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Monday, July 25, 2011

One of the Fam



It felt like it had been an eternity since my last AMRA race. I raced the season opener back in March, but having passed on the Georgia race because it was too far to drive, and opting out of the June Bowling Green race because no one was going & the weather was looking unfavorable made it feel like I hadn’t raced since last season. Money is always an issue when it comes to drag racing. It’s an expensive and rarely, if ever, profitable habit. Expenses of food, entrance for the weekend, race entries, and fuel in an RV that only gets 9 mpg all become factors in making the decision if you’re going or not. This race, being in Michigan, was the closest to home it will ever get for me, so I was glad to be going, even though no one else decided or was able to come with.

A nice, short, 2 ½ hour drive to the track was a welcome treat, barely enough time to get nervous on the ride there. Upon arrival and seeing the Friday night Chopperfest schedule showed grudge racing, I didn’t get any test & tune track time in, and figured I’d get that in Saturday before the races. Well, Saturday’s driver’s meeting informed us that due to money issues the track was not allowing us to test & tune like usual. I don’t know what that was about, maybe it had something to do with the track not wanting to pay people to dry off the lanes after the morning’s rain, who knows. But there was no test & tune before Sunday's races either. I was a tad bit bothered, to say the least. I usually need to get a few ‘throw away’ runs in so I can focus on one detail at a time. My first run, the bike almost always misbehaves, and I count on having that extra seat time. Then I can start paying attention to things like launch rpm, arm position, and light timing. But, that was not to be this weekend. Right from the get go, my divisions were staging, back to back. Good when it’s over because it’s nothing but down time to relax after that, but not so good if you haven’t had time to warm up properly! Qualifying runs were just ‘ok’ as far as times go, I’ve done better, but I’ve also done worse. My best run wasn’t even in SE class, where I have to be as close to 11.50 as possible, but the field wasn’t too large, so it turned out ok, as I qualified 10th. My best time of the weekend, an 11.68 wasn’t even in SE class, so my qualifying time ended up being 11.86, with a really pathetic reaction time. I suppose I could say I did that to play head games with whoever I draw to race against, but that would be too calculated for this beginner lol. Nope, I just plain sucked due to no extra seat time. My E class time was a decent 12.09 (which is up there with my best no-nos times) , I wasn’t spraying NOS, it was too hot and I had too many concerns over bottle pressure. At one point I paired up against a Screamin’ Eagle, which I was again sleeping at the tree, but ended up beating, in spite of having a brain fart & letting off at the 1/8th mile. WHAT was I thinking!?!?!? Lol I was thinking, whoo hoo, I’m done…oh wait, no I’m not, they just have the 1/8th mile marked well, get back on that throttle stupid!!! And I still beat the Screamin’ Eagle with the bigger motor , bwahahahahaha!

Once they posted the results brackets, I was informed I was paired up with the division points leader, oh joy. He’s running consistently in the 11.5’s and cut a .04 light…SWELL. It was a long night bouncing back & forth from resigning myself that I was being eliminated first round, to thinking, so use it to your advantage, he will see your stats and think he can relax, surprise him. Morning drivers meeting was uneventful, and I had a long time to ruminate over the situation, as my classes were in running order numbers 12 & 13. SE class (11.50 class) was first, and I had an over full bottle of nos, and the purge was only working when it wanted to. Spent a lot of time worrying about it, and it had to be manually purged several times. I mentally envisioned myself cutting a good light, nailing shifts, & having a good run, and telling myself he was just some other rider, so what if he’s points leader, that doesn’t mean squat. I rolled up to the line, made sure I was the last to stage, kept my rpm’s up, but my RT was only so so, and the bike bogged pretty bad off the line. I guess I must have dumped the clutch too fast. Needless to say, he won. Oh well, time to line up for the Eliminator class. I chose 12.08 on my dial in, because I’d be pissed if I broke out of my best time of 12.09. Turns out I didn't have to worry about breaking out, cuz it bogged again, and I ran a 12.46. I fouled by .078, but he fouled worse, so I won. It was close though, he ran a 12.39, so if we hadn’t both fouled, we were just about neck & neck. My 2nd round of E class was a disappointment from the get go. My opponent was only 9.90 second Screamin’ Eagle Destroyer rider Andy Horn, no competition there! LOL I cut one of the best lights I had all weekend, but I was too aggressive off the line, and the bike got almost sideways and I probably did a 20 foot burnout. Apparently some woman watching said “OH SHIT” , that’s kind of what I was saying to myself, as I’ve never gotten so squirrelly on a launch that I had to put my foot down. I mostly rode it out though. I guess I picked the wrong spot to line up, and was just a little bit aggressive off the line. You live, you learn. There’s no shame in losing to a Destroyer, I want one of those SO DAMN BAD!!! (Note to self...I NEED sponsors BAD)

All in all, a good time was had. I learned a few things from talking to the folks around me. I had forgotten how friendly, and genuinely nice the AMRA ‘family’ is. It’s more than just a competition, in fact, the competition part takes a back seat to the camaraderie and celebration of doing what you love. I did catch myself sitting (sweating my ass off, of course) in the staging lanes looking around me, and remembering how insanely intimidated I was at my first event. I was seeing all the racers around me, and feeling like I was a fish out of water, an amateur that didn’t belong here. This was only my 3rd AMRA event, but I really felt more like one of ‘them’, and that was because they’re all really good, and regular folks, just having fun and sharing the love. It’s an expensive addiction, and I want more more more!

From where I sit, even though life can be tough to manage, and it could be difficult to see the finish line through the clouds that sometimes loom ahead…LIFE really is ultimately GOOD, and getting better with each passing day.