First, I'd like to say thank you to my sponsors:
Charmichael
Honda Motorsports(CHM) & SDMX. Please consider using CHM for your next bike or
equipment purchase. Scott Davis at SDMX is a great instructor
and works extremely well with all age groups from mini riders to
vets like me at all levels of experience.
As the North Series champions,
Brett McCrory(#216) and I(#143) decided to venture down to Glen
Helen and contend for the overall state series finals. Liz, our team
manager, went with us to capture some great photos with the new
Hewlett-Packard 945 digital camera.
The weekend before the races was set for bike and trailer setup. As
Brett works in the Bay Area during the week, he decided to leave his
bike and gear in my trailer and we would meet up in Chowchilla on
the way to Glen Helen.
February 27, 2004
Around 6:00am, I took a friend & loyal
"crew chief", Allan, to Sac Airport, as he was flying to LA to rent
a car and register for our hotel rooms. I then headed to meet Brett
in Chowchilla at 9:30am. After leaving my truck (due to Chevy's 8.1
poor mileage) and leveraging the great fuel economy of Brett's Dodge
Cummins, we were on our way...
We headed down HWY99 and took HWY138
out of Gorman to miss the bad LA traffic. Our little deversion
seemed to work well as we arrived at Glen Helen for a quick walk of
the track before dark. What a muddy mess! The torrential
rains left a nice puddle of mud with a couple of decent areas that
made us hopeful. The weather was forecasted to be sunny the rest of
the weekend, and we went to the hotel hoping for the best.
February 28,2004
The night before, we left our trailer
at the track next to a fellow North series rider, Chad Lavezzo(#129).
You meet the nicest guys at the track! Chad hooked us up with
a great parking/pit area that made for a no-hassle weekend.
After a brief breakfast we signed up
for our race class and put on our gear for practice. Of
course, practice was too short - We only got about 8 laps. Oh well,
the track was fun and we were ready to get out there and win some
races!
We pulled a 9th on the race schedule
which didn't seem too bad out of 21. The first moto start was
pitiful for me. Just as I gave the nod to the starter my bike
died and I was left to get the gate dropping on a dead engine.
Luckily, my Honda CRF450 is a breeze to start and was only about 20
yards back. By the end of Taladega I was right into the thick of
things. I rode smart with some good line choices and was able
to work through my class and pull off a moto win. Brett also did
well and finshed the moto in first for his Junior class.
Unfortunately, Chad had a few mishaps and ended up 5th.
In between our motos, we watched a few
of the other races. Mike Metzger was out riding the 250 Pro
class. Ryan Villipoto was stomping the supermini class.
Man that little kid can ride! And fly! He was making the 90' table-top look like a piece of cake...
All three of us raced down the start
"bar to bar" in the second moto. Allan captured some great
photos with the digital camera. Brett and I battled for a lap
and a half and then Brett made a pass that stuck and was gone. Good
thing he's in the Junior class! Both Brett and I were able to
pull off another moto win for each of our classes. Chad
battled back from a second turn pileup for a fourth overall.
After we got out of our gear and
locked up the trailer, We headed for Chapparel, the superstore of
motorcycle shops. I couldn't believe how much stuff they had
in there. I think their tire department was larger than some
of the local shops in Roseville. After a great dinner at some
brewery dinnerhouse we headed to the hotel for some much needed
rest.
February 28,2004
Today we were hoping for another early
race so we could get on the road for home at a decent hour. As luck
would have it, we got race 21 of 21. It's gonna be a red-eye
drive home! Practice was another 8 laps, however the dirt was
just about perfect. Most of the excess water was gone, leaving
us a damp, sandy track full of good traction.
Today was a day for the helmet cam, or
what has become known as the "Andy-Cam". After waiting for
half the day till race 21 was just called for staging, Brett plugged
in the wires and I made sure I was getting the red recording light.
Jeff Ward decided to race with us in the 30+ class and I was able to
get a nice short interview before he pulled the holeshot and never
looked back. I did much better than the day before and pulled about
a 10th place start with the Pros & Intermediates. Brett wasted
no time in getting by me and ended up with a second place. I
bobbled in a couple turns and let the South Series Champion in my
class by, however I stayed with him and waited for a good
opportunity to get him back. I saw and took it in a rutted turn
after Talladega. He took the middle rut, I took the inside and
had him beat by a wheel. Unfortunately, our ruts came together
and we did too! Chad blew by us for the win while we were
picking up our bikes. I was able to snag second.
The second moto was rough! all
the straights were filled with acceleration whoops or braking bumps
anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2' high. Nasty, choppy ruts were thrown in
everywhere. We all got a good start with Brett getting by me after
the second turn. He was in a fierce battle with #115 for the
series championship. It all came down to the last race for
him. He made his pass on the second to last lap, however his
front-end washed out and Brett went down and had to settle for
second in the moto and second for the series final.
Luckily, I came in to the last moto
with a 8-10 point buffer, but I still had the desire to win the moto.
Unfortunately for me, Chad was on his game and passed me for the
lead halfway through the moto. I had nothing for him and had
to settle for two 2nds on day 2, however that clinched my 1st
place in the series final! With Chad's outstanding
performance(1-1) on day 2, he clinched 3rd overall.
The sponsors for the series threw down
some great prizes! Six Six One,
Fly Racing, Dewayne Jones
Suspension, & White Brothers
hooked us up! Please use them when you need stuff. If
you're going to spend the money, you might as well spend it on
products/services from companies that support us local riders.
After loading up and collecting our
trophies & prizes we headed out for the long drive home. The
adrenaline and excitement made it seem much faster! Thanks CMC for a
great series!
2004 GSN Final @ Glen Helen - Photos
