CURRENT NEWS

07-13-2010

Back to Heartland Park, Topeka for a back to back race weekend with Road America.

I was unable to get Saturday off at work so it turned out to be a work, drive, race, drive, work kind of weekend. I arrived late Saturday night with my boy Kurtis as my sole pit crew helper. We set up, made a late dinner, and went to bed (sound familiar). I had to work the entire week between races so the bike is exactly as I left it.. stock with no fuel tuning. After practice I could really tell the bike was down on power, a little lean and flat on top. Oh well, here we go!

First up was the Solo GTO race Running last weekends tires I got a great start as usual. I lead an uneventful race from the start till the last lap where the 1000cc bike that was stocking me the whole race finally decide to pull the trigger. I had nothing for him and finished second.. not a bad start to the day.

Next would be back to back races in the July heat of Kansas. Formula 40 was first and I knew I would have to dig deep if I was going to win this one. The flag dropped, and I got my usual hole shot of a start. I led right up and over turn Alpha. From there on all I saw was the back of Ron Mears' bike. I had nothing for him as he was riding a full second a lap faster than me that day. I held on for second place and raced back to hot pit lane for a big drink of water that my pit crew Kurtis was waiting with. I will say, Kurtis is a big help to have at the track, besides the usual comic relief he provides.. he handle my stands and tire warmers like a pro. This was the first weekend it would be just Kurtis and I, he handled himself well and I know I can count on him at future races.

Heavyweight Superbike would be another good race. I lead start to finish and was never headed. I did have one miscue breaking later than normal into turn eight, but I kept in on track and had a big enough lead it didn't matter. It was a nice short race day, and for Kurtis' first solo trip I think he was ready to go home too. I look forward to more of these father son races before he decides that he needs to be the one racing!

---> jimmy


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07-06-2010

Road America.. my favorite race track! It was a long haul to get there, but it was well worth it even though I had a little bad luck, I'd definitely do it again.

On the gas at Road America

It was a beautiful weekend for racing. We arrived Thursday night in time to set up our pit area, grill some good food and get some sleep. I brought along my family: wife Angee, son Kurtis, and good racing buddy Joe Wolf.

Friday was all day practice and I used my time getting up to speed and remembering how to keep it pinned on Road Americas long straights. Everything was going great right up until my last session when my engine dropped two intake valves. UGH! Well, good thing I brought my backup stock 600cc engine. I guess since I have popped two 750cc engines in the past three races I will be sticking to my 600 for now on.. it's getting a little too expensive real quick. Stock 600's are the game for now on! Back to my pit area.. it took 2 hours, but I got it swapped out and running, no real issues other than just having to do it.

Saturday morning came and I was ready for first practice on the 600. I made a guess on the gearing and headed out. About a lap and a half in though my oil light and FI light started flashing.. great, I pulled off so I wouldn't pop my last engine, turned the key off and on, started the bike and everything was just fine. To make a real long story short, I continued to have this same trouble throughout the morning practices and the days races. I decided that it was not an oiling issue so I would just disregard the oil light as the FI light was flashing, but when checked it showed no codes.

My first race was Solo GTO, and with my 600 I knew I was just using this for more practice. I nailed the start, but by turn one I was already getting smoked by all the 1000cc bikes. I ended up 10th, and the FI light was still on. Next race was Formula 40, and I still had no codes staying in the ecu to figure out my problem with. Again, I nailed the start and led through turn three before getting passed. It was an uneventful race but I was still worried about the FI light. I finished 4th. After the F40 race I searched the paddock for more information and was told to just leave the ECU in dealer mode by jumping the wires and just race it like that, so I did. Heavyweight Superbike was the race and I got another awesome start, battled for position and rode a good race to finish 5th. One better thing, my oil light stayed off, and as the race wore on I watched the FI Codes stream across my dash! Finally I had four different codes to look up in the service manual! Turns out it was giving me ignition codes for all four cylinders. I made a guess that it could only be my quick shifter. So I could unhook it, which would make shifting more of a chore, or change something and keep using it. So I shortened the shift delay and crossed my fingers for my last race of the day. Heavyweight Supersport was up, I got another awesome start, road a hard race, but ended up sixth this time, but the best thing was that there were no more codes, oil light or FI light! Finally got it figured out and all it was was the quick shifter delay. WHEW HOO! It was a stressful day trying to figure that out, but finally a relaxing night with no work to be done to the bike.

Sunday morning came and I was feeling really happy that everything with the bike was finally working good. Practice was good, and the Heavyweight Supersport race was up. Once again, holeshot! My wore out 600 engine is a little slow. Totally stock, no fuel adjuster or anything, so I knew I had been riding good cause I would just get smoked down Road Americas straightaways. But, I battled hard for most of the race and ended up 5th.

Next up was Formula 40, I mounted new Michelins and shortened my gearing for the headwind down the front straight. Once again a great start as I lead once again through turn three to be passed by turn four. First place was gone, but I had a race long battle with two other riders going for my second place. We passed back and fourth all race long until the final lap where I made my move and tried my best to run away. It was not to be though, I held them off to get beat right at the finish line. I ended up third, but it was a good third, I rode my butt off!

My last race of the day was Heavyweight Superbike. It was back to back with F40, and my water break never showed up (seems they were all excited for the good race that had just occurred). So I had to head out mouth dry, and really needing a drink. I nailed the start again, thought I would make a good second or third again, but ran it in too deep going into turn five and had to ride a daring race to eventually finish in fourth position by race end. I made some hard passes and got back by three positions to do it.

All in all it was a great July 4th weekend at Road America. I got seven great starts! I guess switching to the 750 class was not in the books for me, so it's back to 600 racing for now on! ---->jimmy


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05-19-2010

Believe it or not, I got married on May 1st, 2010! There has been talk that my performance at HPT was due to the following weeks marriage adventure (threats of no crashing, broken bones for the wedding, honeymoon.. etc..), I will not deny nor agree that threats happened, but all I can say is that the bike made it to the wedding!

Married on MAY 1, 2010!

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04-28-2010

The first race of the year couldn't have come any sooner for me. I was really ready to go about two weeks ago. This is racing though, and you wouldn't have any luck without some bad luck. The day practice started I was back at the shop trying to figure out why my bike wouldn't run properly. It wasn't the new motor, so I changed every piece of electronics on the bike including the wire harness and ended up with the same problem.. oh, forgot to check the fuel injection module.. yep, that's it.. now what? Clifford Cycles ended up flashing my ecu with their Teka Box and sent me on my way. The bike ran flawless from that point on.

A day late with a new engine and some guessing I got up to speed, but just not up enough to run at the front. My gearing was giving me fits.. it's just not the same riding a 750 compared to a 600. I never really came to terms with my gearing, but I settled on something and just rode it. With some new Michelins I gained some more confidence and was able to ride a little harder. At the end of the day on Saturday as I came into the pits I found out that my clutch would not release. It ended up that the outer drive plate was warped enough that I had to pry it out of the bike. Off on a search for some clutch plates, Lithium Motorsports had some, the wrong thickness, but I took it back and tried to make do. Little did I know that I did have some spares in the cartons of parts I had brought along so I was able to install a brand new clutch.

Sunday came along and it was cold and windy, and by this time I'm finding out that the long winter took it out on my body as I am feeling like I just got ran over by a truck.. already, ugh. I rode within my limits to make sure I could survive the day and at least finish all my races. Not the best weekend I have ever had, but not the worst either. I'll chock this one up to poor rider conditioning and make sure I am in better shape for the next round.

Saturdays races:

Solo GTO 7th
Formula 40 2nd
Heavyweight Superbike 7th

Sundays races:

Formula 40 5th
Heavyweight Superbike 7th


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02-20-2010

It's a new year and racing season is just around the corner. Over the past few weeks I've been trying to get everything tied up for the 2010 season. My engine from Daytona last October had less than desirable results and I now know why. What I found after a complete teardown was that the cylinders were cracked (burning oil and sounding like it was going to come apart.. not good signs.. at least it held together for the whole weekend). So now my time is instantly on the short end as I have to go about finding and building a complete new engine.

Looking ahead I plan on competing in the CCS Great Plains Region much like I did last year. A couple changes to my program though. I am going to stick to the same classes each weekend so I don't miss out on more championships like I did in 2009 (I missed out on winning three classes by only a few points). So it looks like the classes I will be racing are: Formula 40, Heavyweight Superbike, and Solo GTO. I'm excited to get going and start racing!

2010 Milroy Racing Tentative Schedule

Work schedule permitting I will also be racing BMX at Omaha BMX with my boy Kurtis weekly throughout the summer!

2009 CCS Great Plains F40 Champion - 21 years of racing and still winning!