My first race weekend - CCS Road America, July 6 - 8, 2007

After progressing through numerous track day events over the last 3 years, I decided to go racing. The goal was simple. I thought the atmosphere of competition would make me better.

I saw first hand the big changes in fellow track day riders turned racers (Marshall Sckloss in particular, as well as many others). I felt it was time to jump in the shark tank. My problem was that JAWS was in the shark tank.

Dustin Boyd is a monster. He is an excellent competitor. More than that, he has always had my number. He is my personal Goliath. Since we are both Control Riders with NESBA, we have had lots of opportunities to talk smack and mix it up at track days. He always beats me, always. He is a gentleman about it and never rubs it in, but it still stings.

Friday, July 6

GTO (25 minute race)

I figured this one would be sort of like one of the NESBA track day sessions in length and that I just needed to get out there and relax and run a good pace. To say the least, that all went out the window by the time Dustin and I went flying down toward turn 1 side by side.

I got a very good start and was in the lead (among the Amateurs) through turn 1, turn 3 and into turn 5. I knew Dustin was all over me down the straight into turn 5 and made the decision to try and block the inside line. Bad move on my part cause I run it in a little hot and went wide and he slipped by on the inside of me and started to gap me a bit through turns 6 and 7. Little did I know that this was to be his standard operating procedure all weekend.

As we blasted through Hurry Downs and into turn 8, Dustin was far enough ahead to start tossing riders at me and basically that was that. I started to lose touch with him. The harder I pushed the worse it got. I was missing my marks, running wide, and just generally riding poorly. I was riding everyone's bike but mine.

By lap 6, I settled down a bit and ran my best lap time of that race - a 2:28 something. The rest of the laps were 2:30's and at the end of 8 laps, I finished 2nd in my first race.

The urgency to run hard ... REALLY HARD ... was something that was required and was clearly evident in Dustin's riding. I needed more of that, but I also needed more self-control as well. And I needed to learn how to mix the two extremes into something resembling race craft! I was clearly a bit overwhelmed.

Unlimited SuperBike - Race 1 (4 lap sprint)

I went into this race determined to ride my own ride, to hit my marks, to twist my throttle, to use my brakes, etc. Basically, to let everyone else ride their bikes and I'll ride mine.

I got another good start and I rode well throughout the race. My lap times were now consistently in the 2:28's and I was relaxed and comfortable at this pace. At the end of 4 laps, I finished 2nd among the amateurs and 5th overall. Not bad at all. I had a great battle with a couple of the experts. The riding was clean and it was a ton of fun. I was able to pull it out on the last lap and got by them both. On the cool down, they both gave me a big thumbs up which really made me feel good.

The problem was that Dustin was absolutely on fire. The level of urgency and aggression I saw in Goliath's riding as he slowly checked out on me that first lap was not something I had personally experienced in my own riding. He ran a great race and was actually leading the race in first overall at one point while mixing it up with the faster expert riders. I am not sure what his times were, but he was clearly at least a couple of seconds faster than me. He was riding off the hook and finished 1st among amateurs and second overall. Goliath, I tell you!

Though I didn't win the race, I felt good when I got back into the paddock knowing that I had beaten the nerves and was beginning to get "IT". I was beginning to understand a little bit about race craft and it is way more than knowing how to pass or how to run a defensive line. Dustin was taking me to school...LITERALLY.

Friday night was a long night. I was wide awake at 2:30AM trying to figure out how to fix one of my glaring weaknesses...turn 6 and turn 7. Dustin had pulled at least a 3 bike gap on me through this section in both of Friday's racing. I had to fix this if I was going to have a shot at being competitive in Saturday's races.

Saturday, July 7

Unlimited SuperBike - Race 2 (4 lap sprint)

I felt good at the start of this race. I felt that I had found a bit of time through turn 6 and 7 in the morning practice session. I got another good start and Dustin and I were side by side sawing through traffic like mad through turns 1 and turn 3 and down into turn 5. I was learning to use the urgency while still keeping it under control a bit. I was riding my ride.

I didn't try anything stupid this time as we screamed down into turn 5 inches apart. You could not have fit a sheet of paper between us as we continued to saw through traffic through turns 6 and 7 and into Hurry Downs. As we went into turn 8, I made the pass on the brakes and again he was able to square it up under me and we went into the carousel with me a half bike length behind him.

I think Goliath was a bit surprised that I was close enough to try that pass into turn 8 because he immediately went through the carousel like a freaking run away train trying to gap me. What he didn't know was that he had me locked in tow and I was blissfully oblivious to the fact that I was going far faster through that corner than ever before.

We both got through the bend pretty cleanly and as we flew through Kettle Bottoms pushing each other hard all the way we suddenly came upon a parking lot in Canada Corner. I'm not 100% sure what happened next but in the mad scramble to get the bikes shut down, I saw out of the corner of my eye Dustin do a big stoppie and then let go of the brakes and then do another big stoppie and go tumbling.

I was instantly saddened and elated as conflicting emotions ran over me. I knew my first win was in the bag at that point, but that was just not how I wanted the win to happen. I said a quick prayer for Dustin and thanked God that I made it through that OK. I then brought it home for the win. My first amateur win!

As I pitted in after the race I saw one of my crew members (Chris Irwin) just going nuts in the stands to my right. It was an awesome moment for me and all my family and friends.

After the race, my wife Maria, my crew chief Erik and I immediately went over to check on Dustin. There he was with a big hole in his elbow, blood running down his arm while he struggled to change his rear tire. Megan (his fiancée) was trying to get him to go to medical and not having much luck. Erik and I finally convinced him to go to medical while we help his crew put his bike back together.

Unlimited GP (4 lap sprint)

Another good start and I just checked out and won the race easily...too easily I suspected. After bringing it home for my second amateur win I learned that Dustin had mechanical issues and finished near the back. Again, that was not how I wanted it.

I slept like a baby Saturday night and awoke Sunday morning ready for battle. I wanted a head to head battle with Goliath, but the problem was that Goliath was still considerably faster than me.

I posed the following question to Guru AFed:
ME: "How can one person beat another person that is 2 seconds a lap faster?"
AFed: "You need to go faster."
ME: "Oh, OK."

Sunday, July 8

I went to Chapel service with my wife first thing on Sunday morning. I prayed for myself. I prayed for Dustin because I knew he would be sore and his arm would be hurting. I also prayed for safety for all the other competitors.

Unlimited SuperSport - Race 1 (4 lap sprint)

It was another good race start for both Dustin and me. We were head to head all the way into the carousel and I was finally able to get by Goliath on the brakes going into the bend on lap 1. My race craft was coming along! I was feeling confident in the bike and the tires and I was riding well and hitting my marks. He was all over me through Canada Corner and as we both exited Billy Mitchell Bend we somehow wound up all tangled up going into turn 14. Unfortunately, I got the worst of it and almost ran off the track and wound up a bunch of bike lengths back as we went onto the straight. I spent the rest of the race trying to make up that gap to no avail and finally just maintained the gap till the checkered flag.

As I brought home a solid second place, I was not very happy at all. I was encouraged that I was finally able to run a competitive pace, but second place definitely did not taste as good as first.

Unlimited SuperSport - Race 2 (4 lap sprint)

There was a lot of silence in my paddock as we prepared for my last race of the weekend. Erik diligently went about making sure my bike and gear was ready as I sat back in my chair with the fan on me and my eyes closed.

I envisioned every braking zone, every apex and every drive. I envisioned every thing that I needed to do in order to run a perfect fast lap. I envisioned every thing I needed to do to slay Goliath. Win or lose, I made up my mind that I was going to run as hard as I possibly could and throw down 4 of the fastest laps possible.

As they called third call to the grid, my wife Maria and all my crew encouraged me as I got on the bike. I knew they were pulling for me along with the rest of my family in the RV and other friends throughout the paddock.

As I finished the warm up lap and we gridded up, I was intensely focused on the task at hand and more ready than I had ever been. I looked over at Goliath who was gridded in the row in front of me and to my left. I could tell by his body language that he came ready to throw down.

IT WAS ON.

As the one board came up and then turned sideways, the green flag came out. Goliath got a great start and I went into turn 1 two bikes behind him. He chose the outside line down into turn 3 passing several riders and I chose the inside line passing those same riders. As we exited turn 3, we were close to side by side and we continued to make passes like it was a cone drill all the way down toward turn 5.

As he started to brake for turn 5, I instinctively tried a pass on the brakes and again ran a little wide and he was able to square it up on me like he had done all weekend long. As he passed me underneath I saw him shake his head as if to say, "Dude, what were you thinking trying that?!?!" I knew he was right, I was pushing too hard. I yelled at myself in my helmet to not let him get away and to settle down and hit my marks as we screamed up the hill toward turn 6.

It took me a whole lap and a half before I was able to finally real Goliath back in enough to almost make a move on the brakes coming out of the carousel and heading into the bend. It was just too close and at the last possible moment I thought better of the idea and backed out of the pass. I fell in behind him going into the quick left and right and onto the long back straight. With the help of a little drafting, I was all over him through Canada Corner and Billy Mitchell Bend and was able to square it up into turn 14 enough to get a good drive and draft past him at the end of lap 2 as we passed the start / finish line.

We went elbow to elbow down the last half of the long front straight, Goliath on the outside and David on the inside. Since I had the inside line, I leaned over on him a little pushing him closer to the edge of the track hoping he would come off the throttle a bit. It wasn't happening, he just leaned right back. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as we flew down toward turn 1. At that moment, I made the fateful decision to not lose. I was prepared to give as much as it took to win this thing.

I looked down at his right hand and with everything within me decided that I was not going to brake until he did. After what seemed like a 3 eternities, I saw him start to move his right hand and I immediately grabbed a big handful of front brake and three downshifts and threw the bike into turn 1 long before my bike had settled down.

I put my head down and put in another strong lap, hitting all my marks and coming out of Canada Corner so hard on the throttle that the rear tire was starting to come around on me. I got a good drive out turn 14 and tried to crawl under the paint going down the front straight. As I crossed the start / finish line my lap timer showed a 2:24:79, far faster than my previous personal best at Road America.

The last lap seemed to take forever. With every corner I fought the urge to check up on the brakes and just forced myself to hold the throttle open as long as possible, to get the bike as close to the apex as possible and to get back on the throttle as early and as hard as possible.

I had no idea where Goliath was and as I exited the bend onto the back straight with half a lap to go I snuck a peek over my left shoulder and there he was … inches from my rear wheel with his head down in my draft! I put my head down and twisted the throttle harder against the stop but I was already giving her everything she had.

I hit turn 12 perfectly and as I came out of turn 13, I saw another rider ahead of me half way between 13 and 14. I smelled destiny as I carried as much corner speed through turn 14 as I could and fell into the draft behind that rider up the hill toward the finish line. As I passed that rider, I saw the checkered flag and my crew and family going nuts on the side of the track. I won it! This time I won the race in a head to head battle with my personal Goliath.

I later learned that Dustin was maybe a bike length behind me. I owe this to him. The reality is that there is no way I would have pushed that hard without him pushing me every inch of the way.

It was not the "beating Goliath" that felt so satisfying, after all we are not enemies we are friends! Rather, it was knowing that I had went far beyond anything I had previously done. It was the back and forth racing and the close competition, the racing had made me better.

It was the very best of what road racing is about and it tasted sweet indeed.

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CONTACT INFO: ron@ronhix.com or 630.430.7449