The final weekend
Virginia International Raceway (VIR) - Alton, VA
September 25-26, 2004

This is it. The final 2004 race weekend is here. Since I'm in 2, 3, & 4th place overall for the SE regions in allows classes I race, I decide to do the Friday practice day. Britt Arechiga flew in from the West coast, as well as about 20 other riders for the race. Fri. morning, I drove Britt and I to the track for practice. The day went well, was very crowded, but got some initial track time in, and was able to register and tech Friday evening, so that I wouldn't have to rush and wait in line on Sat. morning.

Saturday morning practice went OK. We had our own 125-only practice session which was nice. However, my bike was acting funny. I was getting some detonation in the lower part of the powerband (11-11.5K rpm) which was abnormal, since I have all my standard settings and am going by my jetting chart. To temporarily fix this, I jetted 1-2 sizes rich.

I went out for the USGPRU National 125 race qualifying session, and 2 sizes was too rich. The bike was seriously bogging in the lower RPM range. I was only able to turn times in the 43/42 range and qualified with a 1:42.5, which put me in 33rd position on the grid. This sux. I should have turned a 39, as I did in June, and that would have put me in 17th or less.

So I toned it back and only jetted 1 size rich for the GTL race. I went out and got a good start from the front row. For the first half of the race, things were going OK, and I didn't hear the detonation happening, until just after the halfway point. Every lap I would hear it 1 or 2 times, and then it started to get more frequent. So as not to risk blowing anything and ruining the rest of the weekend, I pulled off on the second to last lap. Man I was pissed, b/c I had a chance at 2nd or 3rd place overall in this class, but now, it's more like 4 or 5. But oh well.

Later in the afternoon, I checked and cleaned out the carb, carb/air tray, spark plug, and top of the engine just below the tray, in hopes that maybe dirt or something was getting sucked in. This was just really strange that it was happening as I was using my same setup as in June. Hopefully it's just something in the air.

Sunday, I go out for AM practice, with hopes that the bike runs normal.... and it does. No problems, no (audible) detonations. Whew, I'm happy. Now the real test.. a race. I go out for the 125 race, and start from pole position. I get a good start and am in 2nd place, with Todd Puckett in first and starting to pull away. I know I can't catch him, and try to hang onto 2nd. But 3 other fast riders eventually pass me and I just can't keep up with them, so I settle for 5th place. More importantly, the bike ran well. It must have been something in the air on Sat. or just dirt.

Now comes the National race. I start on the 10th row. YUK! I get a great start and pass like 8 people on my way to T1. It's pretty crowded, but everyone quickly thins out, and the race picks up pace. I catch a couple guys, and fall into position. After halfway (8 laps) I start to fade. I see my lap times slowly getting slower (.3-.4 seconds) and I'm starting to get tired. But then Phil Krenn passes me and I wake up. "WTF are you doing?" I say to myself. "WAKE UP AND RACE". So I get some motivation and the chase is on. I keep up with Phil for a couple laps, but as Chris Cosentino passes up, Phil picks up the pace, and slowly walks away from me.

We start to hit traffic, and they are battling it out, which allows me to catch back up, and eventually Phil and I start battling, swapping positions a couple times. It's coming down to the wire, and we're on the last lap. We catch up to Gregor and now the game is ON. Three of us are battling for 21-23 positions. Heading down the hill from the top of the roller coaster Gregor leads Phil, then myself. This is my last chance. I really have to nail this turn and go balls out if I wanna catch them.

We make the left then switch to the right for the final turn onto the straight. I hit it perfect and keep up my speed and setup for the draft. Phil passes Gregor just after the turn, and here I come... I start getting into Phil's draft when Gregor ducks behind him to try to re-draft him, and I also nail Gregor as I'm closing in. Luckily I quickly bolted to the right and pull up next to Gregor. Phil is within reach! I slowly speed up, and pull up next to Phil, and it's coming down to the wire, only <100 ft. till the finish line... and I edge pass Phil to win by less that 1 ft!! SWEET!!! What an awesome finish and battle we had. I finish 21st.

Last race is LWGP. I'm in 3rd place overall and need to beat Kevin and put ~3 people between us to finish 2nd overall. He takes off on the start and I quickly catch up to him in the turns. After the first lap, I pass him on the brakes going into T1, and I never see him again. Not knowing who's behind me, I put my head down and just hope to catch and pass a couple more people, or have them pass Kevin to put a big enough spread between us to pass him in the points standings. But it turns out, I finish 8th and he finishes 10th, which is not enough, and I take 3rd overall for the SE region in LWGP class. Damn it was close.

Well... this is it, our last race weekend. Although it wasn't as smooth and error free as Barber, it was nearly a perfect weekend, and a great way to end the season. Being my first year as an expert, and first year on a 125, I came out with some pretty good results. I'm very excited and happy with all my finishes. A big thanks to all our sponsors and people that helped and supported us throughout the season, and we're looking forward to kicking some ass next year!