Well dudes and dudettes, Im back from round one of my 2020 season and it was a great one.
The bike came to life Sunday the 16th for the first time after a full motor build and ran like a champ. The bike has a bit of a new look this year with a new seat as well as some smaller details like plated/dimpled front brake rotor and modified breathing system for the oil tank, but it mostly unchanged. The new head has 6.5mm stems, oversized intakes and was ported by Mike Rieck to perform best with my current carbs (per the rules). Four new rods, four new pistons and a new trans later, and its like nothing ever happened!!
The Mrs. couldnt make the trip this time, so for the first time in my racing life, I was heading out solo. The 14hr drive was made more manageable by doing some on Wednesday and finishing up Thursday. I arrived at the track Thursday afternoon to rain and 40 degree temps, neither is conducive to unloading gear and setting up camp. Fortunately for me, my wife booked hotel accommodations for the entire trip, so I was able to enjoy warm, cozy sleep under a real roof all weekend.
Friday morning came nice and early and I was at the track by 7:30AM. The bike went through tech flawlessly (as always) and it was time for 4 rounds of practice.
I've been here once before but I always take the first practice to brush the rust off from not racing for a while and get to know the track again, and it was like 35 degrees outside at that time. Neither I or the bike had operated on a track in temps that cold, so I had no clue how the tires would warm up and when I would get good grip. Naturally, lap times we abysmal due to all of that.
After parking the bike in the pits, I noticed a bit of oil coming from under the stator plate/shift cover area. I went round and round fighting a few small oil leaks all day, eventually using thread sealant on each of the main stud nuts, as well as on the oil pan drain plug. My drain plug is from Joker Machine and has an aluminum "crush" washer. Problem is that the aluminum its made from is so hard, it doesnt really crush. Id had issues with this in the past and never took the time to remedy the issue with a proper soft copper crush washer, which WILL be done before next race. The nuts on the mains leaking is another thing that is really annoying to me. I get the benefit of the studs but the ability for oil to make its way between the case halves, down that stud and out the bottom of the motor is maddening. I was able to find some grade 10.9 acorn nuts from McMaster that I am going to try to replace the nuts. It seems that the tip of the stud is the biggest offender, as if oil is getting past the threads rather than out from under the nut flange. I thing with some copper crush washers as used on many other head nuts with higher torque, the 17.5ft lb these are torqued to should be no issue at all.
Friday after practice as the sun sets on a beautiful, cold day of practice:
Saturday, race day. I skip practice #1 for the day since it was still about 35 degrees out and riding around at 75% of pace is useless to me so I waited until the next round and went out. Lap times are still not stellar, and I think its mostly to trusting that the tires are warm enough to do the job. Coming off the track and checking pressures tells me they are heating up nicely as intended. I was race 13 on the schedule, last of the day. It sucks being last especially on Sunday as people peel out when they are done racing so it starts getting pretty sparse in the pits for a race that late. The benefit to being last was it was still the hottest (hottest being 58 on Saturday and about 65 on Sunday) part of the day so I had more confidence in tires coming up to temp quick for a strong race.
The hot bikes in my class this weekend were both Triumph twins, punched to 750, both with fast riders, one of which is who beat me pretty good last year on Saturday. The other guy was a front runner at Barber last year, so I knew there was work to do on my part to make a good race. I lined up with the guy from last year, and the other guy on the row behind. I had, without question the best start of my whole racing life. The front tire carried a few inches above the ground until torque fell off and the wheel touched down, just in time for 2nd gear. I see the guy from the second row pass me, but he was the only one. I was sure the other guys was hunting me all race, as I tried to catch the other fast Triumph. He pulled away without a ton of effort on his part and while I tried to keep up with him, he steadily pulled away. I knew then that I wasn't hunting 1st, but defending 2nd! I rode hard all 8 laps of the race, trying to keep steady and not beat myself to death before the finish, just knowing that the other rider was hunting, waiting for me to screw up and take advantage. The white flag came with me in 2nd and I said to myself as I always do "Don't f*ck this up, 1 more lap and you're locked in 2nd!" and so I rode that lap as strong as I could and never saw him even once, crossing the finish line in 2nd place.
I pulled into the pits and stripped off my gear to get ready for the awards ceremony and meet the guy that won. He reaches out to shake my hand and congratulate me on winning. Clearly I have no clue in hell what he's talking about and he explains that on lap 3 (far enough out of my sight that I didn't see him) he had a bad spark plug boot that came off and wouldn't go back on, forcing him off the track. I had won! No matter that it was by default, as my uncle always says "To finish first, first you must finish!" I was pretty thrilled to start the season off that way and was looking forward to another run at him tomorrow, now that his bike had fresh plug boots on both wires.
Getting that top box plaque:
Sunday's racing starts with one round of practice, which again, was colder than a witches titty, so I skipped in favor of warming up the bike with some scrub laps ahead of my race. Grids are redone to reflect points accumulated from Saturdays racing, so now I was lined up on one row with the two fast Triumphs, ready to drag race to turn 1. The green flag drops and I get a pretty good start again, but not as amazing as the day before, and of course the one Triumph pulls out ahead as I drag race the other into turn 1. I follow the fast guy (same guy from Saturday with the bad plug wire cap) and start pushing to close the gap he opened up. Again, after about 1 lap he had enough space in front of me and I was riding at my comfort limit, I settled in to stay in 2nd and not screw anything up. The Thruxton class started behind us again and a few of those guys made their way around me. Each time I heard a Triumph engine, I knew it was the other guy, back for redemption from yesterday, but each time it was a rider in the other class. I approached lapped traffic about half way through the race and used them as a chance to work on passing other riders as well as to create a buffer between me and the guy behind me. The last few laps were quiet for me, just keeping my head down and putting in the best laps I could, and this time, finishing in 2nd place for real.
After reviewing lap times from both days, it turns out that not only was my fast lap on Sunday 2.3 seconds faster than Saturday and 5.5 seconds faster than last year, all my Sunday lap times beat my best on Saturday! That means that Sunday was far faster and more consistent than any other time I had been on that track. The thing is that I know there is so much more in that bike, I just need to get it out of me.
A few action shots from the weekend:
Next up is racing in Kershaw, SC at Carolina Motorsports Park.
Leaving in 29 days...
