Brian's Race Report from Las Vegas Classic

9/17/05 - 9/18/05 Las Vegas, NV

Wow, it's been a long time. Last time I raced was at Firebird East on June 5...over 3 months ago. The CCS SW summer break is very long, but I guess I needed the time off to take care of things like my baby, starting grad school (getting my MBA), and a few other things. Still, having been so long, I was very anxious for this weekend and very nervous at the same time. I felt rusty and out of riding shape.

Thursday

Because of my school work, I was unable to get my gear loaded before Thursday, which is when Mike and I planned to drive up. Luckily, everyone was running late and Mike was able to help me put new grips on my bike and get everything ready to go early in the day. The plan was for Mike and I to drive up in the RV (with Ken, Mike's friend, riding up with us too) and then Pat and Tom would drive up in Tom's truck later in the day. After the normal delays we seem to have, and a couple minutes of thinking Tom wasn't going to be able to come, we hit the road....well after our original goal but no biggie. We got to the track late, and basically went to sleep in the RV outside the track gates. About 4am we woke up and moved the RV in line for getting into the gates, because we knew the line would start to grow by 6 am and wanted to be asleep until the gates opened.

Friday

Because it had been so long for me, I really wanted to get a lot of practice in, so I made sure to get the bike ready, teched and myself registered early in the morning. For once, I wasn't rushed trying to make 1st practice. The first practice I went out I actually felt pretty good. I was comfortable on the bike and didn't feel as stiff and rusty as I thought I would. A good start to a long weekend. 2nd session was the same....bringing my speed up slowly and just getting used to riding again.

In between the 1st and 2nd sessions, I approached Terry Embry about following me on the track and helping me with a couple trouble spots. He is awesome because he really knows what he's doing (was a Code instructor for a few years) and he's more than willing to help anyone who asks. In the 2nd session, Terry helped me find a faster line in a few corners and showed me where I needed to work on some things. It really helped, so THANKS TERRY!! (he'd probably regret this later -- haha)

As I went out for the 2nd session, I noticed Tom (who had gone in front of me) coming back to the pits. That sucked I thought. When I got back after my session, I found Tom pissed off in the pits. He had no clutch. Normally, just a racing type thing and no big deal, except Tom had just Thursday picked his bike up from the shop where he had a new slipper clutch installed and had made it very clear racing this weekend was top priority. To not have a clutch working would frustrate anyone. So, I spent the next few hours, and 3 or 4 sessions, working on Tom's clutch problem. We ended up taking the STM out twice before giving up on it. Even though his clutch pack was not new, it was exactly to spec per the manual for thickness. We then put his stock clutch in twice, once without a bearing that was impacted into the STM and overlooked, before he had a working clutch. The good news, Tom was going to ride...the bad news, he had missed all day's practice and would be racing without a slipper clutch....something he's become very used to. At least he was riding. I made it out for about 15 more laps that day, but I felt ok and was glad Tom was going to be riding.

Friday night, we decided to go to dinner as a team, so the 4 of us (and Ken) went to a Mexican food place at the Cannery Hotel and Casino, where Pat and Tom were staying. After dinner and a lot of BS-ing, Tom took us back to the track and Mike, Ken and I went basically right to sleep. It was a long day and we had racing the next day!

Saturday

Bright and early, I woke up to the sound of the pits waking up. I had only entered in 2 races each day this weekend because I didn't have any extra cash flow, so I would only be racing in the two heavyweight races on Saturday and the same two on Sunday. That meant morning practice was the only time I'd ride until that afternoon and my only chance to scrub in my 1 new set of tires for the weekend. I got out there and felt really good on the bike. I hadn't rode much Friday, so I wasn't sore or stiff or anything. Morning practice was good...not blazing fast, but I felt good and it was uneventful.

The rest of the morning I basically helped in the pits, relaxed and took some video of the guys racing. Once I get that all formatted and prettied up, I'll put some up on the site. There was some great racing going on, including a good showing by Pat on his beefed up 999R. He's starting to get confidence back, which is a good thing.

My first race of the day was Heavyweight SuperSport...right after lunch. There were only 5 racers entered (was a low turn out weekend, especially since WSMC was the same weekend) and 3 of the racers are VERY fast guys. Bryan Land is much faster than me (fastest guy all weekend) as is David Siminski. I'm about 1 second slower than Tyler Jones on my best lap, but I'm not super consistent at that fast pace so I was not going to be able to catch him. Still, I had a great race and finished 4th...right where my times say I should have. I've got to step it up if I want to move up in the finishing order. I was already running faster than I had the last time we were at Vegas, so that was amazing to me. I felt very rusty after the 3 month break and expected to be off the pace. I actually stayed close to the lead pack for a couple laps, and picked up some stuff from them. I was also hounded by Mike behind me the whole race, so that helped me keep my head down and focused on not slowing up. I wasn't about to let Mike beat me!!

My second and last race of the day was Heavyweight Superbike. This race had the same people in it, except that the 5th person was Terry Embry who has been a guy I've been trying to catch since I started racing. After he helped me on Friday, we were running pretty much the same pace this weekend, so this would be a good race. Sure enough, Terry and I are battling pretty good in this race. I get him on the straights and he gets me where I'm slow...which he knows from helping me. So, I'm behind Terry coming onto the straight and I know I can get him into 6 because I've got more power in my bike. I dive inside him and cut a tight line in 6 heading to 7. As expected, Terry comes flying by me into 7, which is where I sucked the most, but he out brakes himself and goes wide! Head down, time to roll...I know I've got at least a couple bike lengths on him now and I didn't want to give it back up. I ended the race without seeing him again, but come to find out that my teammate Mike was right on our heels and got between me and Terry holding Terry up for a little while. Terry was awesome about it though, and was actually happy he helped me and that I was able to use what he taught me to beat him! Talk about a good guy!! Thanks Terry. I ended up 4th in this race too.

Last time we were at Vegas, my best time was 1:25.2. So far on Saturday, I had already hit 1:24.1 in the Heavyweight Superbike race!! After seeing that, my new goal for the weekend was to get into the 1:23 mark. It's only 1 tenth, right?!

Saturday night we stayed at the track and had some good Tortilla soup and Steak courtesy of Dave Stone and crew. Got to hang out and talk BS with Terry, Dave, Pat (a different Pat), and Tyler before getting to bed EARLY.

One thing...Tyler had a bad high side on Saturday and jacked himself up pretty good. It happened in turn 7 which would stay in my mind all weekend. Glad to hear you're doing ok now Tyler. Recoup well.

Sunday

Sunday morning I couldn't sleep...not used to getting 9 hours of sleep, so I got up and watched the sunrise. That was a nice way to start the day. For some reason, it didn't last. I knew Mike had a goal all year of beating me in a race since I'm the only BSR guy he hasn't finished in front of at one point or another. He was running my same times essentially all weekend and I wanted to make sure and disappoint him one more weekend (neener neener -- hahaha). This got me all nervous for some reason. Morning practice felt GREAT but after that I got nervous.

Saturday I had noticed that not even 10 people entered the Unlimited GP for amateurs, so everyone who entered was guaranteed to win money. I decided to check on the expert race for Sunday and sure enough, not 10 entries. I entered the race Sunday morning since I'd be guaranteed to make at least $10 for entering (above race entry fees). That meant I got to do Unlimited GP Qualifying. That was fun....felt like a big dog for once, until I saw I had qualified 6th with only a realistic shot of getting top 5 if I stepped up a little. I was a few tenths behind 5th in qualifying times, but I had not gone my fastest to qualify.

This day, my first race wasn't until way later. It was Heavyweight SuperBike. This time Pat was entering this race, as was Terry again. I was expecting a barn burner with Terry and was really looking forward to it. Sure enough, Terry gets a great start and I slot in behind him. This time, I follow him for a lap and then get a great drive down the front straight and line up on the inside into turn 1. I remember Terry making a banzai pass on the outside the day before in turn 1, so I expect Terry to brake REALLY late, but not as late as he did. Unfortunately for Terry, he ran wide and stood it up. I was saying "don't crash Terry, don't crash Terry" in my helmet while looking back to watch and almost crashed myself. I knew that meant Terry was going to be too far back to catch up so now all I had to do was worry about Mike. Sure enough, he was right on my tail after my little almost excursion off course. I put my head down and actually made up some ground on Mike, stretching to about a 10 bike length lead going into the lap before the white flag (2 to go). Right before the white flag lap, I came through 7 and saw two lappers in front of me. These guys are getting better each race, but they are still much slower than we are and are somewhat unpredictable. Instead of stuffing them on the inside (I didn't want to be a prick) I tried to go around the outside of them in 8 but I was trying to carry too much speed and the corner came back to me too quick. I ended up way way way wide setting up for the last corner onto the straight and lost a TON of time right there. Sure enough, getting onto the front straight I see Mike go flying by on the outside....the right line. PUNK!! So, I put my head down and start pushing real hard to catch Mike. I think I scared the crap out of myself about 5 times that lap getting on the gas too early and sliding the rear, carrying too much corner speed, etc. I ended up being about 8-10 bike lengths behind him going onto the back straight. The back straight ends with a very high speed right hand sweeper where your knee is down well over 100 mph. I FLEW threw that corner faster than I ever had before and made up all of that ground on Mike. He had a defensive line going, so I went around the outside of him into 7 and out broke him. Unfortunately, I knew I was too close to him to keep my preferred line (would have taken his front tire out probably) and that I was probably too hot into the corner anyways, so I went a little wide and got into the dirty track where Tyler had high sided. All I could think was Tyler and don't replicate. So, I got on the gas gingerly and slotted behind Mike. I finished 2 bike lengths behind him at the line. We really weren't racing each other for position on the track since we're really in different races, but the only race that matters to me is with the clock and vs. my friends. That day, that race, Mike had my number. Congrats Mike!!! That was a VERY fun race. If Terry had been able to get back into it, that would have been even more fun, but he got held up behind a train of slow guys after going off course.

Of course, Mike was stoked and I was pissed. I was happy for him, but pissed at myself. I got a 3rd place in the race officially with a best time of 1:24.3 (the lap Mike got by, I got held up 3 seconds!).

My tires were feeling slippery to me, but it could have been from pushing so hard that last lap. I decided to chill out in the Unlimited GP since I had to make these same tires last all weekend, and I was in a points battle in the Heavyweight races. I started the Unlimited GP, ran some respectable times within a 1/2 second of my fastest, but pulled off at half way to conserve tire. I ended up last (7th) and made $80.

The last race, Heavyweight SuperSport, was expected to be another barn burner between Mike and myself. Unfortunately, Terry had not entered this race. I expected to get 2nd based on who entered, and that's what I ended up with. Still, that's not the battle that mattered to me. I got a good start and slotted into 2nd place through turn 1. Sure enough, Mike was right behind me along with Nick Terrell, who really stepped it up this weekend. The 3 of us had a nose to tail battle going for about 1/2 the race when Nick came around and stuffed me into the last corner. I squared it off and beat him to turn 1. Since he passed me there, I knew that meant Mike had to be behind him (I hadn't looked back since the start knowing if I did Mike would get me) so I pushed real hard and didn't see anyone the rest of the race. I put in some hard fast laps that race and rode well considering poor grip from my abused tires. On the cool down lap, I turned around to find Mike and didn't see him anywhere. Oh crap. Sure enough, I see a bike being loaded in the turn 5 area and there's Mike waving at me to say he's ok. SUCK! Mike had low sided in that turn about mid distance on the race and I didn't even know it. He and his bike are ok. Who knows what would have happened if he had finished the race, but I like to think I had him covered. Not the way to end our weekend, but at least everyone was ok. I ended up running my fastest lap of the weekend in this race, at 1:23.9. I made it to my goal!

I barely improved on my times from Saturday, but I rode better Sunday. I think with new tires, I could have been in the low 23s. I ran consistent low 24s in most of the races with a best of 1:23.9. My new goal is more consistency though. I lap times usually range about .5 seconds off from the prior lap.

What a fun weekend. It's been too long. BSR all out racing together again. Pat's coming back up to speed as his confidence increases. Mike's riding the wheels off that thing and really giving me a run for my money. Tom's just gone...he's 4 seconds faster than me now! Earlier this season we were pretty close, but that rampage of 8 race weekends in a row, and all the associated seat time, has REALLY helped him step up. He's absolutely flying! Heck, he qualified on POLE for the Unlimited GP!!! GO TOM!

Tom's off to Fontana next weekend to get some seat time at a track he'll need to know before qualifying for AMA next year. Pat's going with Tom, but Mike and I are doing the CCS round at Firebird East. Should be another fun weekend.

I want to thank Mike for pushing me all weekend. We were consistently within 1 tenth of each other on fast laps each race. That's amazing to me. He's stepped up huge and I need to do the same to keep him behind me. Also want to thank Terry for helping me out on the track, pushing me in the races, and being happy when I did well even though I finished in front of him. Want to thank Ken for pitting all weekend, Mike and Pat for dinner/drinks, Tom for not killing me when the clutch didn't work the first time, and everyone for making it a fun weekend. It's nice to race again as a team.

Special thanks to Amy for letting me get out of town and leaving her with the baby all weekend, who's teething and fussy.

Last, I want to thank my sponsors who I hope will keep us on board for another year. With the way everyone's improving, and with as many titles as we've got a chance at right now, I'm expecting good things. Motorex USA, Vesrah, Vortex, Sidi, LP Team Privateer, Chicken Hawk, SpeedyMoto, All Out Graphics, Helmet Harbor, Pipe City, Desert Truss, Savoca Construction, VaporBlue and Visa.

Brian Kirkland #34

PS. The CCS SW region has a new website that I built for them. They are becoming a CCS affiliate next year, so I gotta thank Randy, Heidi, Karen and Tom for stepping up to take the series on and give us a local place to race. Check out the site at http://www.roadracesw.com