Random Racing

Last weekend an opportunity popped up in my schedule to get out of the house for a bit and I got a timely email from Race Pace Trackdays early in the week advertising open spots for their no-sessions track time at Chuckwalla for Saturday and Sunday. Normally Race Pace caters specifically to veterans of the Chuckwalla track, but I reached out and they were very accommodating to pre-verify me as an AFM racer and welcome me to learn this fun little California desert track. I really enjoyed getting to know the track – it has quite a number of interesting elements. I’ve never spent so much time on the right edge of my tire, and with my peg mounted a little low I ended up burning clean through the toe slider on my new boots. Thanks to Tony at Ryder Gear for promptly mailing me a couple sets of replacement sliders. I might have to just get another pair of boots, and to be honest I’m already thinking about just getting a second suit because I like it so much…

While I was coming up to speed Saturday I noticed Jason Pridmore at the riders meeting which prompted me to look around until I saw the unmistable JP43 Training garage. Knowing how many fast people Jason has trained, I couldn’t waste the opportunity, so I walked over and asked if I could hire him for Sunday. Turned out somebody’s van had broken down and their loss was my gain, with two-time MotoAmerica champion Andrew Lee available to spend the day on track with me. Spending all day Sunday working with Andrew and Jason dragged me down to a 1:56 on four day old tires, which is just about a second off a race-winning pace in Formula 40 LW. Those guys are awesome!

With AFM’s schedule noticeably shrinking I’ve been thinking harder and harder about the logistics of racing in CVMA . Quickly coming up to speed for very encouraging and the track is a blast. I’m thinking hard about trying to come down for round 7 and celebrate my 40th birthday with an inaugural Formula 40 victory. And, of course, there’s next winter’s seasons to consider…

Here’s a video of Andrew chasing me around Sunday afternoon – it’s fun to actually have a third person view of myself for once! And below some pics for ya’ll.

I headed to Thunderhill last weekend not with any chance to fight for a championship this year, but with the determination to find confidence and speed again before the long winter. Next year my intention to retake my Lightweight Superbike crown and blitz the field in Formula 40 Lightweight.

Needing as much seat time as I could get, I began the weekend with AFM Friday by Carters at the Track. I spent the early morning hemming and hawing over how to manage my tires for the weekend. Wanting to make the most of this last chance to find speed before the winter, I chose to go all in and put on fresh rubber to start the day Friday. That allowed me to practice at full pace, so much as I could handle it, and then put on another fresh set to race on Sunday.

After the typical throwaway first session, I quickly dropped down to 2:04, just 2 seconds off my PR. Typically I can drop about 5 seconds between Friday and Sunday, so 2:04 on Friday was a welcome number. At my current proximity to the pointy end of times and also considering I was running brand new rubber, shaving a full five seconds in two days seemed potentially doubtful, but great either way to be in the position to try.

Saturday followed script and I dropped into the 2:02s, actually beating my previous best by a couple tenths. With fresh tires mounted, I headed back to the hotel Saturday night with my laptop in hand ready to study the data from my newly minted PR and find opportunities for even more speed. In the mean time, I discovered my new go-to pre-race food source – La Taqueria Mexican. Despite the name, the feature that caught my eye is they have asian food in addition to their namesake mexican. It’s basically a Panda Express mixed with a Chipotle with a healthy dollop of American fast-foodism on top. Their Mexican fries and lo mein eeach provide excellent helpings of complex carbs the night before a race.

The point of the food, though, was to get ready to go racing. I woke up Sunday with a plan to go faster having found a couple spots in the data where I was still running slower than 2023. Morning practice was well off the pace which freaked me out a little bit since my last Saturday practice was also quite slow stuck behind some hard-to-pass traffic, but I resolved to relax and focus for the races to bring the pace back.

And come back it did. More 2:02s in 700 Superbike, down to consistent 2:01s in Lightweight Superbike, and then down to consistent 2:00s in Formula IV – two seconds better than my best from last year! The racing itself ended up being a touch boring. In each race I got a good launch but couldn’t get by Jose Flores in pole position, and then in each race Jorge Gonzalez passed me on the outside in turn 1. I finally made adjustment after the first time he did that and altered my line to drop that last second. I was even catching Jorge after that and felt like I could have taken second place with another lap.

Jose and Jorge brought serious speed with their Aprilias, but the Formula IV race convinced me that I can bring the fight to them and win next year. Jose has a second on me, but I know where to find that second and maybe more…

See you next year!

After getting myself riding again this summer, time came to accept delivery of my new custom race suit from Ryder Gear. I worked with owner Tony to match the unique (and awesome) color scheme of Random Racing while also sizing to match my body measurements. The result is the most comfortable (thank you, kangaroo leather), best fitting, and most beautiful race suit I have owned. We even did matching gloves and boots.

Besides the suit itself I’m also excited about the integrated Helite airbag. I’ve now raced integrated airbags from Dainese, Alpinestars, and Helite, and crashed in both the first two. I wanted to try something other than Alpinestars after feeling like my airbag did not inflate in either of the crashes that led to shoulder surgeries. I appreciate that like Alpinestars, the Helite bag includes an integrated back protector, so I don’t have to wear anything extra. The Alpinestars bag turned itself on with a velcro/magnetic closure which I occasionally had issues with forgetting to close properly. By contrast, the Helite bag just needs to be turned on once in the morning with a button on the hump and then no extra switch is needed when you put on the suit. This is good as long as you remember to turn it on in the morning (and off at the end of the day) but does have a liability if you forget either of those steps. The Dainese system has the best switch system where the button closure on the front of the suit turns it on – impossible to forget to button up when you put it on, and nothing to forget at the end of the day either.

The Helite bag is also end-user serviceable simply by replacing the CO2 canister which is a feature that should be quite valuable in the event of crash. Both Dainese and Alpinestars require sending the system back to the manufacturer for service.

So, it’s clearly been a while since I’ve posted. This year did not exactly go as I planned. January was all smiles as I attended the AFM Banquet with my wife, where I was honored to be crowned 2023 Lightweight Superbike Expert Champion in my first year racing as an expert. That was an achievement I could not have imagined at the start of 2023! At the same time I was welcoming home an upgraded race bike after turning my FZ-07 over to the hands of Bryce Prince and his shop at Kern County Power Powersports.

I debuted the impressive 92 horsepower twin cylinder engine at Buttonwillow in March for the second round of CRA. In my very first practice session I glanced down at my lap timer and saw I was running 1:59s which put my jaw on the floor. My previous best at Buttonwillow was 2:02, and to be shattering that time by 3 seconds in my VERY FIRST PRACTICE SESSION was almost incomprehensible. When I saw that number, I decided I had to push a little for my last hot lap to do a 1:58, and I did just that! My new engine (along with probably some rider improvement as well) had seemingly handed me 4 seconds like a gift from the gods. And, realistically, it had to be more than that, because if I was running 1:58 in my very first Friday practice session, it seemed like hitting 1:55 by the time I got down to race pace would be a breeze.

Sadly, I never got a chance to find out. Saturday morning found an unexpectedly wet track after some surprise overnight rain. By the time the track dried, there was no time for practice and we went straight into qualifying. I wasn’t sure how much grip to expect but was riding high on the confidence from Friday practice. I made a bit of an error in arriving last to the pit-out for the start of qualifying and quickly realized it would hold me back to be stuck riding through the pack when I had pace on just about everyone. I made a strategic call to ride through the hot pit at the end of the first lap to try and leave myself a gap for a decent qualifying lap. It was hard to leave myself enough of a gap, though, and I was catching the back markers by Riverside. This time I put my head down and figured all I could do was start working my way through the field and hope for a decent lap time.

The quest didn’t last long, though. I made a pass around the outside of Riverside, and before I could even make the next turn my bike spontaneously and inexplicably hit the ground. From the video, the only thing that’s clear is I didn’t make any mistakes. I have found no hint of a wet or oily patch on the ground. I did, however, find after the wreck that my steering was stuck due to a broken steering damper that wedged itself into a position that became a steering stop. This damper has actually broken before, and I thought I fixed it. My suspicion is the damper broke before the crash and actually caused it by locking the steering.

In any case, I came away with a modest concussion and a broken collarbone. The ER initially told me to do nothing about the collarbone. My ortho doc disagreed and recommended surgery, but the initial ER diagnosis caused a three week delay before I finally got surgery in April. That delay was the difference between making and missing the AFM double round in May that effectively torpedo’d my whole season.

Onward!

My friend Oli Kho generously organized a private track day for Apple employees. Oli is about as fast a rider and nice a guy as you’ll ever meet, so it was super great to hang out with him and everyone else at this event.

I got a chance to mix things up for a couple laps with another good friend and AFM racer 147 Ian Mondragon, as well as meet a couple riders doing their first track day who’ve already got the hunger. That’s super great to see as I did my very first track day 7 years ago at another event for Apple employees. Can’t wait to see these guys turn into new racers!

Here are a whole bunch of photos courtesy of Max at Oxymoron Photography.

Coming into the final weekend of the 2023 AFM series I felt like I was doing double-takes over and over in my mind over how little racing we had actually done this year because it felt like I’d transformed (again) into a completely different rider from beginning to end. One of the great things about racing is there is always another rung on the ladder and every time you learn and get better it only provides fuel to take the next step. Because Round 1 at Buttonwillow had been rained out and the originally planned rounds 6 & 7 at Buttonwillow’s new track and Laguna Seca never materialized, only 3 rounds of actual racing had taken place prior to the closing weekend. Our consolation prize was a double-header with full race days both Saturday and Sunday – thus the weekend was officially declared both round 5 and round 6.

Friday

As is my usual habit, I showed up Friday morning to take part in the track day put on by Carters at the Track. Three months had passed since round 4 in June, but I had at least made the effort to come out the previous Saturday to run a track day with Pacific Track Time to knock out the cobwebs and remember how to make a race bike go and stop. I’m a big fan of street riding as a way to keep myself comfortable on the bike between races, but it’s always quite different getting on track after a hiatus. On that previous Saturday I put my head down and rode all 7 sessions – something I haven’t done in years. I figured I didn’t need to worry so much about wearing myself out and the laps would pay dividends when I came back to race.

On Friday with Carters it felt like that plan was playing out well. I felt comfortable and quick right out of the gate. On AFM Fridays Carters runs B+, A, and A+ groups, with the idea being that normal A group track day riders can still ride A group here, but the lightning quick racers can occupy A+. I’ve always felt a step behind the A+ group, especially with my 75 horsepower FZ-07, so I’ve been content to stick with the standard A group. After my first session this time, though, I felt like I’d finally reached the point where the standard A group was holding me back and I was ready to graduate to A+. Another rung on the never-ending ladder.

I ended up running 2:04 pace on old tires and retiring after 4 sessions to conserve energy for the double-header weekend. I usually am happy to get within 2-3 seconds of race pace on Friday, so considering my best race time from round 4 was a 2:02 and I had only done my first 2:04 on new tires back in round 3, I was plenty happy with that result.

Saturday – 700 Superbike

My first race of the weekend was either the race of my life or a big misunderstanding. I spent the race fighting it out for podium spots with Jason Diaz on an Aprilia RS660 and Alex George I believe also on the Aprilia. Alex was leading most of the race, but made a mistake on one of the last laps which allowed Jason and me to come through. It then seemed like Jason had me covered by about 1.5 seconds for the win on the last(?) lap when suddenly what I completely expected to be the checkered flag was the white flag flying for a second time! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but the only choice was to keep racing. So I put my head down and stuck on Jason’s rear the best I could. Jason I think missed a gear or something between turns 9 and 10 and I went by him on the last lap part deux! I stuck the landing around turns 14 and 15 and cruised down the straight, confident I’d just won my first expert class race. I pumped my left arm in the air 100 feet before the finish line and then out of the corner of my eye I saw Jason slip past me a millisecond before we crossed the line. It was too close to know for sure, but my gut told me he beat me. Damn that RS660 power! Also, had the fist pump slowed me down and cost me the win?!

When I came back to the paddock with my head hanging I saw everyone pointing at Jason and congratulating him on his win, so I knew for sure how the result had come out. When I checked timing and scoring I saw he was officially recorded as having won by 1.4 seconds which blew my mind at first. Then I remembered that second white flag. While we made a helluva race at our second go of the last lap, I think it never mattered anyway as that second white flag was intended to be a checkered and I had already lost.

The real blow came after I parked my bike and realized I’d forgotten to put an SD card in my camera and I didn’t get any of that action recorded! Absolutely couldn’t believe I missed recording such a spectacular race. Sorry ya’ll!

Saturday – Lightweight Superbike

The Lightweight Superbike race was a lot less eventful than the 700 Superbike one. I went for a very agressive pass in the quick direction change between 3 and 4 but then decided it was too aggressive and ended up just pulling the brake and hoping the rider ahead didn’t chop off my wheel. It was *really* close, but I made it and lost a few seconds in the recovery. The rest of the race brought a few more mistakes that kept me from ever challenging for the win, but I came home with a solid second place that put in me in the lead for the championship and in a good place going into the final round on Sunday.

Saturday – Open Twins

Open Twins has been a bittersweet class year. The bitter part is that my bike is not close to being competitive, and the sweet part is that at least after the leaders clear off I frequently do my best laps of the day in the open track they leave behind. The doubleheader format of this weekend came with a schedule that put Open Twins in the afternoon. I have a long time tradition of losing 2-3 seconds after lunch and I managed to keep that alive. For the first couple laps it looked like I might actually keep the leaders in sight, but then we had a red flag. On the restart I settled into my traditional afternoon slow pace.

Saturday – Formula IV

Another change that came with the doubleheader format was the Formula IV race being combined with Formula II and Formula III, and Formula IV got gridded in the back. This ended up playing a major role in my race. After falling behind at the start the leaders began coming back to me as we ran into the stragglers from the classes gridded ahead of us. The stragglers giveth and the stragglers taketh away, though. The last lap felt like Moto3-style chaos. I narrowly averted disaster when I tried to go around a slower bike on the left down the back straight, but while I was making my move the space on the left started disappearing. I knew I had to draw even with that rider before the space totally went away or else we’d collide, so I broke super later and then was headed toward the back of another bike which had I to dive underneath to avoid. The whole maneuver sent me way off line and blew my chance at a Formula IV podium.

Sunday 700 Superbike

While not quite as exciting as the Saturday morning version, I still spent most of this race thinking I had a chance to win it. Watching the Aprilia and Ducati in front me pull away on the straights gave me strong pause to consider whether to put some money into getting more horsepower this winter. Probably will be some news about that in the future…

Just as in the Formula IV yesterday, though, I had a combination of poor luck and poor choices as we caught up with lap traffic that cost any chance of fighting for the win and I settled into a third place finish.

Sunday Lightweight Superbike

It happened! My first expert class victory came in absolutely textbook fashion. I got an ok launch but I saw out of the corner of my eye another rider with a good launch coming around my right as we headed to turn 1. My immediate response was “fuck this” and I pushed right using my superior track position to block his angle on the first turn. After taking the line I led through turn 1 and every other turn for the remainder of the race, ultimately winning by 3 seconds. Spending an entire race not seeing the competition, aside from some lap traffic at the end, was a surreal experience. Fantastic milestone!

Oh….it turns out this race win also sealed my 2023 championship for the Lightweight Superbike class!! 🏆🏆

Sunday Open Twins

Probably my most boring race of the weekend. After coming off the high of my first win, I was definitely running on fumes at this point. My feeling was that I’ve reached a pace where my fitness is holding me back over the course of a full day of racing. Hoping to come back next spring with some improvements in this area.

Sunday Formula IV

I faced very stiff competition in this race. A morning pace version of me could have podiumed for sure, but tired afternoon pace version had to fight for every inch. One more time for the weekend, though, I watched an Aprilia with superior straight line speed get me at the finish line, bumping me out of third place.

Damn those Aprilias. Here’s to more horsepower in 2024

After claiming AFM novice championship wins in the Lightweight Superbike and Formula IV classes in 2022, I was more than a little anxious to run white expert plates for 2023. The year started off a little more slowly than I expected, though, with Round 1 races all being unexpectedly rained out and most of my Round 2 races lost to a worn out rear sprocket that turned into a broken chain in the middle of Buttonwillow’s Riverside.

Friday

The weekend began with a Friday track day by Pacific Track Time. I hadn’t actually seen my bike since Round 2 and I arrived at 7 AM to claim it from Jim at Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning who had it for me ready to race with a brand new chain and swingarm, as well as freshly serviced forks. My first session was inauspicious as usual as I reacquainted myself with the bike and the track, but by the second session I felt comfortable and quick again. Jim’s work on the forks had the bike feeling fantastic in braking and I didn’t end up touching the suspension at all through the weekend.

700 Superbike

Opening Sunday morning with the 700 Superbike race brought with it a new experience: gridding on the front row. This is a major change to the experience of racing as a novice. I also got a good start off the line and took second position into turn 1. What a difference it makes to be in the leading group right away and say “I know where the leader of this race is – he’s right there.” I did my best to hold position and only dropped one place before a red flag dropped in lap 4 or 5 and the race was called. The third place finished matched my result in 700 Superbike from Round 2, so here comes the consistency train!

Lightweight Superbike

I got another taste of a front row start for the Lightweight Superbike race. Although it looked like I was left in a lonely third place early on, Kenyon Kluge’s #96 Zero seemed to not be able to deliver full power for the entirety of the race and I caught him at turn 1 of the last lap (pictured at top) for second place!

Open Twins

Just before lunch I raced the Open Twins class. I race against 1200+ cc bikes in this class, so my humble FZ-07 has a tendency to look like it’s not moving down the straights as the big boys blow by. Nevertheless, trying my damndest to keep up dragged me to my first 2:04 laps at Thunderhill. I was thrilled with that result, especially since I decided to race old tires this weekend to help cushion the bill to replace my chain and swingarm.

Formula IV

The final race of the weekend was Formula IV around 2 PM. Racing after lunch is always a huge challenge for me. I typically lose 2 seconds/lap after lunch and that monkey stayed on my back for this race. After qualifying 6th I got off the line with the top 4 and then benefited from Kenyon’s bike again not being fast for the whole race distance and super fast guy Ryan Peterson wrecking out at turn 3 on the last lap to ease up to a 2nd place finish!

Pics

This time I went home with my bike fully in tact ready to race Round 4 on Father’s Day in June! Here’s some pics from Oxymoron Photography