Previously known as BeaveRun in Wampum, PA, Pittsburgh International Race Complex was the only race track in the North Central WERA region that I felt I had a decent knowledge of prior to showing up to the track, as I had done a few track days there a few years ago. I was optimistic that I would be able to find some decent results, but I also knew that my competition wasn’t going to just give me those results. As we rolled into the gates late Friday night, I found myself mentally preparing for some tough battles. That mental preparation was quickly stifled as I found myself with a Yuengling in the company of some great friends. Finally, we called it a night around 1:30 in the morning, and crawled into the toy hauler for some much needed rest.

 

Since this was a double header event, and we showed up late Friday night, the only practice I was going to get was the couple of practice sessions in the morning before the races. 600cc novice was the first practice session of the morning, and I went out and quickly reacquainted myself with the track. After turning a few laps and coming back into the pits, I was pleased to see I had the fastest times of the practice session, but I knew staying on top of the time sheets would be a tough task.

 

My first race of the weekend was CSB. I started from the second row, got an ok start, and found myself running 5th through the first couple of turns. I rode around trying to make a couple of passes, and eventually found myself in 3rd by the end of the race. Although I finished on the podium, I found that my head wasn’t quite in it, and I knew I had to step it up.

 

The second race was BSB. Again, I got a decent start and quickly found myself running in second place. But again, my head wasn’t quite in it and my pace started to fall off a little bit towards the end of the race. However, I knew a decent finish in this race would have me clinch the BSB championship, so rather than fight myself, I just stayed consistent and allowed a rider to pass me. I finished 3rd again, but the championship was more important to me than the extra spot in the race.

 

My third race, CSS, didn’t even go as well as the first 2 races. By this time, my tires had fallen off quite a bit (because I hadn’t started the day on fresh tires), and once that started, I had it in my head that I should back off. I got an ok start, but after fighting the tires and bike, I finally decided it was best for me to back off the pace a bit and just finish the race. Ultimately I would take 6th in this race.

 

My last real race of the day was BSS. This race was a 2-wave start, with the experts gridded ahead of the novices. On the start of the expert grid, someone had stalled their bike had a problem getting the bike going again, which delayed the start of our race just slightly. The race director started to run towards the bike, so I relaxed just a bit because I thought it was going to take him a bit to get things straightened out, but instead, the rider was finally able to take off, and the director ran back away from the track. Suddenly the green flag dropped for our race, which I wasn’t exactly ready for, and I got a horrible start because of this. I certainly learned a lesson this race, as I found myself around 7th -8th place going into turn one after starting from the front row. After putting my head down and making some hard passes, I was able to work my way back up to 5th, but the top 4 riders had put a big enough gap on me by that point that there was no way for me to make up the distance in 8 laps. I had to settle for 5th.

 

My actual last race of the day was the Air Fence Fundraiser pit bike race, which turned out to be one of the most fun races of the year. It was a LeMans start, broken up into 3 groups based on the bikes speed. Because I had brought a pretty big and fast bike compared to most others, I was penalized by starting from the 3rd group. My attempt to cheat by bringing a big, fast bike was thwarted, and I quickly found out that if I was going to win this race, I was going to have to cheat more than everyone else on the race, but I found out too late. Some of the interpretations of the “racing line” were interesting, as some of the small bikes spent more time in the grass than they did on pavement. However, I still maintain that this race was a riot, even if I did get outsmarted by some old cheating dirt bags on tiny bikes. For next year, I’m leaving my integrity at the gate and I’m going to win that race at all costs. I’m thinking some log chain whips and spiked clubs al a Road Rash style are in order. :D

 

Saturday night was on par with the best nights I’ve had at the track. We got to hang out with old friends and new alike, and to top it off, my cousin Rob and his wife Natasha made the trip from Springfield, IL to the track to watch some racing and hang out with everyone in the paddock. After the races, I asked Rob if he wanted to walk the track to see what it’s like out there, and he emphatically said yes, so Rob, Natasha, Ernie, Denise, Canoli, and myself grabbed some beverages and made our way out onto and around the track. After our track walk, I changed the tires on the R6, and Denise proceeded to make an awesome dinner for all of us. After hanging out for most of the night, Rob and Natasha left the track around 10pm to head downtown for the Steelers game on Sunday, and the rest of us hung out for another hour or so telling stories and making fun of each other.

 

I slept in Sunday because there wasn’t much to do, and I decided to skip the first couple of practice sessions, because I didn’t really feel like riding just yet. I took a little extra time looking things over and waking up, and finally went out to practice in the second round of practices in the 600cc and 750cc novice groups.

 

My first race of the day was again CSB. However, this time it was the first race of the day, and it had just rained just enough to cover the track with a little moisture. We went out for our sighting lap and I quickly decided the track was fine and I was going to put my head down this race. I started from the second row, and got a pretty decent start compared to those in the front row. However, there were a couple of guys that got a great start from a row behind me, and I found myself still only in 5th going through turn 1. I had a tough time getting passed a couple of riders, but at about lap 4 I was able to move up to 3rd place and had some clear track ahead of me to catch up to the 2 riders ahead of me. I put in my fastest lap of the weekend in this race with a 1:01.6, and ended up catching Zach Uithoven on the last lap breaking into the bus stop, I passed him on the brakes on the inside, and ran a little wide on exit, and I knew he was right there hoping to pass me right back on the inside, but I was able to get back on the gas hard and outdrive him to the finish line. I had picked up my pace in the last half of the race, and given another 2 laps, I think I could have challenged for the lead, but I had to settle for 2nd. Although I think I could have challenged for 1st if I had gotten out in front sooner, I was very pleased I was able to put my head down and ride smooth today after fighting myself on Saturday.

 

My second race was again BSK. After clinching the championship on Saturday, I decided I wanted to just go out and have fun in the race today. This race was a combined race with experts and novices, but wasn’t a 2 wave start, so we all started together in this race. My start was one of my best this year, and I found myself in second going through turn one, and had passed for the lead by turn 4. I had some expert riders right in front of me which helped me at first, but by lap 2, I was getting held up and was having a hard time making a pass on the experts. After about the 3rd or 4th lap, I was passed for the lead, and this rider was a little quicker to navigate through the expert riders than I was. After all was said and done, I had passed a handful of experts and had a pretty good battle with one of them, but the lead novice rider was able to put a gap between us because he was able to get through traffic faster than I could. Again, I’d have to settle for 2nd, but again, I was still very pleased with my riding.

 

My third race was CSS, and I started from the second row. I got an average start and found myself in 4th going through turn 1. This race was uneventful for me as I was forced to just follow the first 3 riders. I had a slow start to the race and didn’t find my rhythm until the 2-3rd lap. The lead riders had opened a bit of a gap that I was slowly starting to close up, but after the 4th lap, a rider crashed in turn 1 which brought out the red flag, so I was going to have to settle for 4th in this one.

 

My last race of the weekend was BSS. It started out pretty decent, I was running in 3rd-4th pretty solidly for most of the race, but by the last 2 laps or so, I had lost my rhythm and found myself fighting the bike more than I was working with it, so I decided to back it down just a tad. This gave a rider behind me just enough motivation to put his head down to take my position, and he was able to pass me on the brakes coming into turn one on the last lap. I was a little upset with myself for losing my rhythm, but I was beat to the line so you can’t really argue with that. 5th would have to do for this race.

 

By the end of that race, I was happy to be done, but I was also sad to see the weekend over as it had turned out to be one of the better ones. There was a lot of great racing, a lot of great people, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone had an amazing time.

 

I want to thank all of my sponsors. Your contributions are greatly appreciated as it helps me be able to spend some time at the track with friends doing what I love. To all who read this, I encourage you to look at my sponsors and use their products. Obviously, I think their products are amazing, but their contributions to the sport are what set them apart from their competitors. Also, a big thank you goes out to Rob and Natasha for making the trip all the way to PA to watch some racing. Family support like this goes a long way, not to mention it was a ton of fun. I want to thank my brother-in-law and sister; Phillip and Alyssa, for letting me use their truck for this trip. During the last road trip to Nelson Ledges, I found that my Duramax has developed a head gasket leak. Being able to use theirs made this weekend possible. Like always, I want to thank Ernie Miller for his help, and I want to congratulate him on his results. I believe he finished with a 1, 2, and 3 on Saturday, and a 1, 1 and 2 on Sunday. He’s a pretty big deal, even though I was still faster than him ;) Lastly, I want to thank my wife for all of her support. She supports me in many different ways.

 

Points Standings after PIRC:

 

Class                                                            Points                           Place

B Superbike:                                                  98                               1st

B Superstock:                                             106                               2nd

C Superbike:                                                  86                               3rd

C Superstock:                                               87                               2nd