Race Report

2006 OMRRA Season Finale

737Racing — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:04:00 +0000

The 14th and 15th brought us the best and worst of conditions for the final weekend.

Saturday was clear, fast and fun. I got one practice session on the 600, and then took the team bike out for a few laps to try to learn how to ride an SV fast at PIR.

I was able to get out on the second leg to help the team toward its top 3 goal.
I got to see first hand what the SV guys have to put up with when the I4’s go screaming by, only to throw out the anchors in T1, T7. I never really got quick enough to take advantage of the bike’s abilities at PIR, but I did have fun. I clicked off consistent :22’s with a few :21’s to show for pushing it in a few corners I’m comfortable in.
The team went on to achieve a 3rd place finish with 175 laps in 4 hours.
Steve, Dave and Darren really helped by clicking sub :20’s all afternoon.
Geoff, the bike owner and team Captain made the speech at the award ceremony.
It was a proud time for team R&D Machine.

Sunday arrived as predicted: Wet and cold. The morning conditions were misleading as the wind was blowing and it wasn’t raining, yet. I found out that there weren’t enough entrants to make senior classes, so the season was officially over for me. Despite the rain and lack of points, I decided to run anyway in the main 600 grids and have fun.
I Opted to get a new soft DOT rear to run until the track was wet enough for rains. I didn’t want to destroy my rains when a dry line appeared. I spent the warm ups changing tires, softening up my suspension, and then switching to full rains when it did finally start to rain. I went out for my first qualifier and tiptoed around the track for 4 laps. I couldn’t open the throttle anywhere without spinning the rear. It was frustrating and sketchy. I took the bike over to my vendor and talked to him a bit about it. He had a soft compound rain rear that he wanted me to try. I traded the new DOT for the softer rear and tried it again on my next quallie.
It worked like a champ. I was able to hook up everywhere except the back straight, so I short shifted and pinned it where I could. I had a blast. Now I knew how the fast guys could get around the track so fast. Setup and tires meant everything.

For the 10 lappers, the wind came up and the rain slowed to a mist. I noticed the track drying a bit, and the wind in some of the corners made them uncomfortable.
I ran to continue to get a feel for the bike and tires, until Tom and Chris came by.
Knowing Alan was somewhere behind, I signaled at the back straight and got off the line, hugging T8 tight allowing him to go around on the race line. He took it and I went back to the pits. Thinking I was done for the day, I sat down and just listened to people talking about conditions. A little later, Rob Burch came by and talked me into going out again for the last 10 lapper. I did and was rewarded with lower wind, a wet track and a good pace. I didn’t get lapped, and didn’t come in last. In fact. I got 13th in both mains.
Being that it was a double points weekend, and many opted not to run in such conditions, I brought in 40 and 48 points in 600ss and 600sb. Classes I don’t normally run in.
This shows both sides of the double points weekend coin.

Thus I complete the season with:
2nd place 750 SS Senior
3rd place 600 SS Senior
4th place 600 SB Senior

40th place 600 SS
43rd place 600 SB

Dale's OMRRA Race Report for 8/19/2006

737Racing — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 16:46:00 +0000

Another Energy Sapping Scorcher Hits PIR.

I'll still take a hot day over a rain day.
I got the bike and leathers fixed in time for the August event with no time to spare.
Often when one improves significantly, they have reached a new performance plateau which get narrower and narrower the faster one gets. I was no exception. I improved by 2 seconds per lap last month to a level that makes the margin of error narrower.
I exceeded that margin and low sided the bike in an attempt to overtake a rider running equal or slightly better than I.
Having started a new job, I don't have the vacation time available to get seat time before the races. I rely on Saturday practice to re-acquaint myself with a 2-wheeled vehicle Therefore I ride my race bike one weekend every month. I feel this is a progress hampering reality, however I still enjoy doing what I can. Thus, after last month's crash, and OMRRA only having the track for one day, the track day scheduled for Friday became the practice day for many racers, myself excluded. I had very little time (20 minutes of warm-up laps first thing in the morning) to shake the cobwebs and get over the crash and be competitive. I felt out of place during the warm up laps and wondered if I really was going to be able to step up and keep up with Jon and Dave. They both managed to improve, and I went backwards. I lost the speed I had found the months before. So, it turned out to be an average day. No phenomenal lap times, but no crashes. I felt a bit gun shy, and didn’t take aggressive lines or push to get passes in some of the places I’m normally strong, so I relegated to getting deep braking passes or draft passes on the straights.

I had time to install the new master cylinder reservoir, and brake pads. I went out on my warm-ups and noted that the forks felt twisted. The bike felt good on power, but felt like the clutch was slipping or was spinning leaving hot pits. With no time to make adjustments or replace the clutch, I chose to pay attention to what the bike was doing and adjust my riding to suit. To make matters worse, the directions on the AMB Transponders say to unplug the charging base after the unit has charged. I did so on Wednesday before work. By Saturday morning, the unit was dead. The transponder had drained even though the instructions said it wouldn’t.
The result was that when I ran my qualifiers, I didn’t show up on the electronic scoring. OMRRA eliminated manual scoring that it had used last year as a backup to an aging electronic scoring system. When I went to contest my qualification results, which had placed me last on the grid for all of my races, they told me that I had to get confirmation from 2 riders who finished behind me.
Not knowing who ran behind me, I settled to run from last, and get aggressive on my starts.

I barely remember which race was which, as they were 20 minutes apart, and it was incredibly hot. I barely had time to get pitted, hydrated and fuel checked before hitting the grid again. I do remember on my last race, the 600SB race, I nailed the start and had 2nd place knowing that Dave was somewhere back there. I watched a rider take a strange line entering the back straight 2 bikes in front of me. Knowing he was going off the track, I concentrated on my line and getting as aerodynamic as possible to keep Dave behind me. I didn’t see him next to me in the entrance for the turn at the end of the straight, so I knew I had a good chance on this lap. Red Flag. I’d already passed the turn that signals whether we go back to grid or pits, so everyone and I with me went to the grid, and shut down our motors. They sent us back to our pits a few minutes later. Not knowing how long, I left my bike with the tires in the sun, while I got some water. I have a clearance problem with my front fender, which makes my front tire warmer difficult to mount. It was so hot, that I knew the sun would do just as well keeping the tires warm and I didn’t want to exert the extra energy to install the warmers while still in my hot leathers. I chose to sit in the shade, in my leathers expecting our grid to be called any minute.
I didn’t get as good of a start on the restart, and got held up by some slower riders on new bikes which meant draft passing was impossible, so I had to out brake them to get by. Not wanting to repeat last month’s off track event, I settled on bringing the bike back in a comfortable third place.

Results:

750 SS Senior: 2nd place
600 SS Senior: 3rd place
600 SB Senior: 4th place

Dale's OMRRA 7/16 Race Report

737Racing — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:39:00 +0000

OMRRA July Race weekend tests skill, patience.

Good morning,

I'm glad to report that all who crashed on the Columbia River Moto-sports team are all in good health.
The worse any person fared was a separated AC Joint suffered by teammate Dave Wallway.

I felt pretty good on Saturday, and ran pretty well. My friends and teammates said I was riding fast.
That was good to hear. I ran without an AMB all morning, and got it charged and mounted enough for one afternoon session, and found that I was hitting :16's on a regular basis.

Then came Sunday.
I was supposed to run in 3 qualifying races Sunday morning, however the track got completely oiled and took several hours to clean up. Knowing the corner that gives me the most fits was slick, I opted not to run the Qualifier that would be on the grid immediately after the cleanup, and changed out of my leathers, only to find out a while later that all the qualifiers would be cancelled, and my 10 lap main would be the first on the track.

600SS Senior: We were allowed 2 sighting laps to a. get a feel for the condition of the track, and b, find a safe line around. There was oil sweep visible all over, however it was well cleaned, and the traction was good. Good enough that I dipped into the :15's mid race. I ran hard enough to get many passes in to finish 3rd and increase my points standing to 3rd place. I counted 8 passes on mylaps.com.

750SS Senior: 20 minutes following my 600 race, I had to grid for the 750 race. I managed to get some water, and check my fuel. I kept my tires warm, and went out fighting. I got 3 passes and was hunting Jon who was leading the race. I avoided target fixing on a crash in turn 2 which cleared the way to hunt down Jon. In lap 7, I ran harder and closed the gap to find that I was too hot into the shifting zone at 1B. When I tried to pick up the bike for the shift, I had rolled off throttle to maintain my gap and prepare for my drive out of T2 to outbrake him into T3. The result was a loaded front end and as soon as I counter steered, the front wheel stopped spinning and slid away. I watched my 2nd place finish go out the window as I was sliding off the track. Fortunately, I had enough of a points lead coming into this weekend that I'm still in 1st place by 6 points. We enter a double points race next month, so I'll have my work cut out repairing my bike and getting my head ready to remain competitive. I achieved a new personal best during this race. While chasing down Jon, I dropped my times to 1:15.068.
I'm close enough to :14's that I know where I can accomplish this and will be ready to try next month.

600SB Senior: My bike was damaged enough that it was impossible to repair it in time for my final race for the day, so I packed up my gear and watched my teammates duke it out.

Results:
600SS Senior. 3rd place finish, 3rd place overall.
600SB Senior. DNS and I've dropped to 5th overall.
750SS Senior. DNF, however I've maintained 1st place overall with a 6 point lead.

Thanks to all the OMRRA volunteer corner workers and everyone involved in cleaning up the oil.
You all did a wonderful job returning the track to a safe and fun venue to hunt for our shiny new trophies. Dave and Barry at GP Suspension helped to get my suspension tuned perfectly for the tires and conditions. Hat off to you guys. The bike fells the best it ever has and my times are showing because of that and my confidence in my Michelin DOT tires. I'm very happy with my Pilot Race tires. They have stuck for me under some impressive mid-corner changes including hard trail-braking to prevent a collision.
The R6 motor under Ron Hopkin's building and tuning continues to run strong and withstand significant abuse including a 100 plus mph mis-shift from 3rd to 2nd instead of 4th. Thank you Ron!
Columbia Rive Moto-Sports, R&d Machine and Jason Merrit of REMAX continues to find ways to be there supporting the team. Thank you, you guys make this all possible!

Now, on to hone my crash repair skills. See you in August!

OMRRA Race report for 6/25

737Racing — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:15:00 +0000

After a long break from the track, OMRRA took to the pavement at PIR for racing in sweltering 100 degree heat. Many personal bests were achieved despite the heat.
Here is one account:

I began my practice laps on Thursday during our Cascade Tracktime trackday feeling pretty good despite a 6 week gap since I've been on the seat.
Entering the first turn, I noticed the bike felt light, flickable and fun.
It didn't take long before I was keeping up with my teammates. Something I hadn't been able to do since the beginning of the year. Each lap felt better and better, and I decided to reel it in a bit to keep from tossing the bike.

Saturday saw the shock getting rebuilt, as I found the rebound was completely gone, and the bike was pogoing off of bumps on the back straight. With fresh tires and a refreshed shock. I put the bike aside to concentrate on supporting my team during the first of three endurance races in the North West series. The team went home with a 5th place in class with 3 laps deciding 3rd, 4th and 5th place. It was a close race.

Sunday morning warm-ups found me visiting Dave at GP Suspension to get final hydraulic tweaking done to dial in the shock. Happy with how it felt, I entered my qualifiers and broke the barrier I had all season. During my quallies and mains, I managed to dip into the low 16's with a 1:16:02 as a personal best.

Starting in the rear of the premier grids, I both enjoy and find frustrating the fact that we have to drill into the middle of a 50 bike pack, jockeying for position to beat out our class competitors of whom its difficult to distinguish with all the bikes bunched together. I made up positions in all my races, only to lose 2 positions to David Gill and Jon Walker, both on identical bikes to mine.
There were scoring mistakes during the day and I went home with 2nd place plaques, only to find out I'll be trading them for 3rd place the next time I see David.
Both are running very well this year, and I find I'm still losing to David, but I can run with Jon now, as I prove in the 750cc race Sunday Afternoon.

Prior to taking my sighting lap for the 10 lap mains, I learned to dump a bottle of water in my leathers. This soaks my shirt and instantly snaps me alert and sustains focus and energy for the entire 10 laps in 100 degree heat.
I attacked the 750 grid in the same fashion. Drive hard off the start trying to keep the wheel down and gain as many positions before the checker.
I enjoyed trading positions with Carlos, the club VP on his ducati, before he gaped me by a few seconds only to find just how gentle the throttle hand needs to be on a hot - greasy track. His highside gave me the lead in 750 Senior.
All I had to do was hold off Jon. I later learned that he had a foot control issue that wasn't serious enough to cause him to retire, but enough to be distracting.

The results of the weekend:

600 Senior Super Sport: 3rd place and 4th overall.
600 Senior Super Bike: 3rd place and 4th overall.
750 Senior Super Sport: 1st place and 1st place overall. A milestone achievement.

I couldn't have improved and raced this well without the support of Dave and the team of R&D Machine Racing. Darryl, Jason and the team of Columbia Moto-Sports have been backing me this year, and I'm trying my best not to let them down. They really set themselves apart from the other dealers with the team Barbequeue. The very nice folk that volunteer to come in and help feed a bunch of hungry racers definitely deserve recognition. Michelin tires felt especially grippy all weekend including the slickest part of the day.
Rick at SB Motorsports helps me with tire selection and suspension adjustment choices. I appreciate his help.
Dave and Barry at GP Suspension were invaluable this weekend, helping me with my shock woes. Huge thanks to you guys! Thanks to the volunteer crew that keep OMRRA running. Safety workers, scorers, and officials are all there because they love the sport. Tnank you for being there for us!

July is only a few weeks away. I'm motivated to stay fast, stay up, and stay consistent and defend my 1st place spot. We're half way through the season and nothing is decided yet. If you can make it to the track, do come down.
We have incorporated stunting, pocketbikes and open pits for visiting and viewing.
You can learn more at www.omrra.com.

race report for May 21, 2006

737Racing — Mon, 22 May 2006 21:59:00 +0000

A weekend wrought with multiple tire changes fuel shortage and a 2nd place finish - In a Senior race.

My practice went without event although I wasn’t hitting my target times.
I contribute that to early braking and conservative speeds in the fast turns, shortcomings I’m gradually chipping away. I pulled off early to have Dave at GP to check my sag and dampening. A few tweaks later, the bike felt different, and took some getting used to. The hot tear issue with the rear tire was gone, and the bike felt more planted.

I seem to end up in the same grid position in the 600 senior classes.
This helps me learn to change up my strategy for getting through the slow starters.
I used to like the inside, but had a scare as I realized (almost the hard way) the track narrowed after the festival curves. Also, as the grids get larger, the holes seem to shrink.
Not being as aggressive on the brakes nor eager to scoot up inside someone at tip in as I was last year, I’m finding myself becoming another sheep following the herd around the line until it spreads out a bit. Each time, I watched in disappointment as David Gill, my target for this year, motor around the outside and settle in with the :15-:16 pack as I go backwards trying to get around people I’m just a tiny bit faster in the infield, which isn’t saying much. This weekend I kept the group in sight, and felt like I was reeling them in.
However, not really having a battle, after the first few passes, I settled in to complete the race and conserve my strength for a long afternoon. Same grid positions for the mains, with little change in the Superbike race. Result: 4th place 600SB Senior.

No sooner had I come in from my 750 SS qualifier which earned me a 3rd place grid position, I heard the call for Taste of Racing. I spashed some fuel in and went over to assist. I roamed around on the track watching the street riders. A few of the racers and I ran a quick lap to come in behind the pack of street riders. I found a guy running slow wide lines and running almost wide enough to run off the track. I shadowed him for a bit, then led him around exaggerating my body positioning, braking areas, tip-in and apex points. He started to show improvement and he’d open up on the straight, so I would too. The final time, I opened up and noted the bike was down on power. I made a mental note to pull in, but would never make it. Not running at full throttle except for the straight, I never noticed my fuel was low. I tipped into T1, and exposed the port on the fuel tank to nothing but air. It died before T2, and I had to push the bike out of the impact zone praying no one would target fixate and anticipating the ribbing I was about to get by, well, everyone. A corner worker came to help and we leaned the bike to the left and started it. It picked up some fuel and I was able to idle to the infield road enroute to the pits when it died again. I pushed it back to the pits, when Dodge offered to push me the rest of the way. Thanks Dodge!

The 600 Supersport main was something different. 30 minutes before my grid, the sky darkens and waits. 20 minutes before we grid, the sky opens up and it looks to be a wet afternoon. My teammate immediately switches over to rains, and I deal with this feeling that its not going to last. No significant puddles are forming even though its raining steady. I watch the front straight and note the spray getting thrown by the vintage bikes.
Decision time: Go with the rains. Columbia’s mechanic helped me change to my rains and we get the wheels swapped and safety wired by 2nd call for our grid. I gave some thought to softening my suspension for the slick conditions, however didn’t know where to start and had no setup info for rain conditions. That would be my folly.
The bike slipped and squirmed the whole race. I stepped out in 5 and I instinctively put my foot out for a motocross style save which I didn’t need. I even had a push and step out in the back straight. Very demoralizing. I thought several times about pulling in and waiting in hotpit until the white flag. Not knowing what the outcome would be and not wanting to give up after coming this far, I continued to tiptoe around the track getting lapped by everyone I think. Some went out in DOTs and found dry lines. Others went out in rains and for whatever reason, ran well where I was sliding and spinning. I made it to the checker and pulled in after the “cooldown” lap hanging my head in shame.

As soon as I pitted, we replaced the rains with DOTs and added the warmers.
There was a redflag that helped delay my grid which allowed the tires to heat up longer. The 750 race went well, although I watched John Umfleet rail around in 3 on the third lap, determined to keep in front of me after I beat him in the Qualifier. I kept on his 6 while he duked it out with a twin only to highside coming out of a tight exit in 9. I exited between his spinning bike and pieces of plastic coming to rest on the track. Red flag.
We regridded and had a nice long rest, not due to John. They had him cleaned up and off the track quickly. There was a delay which I could not hear from my grid position, but noted several riders went to sit on the hotpit wall while their tires cooled down. Finally they greenflagged the track and we got another warm up lap. We restarted with a 7 lap main, down 3 from the previous start. Fine with me. I started conservatively with cool tires and fell in behind the twins again. After I gained confidence in the tires, I put my head down and threaded through the twins and started for my leader when I saw the white flag. I gave the old college try, but I couldn’t get to him in time. Result: 2nd place 750 SS Senior.

Results:
4th place 600 SB Senior
3rd place 600 SS Senior
2nd place 750 SS Senior

Overall the weekend was a good learning experience. I shaved some time off my laps. Got enough wheel changing practice to qualify for Daytona 200 pitting, and learned the value of good suspension setup.
I started becoming comfortable braking later and improving my corner entry all over the track. I’m eager for the next weekend. Another trackday, practice day, and opportunity to improve my comfort with the speed again.

Many thanks to Columbia River Moto-Sports and R&D Machine Racing for making this season possible. Rick at SB Motorsports for his tire support, the volunteers and corner workers who stand out in the rain or shine to make sure we’re attended to quickly.
We gave them their share of work this weekend. Also thanks to Shawn Gist for having a daughter with a quad to give my daughter someone to ride with while at the track.

2006 RoadRace Season Opener at Portland International Raceway

737Racing — Tue, 02 May 2006 18:40:00 +0000

My first week back on a bike in 8 months has met with mixed results.
I started the week with a track day to reacquaint myself with the bike, the track and the suspension changes made to improve handling.
I felt like a fish out of water for the first session and began to question what I was doing out in the fast group. I'm sure many others were questioning me as well.
Soon, I started to find my rhythm and began to hit my marks again. I don't have a lap timer, so I don't know what my riding level was, nor do I want to.

Friday found me negotiating with a different tire vendor with the expectation that I'd win contingency in my class.
So Friday ended with fresh oil, filter, and new Michelin Tires.

Saturday morning practice went well. I signed up for medium practice and continued to hit my marks from the beginning of the week.
My practice times weren't impressive at all, however my confidence in the tire choice, once they warmed up, was improving.
After 2 sessions, I took the bike to the GP to have a feel. After removing a click of rebound, and double checking with the Michie vendor I was out for some more laps.
The tear line that was beginning to appear was gone. Replaced with a smooth scrubbing pattern characteristic of good throttle control and suspension setup appeared.
I returned to the pits to find my lap times had started to drop as I continued to regain confidence, however I was still braking early and using a very comfortable corner entry speed.

Sunday, I arrived mentally ready and completed all the pre-race prep-work early. I was so far ahead of schedule I had forgotten to re-establish my pre-race routine and forgot to watch the clock so as to plug in my tire warmers in enough time to get some heat built up before the sighting lap for my first qualifier.

Senior bikes, (5 years and older) start at the back of their respective 600 grids and start on the same wave.
In theory the bikes are technologically disadvantaged compared to the new bikes, so they race in their own class even though they start at the same time as the new bikes.
This makes keeping track of your class competitors difficult and its possible to get separated from them in traffic.
The starting location does offer opportunity to get good competition level passing done. I use lap times and passing opportunities to gauge my progress.

I had set my sights pretty high based on progress I made last year. This first day was a disappointment in that I didn't reach those goals, but I did manage to knock off 8 months of rust from my riding and improve throughout the weekend. I'll have a new clutch thanks to my sponsor Columbia River Moto-Sports and some more seat time with my sponsor Cascade Track time. A fresh set of Michelins thanks to Rick at SB Motor Sports will complete the bike for a new weekend of competition with Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing at our home track Portland International Raceway right here in Portland, OR.

Results:
600SS/600SS Senior Qualifier:
With the sighting lap and first lap on cold tires I got a good start and drilled my way into the middle of a 48 bike grid from the 2nd to last row.
When I tipped in and felt the bike squirm on top of cold tires, I held my line and only a tiny bit of throttle and allowed what felt like the whole pack to pass.
I continued through the infield carefully and tried my luck feeling a slip in the first turn after the back straight. After another run down the 160mph front straight, I tried a hotter turn in and found the familiar grip I needed at the start. Race on! I started rolling through the turns harder and picking targets to pass. By the end of the 4 laps I had picked up 2 positions and was surprised to find I wasn't the last person around the first lap.
Result: 4th place 600SS Senior

600SB/600SB Senior Qualifier:
This time I paid attention to time and had plenty of heat in the tires. I did some heavy braking on the sighting lap to further ensure the tires were ready.
My start wasn't as good, but I motored into the fray and held my ground going into Turn 1.
I pushed my comfort level a bit trying to overcome some of the ghosts I had encountered at the corners I had crashed in.
It was enough to gain 5 positions in 4 laps, so I was happy with progress, though I was still 3 seconds per lap from last year.
Result: 4th place 600SB Senior

600SS/600SS Senior Main:
My start was a little better and I gained enough confidence to make a mid turn mid pack pass on the inside of the exit of the first turn. This put me in the position to make another pass exiting turn 2 during the drag race to my least favorite turn. I won the race to the inside line and forced myself to keep pace so as not to give up my position on the brakes. It worked. I found my confidence in my tires and self to improve my corner speed into the only real left hander at the track. I continued to charge the entire race and picked up 7 positions in the 10 lap main, however I dropped 2 positions in my class for a 6th place finish.
I noticed that I need to step up my physical training to maintain pace the entire race.
I started to drop off my pace after the 8th lap, but found the energy to charge when I saw the white flag.
Result: 6th place 600SS Senior

600SS/600SB Senior Main:
My start wasn't great. I noticed that my clutch was getting bad and needed to keep feeding it cable to get the same feel on the lever, and had relied on getting my foot up, head down and motoring into the pack from the back of the grid where the Senior Class starts. I made a mental note to replace the disks prior to next month's race.
This time I could sense that most of the back of the pack was all around me. I got stuck inside and watched many bikes go through a hole on the outside. I felt my rear give a little at full lean, so I decided to ride a smart race and finish. I managed to get 3 passes in, but lost sight of my competitors. My finish was an unimpressive 5th place in Senior.
Result: 5th place 600SB Senior

Dale Johnson receives Top Novice Award

737Racing — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 05:01:00 +0000

During the November 19 Club banquet, trophys were distributed, a silent auction was held to raise money for additional airfence installation, and Dale Johnson, Kevin Pinkstaff, and David Wallway received the Top Novice award for sportmanship, volunteer efforts, and efforts to promote the club on and off the track.

This came as a nice surprise, and my team made it a point not to tell me I was receiving the award, both because it was my birthday so it was to be a surprise, and I suspect also because I wouldn't have a speech prepared, so watching me stammer through an off the cuff speech would be entertaining.

The 2006 Board and schedule have been selected. The team is making preparations for next season. A few of us have bodywork to repair as well as engines to rebuild, and spares to acquire. Look for more updates as the season draws near.

Season's over for me.

737Racing — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 16:52:00 +0000

Broken finger, broken bike, broken spirit, surgery pending....Doc said no riding, or any activity that may jeapordize the finger. So no racing for the rest of this season.
I had no idea it was so fragile. It was good that I didn't find out the hard way though.
I go in for surgery next Tuesday, the 27th of September. They'll do a bone graft to repair it, and do a biopsy of a tumor they found during the X-Ray. There is a slim possiblity that if its malignant, they'll have to amputate and I'll lose the finger. I'll know the following Tuesday if I get to keep the finger or not. I can sure use some prayer right about now. I don't want to lose my finger.

It was tough watching David Gill (OMRRA #840) get faster and consistantly leave the rest of the 600 Seniors behind yesterday. Great riding David!Wish I would have been out there racing with him. We'll try for next year!

The results are up on OMRRA's website. Due to my premature racing cessation this year, I've dropped from 4th to 5th in 600 SB Senior. I expect I'll drop further down as there's one more race this season. I'm satisfied with my results up to that point. My goal was to graduate this year. I did that. I adjusted my goal to podium in my class. I did that. I'll work toward dropping my times for next season and try to podium all season and take home a class trophy.
Gotta have a dream to chase!
Watch my news updates on the outcome of my surgery and progress on the bike rebuild preparation progress for next year. Stay tuned for events as they develop.
See ya in the pits.

-737

They said there'd be days like these

737Racing — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 17:49:00 +0000

Its been a rough few days. I'd thought about sitting this weekend out for financial reasons.Back to school expenses, etc. But given it was a one day event, thought what the heck.
Had my PSSR day on Friday and feelt pretty comfortable at a good (for me) pace.The turn one demons were gone. So I thought I'd work on my entries in 3 and 4.Our points leader was guest instructing, so I asked for help in 3 and 4 later in the afternoon. I'd never get to take advantage of that opportunity.Half way through the 2nd session of the day, I tucked the front in T3, tried once to save it, but didn't have the experience to know what to do with it once it caught again, so I lost it again and let go. I slid off behind it and watched it flip in the dirt, and lost sight of it in the resulting dirt cloud, then found it about 30 ft. away still running.The bike fared ok. Had to replace a clip-on and do some bodywork, and required some welding work from Dave at R&D to repair my broken fairing stay.Kudos to Dave, he did a great job. The repair held up under even more abuse. More on that in a minute.
After the welding, I'd thought about going back to the track to re-assemble the bike to save some stress in the morning, but not knowing whether I'd be able to convince the gate that I'm not camping and already stretching my budget, and remembering at the last minute that my new tires and tools were locked in the R&D trailer sent me home to concentrate on my fiberglassing. At least I was lazy enough to decide not to bring my bodywork repair materials to the track. I got the necessary repairwork done and went to bed to replay my crash over and over.
Saturday came and I found myself struggling to get the tires changed and the bike reassembled before the warmups. I had to have help taking it to tech while I ran my gear over to get it inspected during the rider's meeting. Thanks again Steve and Dave for helping I wouldn't be able to even run some of these weekends if it weren't for you guys. You too Sven, if you're reading this in your Comfy hotel in NYC !
I felt like a fish out of water on my warmup sessions. My rear warmer was on the blink again, and didn't get enough heat into the new rear.I was wobbly and slow and wondering if I'd get black flagged and sent into the slow warmup group, forgetting that the day was so compressed, the warmups were by class vs. by laptime. Everyone was passing me even though it was a warmup. Again, I was wondering why I was there.That all changed when the qualifiers came. I'd had time to fix my rear warmer, got the tires scrubbed in during warm-ups and felt good on the sighting lap.I found that I was gridded 2 from the outside wall, which meant if I got a good start, I'd be in the middle of the swarm tipping in to T1.I hate the outside, too many guys get crowded off the track in the 1st lap melee. When the green dropped however, the demons were gone. It was down to the business of racing. I was hungry to trophy and had my sights set.
I got an ok start and shuffled my way over to the inside. I know I passed a few bikes on the start, and got passed a few times as well. I did manage to get a few passes in in the 4 laps but found myself down 2 positions for the main - on the inside! I love starting from the inside. It would pay off dividends in the later races, as I ended up starting from the inside for the rest of my races.
The supersport quallie went about the same. I started from the inside and got around what felt like quite a few bikes and found a hole to tip into 1 somewhere midpack.I got passed by few guys and a guy on a new Kawi who I watched decided to try to stick with him. He danced around trying to get a line around a slower guy in two.He finally got a chance in 3 and I followed, but didn't make it before 4. I gave up the position and concentrated on a good pass to try to re-catch the Kawi.He was gone. I settled into running my pace and getting a few more passes in. Same grid position as before. Cool!
Superbike main came up and I got a great start. I motored around quite a few bikes and slipped into a hole on the inside line going into T1.No problem. I kept her tight and fell into a line of bikes through the infield. I was especially careful entering T3, but didn't let the mishap the previous day slow me down. Its my weak corner, but I managed to hold my own through it and never got into a defensive drag race to T4.I got a great pass inside on T7. I love late braking that corner and throwing the bike around.I showed the guy a wheel on the brakes on the inside line and when he turned to look at me, I knew I had him.Still not knowing if he'd drive hard to hold his position I took the turn as tight as I could and ended up apexing on the curbing and motored through 8 and 9 and never saw him again. I picked the next guy to work on. A familiar red RR, Andre! Hey, I knew that guy. He had a great drive out of 9 and a strong motor, so I just worked on reeling him in on the brakes. It worked. I got in his draft matching his drive out of 9 and got by him mid-straight. 17th place! Up from 28th starting position. Not bad. I had the line going into T1, so I broke and shifted in my comfort zone and tipped in to start driving on the next guy, when a blue bike came up underneath me at the apex. I recognized the rider. He is an animal in the turns. He did the same move on me in Novice and I was stoked to see his move. When he ran wide and slowed down, things changed quickly. If I would have just concentrated on looking at 1A and held my line I would have been fine. However, when he drifted wide and slowed, I thought for sure we were going to contact and I looked for a way around him and the line was right off the track, which is where I went. I got the bike stood up and successfully slowed before the tirewall. I turned back toward the track and looked to see - no one. The pack was gone.I motored back onto the track, put my head down and rode hard. I managed to catch 2 guys before the checker. Meanwhile the leaders came by to show me just how far back I'd dropped. I've been lapped before by the first 3 riders, but this time I got to see who was running 4th and 5th, etc. One of the bikes I caught was a senior bike as well.I wasn't last. Looking at my laptimes later, I found that off track excursion only cost me 20 seconds. It felt like an eternity.
The Supersport main wasn't so good. I gridded inside again, but found that Andre, gridded ahead of me, also wanted the inside line. So I ended up following him into 1.Remembering where I got him before, I concentrated on sticking to him until the drive out of T9. He got a great drive but didn't drift to the wall on the exit.I drove out and pinned it and let it drift to the wall and came up on Andre's draft. I crossed his draft, passed and kept my head down.Not knowing if he'd try to outbrake me, to retake his postion I took the inside line, and broke way later than I was used to. It was the longest 150mph stoppie of my life.The bike wagged side to side, and all I could concentrate on was keeping the back tire behind me and getting it on the ground before turn in.I was successful, but didn't downshift during all that craziness. I rolled on to aim for 1A and nothing, no drive and running wide very fast.I made the same mistake as before, I shifted my eyes off of my target and looked where the bike was going, right of the track, almost the same place as before.Same drill, stood her up, modulated the back brake, but it wasn't slowing. (6th gear vs 3rd) no engine braking to help, and the wall was coming up fast.I decided that I was going to have to ditch 'er. I'd never bailed on a bike going that fast in my life. I decided to try and get it into a slide and somehow miracuously save it in the gravel. Wasn't going to happen, I got it sideways, but took my foot off the back brake and she bucked me like an angry bull.Great, my first high-side. I landed on my elbow and hip, and don't know what my right hand did, but it hurt immediately.I bounced up, shut off the bike, and ripped my glove off, expecting to see my fingers pointing the wrong way.They weren't and I could wiggle them, so I went to the wall just miffed at myself. The corner workers were there from all directions.One of them even had to run over from T1. You guys are awesome, thanks again!We looked the bike over, found it was in ok shape, and not leaking. I started it, and watched it for a while.Satisfied it wasn't going to leak, I got the thumbs up to ride it back to the pits on the cool down lap.I re-entered at T2, and cruised back with my foot out off the race line just in case.Giving Tony in T7 a shrug and a shake of my head. Now my index finger looks like a purple bratworst and I can't bend it.Its taped to my middle finger and Its on ice. Great, my first broken bone. All things considered, it could have been much worse.
The bike isn't bad. Another clip on, some body work, and oh, the subframe is twisted. It felt like it rode straight, so maybe I got lucky on the frame and forks.We'll see. So, after a dramatic weekend, nothing was gained but nothing was lost. I'm still in 5th place for SuperSport Senior and 4th in SuperBike senior.I did get to see David Gill, a guy who graduated Novice with me, throw down some 16's and clinch the third place trophy. Congratulations Dave!
I'm impressed by these Joe Rocket leathers. They've held up well to the abuse I put them through over the weekend.Thanks again Dave from R&D Machine for the pit space and your and Steve's help.Likewise, thanks again Matt G., for relating what I'm going through and for your encouragement.

Dale Johnson earns a 6th in 600 Super Sport Senior and another 4th place in 600 Super Bike Senior.

737Racing — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 22:38:00 +0000

Despite sweltering heat and a hot slick track, I managed to stay hydrated and focused as I reached out for my goals for OMRRA's July event.

For the 600 Super Sport qualifier, I was gridded in 4th position for my row. Since I like to brake deep and take the inside line in race traffic, this was fine with me.
I got a decent start and motored around a cluster of riders concentrating on each other to pick up several positions in the 600 field.
I got past a few riders in the braking zone for the first turn and settled into a position in the train of riders on the race line.
During the four laps, I made two passes and got passed twice to pick up a grid postion for the main. Position three, mid pack passing, this ought to be interesting.

I was also in position 3 for the Super Bike qualifier. I got a good start and started taking advantage of the confusion and weaker engines and shifting skills.
Not satisfied with entering the turn last, I leaned into my tank and pinned the throttle looking for holes to enter to pick up a few positions before the insanity of turn 1 with twenty eight bikes jockeying for position. I didn't get as far into the pack as I would have liked, but did manage to thread my bike into a hole in the middle of the pack and, after putting the outside rider's wheel behind my leg, I ran a hair longer before tipping in and dropping my front wheel right in behind the inside guy. I noticed a runoff on the outside a bike or two in front but outside my line. I kept my eyes on the apex of the next turn to hold a tight line and hopefully drive inside anyone careless enough to run wide. It wasn't to be, so I ended up in the train turning through the infield until the back straight, where motor and braking work to my advantage. I worked at a fella with clean bright leathers and a low expert number. It took some work, as he would motor away, but I'd reel him in through the infield. He was hooking up where I was spinning so I never found the opportunity to get by in the tight sections. So I resorted to drafting him and getting a pass on the brakes. It worked, but not without some additional work.
While I was concentrating on this guy, another rider dove underneath me just before the apex on the turn entering the front straight, a turn that I'm a little weak on. I've stepped out exiting it before so I've got some demons. This dive was superb. He didn't show me a wheel, he just arrived, and going for the same apex point I was setup for.
I left a few inches between my knee and the curbing and he took it. He didn't come by fast enough to allow me to stay on my line without intersecting it with his bike. I had no choice but to pick up the bike and adjust my line hoping dearly someone's wheel wasn't next to my rear. I managed to check up, and maintain traction with the front and fell into a line parallel his. We drag raced down the straight and I started to move away when I got 6th gear. I kept it pinned and held off braking as long as I could and, dove for the turn from the outside fast line. I didn't see him again. I'd picked up another grid position, only deeper into the fray. So much for starting from the outside…

On the Super Sport main, I didn't launch as strong as I'd hoped, but some of the guys in front lofted their front wheels, or just got off the line weakly.
I motored into the fray and found myself trying to out brake a deep braker, and lost. We went into 1 side by side and he had the room to open up and he gained a half a bike length. I dropped back to allow his wheel to clear mine on the tight right hander only to find he was slower than I would have liked into turn two. Getting stuck behind him, I had no chance as I noticed a wheel going by my outside as I got passed going into the left hander. Not only did he pass, but he decided to reclaim the inside fast line and chopped my line. I had to check up to keep from getting tangled, and managed to fall in behind without losing my front. It was the same shiny new leathers as before.
Wasn't I rid of this guy already? I went to work on him and drafted by him on the straight and went to work on the next guy. It wasn't to be. I concentrated on my pace, resting where I could and braking hard, muscling the bike where it needed it. I resorted to a 6th place finish, unable to pass the two targets I had set during the ten lap main.

The 600 Super Bike start went much better, all three times. Twice I gridded up inside the second to the last row in the main 600 grid, on position two, and twice we were red flagged on the first lap. Both multi-bike crashes one turn in front of me. I saw the crashes occurring before I saw the red flags. Both times, we were zigzagging to avoid riders and bikes on the track. I'm so thankful target fixation isn't an issue for me. All I could concentrate on was target avoidance. Chalk it up as more 600 series experience and a deeper appreciation for the inside line. On the final grid up, I was determined to launch, and I did. I got well into the pack and again, went for the inside. So many people come to this track, learn the fast line and line up single file only to leave a huge hole inside for late brakers. I love that pass. I gained a bike in the back straight after I tried drag racing a guy between our tightest turns, and backed down after he kept his position, knowing I'd be going into a severely disadvantaged position if I went outside to pass resulting in a bad setup for the back straight. I fell in behind him and matched his line through the mini chicane separating the infield with the back straight. When we motored into the straight, which isn't actually a straight at all, but a very fast, 150 mph right hander ending in a straight braking zone before two very quick turns, I pulled a draft pass and went late on the brakes going into the quick left hander and got the number 3 guy in my class. I rode my rear end off determined to not give him a chance to get by.
On the front straight, I felt the bike shudder and knew he was on my tail. I saw him swing by and pull next to me midway down the straight, going for the inside.
We went neck and neck into the braking zone and I watched him out of my periphery waiting for him to brake so I could grab the binders and swing into the turn.
I won the game of chicken and I went the deepest I'd ever done braking at the end of a 170 (indicated) MPH straight. I almost forgot to downshift I was so busy controlling my swaying back end. I went into turn one hot and just concentrated on holding the line and applying some throttle to keep the front. I reclaimed what I had thought to be my first podium finish on a dry track. Upon reviewing the results, I was disappointed to find that I had finished 4th. A visiting rider on a senior R6 clinched 2nd place.
So, on my second race weekend as a graduated novice, I have to settle for 4th place. Rest assured, I'm hungry to finish on that podium.
As I spent the morning reviewing my performance, I recognized a few places where I can pick up time. I'll be practicing attacking my weak corners, and continue to improve my body position go assist with rear wheel traction on the exits so I can win my passing attempts.

Look for my report from the August 20th race. Yes, its a Saturday. We'll only have one day to warmup and race, so I'll be working on my improvements during a trackday scheduled for that week.

Mucho thanks go out to Aaron and the guys at Team Privateer. They got my crash repair parts to me just in time. I'd like to also mention the guys at R&D Machine Racing. Sven, Steve, Dave, I always appreciate your help and support. Even when I have my *race face* on, you guys are right there. Thanks big !

Stay tuned!

Dale from 737Racing

No frills finishes in my expert debut.

737Racing — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 20:46:00 +0000

The goals were simple: Not to crash, and not to finish last.

In the posted qualifying times, I posted a 5th place in 600 SuperSport Senior and a 2nd place in 600 Superbike Senior scoring 2 season points and putting me on the board for my first time at 100th place. My class standings are 5th in 600 Supersport and 4th in 600 Superbike.
Overall my finishes were somewhere at the back of the entire 600 grids as regular and senior bikes are gridded together. Not last place, but not where I'd like to be, but good enough for now.

Happily, I achieved both goals in my first expert races on none other than a contingency money weekend. I would have had a chuckle if I were a board member graduating novices into the expert grid. “They want to graduate and compete with the experts?” “Alright, their first race shall be in a money grid. Let see how they fare in this traffic ..(evil laugh)”.
All humor aside, with the exception of one unfortunate high-side by one fast up-comer during the 750SS event, the OMRRA NV4/NV5 novices performed well and proved they can hold their lines.

Everyone who has raced has been here; Anticipation, Apprehension, excitement, over-thinking things. I occupied myself with double checking the bike for loose bolts, safety wire, an occasional squeeze of the brake lever looking for that familiar firmness.
I hydrated, ate, and took some quiet time to visualize the turns.

I should have taken the time to visualize the start, with race gas.
All my time in Novice, I ran with pump gas, and made the choice to empty my tank and fuel bottle of its pump gas during the practice on Saturday.
Looking back, I should have attended the Friday night drag races and practiced some starts with race fuel. I would have learned to adjust my clutch slippage to keep the front end down. Needless to say, the added horse power was an oversight. I adjusted for the HP difference under maintenance throttle through and roll-on exiting the corners well enough. However, the familiar clutch slippage from my Novice days went out the window when the first green flag dropped.

I found my grid position on the last row of the experts and took position after the sighting lap. I forgot all about being nervous. I wanted to race!
No sooner did I see daylight between the flag and the starter’s fingers I launched.
Disengaging the clutch after feathering the start and rolling as hard as usual, the front end climbed skyward. I chopped the throttle to bring the front end down and re-feathered the clutch and watched what I thought was the entire grid roll away.

I managed to motor into the pack and find a line through the fray to get some passing done. My first two targets tipped in early and slowly. I set my entry speed and tipped in and started to roll when the rear of the two changed lines to pass and proceeded right across my line and a collision course with my front end. I touched the front lever slightly and held the tank. It worked, I didn’t get forced off the track and I fell in right behind the passer as we both overtook our quarry. I got the next couple of guys in my favorite braking zones to come up from last only to lose a position to one of them down the straight. He didn’t let me out brake him a second time. I worked on him all the way to an early checker. As I was anticipating, but hoping to avoid, the 3 leaders overtook us on the last lap. The leader and 2nd place came around 2 and 1 respective turns before the checker. An early flag for the back of the pack, which under OMRRA rules, ended the race.
I took the cool down lap and went through the infield turns with my hand on my knee and one of the guys behind came around still racing. I noticed the corner workers weren’t applauding as they usually do on our cool down, so I wicked it up and chased the rider to another checker and a second cool down lap. Conforming what I thought was the early checker, with the referee, did in fact end the race. So my finishing position should hold.

The Super bike race was equally as interesting. We qualified in the morning on a warm dry track. The weather chose to play with us in the afternoon as drizzle changed to rain and sent us scrambling to change tires. I got my rains on just in time and led the grid for a sighting lap. The track was snotty in some spots, but there was standing water to preserve the tires and some semi dry lines to race in.
The grid was a little less full than in the earlier quallie. Fine with me.
The flag dropped and I enjoyed an uneventful start and slight slip as I had to cross a paint stripe. I stayed light on the pegs throughout the race and the bars and gradually lowered my lap times as I found better and better grip. I’m told that I finished in the front half of the pack.
I don’t have the final results as it takes a few days for them to get posted, however I did look back a few times entering the front straight to see a longer line of bikes behind me than the first race, however the I got to see the leaders come by me for this race too. Wow these guys are good! (I was just awestruck to think how well these guys do in the rain and how far I've got to go.) I got a braking pass on a guy who then got me entering the same straight. He didn’t let me get inside him again. And as soon as I tipped her in for the first turn and rolled, she bogged. I managed to get her back to the last turn before she lost her fire. I deadsticked across the finish line and into the pits. I found out exactly how much race gas I need in my tank for a sighting lap and a 10 lap main. Literally the exact amount, as every time I would lean for a right hander, I would be rewareded with a starving engine, which would spring back to life when I straightened out or dipped into a left. The final corner where the finish line is turned is a right hander and the final turn she’d take for the day.

I enjoyed my first expert race and learned quite a bit. I look forward to applying what I’ve learned next month. Look for my report for July 17th soon afterward.

Many thanks for help in the pits and moral support by Dave, Bob and Sven from R&D Machine.
Their help came at a stressful and critical point when the rain started 20 minutes before my start and I had to switch to rain tires and re-safety wire.

Thanks also to the friendly folk at LP Team Privateer for being eager to help find parts following my trackday crash last month. Go see Byron from Lightspeed Designs. His graphics are great and they survive well under high speed abrasion with asphalt and dirt.

Cheers!

Dale from 737Racing.

2nd Race weekend in series turns out bright in several ways

737Racing — Mon, 02 May 2005 14:55:00 +0000

We set up pits Friday night to a few spits of rain and concern that it was going to be a wet weekend as reported by the local weather. Instead, our prayers were answered.
The days were warm and sunny resulting in optimum track temperature and excellent traction.

I got some quality time with Dave of GP Suspension and found that I needed to pull my shock to have it bled and have a few more turns of compression added. So, Saturday afternoon found me hard at work tearing my bike down to turn the shock over to him and put on some new rubber.
I re-assembled, and went over everything twice to be sure I didn't miss safetywiring or tightening anything. Satisfied, I locked everything up and went home for a good meal and some sleep.

I woke to hazy skies and and the familiar butterflies that preceed any race.
A few laps in the morning warm-up told me that my bike was a little more planted.
I scrubbed the tires in and then tried a few hot laps getting a pass or two to feel the setup.
I brought it in and let him know I was getting a light front end and a bit of lazy headshake
transitioning from turn 5 to 6 under hard power. He added a click of comp. damepning and I tried it again. Dave got it dead on. The bike felt planted and quick.

Quick enough to drop my laptimes into the 1:17's.
This is a new record for me. I haven't taken a racing school. I've only taken laps at trackdays and received some feedback from other racers watching me. I listened, learned and experimented.

Since we're racing the clock to qualify for expert, we're officially NOT racing each other.
Well, anytime the green flag dropped, it was on. In our minds and actions, we WERE racing.
We took passing opportunities, we out breaked each other, and had flat out drag races down the front strait.
The posted results for me saw an 8th place finish in the morning and a 6th place finish in the afternoon. This was among 100cc, 750cc and my 600cc class bikes. Several 600cc riders placed ahead of many 100cc riders. I attribute my second race finish to an awesome start and determination to hold my place and I passed quite a few to improve my advantage. I had a simple strategy; Pick the guy in front, get by him, then the next and so on. When I experienced a shifting problem downshifting out of the back straight (when my GP linkage started binding) on the last 3 laps of the final race, I lost the guy I was targeting and got passed by 2 others. One of which I recovered in the braking zone at the end of our front straight. I began working on the second when we got the white flag. I picked my favorite passing turn to get by him on the outside, but he held me to the checker. It was an awesome competition.

After this weekend, I have 2 races under my belt with average laptimes WELL below the minimum average to graduate. Add a rain race from the previous weekend and I'm one away from qualifying for expert. One more race weekend to go and if the organization feels I'm ready, I'm off to swim in the big pond.

Many thanks to my sponsors and help in our pits; LP Team Privateer; Sven, our Pit Boss and racer-in-waiting; Steve, our latest speed addict; Dave from R&D Machine for his support and endless chiding at our pits, and a big thanks to Byron from LightSpeed Designs for his dedication and timliness. He and his business are an asset to this organization.

I'm looking forward to next month and making more improvement and continuing to feed my passion -- going fast.

Ciao!

Dale from 737Racing

OMRRA Novice debut a great success!

737Racing — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 06:39:00 +0000

The 2005 season kicked off this weekend with the introduction of 36 new novices to the membership. We enjoyed on track testing in wet conditions which seems to be one of the ingredients in the race conditioning recipe. Add close quarter and passing/alternate lines drills and starting line launch practices all in a wet slick environment and you have introduced 36
"well seasoned" novices into the fold.

Due to the competitive nature of the 600cc, 750cc and open (1000cc) classes, the new riders in those classes are held in a Novice class until they achieve laptimes that fall within 20% of the top riders in their respective classes and are seasoned enough to handle the close quarter riding and aggressive passing that often occurs in the expert grids. The classes are abbreviated as NV4/NV5 in OMRRA literature.

In both classes an average laptime of 1:22 is required to "graduate" from the Novice class and compete in the expert grid. I'm happy to report that my first competitive event resulted in achieving that laptime. While unable to maintain that laptime consistantly due to being unable to pass slower traffic at times, my average climbed to 1:24. I have identified areas I can improve and make it my goal to improve my corner entry speeds in a few corners as well as become more aggressive about passing.

The second event of the day was declared a rain race as it did in fact begin to rain while we were running our warmup lap before the main. A Novice event in the rain automatically counts as meeting qualifying requirements if the rider completes the race without crashing. I'm happy to report that not only did I not crash, I was able to improve my laptimes during the event as semi-dry lines began to appear.

Although the NV4/NV5 "event" isn't considered a race, we had our race faces on.
I'm happy to report that my finishing place in the combined NV4/NV5 race was 6th out of 20 600cc bikes and 13th overall. This is quite an accomplishment given the fact that I was up front with the big bikes and fast riders. I look forward to the next competition.

I had the opportunity to be make several passes. Some on aggressive lines and some on the race line inside of other riders who made mistakes. I also found myself in the middle of small packs of riders gunning for position only to have one make a mistake and run off the track.
In these situations, I noticed the riders behind them following them off the track.
Its not only safer to do, but advantageous to racers NOT to lock up and follow a crash off the track. I was able to motor right by without losing focus or changeing my line, although I was prepared to do so if an evasive maneuver was required.

I would like to thank the Novice School organizers, supporters, corner workers and the instructors who are all voluntary members of the organization. Their only compensation is the assurance that the riders that they supported will not only become safe, competitive racers, but become active involved members of the organization. I would also like to thank Dave and Bob of R&D Machine for their support as well as my new friend Sven for his assistance at the track.

I have photos up in my Photograph album from the race. Check them out.
This is the one and only weekend we have to wear those bright green shirts.
I hope to see you out at the track on our next event.
Look for my pits with the only stars and stripes patriotic canopy.
Feel free to stop and say hi.

On a somber note, a fellow racer and influential mentor at the organization was critically injured when his 2005 Kawasaki ZX10 experienced a violent headshake condition which caused the bike to slam into the concrete barrier on the front straight at over 150mph. Details of the mishap are unavailable at this time, however news of his recovery is coming in and at the time of writing he has been stabilized and is no longer listed as critical condition. Our prayers go out to he and his family during this time of crisis.

Thank you, and look for my race report for the weekend of April 30th.

Dale Johnson OMRRA #737

Pre-Race Season jitters

737Racing — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 23:44:00 +0000

Well, we're two weeks away from start of season. Everything is prepped, paint goes on this week, and technical is on Saturday. Nothing left to do but sleep, eat well and exercise...and wait.

I've been going over the track mentally, I've been passing inside and outside where I know I'm strong mentally. Coupled with some practice passing during the testing day, and the mental exercises, I feel competitive, confident and ready. I'm going in this year with minimal sponsorship to speak of, however I view it as an opportunity to perform, then get the support.

Check back Sunday, April 10th for an update.

See you at the track!

#737