Brian's Race Report from New Mexico

9/12/04 Arroyo Seco Motorplex - ASMA

As usual, we had a bunch of preparation to do to the bikes before racing. We all spent countless hours the week(s) before this weekend prepping the bikes. My bike got new painted bodywork, repaired gas tank, replaced parts in both rear sets, new tires, powder coated wheels, fork work, new controls and general repairs. In fact, Pat, Tom and I painted our bikes the same and powder coated our wheels red. The bikes actually look pretty good. Mike plans to paint his in the near future.

Friday

By the time Friday rolled around, we were 75% packed up and ready to go. We finished working on Tom's bikes last minute, loaded them up and were on the road, late as usual. Pat, Tom and I rode in Tom's truck and towed Pat's Toy Hauler. Allen and Mike rode in Mike's RV and towed Tom's trailer. We have a pretty big pit area!! By the time we arrived at the track in New Mexico, it was 1:30 am. Then, for some unknown reason (read: excitement), we didn't get into bed until 3:30 am!! I think the energy level of the guys was too high with Pat and Tom both racing new bikes for the first time this weekend.

Coming in to this weekend, I was pretty focused on one goal....DON'T CRASH. I've had a bit of a case of crashitis lately, and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize racing next week in Vegas for the CCS / Formula USA national. I came into Arroyo with the main goal of finishing all my races upright and not even caring what times I was running.

Saturday

Let's just say Saturday morning was ROUGH because we all had very little sleep the night before. We all got up pretty slow and I don't think anyone but Pat made it to the first practice session.

When I got up, I noticed my newly repaired gas tank was collapsed in and had a big crease where the repair work had been done. I had a hard time opening the tank because it had major pressure buildup. When I did open it, my tank snapped back into shape within a couple minutes (with the addition of a nice crease in the new tank). It took only about 5 minutes with the tank closed to build up the pressure again. I knew this meant that somehow the air line to the tank was blocked. I was not in a rush at all, so I took my time fixing it and making sure everything was ready to go. It turned out that the issue was not in the air line, but was inside the tank! Somehow the painter had plugged up the hose inside the tank even though he did not paint near the plug and I couldn't find anything in it. We fixed it by sticking a compressor up to the tank and blowing out whatever was stuck (we never actually saw anything exit the tank, but the line was clear after we did this). One issue down and fixed. I only got one session in before lunch, but I was not worried as I was focused on preparing for Vegas more than anything else. Special thanks to Allen for helping me fix this issue despite the fact he was also losing track time.

When I finally got out on the track, I was well off the pace, but didn't care. The bike felt pretty much like it did the last time I rode here, but I felt relatively good on it. After some help from Kane Lasky, I got my suspension setup and immediately the bike felt better. In fact, that was the first time I ever rode my bike where the front didn't dive hard under braking. Thanks Kane!

I never mounted a lap timer, so I have no idea what times I ran. Like I've said, it didn't matter to me this weekend.

Sunday

Sunday was race day, and I knew it was going to be hard. I was sore from Saturday and knew I'd be in the back of all the grids because ASMA grids by points. This was my first official weekend racing with ASMA. That was good and bad. Good, because I didn't care where I finished this weekend too much. Bad, because being in the back you are stuck with the guys who are not as experienced and/or beginners. This is bad because their lines and decisions are terrible. It was actually kinda scary seeing some of their decisions. I think I took 8th or 9th in the first race (750 Superbike)...somewhere near the back.

My second race was the Southwest Thunder race, which is where the twins are most competitive. Pat won the race, Tom took 2nd and I took 3rd. A Team BSR sweep of the podium! I was VERY surprised to get a podium in this race. I was able to match the pace of Tom and Pat, which also surprised me quite a bit. I think I ran around 1:17.3 lap times.

My third race (Helmet Harbor/Pipe City Formula Amateur) was the money race. It was rather frustrating and I had to keep telling myself to chill out and just cruise home safe. I got stuck behind 3-4 slower guys that I could not get around. They had much faster bikes and made it impossible to pass them on the straights. The rest of the track is pretty much one line unless you are willing to stuff someone or are more familiar with the track than I am. Stuffing someone was not in my agenda for this weekend, so I ended up taking FOREVER to get around these slower riders. Despite being able to run Pat and Tom's pace, I finished well behind them. Gotta get me one of those big monster power bikes so I can power by guys on the straights!!

Earlier in the day, Kane Lasky had approached me about running the team race with him. Pat and Tom were already running as a team, and Mike was not interested in running just that one race. So, I decided to run the race with Kane. Since Kane was the fastest guy there that weekend (won all the expert races he entered), I figured we'd do pretty well. It turns out that Kane was in an endurance race right before our team race, so he was pretty spent. Still, we were able to finish one spot above Tom and Pat. I kept within 40 yards of Pat and Kan was able to get by Tom. It was a different type of race and pretty fun. I gave Kane the winnings ($25).

Mike and Allen did not race on Sunday, but stuck around to help out the team. In addition, a very nice guy who knew Pat (Tim) showed up from Tucson to hang out. They were a HUGE help on Sunday. Thanks guys!

I think I only got my knee done 5 times all weekend, which proves that I was not pushing at all. I met all my goals, so I am happy.

I'd like to thank my sponsors Helmet Harbor, Pipe City, Motorex, and LP Team Privateer. I'd also like to thank my teammates for helping me get ready, transportation, food and for keeping me in check. Lastly, I'd like to specifically thank Allen, Mike, Tim and Kane for their help at the track.

I can't wait for Vegas in a couple days! It's on like Donkey Kong!

Brian Kirkland #34

PS. Make sure you check out all the photos in the photo section! We have a TON.