The last race weekend of the season was great. I got to the track around 7:30PM on Friday night and met Theo who was there all day for practice. We unloaded a few things from the trailer and hit the clubhouse for dinner. After dinner we finished a few things at camp and chilled out while fending off the mosquitoes. I was pumped about the racing that we would be doing the next couple days and had a tough time getting sleepy. I probably didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. We didn’t need the tent this weekend because Theo now has a cargo van as a toy hauler and camper so I stayed in my trailer. It was nice to not have to set up and take down the tent. The weather was a slight concern as the forecast was for 10%-40% rain/thunderstorms for Sat. and Sun. However, our optimism won out as there was completely dry track for both days. I practiced in the first session on Sat to clean out the cobwebs and then picked up the pace a bit in the second practice but came in early to save my strength and tires.

Saturdays first race was the LWSB make-up race that was rained out at the last event. It was a small grid since it was a make-up, I took 3rd place. The second race was the GTL 25 Minute race. To my surprise I held up well physically in that one. I was able to keep up a good pace until it was ended a few laps early by a red flag. I never saw the crash that ended it but word was the red flag was an overreaction and we could have finished. The rider was up an ok pretty quickly. We were well over the halfway point so the race was called and I finished 2nd. Race three was Thunderbike, I don’t remember much other than that I pulled a large gap on the group behind me but the leaders were far too gone for any chance to catch up in a sprint race. I just kept a comfortable pace and finished 4th.

I woke up Sunday a little hazy, kind of like I had sea-legs. I think it may have been a result of sleeping on the two inflatable beds stacked on one another. I skipped practice to save my strength and tires again. By the time lunch was happening my sea-legs were gone. Just as lunch ended the guy that bought my GSXR 750 showed up at the track to pick it up. I had loaded it and all the spare parts for it in the trailer in anticipation of consummating the sale this weekend. I was glad it worked out. I’m rid of a bike I was not using and have some extra room in my garage to work on some other projects. Race one was the ULWSB, I thought I had a good start but I was pretty much swallowed up between turn one and two. I wasn’t too worried though. As long as the leaders didn’t get too far ahead I figured I could make it up. I spent the first lap watching the field and making sure my tires were hot and then started making my way through. By the 4th lap I had passed everyone I could see. I wasn’t sure what place I was in but I knew there was no one else I could see to chase down so I focused on keeping whatever lead I had and finishing in one piece. It turns out the leader was long gone. I took second by a good margin. The video of that race is below. It is the first moto video I put to music, please forgive the song in the middle that drops the “F” bomb, I missed it when choosing the music. Race two was LWF40. Theo was putting the hex on me all day because he was just ahead of me in the points for the NJMP Championship and didn’t want we knocking him out of his second place position. I’m a bit superstitious sometimes but this time it didn’t work, I beat him and all else but one. I took second. Race three was LWGP. I had been leading this class going into the last round but sat out the last round due the weather. I think I was in 4th going into this round. On the previous out lap my bike started running terribly. It was like I was running out of gas. By now I was thinking that Theos’ hex kicked in or I had forgotten to gas up. Whatever it was it didn’t improve with fresh fuel so I limped and sputtered my way through as I watched two racers I beat earlier in the day take 1st and 2nd. I took 3rd in a race I could have taken 1st in. That was bitter-sweet. I contemplated sitting out the last race of the season due to the bike trouble. Theo and I tried to nurse it a bit in the pits and figured that if it was that bad I’d just quit early but that I may as well start. There were four of us on the grid. The bike never got better but didn’t worsen either. I was able to trade places with Theo a few times and we had some fun together. One of the racers in front of us low-sided in the left-hander on the backside and was out of the race. That left us in 2nd and 3rd. We did the last couple of laps that way and the healthier bike crossed the line first. That’s the first race we placed in together. I was really felling good about the season after that. We made all four weekends and had success on and off the track at every one. I think we both each only crashed once this season, Theo on oil in a race and me on an old front tire at a track day. The racing (barring two or three incidents by other riders) was clean and respectful and thrilling and challenging. I’m not sure how many races I ran in total but I placed 13 times with one 1st place. I came home and ribbed the boys a bit about how thy’re falling behind in the hardware acquisition, it got them pumped up and they tried to rebuff but they know the score. I’m winning. We’re hoping to get in a track-day weekend with TPM in October, If so, Ill post up some pictures. More race reports in 2012.