Saturday morning bikes were flying. We were hoping that my bike would go in the sixes, but my bike spun a little when leaving the line allowing me to only run a 7.01. That did however put me No. 5 after the whole day was said and done. I was very pleased with the way the new motor was running in my bike and I was ready for race day.

Sunday me and my teammate Chip,were psyched up and ready. We both ran well first round and had great lights which entitled us to win and advance to second round. However that meant we had to run each other. Since Chip’s bike ran the quickest run in history first round I knew I had my work cut out for me. Both of our bikes slowed a bit from first to second round, but Chip’s bike was still running sixes. Needless to say I lost to Chip, but all in all we had a good weekend with Chip winning the race.

Brainerd is going to be a blast, so stay tuned for some great updates. The WHOLE family is taking some time off this weekend and going to the lake, so we should have some great pictures soon!