Barber Motorsports Park:
November 2-5, 2017
WERA Grand National Finals
I arrived at the track Wednesday evening after a long trip by myself. Denise wasn’t able to travel for this round, so instead of having the family and pup along with me, I was all alone for this trip. I registered for practice, got my bike tech’ed, and set up my pit area Wednesday night. All I had to do on Thursday was roll out of the toy hauler and go ride.
Sponsors have made this year possible for me. Without some amazing support, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to race all year, so I wanted to put this plug at the front of the race report this time around. Kevin from Shoei Helmets has been incredible to work with. He treats me like I’m a rock star even though I’m just a club dude that occasionally does a MotoAmerica round. Not only do they treat me well, but they have my head stuffed into the absolute best helmet you can buy, the X-14. My North Central region peeps have been integral to the Eric Telger Racing Team for years. Sportbike Tire Service has helped me dial in the R6 all year. I learn something new from these guys every time I talk to them. Dan at Sportbike Leather Service does an incredible job keeping my suit clean and safe for me to use. Pop Shadow Decals has a way with vinyl design that I just don’t understand, they make me look amazing with hardly any effort. Mitch from BD Racing amazes me every time I talk to him. His support and professionalism are second to no one in the industry, and it doesn’t hurt that the Vesrah brake pads he sells just happen to be the best on the market. Moto-D Racing has been with us for quite a while now and they have been great supporters from day 1. Not only do they have great tire warmers with an amazing warranty, but they also have a lot of great accessories that you should check out. Motul has the best oil out there for my Jamie Hanshaw Racing engine and has the best brake fluid out there to get my R6 stopped. Add Spiegler brake likes to the equation and it’s easy to see that I’m working with the winning combination. Sidi boots from MotoNation have the best boots on the market as far as protection, and they also have the lightest boots on the market with the Mag-1s. If you haven’t tried them yet, you’re missing out. Vortex Racing is another sponsor that has been with us for a very long time and we are so thankful to have their support. They have so many amazing products that I can’t even try to name them all. All I can say is that when it comes to hard parts, I check them before I check anyone else. Sharkskinz Racing Bodies (now part of iOneMoto) have been supporting us this year and we are so happy to have that support. There is no arguing that they have the absolute best product on the market. You can try to cheap out and save some money, but once you use a set of Sharkskinz, you’ll realize why so many people will only ever use their products. There is just no comparing them and any other composite product on the market. Lastly, The Motorcycle Factory, Inc. has a great selection of bikes and parts. Make sure you check them out!
I got 4 practice sessions in on Thursday. I haven’t been to Barber since June of last year and I don’t have that much time on the track to begin with, so I knew I was going to need as many laps around the place as I could get during the weekend. I didn’t even bother putting a timer on the first session, but I was only into the 1:43’s by the second session. I dropped time each session and by the end of the day I was down into the 1:38’s, which is still terribly slow for an expert on a 600.
My first race on Friday was the BSS race. This was a race that I had a decent chance of winning for a championship, but instead of that, I was barely able to keep from finishing last. Instead of running in the 1:34-1:35’s like I had hoped and challenging for the win, I was running 1:37’s and struggling to keep up. I finished 5th, which was not how I had hoped to start the weekend. Just as we pulled off the track, a storm pulled in and dumped rain on us for only about 5 minutes, but it was just enough to mess up the track and make the next few races interesting.
My only other race on Friday was BSB. I started this race from the front row just like BSS, but after 8 laps I fell back into 6th and was still only running 1:37’s. The track was mostly dry at this point, but it was still definitely moist in some places so my times didn’t exactly translate to what I was running earlier in the day. However, after 2 races and only dropping an additional second from Friday, I knew I had my work cut out for me.
On Saturday, I signed up for 3 races, 600SS, 600SB, and the AMA 600SS races. Since I was running the 600SB race, I’d need to do qualifying for my grid position, so after morning practice I went out and tried to push a little harder. I came in from qualifying with a best of 1:37.04 putting me in 13th on the grid, which was no better than I ran on Friday. I was a little frustrated, but I knew I don’t ride well in the morning and that I’d continue to drop time.
My first race on Saturday was 600SS. After a decent start from the second row, I tried to latch onto some faster guys, but I wasn’t able to hold onto them for long. My times started out pretty slow, but as the race progressed, I found myself directly behind my teammate Tim Wilson, which gave me some motivation to get moving. Although I couldn’t quite catch him, he was the bait I needed to drag me down into the 1:34’s. I’d finish the race in 11th, which isn’t exactly amazing, but I was happy to have finally found some time.
My second race was 600SB. I started this race in 13th which isn’t a great place to start, but I couldn’t go anywhere but up from there. I got an ok start for this race, but I was so far back in the order that I had a hard time getting through and making up positions. I had been following Andrew Bowen for a couple of laps and even had a couple of opportunities to pass that I wasn’t exactly ready for. Rather than force the issue, I decided to set him up for a pass coming onto the front straight where I knew I was a little stronger than him in this race. Just as I did, a rider crashed in front of us and caused a red flag about 7 laps in. I ended up finishing 11th in this race.
Weeks leading up to this weekend, I was watching the weather forecasts trying to figure out what was going to happen. It seemed like things changed at least once a day, and the same held true even up to Thursday. I hadn’t signed up for any races on Friday yet and was trying to decide what to do. If there was a chance for rain on Friday and Saturday, I was going to race on Friday to practice racing in the rain for Saturday’s races. Since Sportsman races were on Friday and Nationals on Saturday and Sunday, I could use races on Friday as practice for my National races. Ultimately, I went ahead and signed up for 2 races on Friday for practice. I decided I didn't even care about the possibility of rain, I needed the laps around the track.
Pic 1: Photo courtesy of the AMA, taken by Joe Hansen of Electric Eye Images
My last race of the day was the AMA 600SS race. I started from the front row and got a pretty decent start. I tried again to latch onto the faster guys in this race, but I just wasn’t able to run the times I needed to run. Ultimately I’d finish in 10th place this race. Unfortunately, one half of the 3 Marines Racing crew would crash out of this race. Tim got tangled up with another rider going into T5 early in the race, and Will found himself on the ground later in the race when it was red flagged. Fortunately, both riders were ok and were racing again later in the weekend.
Although up to this point I hadn’t had the pace I needed, I knew I could run with the lead pack. I hadn’t been able to put it all together yet, but I knew there was a lot more out there for me. My first race on Sunday was proof that I could and would run with that lead pack. I got a decent start in the 750SS race and put my head down right away. I knew if I was going to make a podium appearance, this was going to be the race to do it in. By the end of the first lap, I was running in 4th and pretty frustrated with myself for letting a couple of those riders by me. I found some motivation in this race that hadn’t been there all weekend; I was determined to push it. After 5 laps, I was finally able to make a pass for 3rd and up to that point I had the fastest lap of the race with a 1:33.8. The riders in front of me had only gotten into the 1:34’s, so I was still closing the gap on them. The last couple of laps, they had picked up the pace a little, so I wasn’t able to challenge for another position, but I was able to drop my personal best time of a 1:33.45, which was over a second faster than I ran there last year. I found an intense focus during this race that I have rarely experienced; I ran a nearly perfect race and left it all out there on the track.
My second race was the AMA 600SB race, and I only had a quick break between this one and the 750SS race. Honestly, I was so tired I actually didn’t even want to get back on the bike, but I did anyway. I started from the front row and got a good start. As I went into T5 behind Joe Blasius, I started opening the throttle and nearly highsided. I couldn’t believe how violently the bike snapped underneath me, but luckily I was able to ride it out and continue on. On the next lap, I was cresting over the hill in T4 in 4th gear and again nearly highsided. This one wasn’t quite as violent, but it was enough to make me question what was happening. In each instance, I’d lose 1-3 positions as someone would pass me as I backed out of the throttle. I’d try to continue on, but just as I’d get comfortable, I’d have another abrupt slide somewhere that cost me another couple of positions. I would ultimately finish this race way down in 14th. My times started up around the 1:34 mark with room for improvement, but as the race continued, my times dipped all the way down into the 1:38’s because at some point I switched from race mode to survival mode. I was upset about the outcome of this race, I had much better pace than that and should have been up with the lead pack. I started trying to figure out what was wrong with the bike, or maybe it was the tire. However, this was the tire I ran in the 750SS race that only had 8 laps on it, and I would run this tire in the next race with no issues. I started looking a little deeper and I’ve come up with a theory. I had pushed so hard in the first race that I had a hard time just getting off the bike after the race. I was exhausted. Looking back, I wonder if my body position was lazy and if I wasn’t able to get my body off the bike like I needed. Maybe I attempted to ride the same pace I had in the previous race carrying more lean angle due to my body not getting off the bike, which could account for some of those nasty spool-ups. I’ll never know for sure…
My last race of the year would be the 750SB race. I started from the front row and got a pretty terrible start, so I’d find myself in 6th place after lap 1. Tim was in front of me so I tried to use him as my carrot, as my motivation to push myself to go fast. I found myself battling with a rider who had actually gotten meatballed for jumping the start which actually slowed my times down a bit and allowed Tim to break away from me. Once I was finally clear of the other rider, there was just too much ground to make up to catch back up to Tim. I’d have to settle for 5th place in this race.
Looking back on the year, this has been my best year of racing, hands down. Not only have I progressed more this year than I have any other year, but I’ve worked through some of the most challenging situations to get here. Now normally that would be enough to make this an awesome year, but no, there’s more! I was a part of the most dysfunctional, yet amazing endurance team anyone could have created. We fought through some seriously tough situations, made some dumb decisions, and found ourselves on the podium twice out of 4 races with one overall win. We’ve worked on our endurance bike until 3am and then decided to race on a totally different bike at 8:15am without ever having practiced on it. I mean for Pete’s sake… we did a 4 hour endurance race at PITT on take-offs! Who does that?! That team has meant more to me this year than I will ever give them credit for face to face, they have pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of. If ever there was a gold standard on what I’d want my year to be like, 2017 was it.
If you stuck around for my podium speech on Sunday, you would have heard me thank a lot of people who don’t sponsor me, but still make it possible for me to do what I love. My wife is number 1 on that list. Although she wasn’t there this time, she has been my number 1 fan since day 1. WERA, the corner workers, and EMT’s give us a fun and safe place to play. Mark and Dawn Merical are at nearly every WERA event helping out with everything from race calls to runs to the hospital when someone gets hurt. Just having them at the track makes the entire atmosphere more calm because you know they are there watching out for you. The guys at 3 Marines Racing have been amazing all year and have helped me become a much better rider.
I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how I’m going to intro my race report for the 45th WERA GNF at Barber Motorsports Park. I could talk about how I was planning on racing all of the national rounds and challenging for national titles, and how a crash early in the year all but erased my hopes of a title. I could talk about how I haven’t been to the GNF since 2013 and how I was really looking forward to making the trip this year. Instead, I’ll simply say that at nearly every round this year, I’ve dropped considerable time and that I was hoping to be able to do the same at this track, despite not having much seat time here. I knew there was going to be some serious competition, so I was sure I’d need to bring my A-game to be competitive.
Pic 4: Paddock area set up, next to the Wilson and Ducote rigs.
Pic 9: Tim taking a tumble in T5.
Pic 5: View from the third tier on Thursday.
Pic 6: There was a decent chance for rain on Friday, and I was ready for it.
Pic 7: Photo courtesy of the AMA, taken by Joe Hansen of Electric Eye Images
Pic 2: The lightest boots available in some pretty awesome colors.
Pic 3: Part of my helmet collection. There's only one rule, it has to be a Shoei.
Pic 8: Photo courtesy of the AMA, taken by Joe Hansen of Electric Eye Images. Chasing Tim Wilson.
Pic 10: Photo courtesy of the AMA, taken by Joe Hansen of Electric Eye Images. Running in 2nd at the start of the 750SS race.
Pic 11: Photo courtesy of the AMA, taken by Joe Hansen of Electric Eye Images. Start of the 600SB race, just before my near-highside.
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Racing requires skill, courage, dedication, hard work, a little luck, and a lot of money. I am an amateur privateer racer, which means I pay for all of this out of my own pocket. Being a professional racer is certainly a dream of mine, but at this time, I must pay my own way.
You can help me chase the next championship by donating through the below link. All donations, no matter how large or small, will make a difference, and are truly appreciated.
