Barber: June 10-12, 2016

Barber Motorsports Park:

June 10-12, 2016, MotoAmerica

I decided to compete at Barber Motorsports Park with MotoAmerica kind of at the last minute. Even after registering for the event, I wasn’t totally sure I was going to be able to find crew members that would be able to help out. Luckily, my good friend Ernie Miller answered the call once again and made it possible for me to compete.

Barber has been one of my favorite tracks for a long time. I don’t have much seat time at this track, but every time I go a leave thinking that they do a fantastic job. The scenery is amazing, the facilities are top notch, and the track itself is a ton of fun. I’ve only raced here once before at the 2013 WERA GNF, but if there’s one track on the MotoAmerica schedule that I would race if given the chance, Barber was it.

I started my drive down to Birmingham Wednesday evening after work. You may have seen on Facebook that I had a hub break on my last trip. I ordered parts to replace the hub right after that event, and the parts didn’t show up until Wednesday evening; right when I wanted to start my drive. I quickly fixed the problem and checked over the others (luckily the right parts came) and started my voyage south. Since I didn’t get on the road until late, I only made it a few hours before pulling off to sleep in a Walmart parking lot, but I got up early again on Thursday to finish the drive. I pulled into Barber around 3pm local time and went to the staging parking lot to wait to be allowed to enter the paddock.

Pic 1: All of the race teams lining up in the staging lot.

After finding a spot and setting up my rig, I got a chance to walk the track with Dustin Ducote, DJ Ricks, and his wife Renee. I don’t often get time to walk the tracks that I race on which is stupid on my part, but I took advantage of it this time around. Dustin has a lot of time on this track on all kinds of bikes, but this was his first MotoAmerica round and really the first time he’d been on this track on his R6. DJ knew the track like the back of his hand and between his and Dustin’s descriptions of the fast lines to take, I at least felt like I had a game plan for practice on Friday. I learned a lot from these guys that night and it paid off later in the weekend.

Pic 2: Walking through T1 with Dustin, DJ, and Renee.

My fastest time at Barber prior to this weekend was a whopping 1:37.8 back in October, 2013 at the WERA GNF. That kind of time wasn’t going to come close to cutting it with MotoAmerica so I knew I had my work cut out for me, but I was confident I would make good progress. My first practice on Friday was a 30 minute stint where I took my time to learn the track and kind of rode at my own pace. I was admittedly slow (finishing in 12th with a fastest lap of 1:39.29) but I wasn’t concerned about times at this point in the weekend, or at all on Friday since these times didn’t mean much. My biggest concern was to learn the track, figure out my lines, and work on the things I needed to work on to go fast. Before practice 2, I made a few minor changes to the bike based on FP1, but I didn’t want to make any major changes based on such a slow pace. I moved up in FP2 to P11 with a 1:37.31, knocking off nearly 2 seconds a lap, but nearly everyone else had dropped some pretty significant time as well so my standing at the end of the practice session didn’t move much.

Pic 3: A shot of the paddock from the straight just before Charlotte's Web.

Up to this point, my lap times meant nothing. However, beginning Saturday morning, all that mattered were my lap times. My qualifying session was the first thing on track Saturday morning, which works against me and my strengths. Historically, I don’t do well early in the morning, it takes me a couple of sessions in the morning to loosen up and get things figured out. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of having a few sessions before qualifying, so I decided to break qualifying up into smaller “mini sessions” like I did at VIR. Prior to my crash at VIR, breaking the qualifying session up into smaller chunks made a very positive impact on my times, so I decided to try it again and hope for better results. During my first “mini session,” my first lap of the day was a 1:38.5 which for me, coming straight out the gate at that pace, was very positive. I got down to a 1:38.2 in that “mini session” before pitting in and checking out the bike. Everything felt good, so after a quick breather I went back out for another few laps. During this “mini session” I dropped down to a 1:36.6, which up to this point, was the fastest I had ever ridden at Barber. After pitting in and loosening up a bit more, I went out for my final stint of about 7 laps and got a couple laps in the 1:35.8 range. Again, this was the fastest I had gone here up to this point and I did it without any kind of a tow from any of the faster riders, which meant I could go much faster if I could find the opportunity. However, my fastest qualifying lap would be a 1:35.869, not fast enough to qualify directly for the main 21 lap race, so I would have to compete in the 10 lap Last Chance Qualifier races if I wanted to compete in the main races.

Pic 4: Kevin from Shoei took care of me all weekend... and had some fun at my expense :)

The first LCQ on Saturday started at 1 PM, and I was 10th on the grid. To qualify for the main race, I would need to finish 5th or higher, so I had my work cut out for me, but I knew I had the pace to get there. While I was on the grid, the extreme heat had me worried about the coolant temperature of my bike so I turned on my fan to help keep the temp down. Just prior to the start, I decided to shut the fan off because I always leave the fan on for the duration of the race if I don’t turn it off before the start of the race. While I was doing this, my focus wasn’t on the start of the race like it should have been and I looked down to set my RPM’s for the launch. As l looked up, the red lights were already on and flashed off quickly before I even knew what had happened. As you could imagine, my start off the line was terrible. I tried to make up ground going into T1 but as I did, people still came around me and I would exit T3 in last place. This certainly wasn’t how I saw this race going, but I was hell bent on spending the next 10 laps working my butt off to make up the ground that I had lost off the start.

Pic 5: The tower showing me in P5.

It took me a couple of laps to settle in to a groove and make any passes, and while I waited to make those initial passes, the faster riders started to pull away and create a gap. I made a couple quick passes on Bill Sweeney and Dan McCormack, and put my head down to catch up to the next rider. Once around Luke Luciano, my next group of riders to catch was Dustin, Patricia Fernandez, Mark Rhoades, and Mitch Card. It took me a couple of laps to wrangle in Dustin and once I did, I didn’t have much of an attack plan on him. He was right on the tail of Patricia and I could tell by some of his riding that he was desperate to get around her. I’m not sure what lap it happened, but on one of the later laps in the race, Dustin ran deep into Charlotte’s Web and I was able to sneak up the inside. With him behind me, I was now focused on getting around Patricia as soon as I could because I knew Dustin would be trying to get back around me. I followed Patricia’s lines for a lap or so and noticed that I was definitely faster than her in a few places, but she had my number in a couple other places as well. Once around her, I had my sights set on the next two riders ahead of me and put my head down to close the gap. On about lap 7 or so, Patricia got a good run on me coming out of the last turn onto the straight and was able to pass me on the inside going into T1. Luckily, from following her before, I knew that I was much better on the exit of T1 and into T2. Because she passed on the inside of T1, she ran wide on the exit of T1 which gave me just enough space to shove my front wheel back underneath her before the entrance of T2, and from there I was able to open a gap between us. During this race it was difficult for me to watch my pit board because of where my crew was standing, so I started watching the standings on the tower instead. I had closed the gap between me and the next 2 riders ahead of me, and when I looked up I saw that I was listed as being in P5 on the tower. However, the last time I had looked at my pit board, my crew had listed me in P8 right before passing Patricia. I was a little confused, so I kept my head down and finished the race hard, putting my best lap time in on the last lap with a 1:34.539. After coming into the pits I learned that I had actually finished 7th and not 5th like the tower had suggested. I was frustrated by this, but I was very happy with the pace that I was running by myself still without a tow from anyone faster. If I had gotten a better start, by lap times alone I should have been up around P5 by the finish, but it was a lesson I needed to learn the hard way. Overall, I was extremely happy with my performance and by how I had dropped over a second more from my qualifying time.

Pic 6: Actual results showing me in P7.

The first thing in the morning on Sunday was the warmup for 600cc group 2. I made a tire compound change for the morning since it was a bit cooler, and decided to go out and work on a few places where I seemed to be losing ground on some of the other racers. The warmup was only a 15 minute session, so I didn't have a lot of time to work on things, but this was a chance to try things without the pressure of the race. I finished the warmup in P6 with a fast lap of 1:35.79. This alone was a giant win to me because I don't ride well in the morning. This told me that I have a lot left in me, and I was real close to that P5 cutoff for the main race. All I needed to do was put it all together and I would have a good shot at placing in the top 5 in Sunday's LCQ.

I started Sunday's LCQ in P11 and I was determined to get a better start to give me the upper hand off the start of the race. I turned my fan on to keep the temp down and just left it on as it wasn’t going to hurt anything, and I sat on the grid intently focusing on the red lights that had just lit up. As soon as the lights went out, all of the bikes took off and headed toward T1. I got a much better jump off the line this time, but I must have mistakenly been in the wrong RPM range during the launch and my bike slowly accelerated off the line instead of launching like I had hoped. Again, I found myself going into T1 in next to last place and again, I would have to bust my tail to make up the ground that I had lost. The first racer I would come up to was Luke Luciano, and let me tell you, I had the worst time trying to get around him. It took me 5 laps to get around him, and the riders in front of him were opening a small gap every lap that I stayed behind him. He was running decent times but he wasn’t blazing fast. I don’t know what it was that made it so hard for me to pass him, but it took what felt like an eternity. The places where I was faster than him were terrible places to pass, and the places where I wanted to pass him, he was good enough to make it nearly impossible. Finally after nearly 5 laps following him, I decided to go for the Hail Mary and pass him on the brakes going into Charlotte’s Web… On the outside because he was setting up toward the inside every lap. Thankfully that pass worked and I was off to the races to catch up to the group ahead of me.

Pic 7: Going through Charlotte's Web while trying to catch back up to the pack. Photo credit: Red Spade Racing

This group was nearly the same group as on Saturday with a couple new ones added to the mix. Dustin was my first target, followed by Patricia, Anne Roberts, Rob Woodworth, Jamie Bishop, and Mitch Card who were all within a couple tenths of a second from each other. After looking at my lap times throughout the race, there was a distinct difference in my times before and after passing Luke. As soon as I got past him, I dropped my times from mid 1:35’s to low/mid 1:34’s. I was determined to catch the group and make up as much ground as I could. At this point in the race with roughly 5 laps left, I was running in P10. I knew that it was a long shot to make the main now after the terrible start and taking forever to get around 1 rider, but I put my head down and gave it a shot anyway. I turned my fastest lap of the weekend on lap 7 with a 1:34.202 and every lap in the second half of the race I was shaving .5 – 1.0 seconds off the gap in between me and the group. I had just caught up to Dustin coming into Charlotte’s Web when he made the same mistake he made in the first LCQ; he went in hot and had to run wide. I was almost too far back on him to take advantage of it, but I dove into the turn as fast as I could and stuck my wheel underneath him anyway. We exited the turn side by side and I had just a very slight run on him coming out because I was able to get on the gas just a little before he was. He wasn’t going to give it to me easily, though, and we drag raced all the way to the kink before the museum turn. He had the inside line, but from following him in earlier laps, I knew that I had been able to enter this turn a little faster than he had been, so I stayed tucked and pinned until I saw him let off in the corner of my eye. Luckily it was just in time for me to shut it down and get into the museum turn. I had to fight the bike to stay on the curbing and not run over the grass on the outside of the curbing since we had been told that it was out of bounds and if race direction felt you had an advantage using that area, you could be penalized.

Once past Dustin, my sights were on Patricia. It took me half a lap to close the gap she had opened on Dustin, and once on her tail I had to figure out where to attack. We were coming up on the last lap, so it was now or never. She was slower exiting T1 and into T2, but that’s a tough pass to make since she stayed on line. She was a monster coming out of T3 and up over the hill, so even though I was a little better on the brakes into Charlotte’s Web, I had to use that turn to catch back up after she opened a bit of a gap. I got into Charlotte’s fast and out of it even faster and got a really good drive on her exiting Charlotte’s, so I used that momentum into the kink before the Museum turn. One of my favorite passes to make is on the inside line at Museum turn, a lot of people will use every bit of the curbing to the outside of the turn in hopes that it will set them up for a fast exit in the Museum turn. However, if you play it right, you can shove your bike inside that line and not use the curbing at all and sort of use the “block pass” strategy. When I entered the kink before Museum, I knew that making that pass was a possibility because I knew I had been a little stronger through the kink than Patricia. However, I didn’t expect it to work as well as it did. Not only did I get through on Patricia, I pretty much cleared her and also closed the gap on Anne Roberts much more than I had expected. Since it was the last lap, I was now focused on making one more pass before the checkered flag. I closed in on her through the last 2 sectors really well, I went through those last 2 sectors faster than I had the entire weekend. As I entered the last turn, I was focusing on trying to get a good drive out so that I could drag race her to the finish line. I have 40 pounds on her, and I’m running a tired stock engine so I knew that beating her to the line was a long shot, but I was there to race and I was going to race until I got the checkered flag. Just like I expected, she pulled on me going down the front straight and I tried to get in her draft a little. I wasn’t able to close the gap enough, but I pulled out of her draft anyway and luckily I did. For some reason, she rolled off the gas about 10 yards from the finish line and we crossed the finish line within .04 of a second, with her just squeaking it out. I ended up finishing this LCQ in P8, but my lap times would have put me up around 4-5th if I had been able to get out early in the race, especially if I could have latched onto Mark Rhoades, CJ LaRoche, and Jeff Tigert.

Pic 8: Pic of me hunting down Patricia coming out of Charlotte's Web. Photo credit: Red Spade Racing

Directly after the LCQ was the fan walk on hot pit lane. Aside from being on track and putting down a super fast lap or maybe making a crazy pass stick, my next favorite thing about MotoAmerica events is the opportunity to participate in the fan walk and talk to all the fans that come from all over to attend the races. Every one of these fans thinks that it’s so cool to talk to the racers and see the bikes up close, but I would be willing to bet that they don’t realize how cool it is for the competitors too. It really helps the competitors and the fans understand each other like they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, so I’m really happy to have that opportunity.

Pic 9: Taking some pics with a fan on my bike.

It’s hard to say this for sure, but this event may have been the most fun pro event I’ve competed in. I didn’t quite meet some of my goals, but I met some of my other goals, all without crashing and while having fun the entire time. The LCQ’s were short races compared to the 21 lap mains, but they were action packed and a lot of fun to compete in. It was disappointing to miss the mains, especially when I had the pace to get there, but it was great to see myself get down to that pace without ever really getting a tow from anyone. I made good progress all weekend, so that was rewarding to see, and I felt like I would be able to go a fair bit faster with a few small changes. Overall, I’m really happy with my performance and that of my team, we all travelled a long way to race at a track I get a very small amount of time on, and I feel like I did really well with all things considered. Hopefully I can find some time to get down there and get some practice on the track and maybe give it another go next year.

I can’t thank my crew enough for taking time out of their schedule to help me race. Denise had to fly in for the event because of her work schedule, Ernie took time off of work to be there, and Robbie Graber and his girlfriend Tara stopped on their way back to IL from FL. Ernie did an amazing job making sure everything was taken care of and helped talk me through tire strategies and other issues that I was having throughout the weekend. Without that expertise, I wouldn’t have stood a chance at going fast. Denise took care of us back at the hauler and that’s a huge undertaking.

Pic 10: It's pretty awesome when a new sponsor's decal matches your paint scheme.

I also can’t thank my sponsors enough. This rarely happens in the middle of the season, but I was fortunate enough to bring a new sponsor to the team right before this event. BD Racing and Vesrah brake pads are new to the Eric Telger Racing team and I can’t thank them enough for their help. The new Vesrah pads were UNBELIEVABLE and I was so happy to have gotten my hands on them. I wouldn’t have been able to make some of those Hail Mary passes without these incredible pads, I haven’t had stopping power like that in a long time. Also, as always, Shoei Helmets and Kevin Tran did a terrific job taking care of my helmet this weekend. It was hot all weekend, but Kevin did an awesome job making sure the pads in my helmet were clean and that there were absorbent pads in there to keep the sweat out of my eyes. He also kept the atmosphere light and fun with some of his antics. PopShadow Decals has done a great job for us for years making me and my equipment look professional. They really are top notch in quality and customer service. Sportbike Tire Service is always helping us go faster, whether it’s with tires or setup advice, these guys know their stuff. Vortex Racing has been a huge supporter for a long time now, their rear sets and sprockets are the best in the business. Spiegler Performance Parts has the absolute best brake lines on the market, and they’re fully customizable so you can get the colors you want. Moto-D Racing has the best tire warmers for the money, and their customer service is fantastic. They also carry a lot of cool accessories for the race track. Pilot Motosport has stepped up again this year and teamed up with us to put us in the best protective suit in the business. Sidi Boots and Motonation have some of the best prices out there on the best boots money can buy. The new Mag-1’s are awesome boots, I can’t say enough about them. Pit Bull Products have the industry standard in bike stands, and their customer service is awesome. Spy Optics have been keeping the sun out of our eyes on the grid and on the fan walk. Core Nutritionals has been helping me maximize my time training for racing, and the Motorcycle Factory, Inc. in Woodbridge, VA has some of the best deals in the area on new and used bikes.