2008 AMA pro am report

[Uncle Punk]

Guys, I really enjoyed reading Brian's ride report about the races this year. I wasn't a member here last year when they had these races but here is a copy of the post I made on another forum about the races last year. I though some might enjoy reading.

Guys, I had a great weekend at Mid-Ohio this weekend and thought I’d share. The AMA and CCS had a racing weekend there that in the past had been a large event when WERA ran it for the AMA but for several reasons this year entries were down.

I go there for Friday practice because it has been over a year since I had been there and I started racing this year so I wanted to get to know the track with the bike I’m running this year at what I hoped to be a decent race pace. First morning session only two of us go out, the other guy was a young kid who got I got behind to follow for a while, well the track was just stupid slippery at 8:00 AM so it was useless to have gone out there I even went off the track but didn’t go down until I tried to accelerate to get back on track, no big deal just spun the bike around me at 2 mph in the grass. The next practice session was a little better but traction was still not good went off the track again in the same turn but didn’t lay the bike down this time, this was the last time all weekend I went off track. The third session they combined all the amateurs into one practice group so there were more people out there, I get behind this kid again and we start going around, damn this kid is fast he pulled me along to my fastest time on the track for the whole weekend but I still could see him when the session was over. We talked at lunch and I met his parent’s really nice people from Texas, didn’t meet by name just hi, how are you and exchanged pleasantries, the kid is polite and respectful and is only 17. The next session out the kid is gone, out of site in four laps and I’m left by myself running lap times between 1:39 to 1:41 with a few 1:43 to 1:46 when I come up on traffic, I need to learn how to pass. We go over to tech to check out our lap times and the kid is running 1:36 which I congratulated him on he thanked me and said his goal was for 1:32 which I thought was a bit optimistic but offered him good luck. By the end of the day he was running 1:33 all by himself as the fastest amateur there, I was the second fastest running 1:39, I might have a good weekend if nobody shows up to race tomorrow.

Saturday schedule is two morning practices then qualifying for grid positions for the races Sunday. The kid and I don’t go out for the first session but all the new people who showed up go out, we talked about how stupid slippery the track is early in the morning and laughed about me leaving grass on the track the day before. We go out for the next practice session and now we have a few more people and the group is all amateurs. Now I have someone pushing me into turn one but he doesn’t get around me all session but I know he is there. The kid is gone and is obviously the fastest amateur there. I check lap times and the guy who was running with me ran a 1:38 the lap before he got up to me but I slowed him down to my pace 1:39’s still but he couldn’t seem to get around me.

Time to qualify for the races tomorrow; I’m only doing two races because I’m trying to get by on one set of tires which are takeoffs from a guy that runs AMA F/X. The first qualifying session is for amateur heavyweight supersport, the kid is entered in this race and so is the guy that ran with me in the last practice session all three of us are running middleweight supersport 600s. There are announcers now for the spectators and they are announcing the riders who are entered in this qualifying race, when they announce the kid they say he is the son of someone so I guess his dad is famous but can’t quite remember where or when I had heard the name before. The other rider gets right behind the kid and is on his ass for three or four laps then the kid starts to pull away. Times were 1:32 for the kid and 1:35 for the other guy, well now I’m sure not to place any better than 3rd. I asked the kid if he knew to other guy was back there and he said he didn’t and his dad asked him why he let that guy run with him for so long. We talked for a while about it and the kid says he has more if the guy wants to challenge him, not cocky but sure that he was up for a challenge. The first race all three of us are in is middleweight superstock; I qualify third with a 1:39 but had my tire slide out coming down thunder valley, so I slow down, I don’t know if I was just too heavy on the throttle or if my tire is going away. The next race qualifying is middleweight superbike; I qualify fourth with a 1:40 and now there is another guy I haven’t seen yet who runs a high 1:39 slower than my best time but only six tenths off, I am going slower because I’m worried about my tire. I’ll do practice tomorrow and see if I need a new rear.

I go home for the night and Google the kid’s dad, no shit his dad is famous but now I’m a little depressed as I see in dad’s bio that we were both born in the same year, damn I’m old. During the first practice session Sunday me and the kid don’t go out so I go to talk to him and his parents and tell them that I found out who he was and was sorry for not knowing who he was and that we are the same age so his kid is making me feel old. We laughed about it and his dad says “Shoot, I had him late too”. I have friends from high school that have twenty five year old kids and one with a twenty eight year old. We talked about what we had done the first decade after high school and had a nice talk.

First race on Sunday is with the kid and the other fast guy. The other guy gets to turn one first and keeps the kid behind him for two or three laps, once the kid gets by him he checks out and wins by a large margin. I talk to the kid and asked him what happened the first couple of laps and he said he just couldn’t get around him at first, I asked him if his dad was mad at him for not making it to turn one first, he said his dad wasn’t mad just don’t let it happen again jokingly. My first race middleweight supersport went just like qualifying and I took third. I haven’t changed my tire and I ran a low 1:39 in morning practice trying to see if the tire was going away, no sliding but I’m worried about it, I didn’t need to push it in the first race because I was a couple seconds faster than the people behind me, I ran a 1:40 as my best race lap time. I decide not to change it and hope for the best. The track had a podium presentation with trophies and interviews just like the big boys for the first four races at the lunch break. Kind of funny for me to think of myself being up there and was a little nervous. I thank the experts for lapping me because I was running out of steam, I am not in the shape I should be in to run eight hard laps and I was dreading having to try and do another lap at pace. I thanked my girlfriend Paula for giving me the inspiration, opportunity and support to do this and Michelin. This was the first time I have been eligible for contingency money. I am normally a mid pack racer but not a lot of people showed up. I do fine in the formula 40 races or as they are also referred to as formula fatty.

The next race is middleweight superbike and I am gridded fourth the guy who qualified third is running slicks and I’m on these old DOT racing tires, I better make it to turn one first and hold him off. Yes, I made it into turn one third just hold him off and I will podium twice this weekend, are you kidding me. The third lap the kid goes down into turn one, I hope he is alright, no red flag, the next time around no yellow flag he must be good, now I have second this can’t be I have never placed top three before except formula 40 and now two in one weekend. I look behind me lap four on the back straight expecting to see the guy right on my ass and he is not there I have this thing, now don’t push it, stay relaxed and bring it home.

Fuck, the bike dies. Half a lap earlier I’m feeling great and this piece of shit fucking bike dies going down thunder valley. I pull off the track and try to start the bike, nothing, just sweat dripping down my nose; I can’t think straight, I am mad as all hell. I remember the guy I got the bike from telling me that it does vapor lock some times. I have had the bike all season and it hasn’t happen yet and it picks now to do it, my last race of the year, mother fucker. I unscrew the gas cap, screw it back on and the bike fires right up, son of a bitch. I drive back to the pits and my weekend is done.

I go to check on the kid to see how he made out and he was okay not hurt at all, his front just tucked on him and he didn’t know why as he wasn’t pushing it. I tell them what happened to me and his dad Bubba tells me that the same thing happened to him once on a race warm up lap at Daytona, he pushes it back to hot pit, one of the mechanics takes the cap of and the bike fires right up. He starts the race a lap down and still takes third. Cool story to hear straight from Bubba Shobert himself.

Clint Shobert won the top amateur award and I sure we will see him in the top level of the AMA in two to three years.

Short story, I ran in the AMA Sports Road Race Grand Championships this weekend at Mid-Ohio, took a third in one race, meet Bubba Shobert and his son Clint, have an autograph to prove it.

[gixxie750]

is ur avatar from thw ama races 08? Good write up! Going to nashville?

[Uncle Punk]

Yes, the picture is from the races last year. No, I will not be going to Nashville; I wrecked my track bike in May and haven't had the funds to put it back together this year. If work stays steady this winter I will try to do some track days next year.

[gixxie750]

Do u know what website has pics?

[Uncle Punk]

Sorry I can't help there I bought them trackside from a vendor that weekend.