Last weekend we headed to the beautiful wine country of Sonoma Valley, California. We always have beautiful weather out there. Friday morning we got to the track early so Angie could experiment with her new camera. We took a golf cart ride all over the complex to get different shots. I got her a new Nikon D90 with an all-purpose lens. This is her wedding present early from me. She is responsible now for always taking photos at the track. Friday evening in qualifying we made two good laps. At the end of the first session we were 3rd, and at the end of the 2nd session we were 9th.

Saturday morning we had a fast lap to move us up a couple of positions. We ran a 6.91. I was happy with these results, and then for the last session we made a perfect pass. It was good enough only for the 2nd position. My team did an awesome job giving me a fast motorcycle. Saturday evening we didn’t have to do any work on the bike, so we decided to take up an offer from Matt Politto to have dinner in San Francisco. We followed him down to the city. It took us some time to get there. We got into traffic several times, but I think that is typical for out in California. We arrived at his place and picked him up so we only had to park one car. We rode around until we found a parking place that we didn’t have to pay $25.00 for the first 30 minutes. Matt Politto and the Nitro Fish gang had dinner at an Italian restaurant. The service was alright, but the food was really good. After dinner, we rode to Politto’s new house he had just purchased. It was one of your downtown houses on the big hills of San Francisco. The guys were teasing him about the amount of time it took Politto to mow his grass. Matt is remodeling the house, and I am sure when it’s done it will be beautiful.

I was really excited for race day. I had qualified better than I had in several races. First round, I had low e.t. of the round with a 6.88. I was extremely happy. Steve and the guys did great. My lights were not great the first two rounds. I actually set up my clutch switch that way to see where I was. I tuned on it a little each pass. I got past the first two rounds, and I felt like it was a monkey off my back. I had lost second round the last couple of races, and I was tired of it. Third round I had Andrew Hines. I was so ready to race him. I had a .030 light but couldn’t produce the e.t. those guys are running. The Harley team is strong. They have new motors, and we just can’t compete with them. As of right now, we are racing for third place, which is where I finished the race.

Sunday evening, Ang and I just went back to the hotel and got in the hot tub for a little bit of relaxation. It was nice. We ordered pizza and watched the race on TV. We got up early to go to the airport on Monday morning to return home. Our plane got delayed several times in Houston, so we didn’t get home until 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

I would like to say thank you to Matt Politto for taking us to dinner on Saturday evening. We always like to go to new and different restaurants. I want to say thank you to my team for giving me a great motorcycle. Steve did an awesome job tuning, and I think I did a great job riding. It was a great team effort this weekend. I don’t feel like I let my guys down. I had great lights when it counted, and it still wasn’t enough. Hopefully, by the end of the season we will get us a win. Also, I would like to say thank you to Don Schumacher and Kenny Koretsky for standing behind us.