Diary 2007

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July 28 - 29, 2007

July 21, 2007

July 15, 2007

June 30, 2007

June 10, 2007

Route 66 Raceway, Joliet IL (July 28 - 29, 2007)

Death Rattle Shakes!

Saturday, July 28, 2007 - by Kevyn Ashbay (crew)

T First things first, I have to apologize to Bob & Shelly for being almost an hour late. Apparently my phone needs to be told to change to "ring" more than three times so I was extremely late. With that being said, we made good time over to the track. We even got the whole two hour Garrison Keillor show on the radio. Flipping from public access station to public access station as we went. When we pulled up, the Radtke's were already there and had the scoop of what was going on. There was a autocross race at the dirt track so we had to pull out of the way until they left at about 11 PM. But while we waited we watched The World's Fastest Indian on DVD. In my non-professional opinion, it was very good. One of the top 15 movie I think I have ever seen. I might just have to watch it again.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Now that its over, I can say I didn't have very high hopes coming into the race. After 5 or 6 races and only winning two rounds (both at Mid Mich and one on a red light), things just seemed like they weren't going to be in our favor this year. We were plenty of rounds out of the 5th and final Indy spot, and not many rounds left. Now I know how all of the 8, 9 & 10 spots in the NHRA Powerade points chase feel (Although I will take the time to say how much I despise the new points system they have). Any-hoo, getting the win light in first round was quite a splendid surprise. Then hearing Dennis (who is back for the remainder of the year, YAH!) announce a .000 reaction time for Bob made me jump right back to all the confidence we ended last year with. So, even though we lost in the semi's, things in the points chase are actually doable. We don't even need to win the last race, with a little help from other racers. But we still are 4 rounds out of 5th with only 5 rounds to go. It is a nearly impossible task, but the odds going into next week are MUCH less bleak than what they were coming into today. So in other words, half the battle is done.

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Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (July 11, 2007)

4 Bikes, 0 Wins

Saturday, July 12 2007 - by Kevyn Ashbay (crew/rider #2)

T Bob got Donnie Banaski to make the drive from Hobart, IN for today's race. As he normally does, Donnie is fashionably late. AND as always, things work out just fine and he makes it in plenty of time, this time because of an oil down. After all those miles, we thought things were going to be all for nothing when after the second time trial, Donnie found a lock nut off the crank came off the last pass and could not find one to fit it. So who comes to the rescue??? None other than myself!! ..::fanfare here::.. The axle nut off of the back of my bike just happens to be the same size and thread so for the rest of the race we had to switch back and forth between the two of us. I figured as long as neither of us forgot to have it on when we ran, everything would be fine.
As for first round, I'm sure the title says it all. Donnie got beat by a great run. Bob was the same. I learned that my bike can go 12.50's on the brakes. So with that being said, dialing a 12.90 wasn't the greatest idea. My bigger question is why and how did it pick up almost half of a second after all those runs I had made on it? Who knows. The way this year has been going, I'm sure the bike knew it was past the time trials and on to eliminations because that's when it seems everything changes on all of our bikes. It's like they know when it will hurt us the most.

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Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (July 15, 2007)

1/2 of a get well weekend!

Sunday, July 15 2007 - by Kevyn Ashbay (crew/rider #2)

T Another early Sunday morning for me to get going so I can get to work for my two hours on Sundays and then make the drive to Mid Mich and be on time. Today I was eager to get going and wanted to be earlier than normal because it was my 2 wheel debut. I've been in numerous races with my Camaro, but never on a bike. I went last week to "Evan Knoll, Torco Race fuels, Knoll gas, dumb mustache Raceway Park" in Martin and made seven passes of varying success. Not much was to be expected but I was hoping for at least one round win.

Without the Junior Dragsters to fill up the lanes and pit areas, it was almost like a ghost town. We got our normal parking spot (that we had been missing all this year) right up front so things seemed back to normal. Unlike last race when all the time trials were spot on to each other, today's had some differences in times, wind and sunshine. Maybe that made us think a little less and just let Bob and the bike do the work because even having to swap to the left lane, things started to click. A .006 in the first round would have been hard to beat even if his opponent left early. Second round was all Bob again, running dead on with a 7, not much room for error on the other side of the track.

As for my first few passes, they went about as expected. The times started to fall into line. It looks like its going to run 12.90 most of the day. My reaction times are what is going to kill me. All night in Martin, I was red, red, red and red. So I was trying to get a solid leave time but just couldn't do it. SO when first round came up, I was NOT going to red light. If I was going to loose, it was going to be at the far end of the track. Heading into second round, I defiatly was confident but a starting line error by myself, left me with what I was trying to avoid most: "THE BIG RED BONKER" (That ones for you max!)

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Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (June 30, 2007)

Same result, different day

Saturday, June 30, 2007 - by Kevyn Ashbay (crew)

T Once again, there's not much to say. It was a very beautiful day, the sun was out and it wasn't very hot. A slight breeze whistled though the trailer. the action on the track was just as great going through time trials. Three of the most perfect run we have made in a long time. a span of about .020 on all three lights, including a .008. A difference of .004 on all three ET's. But I guess that's where the curse we seem to be under takes over. We aren't sure what exactly happened. A -.029 red light is quite substantial when your on a delay box. Watching the button on the bike it looked good but I swear I heard the bike leave earlier than normal. And on top of it all, it makes a lot of sense to say that the bike rolled out of the beams early when we were .03 early and it ran about .03 over. The bike was not going to throw a 6.14 on us when it ran all those .12's, it just doesn't do that. At least it shouldn't.

It should be mentioned that Brina Spingaire is in the final 6 in Super Gas at the Norwalk national event. She has many Division 3 Wallys, so lets hope she can finally take one of those Nation events trophy's home tomorrow! Good Luck Brina (like you even need it)

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Mid Michigan Motorplex, Stanton MI (June 10, 2007)

Still no luck

Sunday, June 10, 2007 - by Kevyn Ashbay (crew)

T First, a quick word about Friday. That was the first and second sessions of qualifying at the Torco Route 66 Nationals in Joliet. Finally we had some good weather. The first year I personally went, we got chased out by a tornado not to far from the track. But, the day went great! Max and our buddy Chan came with us. Chan hadn't been to a professional race in over twenty years and I think he got quite a kick out of it, Especially the first pair of nitro cars. Things have changed in that time. Also going on is the Sportsman racing. Brina Splingaire was entered in both Super Gas and Super Comp. When we left Friday night, she was through round 1 of Super Comp and round 2 of Super Gas. Turns out, she made it all the way to Sunday in both cars. Going all the way to the Semi Finals (Final 3) in Super Comp and the Quarter Finals in Super Gas. That is absolutely great! You could talk about her driving skills all day and barley scratch the surface. I guess that's why is was 4th and 5th in Super Comp and Super Gas respectively last year! Look for her to have BIG things in her future.

As for us, That didn't go so swimmingly. Sunday we made our way to Mid Michigan in near by by Stanton MI. I made my first long trip on the SV650s because I had to get my 2 hours of work in on Sunday, like normal. I feel bad because I cant get there until almost 10 AM so Bob and Shelly have to unload and set everything up by themselves. Here at Mid Mich we get three time trials plus a "Run for the Money" run if you want (Pay $10 and the closest to their dial wins all the money) We opted not to make the 4th run because all the times looked great and I was ready to go major rounds and get some confidence back. But a first round appearance was all we could muster. We have to race with the Super Pro cars here because they don't have a bike class. Most times its a great advangate but the slim percentage of times it is not. Like today! In the other lane resided a Fox-body Mustang that was dialed over a second slower than us, and that just isn't something we are used to. So without making excuses, it was all the Mustang's fault!

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