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Adrenaline Freaks Track day – 22 May 2008
The weather forecast called for a typical North West Washington day, partly cloudy with a 25% chance of showers. Not bad, considering the weather we have been getting. The drive to the track showed a bit of sprinkles, but noting to worry about. Hopefully the weather god will be nice to us and hold off the rain until after we are done today. I proceed to register and start to help Mario and other Adrenaline Freaks Track day staff and instructors to tech bikes and gear. After getting most of tech done, it was time fro the riders meeting.
Mario gave his normal riders meeting and answered a few questions from a couple of new track riders. As soon as we were done with the riders meeting I pulled my rear tire to have Mike with Pirelli Tires swap the direction of the rear. I had some suspension set up problems I was working thru at Miller, so I figured this was a perfect time to swap them and try the new setting. No sooner did I get the rear installed, did the mist and drizzle start.
The latest weather report said it should clear up by 11am. I decided to go ahead and get my rains mounted on my spare rims. After Barry and Butters was done mounting them up, I threw the rains on. By this time we had a decent mist and the track was totally wet. Never hurts to have rain practice here in the NW.
I went out for about 3 rain sessions getting more and more acquainted with the rains and how far I could push them. I was feeling fairly comfortable out there in the rain. Session after session I tried a little bit of suspension changes to get the bike to work better in the rain and give me the confidence I needed. I think I have a fairly good starting point for rain races now, which I am quite sure we will have more of this year.
Around noon the track started to dry enough that you had a clean dry line all the way around the track and the rain tires were getting eaten up. Time to come in and swap back to the DOTs. It was lunch time anyways, so perfect time for a rest and swap of tires.
After grabbing some lunch and swapping tires it was time to go back out on the track for some course marshall/instructor time. The track was pretty dry for almost the whole track, with some puddles in non key areas. After instructing a couple of guys in the intermediate group, I came in for a bit of rest. I was having stomach cramps from about 11am on, not bad enough to not ride, but enough to really bother me while I was off the track. I decide to go out with a pit mate of mine, Daryl, to just “play” around. I lead him for a few laps and then backed off and followed him a bit. We came into the pits and talked about how the session went and where he could make some improvements and different lines and gearing around the track. We were having a great time and then went back out for one more session.
My stomach was still bothering me, pretty good at this point, but it was close to the end of the day and I wanted to get a few more kinks ironed out while there was still the track time. I went out for another session, feeling pretty good for what I had accomplished in the day. Few much needed rain session, followed by about 4 dry sessions. A successful day, which is definitely not how the day started out. Time to prep the bike to go to Dave Lanigan for some dyno tuning after the track day.
My teammate, Troy Harrell, and myself were going to be taking our bikes up to Seattle to Dave Lanigan of Speed Dealer Motors to dyno tune our bikes for race gas. We finished tearing down the pits and also drained the bikes of pump gas and added “Outlaw” for the dyno tune. My stomach was really cramping by this point and I wasn’t sure of the cause. I had drunk plenty of water, ate breakfast, had a couple of bananas and had a burger at the track.
By the time I got to Lanigans shop, I was really hurting. I barely made it there before I had to stop and throw up. Man, what is going on??? I dunnuo….unfortunately Dave wasn’t even there. Me and Troy decided to go to his place to drop the bikes off and he would take them to Lanigan the following day. By the time I made it back to Sumner from Seattle I was really in a lot of pain with stomach cramps and upset stomach. By 9pm I had thrown up 3 more times and could barely stand I was so dehydrated. The cramps in my stomach were so bad it was time for me to go to the doctor. My wife took me to the ER in Puyallup, where immediately I started throwing up. The doctor came in pretty quick and gave me the IV and some med to make the stomach cramps and nausea go away as well as some GOOD pain med. I went in for a CT scan and the results looked like a partially blocked bowel. How the hell does that happen? Anyway, after 2 bags of IV and 6hrs later I was released.
Thank GOD the next day was better with just one episode of getting sick and stomach cramps a lot less severe. This was the 2nd worst pain I have ever felt in my life, second only to Kidney Stones. Today has been a lot better as well, feeling about 80%.
I would like to take this time to thank everyone who helps support me; with out you guys this would be impossible. I would like to thank my wife, Jennifer and son Brenden, with out your help and understanding; racing would be just a dream. I would like to thank all of my friends and family and last but not least, all of my sponsors:
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Adrenaline Freaks Track Day - Miller Motorsports Park, May 10th and 11th
We loaded up the bikes the night prior to leaving. We had worked out a sweet deal with Corey to use friends Motor home to pull a 26ft trailer. We were able to fit 9 bikes in the trailer and we had filled 8 of the spots. Six of us were going down in the RV with the other 2 flying in. The night prior, one of our guys was unable to attend, so we were going down with a total of 7 bikes.
We were scheduled to leave Thursday, 8 May, around 6pm. We all load into the RV and about an hour out, we noticed smoke coming from under the RV. We pulled over and saw transmission fluid leaking. Doug knew of a service center about 20 minutes up the road, so we headed there. They noticed a line leaking that what went to the tranny brake (at least they thought). We decided to try to make the trip with no tranny break. All seemed well for about 30 minutes until all the temps started rising. We decided to turn around and go back to the house. Luckily Corey was able to get his Dads 2500 truck to pull to trailer. We finally got on the road around 1am, 7 hrs behind schedule. The trip was very uneventful, and we made it into Miller around 7pm, a full 25 hr day…but we made it.
The facilities at Miller are AMAZING, nothing any of us in the Pacific Northwest are used to. The garages were great. We had power available, bathrooms, showers and protection from the wind. We unloaded the bikes and set everything up for the track day.
Saturday morning came and we had a staff meeting for Adrenaline Freaks and then opened registration and tech. Unfortunately, we only had about 45 riders registered. What a shame, as Miller is one of the top rated tracks in the US. We were scheduled to run the full course (AMA Course), 4.48 miles, on Sat and the Outer Course (WSBK), 3.05 miles, on Sunday. Registration and tech went smooth and it was time for the first session to begin.
I went out for the first session at a brand new track. WOW!!!!! Miller is AWSOME!!! The pavement is unlike anything we are used to from the PACNW. There is so much grip that it took awhile to get used to being able to carry that much corner speed. The full course is amazing with 23 turns, full of double apex, hair pins, wide open turns and a .8 mile straight away. There was no traffic to speak of on the track and we had a blast. As the day went on we were able to learn the track and start to turn respectable lap times. What a blast!
Sunday came around and it was time to run the Outer Course. The track was “small” at only 3.05 miles, and a blast as well. The new added section called “Witchcraft” took a bit of getting used to and it was mid day before I started feeling comfortable enough to stay pinned thru the turn. I cant say enough how amazing this place is. The day came off with out a hitch, and only had 1 crash and one crash on Saturday as well.
I cant wait until Adrenaline Freaks comes back to Miller in Aug. If anyone has the chance to make it out for this event, you will not be disappointed. It is well worth the drive! Please come out and help support Adrenaline Freaks in Aug!
Pictures courtesy of Brandon Bones of Studio 819
Sat: http://studio819.smugmug.com/gallery/4926227_KNAEy#294356991_sawda
Sun: http://studio819.smugmug.com/gallery/4933370_48RCF#294977979_F3iYV
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Zero Profile Racing – Jay Buchanan #63 - WMRRA Round 2 Race Report - 5/3-4, 2008
The forecast for the 2nd round of the WMRRA race season looked promising. It was calling for a passing shower in the AM on Saturday and then sunshine.
Saturday morning came and it was dry, what a change from the first WMRRA round that left us with about a ½ inch of snow. I head out in the first morning practice, Group 5 practice. The bike was feeling pretty good with some slight suspension changes needed. Now if only I could feel this good. I could feel the rust from not being on the track but one time since my turn 1 crash late last year. I was able to pull off some respectable lap time, especially with the rusty rider, off a few 33's and consistent low 34’s. I know I could be better in the race with a few minor changes to gearing and suspension changes.
Lunch time came and the sky beings to gray even further then they were. The "passing shower in the AM" has seemed to finally come. I looked around and don’t see anyone changing to rains. I look up at the sky and do not see this “passing shower” passing anytime soon. I decided to swap tires now so I could get one rain practice before the 600 Super sport race.
Second practice, Group 5 came. There were only about 4 or 5 riders that got rains mounted in time. I went out for some much needed rain practice. My teammate, Troy Harrell, had decided not to ride in the rain so I had thrown his rains that were already mounted on. During the first few laps I noticed I needed some much needed help in the suspension settings, as the bike seemed to plow thru the turns like a dump truck. Overall, good practice session and I had a good idea of what I needed to change.
My next race, 600 Super sport, was scheduled for an hour after my final practice. I was trying to warm up by the heater and get as dry as possible during the off time. I noticed I didn’t hear any bikes on the track. Myself and a few other riders where wondering what was going on. We ran to the starter and checked what was going on. Holly Shit!!!! We were up. Sidecars had declined their practice so our race was moved up 30 minutes. Myself and 3 other riders hurried to the grid. We missed the citing lap and went straight to the grid. I gridded dead last, of about 32 riders, as to not upset the other riders and starter since I was so late. The flag dropped and I got a good launch. I worked my way up to the top 15 by turn 1 and passed about 3 more riders on the outside of turn 2. Visibility was TERRIBLE, with the water spray from other bikes. I settled in around 9th place, pacing a few other riders. I was going into turn 3 and accidently took an extra downshift and the bike was all over the place. I gathered it back up, but lost 3 or 4 spots. I was starting to gain confidence in the rain and latched on to John Lippis. We worked our way thru a few other riders and had a great battle. Visibility was terrible down the front straight and I was having to lift going into to turn 1. I was able to out break John on the last lap going into turn 2 and was able to hold him off thru the remainder of the track. I came across the line and finished 9th place, my highest finish in WMRRA Expert race thus far!
Call comes for 750SS, actually heard this call, and I head out. Nico and myself moved up front so we could get a clean warm-up lap in and see what the conditions are like without all the spray from the other bikes. I settle into my grid spot, which was third row of the 2nd wave. With the rain, they did it as a 1 wave start. I took the outside line of turn 2 and passed 3 or 4 guys. Down the hill into turn 3 and I caught a couple more. Around the half way mark or a bit later I came thru turn 7 to see Nico had high sided and was off in the dirt.
The next lap I was making an outside pass on turn 4 and on the exit, one of the lap traffic had high sided as well and his bike was laying right in my exit path. I had to settle back in behind the guy I had just passed. I came across the line in 13th place.
Sunday morning came, finally it was dry. Time to swap out the rains and throw the DOT’s back on. Morning practice was relatively slow, with the track not totally dry yet and track temp being very low. I had forgotten to take the rain suspension changes out of the bike, so I was running wide in a lot of the corner exits.
We get the call for 600 Super Bike race. The board goes up, revs come up, board stays up…and up….and up. Board goes down and the light stays on. What is going on? Board goes up AGAIN, and the light finally goes off. Hope I didn’t fry the clutch. Off we go from my row 8 starting position of the second wave. I got a good jump, and was able to pass a lot of guys on the outside of turn 1 and hold the throttle open and make a few more passes into turn 2. I seem to be in a comfortable pace, nothing special on times and around 15th place. Around lap 3 or 4 I am coming out of turn 7 and get on the gas and the revs just go up. Wheel spin, no…. the back in was planted….looks like I did fry the clutch. Lap after lap it got worse. I had no drive out of 3rd gear. I lost about 5 or 6 places and finished 21st.
750 Super Bike race came and I decided to try and limb the bike thru the race. I didn’t want to damage the bike to much since we were going to Miller Motorsports Park in a week. The race was very uneventful for me. 3rd gear was slipping a lot, so I tried running down a gear in a few turns and then 2nd gear was gone as well. I limbed the bike back to a 31st place finish out of 52.
Overall was a great weekend, and I was able to talk to Rick Salmon at SB Motorsports to drop ship me a new clutch before we depart for Miller Motorsports Park. I would like to thank all of my teammates at Zero Profile Racing (Troy Harrell, Josh Ngyen, Jamie Gaiser and Andrew Nelson) as well as all of my Sponsors (Adrenaline Freaks Track Days, Suomy, Terra Powersports, Braking, Vortex, Elka Suspension, Dependable Wheel Repair, AZ-Synthetic Lubes – AMSOIL, Powerstands, Utopia Optics, LP, Regina Chains and Leo Vince Exhaust)!
Pictures courtesy of Brandon Bones of Studio 819
Sat: http://studio819.smugmug.com/gallery/4884505_qabaa#291358115_svXBp
Sun: http://studio819.smugmug.com/gallery/4889418_h3cWd#291736556_3xGxn
See everyone for the Adrenaline Freaks Track Day in Miller on 10 and 11 May!
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