Talladega Gran Prix, April 7-9, 2006

This weekend we traveled to Alabama to compete in the second round of the WERA National Challenge Series. I have never been to Talladega Gran Prix before and I looked forward to the challenge of getting to know a new track and getting back on the bike after my minor crash at Jennings GP.

We arrived real late on Thursday night. I had to work Thursday so the soonest I could get everything done at work was about 3:30pm. We made the 7 hour trip and went straight to sleep. Friday morning began with the usual - finding a place to pit, getting the tent up, getting the bikes ready and then out for the first practice session of the day. I really hate being the first group out in practice and the schedule is always the same for each weekend.

With Mark's help in finding the lines, I progressively got faster throughout the weekend - dropping my times by 5-6 seconds. I rode practice on Friday, about 4 sessions - using as much time as I could get. My goal was to improve on lap times and gain track knowledge. I put a lot of effort and focus into working through traffic and making smart decisions about passing and gaining spots.

That afternoon as qualifying began I watched Mark go out for his 600 Superstock session. He made one lap and then I saw him from the tower tuck the front in the last turn as you head for the front straightaway. He caught a false neutral and took one of his friends with him. The bike wasn't too badly damaged. He qualified 18th with only one lap in the books. After getting the bike quickly back together he was out for his next round, 750 Superstock qualifying. He qualified 4th!

Saturday was very laid back. Neither of us are racing endurance (for now) so we got bikes prepared for Sunday's sprint races. Saturday night brought about bad storm warnings so we packed up everything best we could in the trailer and headed for the hotel.

Sunday Mark raced first starting 18th in 600 Superstock and worked through the pack to a 6th place finish! Then in his 750 race Mark had rear brake issues and finished 6th after a hard earned effort.

My first race was the 7th of the day, Lightweight Superstock. After an incredibly poor start I settled into a rhythm, and worked up through the pack to finish a solid 10th. My second and final race of the day was Formula 2. I started 9th and finished 10th. I rode a solid and smart race battling back and forth with 3 other riders.

Coming from racing a regional series for 3 years to competing in the WERA National Challenge Series has already provided me with so much experience at new tracks and competing against some of the fastest riders yet.