There has been a ton going on in the shop so updates have had to wait until now. I now have 2 more weekends under my belt, Topeka over Memorial Day weekend and Jersey 6/18-20. Both weekends were filled with awesome close racing and some excellent results for the S750 bike.
Heartland Motorsports Park (Topeka, KS) is an awesome facility. The track surface is very nice, with no gaps or bumps, just a very technical and physical track. Even though I am in far better physical condition that I have been in my adult life, this track was the most challenging circuit I have ever raced. There is no time for rest as the straights are short and there are a number of quick transitions from one side of the bike to the other. Aside from the front straight, there is zero time for rest of your hands anywhere. It was a new track for me so I had double duty of learning the track as well as getting fast enough to be competitive against the top of my class. As usual, times dropped throughout Friday practice and into Saturday morning, and this time my bump class of Formula Vintage was after my main Sportsman 750 class. It can be nice to get some additional race time before my class just to be extra ready to race hard, but in the case of Topeka, it was probably better this was as I was physically exhausted after my S750 race. My uncle Jeff and I definitely make each other faster, and while be both turned some solid lap times Saturday, I was unable to keep his pace and finished a strong 2nd to the rest of the field, turning in a hot lap of 2:01. For whatever reason I didn't have my "game face" on that day and had a long evening to thing about how to best execute my mantra, Do What Jeff Does. My uncle knows how to ride fast and smooth and If I can get in behind him right at the beginning I will be able to keep pace. His strong start on Saturday and my relatively bad one left me in 2nd place.
Sunday would prove different entirely. I was in a different mindset, and I knew that If I wanted to keep my chances of a championship in sight, I needed a win in S750. I chose not to run Formula Vintage on Sunday and instead save my energy and focus for S750. I planned to leave it all out there and go as hard as me and the bike could stand. Sunday practice went well and I was ready for my turn. Race 8 calls begin and its go time. I suit up with a different confidence level today and feel that its my time to shine. I get a hard launch on the green flag and was able to beat Jeff into T1. I struck first and was going to set the pace for our race that day. Jeff was able to make 2-3 passes over the course of the race, but I would immediately pass him into the next corner. I had the acceleration, I had the handling, I had the brakes. It was all working just as planned. I was answering every challenge and continued to tick laps off. White flag. I whisper to myself "don't f*ck up" as I always do on the last lap, although this time, I was out front. No idea how much, but there I was. As I made my way around the last circuit of the course, things were working but I was getting really tired. Im in the back of the course with maybe 4-5 turns left and then it happens. The bike starts to break up coming out of a corner and Im on two cylinders. I apparently almost got rear ended by Jeff as I lose power and he's still charging hard. Then the power comes back, back on 4 cylinders! Then back to two. Jeff passes me as I struggle to keep my composure and push toward the finish. Without full power I can only hope and pray that 2nd place is still in my future. Despite the abysmal last lap running on 2 cylinders part of the time, I still only finished about 3.5 seconds behind Jeff and managed to turn a 1:59.7 as the fast lap and personal best for the whole weekend.
Back in the pits, its Sunday and its time to pack and head home. Spend the next few days focused on the Superbike project for its debut at Jersey, confident (stupid me) that the Dyna S ignition pickup was to blame, so I simply went ahead and ordered new one just in case. Fast forward to some night where I decide its time to get the S750 bike ready for primetime. I replace the ignition, certain that the cause of my issue was the pickup. I go through the full test and troubleshoot section of the Dyna installation guide. Everything is checking out fine on 2/3 but not on 1/4. I continue to do voltage tests and fashion a simple 12v test light to get things moving. The 1/4 does not pass any test, so I begin to look at the coils as that is the only other thing that could cause 2 cylinders to cut out. I determine that the voltage readings for that coil are not good and start to remove it to replace with another good coil. As I take the black wire off the coil terminal, I watch as the ring terminal drops off the wire and bounces on the floor. There it is, my smoking gun. A f*cking 2 cent ring terminal cost me the race. I took a second to curse the Gods of Speed and went about replacing that terminal as well as the one that fed 2/3. Its always the simplest and cheapest things that cause the biggest headache and heartache, but lesson learned, the hard way.
The most beautiful and supportive crew chief and I in our requisite behind the trailer photo on the way to Kansas (plus the young man on his first far-away-from-home race voyage):
A future racer on a well-prepped (or so I thought!) machine:
Yours truly, so close to the top of the box, yet so far away:
Proud boy, proud daddy:
Knucks before go time:
Maid of Honor hardware after a great weekend:
The Honda Racer's Wife recap after Topeka, such a great read and awesome perspective from a different viewpoint:
https://hondaracerwife.wordpress.com/2021/05/31/heartland-motorsports-park-topeka-kansas/?fbclid=IwAR1UD1zHGYMao653mg0So0qKMBsoyHDNNiIeGXn-BxyvZXnDZBR4NWwfojcThe weeks in between Kansas and the next round in New Jersey were long, with some days going 16-18 hours, the ultimate sacrifice being time away from my family, in the shop, making the impossible happen. That tale can be found here:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,173120.0.htmlThe trip to Jersey had been originally planned as a blowout week to go and meet George (gschuld here) and soak up the Jersey shore lifestyle in the days before the race. But life moves pretty fast, and things change in a heartbeat. The 2021 whirlwind was not meant to be, so it was our standard leave mid-week and get to the track to be ready for the weekend. More on that adventure in the Superbike thread as well!
Jersey was another new track for me, despite having tried to go the last 3 years leading up to this, but for various reasons, it never materialized. Well, 2021 was my year! Per the usual, times dropped as I got a level of comfort with the track and its specific intricacies. Its a technical circuit, with something for everyone. Enough high speed areas, descending radius turns, a very quick right-left-left-right section which leads into the "hump" which very easily causes the front tire to leave terra firma briefly, and not for the faint of heart. Not nearly as physical as Topeka, but challenging in its own right for a number of reasons. This time, Formula Vintage was 2 races before S750, and earlier in the day, meaning I could be extra frosty for my race, having just come off the track in FV. Knowing FV wasn't my goal, I got decent starts but wasn't able to (chose not to try) to keep pace with the fastest guys, saving the machine and the rider for the real reason I was there, to win some top box points in S750. I was lined up right next to Jeff and ready for the drag race to T1 and the race that would follow. Jeff leads the field with me close behind going into T3/T4 and the bike decides to jump out of gear just before I downshift to enter the corner. Of course that upsets the whole mojo I was trying to get and I took a brief excursion to mow some grass as I watch the whole S750 field pass me. Back on track and in gear, it was time to hunt. I needed to set a pace fast enough to collect 2nd place and stay in th hunt for championship points. Turn after turn, I was able to catch and pass my fellow racers in the S750 class. Finally I came to another top rider, Mike Dixon, who is still very fast and has a ton of experience fending off would be passing. I was able to finally overtake Mike and found myself solidly in 2nd place at the checkers, well behind Jeff. The day was done, what started out pretty rocky recovered well enough to keep the long game within reach.
Sunday, the air is always different for me. I am always more focused and more ready to take on my race. Again, FV was 2 races before S750, but it was hotter on Sunday than the rest of the weekend. I caught a lucky break and lunch was neatly tucked in between my FV and S750 races, giving rider time to hydrate, cool of and refuel, as well as give the machine time to cool. Confidence was high and it was go time. I needed a flawless performance every lap to get the result I was after. I tucked in after the green flag right behind Jeff with a number of F750 competitors mixed among us. We were men possessed, riding laps that matched our F750 counterparts and dicing it up with the slower of the modern bunch even further ahead. Jeff managed to put a few F750 riders between us here and there, and found himself fighting traffic from the other classes, allowing me to stay close. I made my last pass on a rider of another class and was right behind Jeff, keeping acceleration and braking pace with him, inching closer each turn. Then it happened, this time it was his machine that proved uncooperative in the clutch moment. The last lap as we round the last few turns, he actions his foot for a downshift and finds a false neutral. He heads wide through the turn as he tries to find the right gear, opening an every so small window for me. I dive deep and make my pass. Until I saw the GoPro video I had no idea how close he was. I led the last few turns only to later find that he was slightly more than 0.100 seconds behind me at the line. Victory was mine, and so was the retribution of losing the race at Topeka. A mirror image of that race as I set the pace and a mechanical issue costs me the win, while the same happens to Jeff at Jersey.
As we pack up for the ride home, Jeff stops by and offers a sweaty congratulatory hug (family is even thicker than competition) and we say our goodbyes, set to reunite at our home track in South Haven, MI, Gingerman Raceway. The highlight of the season is mere weeks away, and man and machine will need to be tip top. However it shakes out next time, there will be fireworks.
Trailer pic, crew chief by my side:
Saturday's lawn mowing expedition:
Back in the hunt:
Saturday's ceremonies
Lurking:
Still lurking:
At. The. Line.
GoPro footage from the front on Saturday, you can see my boo boo on the first lap, and my ensuing recovery throughout the race:
GoPro footage from the rear on Sunday, the good stuff starts around 10:15
The Honda Racer's Wife recap for Jersey:
https://hondaracerwife.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/new-jersey-motorsports-park/?fbclid=IwAR3v94QkeBy2DeFmynPw3Csw6bhNXp6jr2X76_5lO7EbWitGbMNz9zdOZf0
