2010 Season Results

It's been an interesting season racing in the MidWest and Great Plains regions this year.
After missing the first two rounds at Heartland Park, Topeka and Blackhawk Farms, I really didn't think I'd have a very good shot at getting into the top five in points in any class. But it was a tough year for many racers who would have normally raced every round, they like me had to miss a few races which really tightened up the points race for everyone.
The switch to single day racing at the last two rounds at Blackhawk Farms forced me to make a decission as to which of the three races I usually compete in would have to go. As it turned out I dropped out of Lightweight Formula 40 but I hope the schedule gets revised for next year so I can get back to racing three races per event.

CCS MidWest Region results
2nd - Thunderbike
5th - Lightweight SuperSport
7th - Lightweight Formula 40

CCS Great Plains Region results
2nd - Thunderbike
5th - Lightweight SuperSport
10th - Lightweight Formula 40

Blackhawk Farms Track Championship
2nd - Thunderbike
7th - Lightweight SuperSport
9th - Lightweight Formula 40

Thanks again to my sponsors...
AMSOIL - John Kahrs
Top to Bottom Home Inspection Services - Curt Balvanz
Lead Lap Foundation - Geoff Grubb
Michelin
Gron4 Photography
"Mr. X" for all his tuning help

Blackhawk Farms, September, last round

Janet and I headed to Blackhawk Farms for the last round of the year with sunny, clear skies but cool temperatures. I knew that my main goal would be to keep my head, stay calm and get some good laps in to finish up the season.

Going into this weekend I was solidly in 3rd place in Thunderbike in both MidWest and Great Plains regions but with this event set up as a dual region and double points event, everything was up for grabs. Due to my off the previous round in SuperSport, I was now in 5th going into this event and since Blackhawk had gone to a one day race format I had given up on Lightweight Formula 40 due to all my races being so close together.

There were several Lightweight racers up from the Great Plains region so I expected a real fight for all my positions. Practice went well so now it was time to get into race mode.

Thunderbike - 3rd
To my surprise there were only four amateurs on the Thunderbike grid! So my mind set was clear, keep it on the track, don't worry about lap times and FINISH!! It's not the most competitive mind set but I didn't want to throw away a chance on loosing my 3rd place finish in both regions.
I had an O.K. start and put myself into second with the amateurs. Going into lap two the rear tire lost some grip on the cold track in turn three which really caught my attention! That allowed the Ducati behind me to get around and I decided to go into full conservation mode. Actually that was the best thing I could have done, I started to relax and actually went faster! My lap times were a full second slower than last month but with the conditions, I was very happy about that plus I knew I wasn't pushing as hard so to be just a second off of last month's full tilt mode, I know there's even lower lap times on the horizon!
I finished 3rd and since the fellow who was in second in points didn't compete, if my math is correct I'm now in second place in both regions!!

Lightweight SuperSport - 9th
With nine guys on the grid I knew a good start would be important but unfortunately my start wasn't very good. Now I had to go to work!! With six of us nose to tail through the first lap I managed to get around one coming out of turn seven and started closing on two others on the front straight. I was feeling good and confident so I late braked into turn one, passing the two guys! With the bike in good position, I eased onto the throttle and all of a sudden I saw sky, ground, sky, ground, etc.
The rear had stepped out again but this time I went down, the bike spit me off, fortunately toward to run-off area and the bike slid to a stop just off the track.
After I got done tumbling , I popped up, went over to the bike with the corner worker to discover a broken front brake lever and bent clip-on so my race, day and season was done.

As it turned out the pipe was also crunched but other than that the bike is fine. I bruised two fingers on my right hand but I'm fine and actually my fingers felt much better in just a couple of days.
After some thought I figured out that I was running a pound too much air pressure in the rear Michelin for the conditions which affected it's grip. Lesson learned!
Fellow racer, Michael Herrenbruck had his video camera on and captured my crash at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMVhHUoIxw

I'm sad that SuperSport just didn't work out but Thunderbike did so now I'll wait to see if my math was correct and find out how I end up, overall.

Radio interview on KCOB-FM

I had a great opportunity to be a part of KCOB's racing show, "The Lead Lap" on September 23rd. The program is commentated by friends and high school classmates, Mark Burnett and Geoff Grubb who also manages The Lead Lap Foundation. It was a lot of fun to be able to talk about my race program and CCS Racing in general. I waited to post this until it was available on their website, my interview atarts at 23:40 minutes into the program.

http://good.audiohauler.com/krti/LeadLap/093010.MP3 .