Csba Racing's First Event Of The 2013 Season!

[Cowboy 6]

April 20-21 2013    Summit Point Raceway, WV

 

 

The new season is here and we will be quite busy in 2013. This first event for us was sanctioned by WERA. Due to scheduling issues, we will be running a good bit with these folks this year. We will still do two events with CCS but WERA fits us best for 2013.

 

This event would be a “Twin-Sprint” configuration which means all the races are crammed into one day instead of two and that day is duplicated. Bottom line, we run twice as many races as a normal weekend.

 

Winter had been quite busy with maintenance for the race bikes and the building of a new 650cc race engine. Finishing up a week or two prior, the engine was installed and put on the dyno to jet the carbs for the new PowerMist fuel we will use this year. PowerMist has taken on support of our team for 2013 and an eval report will follow after we have some time with the new fuel. The dyno work did not go as planned and after several mishaps on the machine and lasting late into the night, we were satisfied with the jetting.

 

Luke running Drucilla on the dyno.

 

Getting the new (used 2001) RV to the track made me nervous because of the additional size but all went well and we found a good pit spot. Everything was a new learning experience when setting up. We had one of Luke’s brothers, William Sayre, with us and he enrolled in the MARRC Cornerworker School and not only graduated but put in the time to work the whole weekend! Great job! 

 

Getting some Scrappy lovin’.                                          

 

Giving some Scrappy lovin’.

 

We unpacked the two SV650s, completed set-up and were ready to go. When it came time to suit up for first practice, I received a rude awakening. I could not zip my leathers! The winter months had been a bit hard on the body and I had gained a few pounds. Well, maybe more than a few. With the help of the crew, the zipper went up and the leather girdle was now installed and very uncomfortable. Out for first practice I went. I wanted to take it easy as I had not ridden this bike or on the track since September. It was also very cold. The session went well but I had noticed the water temp had not risen very much due to the ambient temp so we added a nice cardboard wind blocker to the radiator for round two. Well, round two was a bit of a disaster. Part way through practice, the brand new engine let go. It did not cause a crash and we thank God for that.

 

 

After transferring the dry set-up to the other bike, we were ready for racing to begin. We were entered in F2 and Lightweight Twins Superbike both days. The first race, LWTSB, went well. I had a great start and ended up 3rd.  This race was hard fought with the likes of David Stauffer (#315). In fact, after passing each other back and forth a few times, he drafted me on the run to the finish and only edged me out of second place by .03 of a second. The second race, F2, went a bit better.  It all started with a great launch from the flag but somehow, going into T1 I was passed by Sean Mueller (#505) and came out in P2. If this was not disheartening enough, I was passed again in T3 by my buddy David and was now running 3rd! There I stayed for two more laps as I regained my composure and started to pick up my pace. I was braking later, accelerating sooner, and doing anything and everything I could to close the gap to David. Then, on lap three, David made it past Sean into the lead. I had to make a move. So on lap four, I did and got by Sean as well. David had opened up a bit of a gap and it took two more laps to catch him. On lap seven, I passed him on the brakes into T1 and ran! I knew from earlier that I would have to have a bit of a gap to prevent his draft pass to the flag. I held him off for the last two laps and took the checkered for the first win of the season! Winning is always a great way to end the day and today was no exception. Victory, no matter what you are doing, reaffirms you are doing things right. It’s like that feeling you get when you turn away from sin and do the right thing in the eyes of God. It just feels good and you know you are in the right place.

 

Running in third but headed for the win…                                        

 

Victory is sweet!

 

Our win on Saturday left us with a choice to make. I consulted with Luke, our Crew Chief, and we were really hung up on the decision about tires. We had run practice and our two Saturday races on tires that were used last September at VIR. They were old, it was cold and our lap times were about 2-3 seconds off where they should have been (but, so were everyone’s). I saw that David had put on new tires and we didn’t know if we should do the same. Tires are expensive and the Bridgestone money that could follow would require high finishes.  If not, we would just be tossing away money. In the end, we chose to keep the old tires on for another day (and then have them for practice in May) rather than spend the money for new ones. With the very cold track temps, it was unlikely that I would be comfortable pushing the bike any harder, even with fresh rubber.

 

                               

Rockin’ the big “B”                                       

 

William Sayre, qualified cornerworker.

 

Saturday evening found me at the MARRC Executive Committee meeting. We discussed some very good issues and they are available in the published minutes at http://www.MARRC.org. While I was at the meeting, the crew was prepping the pit for Sunday’s events. It was very chilly outside, I had no warm clothes and most everyone was either gone or in their campers etc so we did not walk around like we usually do. We retired to the RV with the furnace on, watched a movie and went to sleep.

 

Sunday morning came too early as usual and it was even colder than Saturday. We were missing Cecilia from the crew as she had a work commitment at home. Denise went out to perform her second morning of breakfast preparation for the famished MARRC cornerworkers. She has become quite a hit with them as they can tell she really cares about helping them start their day right. After cooking for MARRC, Denise fired up our pit kitchen and was able to bless many others with a no-charge breakfast courtesy of CSBA Racing.

 

BACON!

 

We skipped practice as the track surface was too cold to trust. We all attended chapel service provided by Mark Merical. It was a good sermon on James chapter one.  Throughout the weekend, we did have several opportunities to speak with various folks about our operation. We had fellow Brothers in Christ stop by to encourage as well as curious onlookers. Luke had a fairly long conversation with a young man in particular whom we are praying for now.

 

Helping our competition after a crash, it’s just how we roll.

 

We had the same two races that went off on Saturday but the results were a bit different. We took 4th in the LWT SB race and another 3rd in F2. After the racing was over, we packed up the RV, helped Quentin pack up his tire kit and went to dinner at our traditional post-race Chinese buffet. 

 

In all, it was a good weekend. The bike stayed on the rubber side, and we scored some decent finishes. We spent some great time in fellowship with Quentin and made some new friends. We have our sights set on the coming double weekend again at Summit Point in May. Until then, keep us in your prayers.

 

We surely miss all of you in the Big O! Hope to see you soon!

 

Please contact us if you would like us to do something with or for your organization. The schedule fills up quickly so get on the phone!

 

We have plenty of on and off track work to do for Him!