Guest post by Spider Rider Jimmy Woods
Hey Everyone! Last weekend was rounds four and five of the GNC Flat Track series in Salinas, CA. They hosted a really big, fast TT on Saturday and a short track on Sunday.
We qualified third fastest which gave us a pole position start in the third heat race. I came off the line in second behind Brad Baker #12 and had a good race with Brad and ended up finishing second right behind him. Second gave me a direct transfer to the main and also the dash.
With my win in the dash I was confident and ready for the main event. I didn’t get the best start and got pushed out in the first corner. I had some work to do and by the end of the third lap I had worked my way up to fourth. Then Rob Pearson #27 got under me exiting the right hander and moved me to fifth. Rob and I went back and forth for the next couple laps, then we got tangled up in the same spot he made the first pass which let Sam Halbert #7 and Wiles get past both of us. The next lap I got back by Wiles coming on to the front straight and the next lap Wiles ran into me in the last turn almost knocking me down. Needless to say I wasn’t too happy about it and the next lap I ran the fastest lap of the race running him back down and then coming out of turn two the chain came off the bike. I was really bummed, we were having a great race and really wanted a top five finish.
The Main event result was less than ideal, but we salvaged some points with the dash win. I was pleased with that and was happy to have had the fastest lap of the race. Our bikes are VERY fast and were working great, I felt like we had the speed all day so I was ready for the short track for some redemption!
SHORT TRACK
The track looked great! As soon as I looked at the track I knew it would be some great racing.
Right from our first lap out the bike felt great and I felt at home on it. The gearing was really tall for our practice laps so we made a big gearing change for qualifying and it was perfect. We set fast time and were the only bike in the 12 second range.
We had pole in the first heat, I got the hole shot and pulled a comfortable gap to come away with the win over Sam Halbert. Our heat race was the fastest so I would have pole for both the dash and main event.
In the dash I came off the line second behind Jethro Halbert #69 and the four laps flew right by. I was unable to complete a pass on Jethro and came home second with Stevie Bonsey #80 rounding out the podium.
In the main event Wiles grabbed the hole shot with me in second and I stuck right to his inside lap after lap, but couldn’t quite get up under him enough to make a pass. I took a look behind me and saw that we had a big gap over Halbert, who was third, so I started trying different lines. He was getting off the corner great and I was faster in the middle so it made it really hard to get by. with two laps left I went high and came close on the last lap, but lost it by a half a bike at the line. It was a great race and I was happy to get my first Grand National Main Event Podium.
This weekend everything seemed to come together for us. We were fast every time we hit the track all weekend and we have some great equipment and great momentum behind us for the rest of the season.
Once again thank you to to all of the great people involved in A&J Racing! – Southland Racing, Digger 57 MEH CORP, Race Tech, Hostility Clothing, Big Gun Exhaust, Bob Hill Motorsports, Rod Lake, JETT Tuning, Dyno Jett, Comfort Conditioning, AAA RV, Gene & Gail Cummings, Motion Pro, Maxima Oils, PMP Sprockets, Web Cam, Arai, Sidi, EKS Brand Goggles, A&A Racing, Spider Grips, Fontana Radiator Works, West Coast Hotshoes, JGPhotowerks, SCFTA, ACT Leathers, Hinson Racing, Hooper Motorsports.