2006 AMA RRGC-Results!

[owndjoo]

Well everyone, the week started out great for me. Showed up at mid-o wednesday night and got teched and registration done. Thursday came practice. The only other time i was up there was in may when i ran 1.45.26 best. Well i was right there in my very first practice thurs. morning. Come 2nd practice i got REAL comfy and pushed the envelope to a 1.42.90 lap. Now this was cookin! We tried some new gearing and i played with that for the final two sessions of the day, only getting down to 1.43.08's twice. We switched back to the old gearing and prepared for friday. Friday morning had 2 more practices on some cold pavement. I made some suspension changes and tried them for both practices. I really didnt like it so back to the original setup. Come saturday the weather turns. We got one practice in the rain where i ran a 2.10.xx lap on my third lap. Good! I thought, i'm really likin the rain. No one was close to my times in my practice and tons of bikes went down. Come the race... Due to the weather and time my race was shortened from 8 to 4 laps, no biggie i thought, just get out front and survive for 4 laps. Well, easier said than done. I got a great start as usual and went into turn 1 in first. I caught expert riders very quickly and made some good passes. Make it through lap 1...good...still in the lead. track is REALLY wet and it's raining pretty good, but i havent even spun the rear yet, time to have fun. I turned it up a lil and got the rear to slide around some, started really hangin off and tryin to keep the bike as upright as possible. Come around to complete lap 2, look back and i've got about 10-15 bike lead(ask pops, he'll know for sure). I made a pass on the back straight and moved into 3rd overall, 1st novice. I start to brake, grab a downshift and brake again... then it happens... front end locks and tucks at about 120! down i go and i slide....and slide...and slide. Finally hit the grass and stop. I got up and went to my bike, I reached down to pick it up and BAM, another bike sliding hits me in the legs and i go flyin. The corner worker said the bike was goin atleast 65-70mph when it hit me... all i could think was i broke my leg. Anyway, they haul me off and i head to the hospital. After a long long night going through level 2 trauma everything comes back negative. back is fine, head is fine, legs are fine, i'm good to go. Got back to the track at 1am and hit the bed. Got up to find the bike isnt rideable. it needs a new rearset and rear brake line. Ended up watchin and cheerin on my buddies to their own National titles. Oh and the guy who won the race i crashed out of ended up only runnin a 1.43.9 best in today's races... I would've gotten 2 nat'l titles and one 4th place! oh well, live and learn. Thanks goes out to pops for stickin around and helpin work on my bike. It was very nice to meet him and talk about the racing stuff. Hope to see clutch out on a bike very soon!

[ProudPops]

Yep, I was there and saw the whole thing unfold before my eyes. I saw djoo slide into China Beach with his bike in front of him, he's being modest at 120. As he got up and went to his bike I heard another slide and metal to pavement sound, looked and saw a bike on it's side, throwing sparks like a grinding wheel, heading for the same spot. My focus was on the rider and not the bike as it hit djoo, and a third joined in the meleigh. All I saw were three bikes down and only two riders up. Djoo was not moving. Before he was surrounded by emergency vehicles and the ambulance I saw him sit up and pound his fist into the ground, at least I knew he was OK. Jumped in my truck and went to his pit area until he got delivered there and his Dad took him to the hospital, leaving whoever was there to take care of whatever. I wish I had my OSU hat on because djoo's frind, Mike, was the first to start tearing into his bike and allowing me to help. Mike's from Michigan and had his M ballcap on. It would have made a good picture, a Buckeye and Wolverine working together to get Djoo's bike race ready.

I watched this man dominate the Novice class and threaten the Experts. In my mind he's #1. Once the rain hit, Mid Ohio looked like a motorcycle junkyard. The only survivors were those who tip toed around the track. Djoo went for it, and as they say, "That's Racing." I'm glad you're here to tell your side of the story.

Pops