AMA / Willow Springs International Raceway
04/23 - 04/26/98

Event Baseline Tech Info

Race Times / Results:

Thursday Promoter Practice - Notes:

Promoter practice was held on Thursday with three twenty-minute sessions allocated to each racing class. The wind was already blowing 20 - 25mph for our first session. The plan was to go out, loosen up and take it easy. Steve went into T3 too hot with the wind at his back on the last lap and lowsided off the track. When he realized that he wasn't going to make it, he tried to stand the bike up and run off into the dirt, but he was already into the marbles / dirt on the outside of the track and the front tire tucked. He caught his right thumb and bent it back tearing some ligaments. The left side of the bodywork & tank was trashed, left rear-set pretzeled, and the sub-frame was tweaked. I was worried that his thumb was broken, so we spent the next three hours at Lancaster Community Hospital getting it checked out.

We thought that there was a chance he could still make the race on Sunday, so we started fixing the bike when we got back. I worked on the mechanicals while Steve started piecing the bodywork back together. During the middle of the night, though, Steve stepped out of the trailer and slipped on the step, slicing up the bottom of his foot pretty badly. He could hardly stand on it in the morning, so we pulled him from the race. We were both pretty depressed about his misfortune, but at least he'll recover OK, the bike will be put back together, and he'll be back out in time for WSMC action at Willow Springs next month.

Friday AMA Practice - Notes:

Rob Berlind (#214) showed up Friday morning to give us a hand for the weekend. I was damn glad to see him, especially in light of Steve's injuries.

I had two practice sessions on Friday. The first was 30 minutes and virtually wind-free. By my second 15-minute session, the wind had kicked up to 20 - 25mph gusts. I ran 1.29's in the first session, 1.31's in the second. Rob & I mounted new tires for Saturday's practice and qualifying sessions. I was feeling very good with the lap times from the first session. The AMA had a radar gun set up at start / finish and I was running 125mph w/a headwind in the second session. For comparison, the factory guys were running 135 (DuHamel), 136 (Chandler), and 135 (Ben Bostrom). The local guys were doing 127 (Ken Chase) and 128 (Jeremy Toye).

Saturday AMA Practice / Qualifying - Notes:

Saturday was windy! I went out for my morning practice session and took it easy, scrubbing in the tires, then ran a couple of hot laps. Qualifying was at 11:10a. Steve & Rob set up on the hot pit wall. My plan was to run two laps to warm up the tires, then two or three laps to set some times. If I was in the 1.29's w/the strong wind, I would stop. I ran almost flat 1.30's the first half of the session, and didn't improve on them the second half. I qualified 36th of 45 entries with a time of 1.30.076.

Rob, Steve & I mounted new tires and got ready for Sunday's races.

Sunday AMA Races - Notes:

We woke up Sunday morning to calm - no wind! I stayed that way for most of the day. I went out for my practice session to scrub in the tires and do a few hot laps.

Steve, Rob, James and his friend Brough set up our gear at the hot pit wall and the race got going at 11:10a. Since I qualified 36th for the race, I lined up on the usual #36 spot on the WSMC grid and waited for the start. I looked around for local compatriots Melissa Berkhoff (#167) and Tony Silvera (#197) to give them the thumbs up. Melissa had qualified ahead of me, Tony a few spots behind. I didn't see Melissa up front, so I looked behind for Tony. I was a little confused to see Melissa three rows behind, waving for me to move back. Huh? I'm on the right spot! It was then that I realized the AMA wasn't using the grid numbers painted on the track, but a row and letter scheme set up along the pit wall. Oh Shit!

I started back peddling to get to the right spot. The officials on the grid didn't seem to notice this goof-ball moving backwards as the #2 board came up. I had made it only as far as the no man's land between the two groups of starters before the #1 board came up and everyone started revving their motors. I stopped where I was, clicked it into first and waited for the green light. I got off the line with a good start, then wondered what the hell to do next. I wasn't about to ride my brains out for fifteen laps only to be disqualified and I wasn't going  take advantage of my extra three rows head-start. I moved to the far right of the track coming into T1, slowed down and waited for Tony to pass by before getting on the gas. I figured I could argue that I gave back my advantage if anyone protested me after the race. The race started for me (in last place) coming into T2. I kept my eye on the start / finish line for the first three laps looking for the meatball flag (stop and go penalty), but it never came out.

I've been racing for a couple of years but have never experienced the bar-banging, body-slamming, demolition derby of that first lap. Two, three, four bikes abreast coming into T3 and over T4, smacking fairings, elbows and knees. It was intense. I put my head down, concentrated on my race line and started picking off riders. I gained most of my final position in the first half of the race, catching back up to Tony on lap seven or eight. It took two or three laps to get past him, passing on the outside of T9. I passed one other rider around the outside of T2 and set off for Dan Dietrich of Madd Dog Racing (#73). He had a pretty good lead, but I was gaining about half a second on him each lap.

Nicky Hayden blew past me out in T8/T9 on lap thirteen. I was wondering what he was doing behind me, 'cause he's a fast guy, when I realized I'd just been lapped and prepared for the onslaught of his pursuers. Miguel DuHamel, Steve Crevier, Ben Bostom, and Jason Pridmore came around, in, out and over me between T9 and T1. It was awesome to watch them scrap it out. I pushed hard to stay w/them, not losing much ground until the exit of T2. Hayden and DuHamel crossed the checkers as I was coming out of T9 on the last lap.

I may have finished a lowly 31st, but it was the hardest, fastest, funnest race I've ever ridden. 

Next round - WSMC action at Willow Springs May 15 - 17.

Bob.

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