What: Suzuki Cup Race(might be titled, "Moto World", but this will be the topic of the day.) When: Dec 21, 2000 Where: ESPN, ESPN2, or Fox Sport Net(Depending), check your area for times. -=-=-=-=-=- ** Steve Clark has a million-to-one shot of being on National TV ** That's right, since I was in this race, I might actually get one milli-second of national coverage. At the start of the Suzuki Cup SV650 race, keep your eyes peeled for a BRIGHT Lime Green SV, with Bright Green/Yellow leathers, and a white helmet, on the #16 bike. I'm starting from the 4th row on the left side. -=-=-=-=-=- For those of you familiar with the industry, perhaps by now, you've seen the photo in RRW where I am in Eighth place in this race(still in striking distance, behind the likes of professional rider Lee Acree and club level ace, Dave Yaakov.) I'm sure thoughts like, "What's fat boy doing there?" ran through your mind, especially since I haven't written a report about it. And, if you've checked the final results, you'll see that I didn't last long, as I finished 15th. Based on my points earned during the entire season, I was gridded 10th for the start of Saturday's heat race. The race was uneventful, as I passed the same amount of people that passed me, and I finished 10th. I couldn't complain, as it is a good starting spot...4th row, Left. Starting at Road Atlanta, the inside of the first turn, tends to get cramped, quickly. I know this as on Friday, I lost my front break lever there at the start of Friday's LW Twins race. There are two kinds of motorcycle racers, those who have had a broken front brake lever, and those who will. Terry Biddy and I were dragging for the holeshot when he checked up earlier than I expected. To avoid disaster, I leaned for the outside, but was too late. Upon contact with his tail section, I heard what sounded like someone dropping silverware onto a hardwood floor. Knowing that I didn't want to be in the mix where some heavy braking was needed, I hit the gas and darted for the outside of the track. Luckily, everyone was able to tuck under, and I remained the only casualty. Anyway, back to the SV Cup Race. On Sunday's schedule, it was race# 5. I was using Bridgestone DOT's, and they need a little heat in them before you can really use them affectively. On any given weekend, there is at least one item that doesn't make it from the garage to the trailer. In my case, it was my front stand(lifts the front tire off the ground) AND tire warmers. My Pit Queen, Jennilynne Guthridge earned her keep with a simple phone call. She has a friend, that has a friend, that has a ... and next thing I knew, a representative from Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki was delivering a set of tire warmers to me! That's why she's the Queen. Anyway! Back to the silly race. I wanted about 45 minutes of baking time, so I plugged in my tire warmers at the start of race #2. Unfortunately, during race #3, Mark Reeser lost his brakes and made contact with a concrete wall. Since I had a little radio contact, I spent some time talking to his friends and family about what I knew, unofficially. After about a half an hour, the race was restarted, and terminated normally. By the time my race was up, I had left the tires cooking for an hour and fifteen minutes. Had I thought about it, I could have turned them off. They were literally stuck to the tires, and we had to peel them like a banana. I didn't think much of it, and took the warm up lap, and assumed my starting position. I wanted to make sure I got a good start, as there is a chance of TV coverage on this one. The green flag dropped, and I gave it all I had. Up the hill of the first turn, I managed to stuff a couple of riders, as they broke for the blind right-hander ahead. Like a train, we all followed each other through the blind Turn 3.(It was at this point that the RRW Photo was snapped.) Well, that was about the end of the race for me. The next turn is an easy left hand turn, in front of a large crowd, and starts the downhill race into the esses. As I leaned over, I cracked open the throttle, and that was all she wrote. The back end stepped out about two feet, and I chopped the throttle to keep from lowsiding. As I let up, at least 5 bikes screamed passed me. I struggled to keep up with them, at the left hand turn 5, but I slid from the inside out. Now fearing that I would hurt someone, I resigned to take it easy for the next couple of turns. By the time, I hit turn 7, the entry to the long backstretch, I was already 16th. I drafted behind another rider, and tried to take him on the inside of the first 90 degree turn, but in mid flight, I chickened out. Fearing that my tires would be too gooey. I stood it up, and broke hard, killing my drive. The other rider slipped away, and I was all by myself. To make matters worse, the next time up to the blind corner, I slid from inside to outside again, and had to drive across the red clay just to stay upright.(Someone has a picture of that, too, but I hope they don't post it in RRW.) From there, I just decided that finishing would be an especially charming option, and that if nothing else, the fans, and possibly TV cameras, would get a long look at my cool, SpeedWerk's paint job. Since there was a professional rider leading the pack, when I last saw them at least, I knew it was possible to get lapped. So, to prevent suffering that embarrassment, I tried to maintain a consistent lap time, and just hope for the best. I never looked behind me, but I made it to the finish without being passed again. One rider went on an archeology dig outside of Turn 6, so I inherited 15th place by default. It was a comedy of errors on my part, but for my effort, I got a $175 check from Suzuki, and my picture in the trade mags. Give me one second of TV time, and it'll be we'll worth the effort! Thanks go out to: FastLaneCycles.com Speedwerks JB & Bridgestone RAM Racewares The Plastic Doctor Jennilynne Guthridge Keith Perry Brian Roach Laura Granato Lonnie Lawson MBMotorsports.net
There was a camera on the out side of 3, so if they had nothing else to show at the time, your little overland hike between 3 and 4 might get on.
