AMA Formula Xtreme, Auto Club Raceway, Fontana CA 4/24/08 – 4/26/08
AFM Open Twins, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA 4/27/08

With 3 race bikes and all the stuff that goes along with this crazy sport loaded and packed in our truck and trailer, Val and I headed out of The Bay for the 8 hour drive south to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for our first AMA race. The feeling that this would be one of those “once in a life time” experiences was strong and I truly looked forward to what would unfold over the next few days.

Of course, the racing had already begun. While we had just started our trip, Schwannie and Alysia had just arrived from NY, rented their signature terrorist van and would be heading over to Desmoto to pick up his bike and assorted other stuff. He would have to make one more stop in San Jose to pick up his new Helimot racing suit before he could set out after me with full intention on beating me to Fontana. I figured I could still beat him even though the bastard drives 90mph (serious, he would go faster but the vans he rents have speed limiters!). Scott, Lucy, Tom and Ken would be flying in that night and we agreed to meet for breakfast at 6:00 am the next morning before heading to the track. (Note: I did beat Schwannie to the hotel by 15minutes but only because he stopped to get an umbrella, which is another story!).

We pulled into the raceway at 6:30 am Thursday morning and made our way through the paddock; replete with all the factory team and support rigs and found our garage bay which was next to the factory supported Pegram Racing Ducati Team! Larry Pegram runs his Ducati at the front of the pack in FX so it was just cool to be next to our Ducati brotha and as it turned out we would get to know him and his team a bit (Val fell in love with Larry’s Dad and Lucy picked Alessnadro's brain on data logging) which was not only helpful but just way F’g cool!!

We unpacked and got the garage sorted and prepared for promoter’s practice. Out on track for a warm up, everything seemed to come together and within a few laps I was feeling good and got back up to speed. We spent the day testing some tires and worked more on riding as the bike was set up well from prior track days. Schwannie had the biggest challenge since he had never ridden the track but was figuring it out quick. Montano is just fast so it didn’t take him long to get up to qualifying speed!

After a shower and a bit of a rest, we all met for dinner at a great family style Italian place near the hotel. Everyone was starving so once the food came it was “heads down, elbows up!” Schwannie was MIA however, and as it turned out he got some crazy bug that forced him into the bathroom and an early retirement from dinner where he would spend the night making runs between bed and bathroom every 30 minutes! He made it to breakfast the next morning but he was hurting and would spend most of Friday laying down in the garage sleeping until it was time to qualify…nightmare for the poor guy!

Friday is qualifying, so after a 1 hour morning practice we waited until about 4pm for our 30 minute window to qualify. The fast guys went out first and Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke set a blistering pole qualifying lap of 1:25.2 smashing last year’s record by over a second! That meant the qualifying cut off time for us mere mortals would be 1:33.7. I had been doing mid 1:32’s in practice so I was confident I could qualify but I still had to go out and do it when it counted and to be honest I was a bit nervous. It all came down to one lap with no mistakes. I had to do it. I have worked hard to get to this point and I was very intense and focused, perhaps a bit too much as I rode a bit tight for a few laps. I came into the hot pits and although I had qualified with a low :33, I wanted to get into the :32’s if not the :31’s so I headed back out. I had to “blip” my throttle to shift as my quick shifter was having issues and we had to disconnect it. This would end up costing me around a half second per lap but “it was what it was” and I had to ride around it and make it happen. I ultimately got a :32.6 on my last flying lap which would put me inside row 5 in 17th position. I was happy to qualify but to be honest a bit disappointed as I thought I was good for a :31. Ha, never satisfied I guess! Montano had a quick time in the mid :30’s which put him up on the 4th row, well done.
Schwannie, however, was the real story! The poor bastard was feeling like shit, in 90 degree weather, riding a bike at speed, around a new track, chasing a cutoff time that is over a second faster than last year was a tall order! With only a few minutes to go, he came in to the hot pits to check his time. He muttered “I need another second” and headed back out like a true warrior and after his out lap, put in a flyer which put him on the outside of the 5th row of the grid 20th position and in front of several other riders! He was completely exhausted and went back in the garage, found his spot and lay back down!

Ken headed to the airport after seeing me through the qualifying session so he could get back up for Saturday practice at Infineon to prepare for Sunday’s AFM races. Ken has been a huge part of my riding over the past couple years and to have him helping me at my first AMA race was great! He knows this game and his guidance is invaluable to me! Scott, Lucy and Bobby stayed in the garage for a couple hours working on the bikes and getting them ready to race the following day. We all hooked up for a late Mexican dinner and then it was off to bed to rest for race day!

RACE DAY: Wind. That is the first thing I noticed when we met for breakfast. I have seen this place blow before and it can get ugly. Getting blown around at 160mph is a bit tricky and I was hoping it wasn’t going to be windy at the track. Well, it was windy at the track. So much so that there were several delays as fencing, barriers and signs were getting blown out on course. 40mph gusts and cross winds made riding very sketchy in some spots. The infield section cut across the wind's direction and when you accelerated out of a corner making the front light it would get blown out from under you, not good. I remember coming into our hot pit and Tom and Scott where there and we all looked at each other, dark face shields down so we couldn’t see each other’s eyes, but our shaking heads spoke volumes as to what we were thinking. Well, it would be a few hours till our race so all we could do is hope for the wind would to die down.

After a few more hours of waiting (the hardest part is waiting) we all got suited up and headed down to our hot pit where Scott, Lucy and Bobby had our bikes ready, tire warmers on, waiting for our race to begin at 4:45. It was hot, in the mid 90’s and the wind was still blowing but it had changed direction. Instead of the cross wind nightmare from the morning session, it was more of a head/tail wind which was better. The 5 min horn blew and we headed out on track for our parade lap behind the pace car, waving to the crowd, and finding our way to our grid positions where crews come out, get the bikes on stands, pop the warmers back on and open the umbrella’s to give the riders some shade as there is a brief wait before the race. This is the time when the media will interview the top guys on the front row and the fans can see the bikes lined up on the grid. Val had me "umbrella'd" and Scott stood by ready to bring the twin to life and get the warmers off when the 3min horn blew. The time was near and with the sound of the horn, motors start, crews and umbrella girls hustle off the track (Val gave me kiss on the helmet and Scott gave me his back slap) leaving the riders alone to take their out lap before gridding up to race. Once in my grid position, face shield down, 2 board up, gears engaged, motors revving, a quick look over to the pit wall to see Val (looking like she is gonna throw up!) and I am ready to go although I’m strangely relaxed. All the time, energy, money, planning, and training has come to this moment. It was time to race and I thought I would have been a bit more nervous but I felt more relieved, like, “Ok, enough f*cking around, let’s go already!!” I REALLY wanted to just get out there and race. And in an instant, the red lights turned green and we were off, 25 odd fast AMA guys exploding towards turn one and out into the infield where fans, Speed Channel camera’s, family and friends would be cheering us on and holding their breath for 17 laps! I remember a quote by multi time AMA national Superbike champion Doug Chandler when asked what it was like to be in an AMA race he said, “you know that feeling you get when you lean back in your chair too far and you think you’re going to fall over? Well, it’s just like that for 28 laps!” Ha , I love that quote!

I lost a couple positions on the start but made them up quickly on the first lap and set out for some guys that were a bit ahead of me. Ken told me to go out hard, settle in, think, execute, and click off the laps...17 of them, jeez! I did just that and it worked out. I ended up catching the guy I set out for and with a couple laps to go the leaders caught up to me and it was just amazing to have guys I idolize and have watched on TV passing me!!! Man, it was so F’g cool to be on track and have Josh Hayes, Jake Zemke, and Larry Pegram go by racing each other. I know it sucks getting lapped but they are the best of the best and it was amazing to be on track with them. Luckily I didn’t get in their way as they were all nose to tail racing hard for the podium. It was just great, and when I saw that checkered flag I was so relieved!! I was dead tired but happy that I made it!! The cool down lap was amazing, having fans and corner workers waving showing their appreciation for the show. Talk about being on “the other side looking in” it was truly a moving experience. Pulling into our hot pits the crew was all clapping, big smiles, genuinely happy (and relieved!), waiting to give us a big hug and a kiss. Tom finished 14th, I came in 17th, and Schwannie soldiered to 20th, completely exhausted! We all hung out, told some stories, waited for the blood to get back into Schwannie’s head and just surrendered to the emotional rush that comes from everyone doing a good job and finishing! We couldn’t hang around too long as we had to pack up and get as far north as we could as we had more racing to do the next day at Infineon with the AFM!

We left Fontana at 7pm and pulled into Santa Nella at 1am, delirious. 4 hours later we were up and driving in order to get to Infineon in time to register, get through tech, make some changes to the bike, put on new tires and get on track for a 20 minute morning warm up. After the riders meeting we rested a bit until race # 4 was called just before lunch and we were out on track for our out lap. On the grid, John’s famous countdown echoed through the paddock, “One board, sidewaaaaays…..green flag!!” and we were off, racing again! I had another weak ass start which pissed me off but I got into 4th by end of lap one and set out after Craig reeling him in by midway securing the final podium spot. With two AFM races in the books, I have a 2nd and a 3rd keeping me in 2nd overall. We loaded up our stuff, collected our trophy, and Val and I headed to Moylan’s brew pub where we met Shan and Mikey for a late lunch. I inhaled a couple pale ales and declared the weekend done...and a success!

Thanks again to Ken, Scott, Lucy and Bobby for all their help and making sure the bikes did the business!!