CURRENT NEWS

11-19-11

And here is the highlight of my 2011 racing season.. if you can really call it that. BRAINERD! It was 1989 and my very first time at a race track (I was spectating) that the racing bug really bit me and this is the place it happend at.

As the story seem s to go this year I once again pulled out the trusty iPhone and looked at the weather as I was heading into Iowa towards Blackhawk Farms in Illinois. Yup, you guessed it.. not a very good forecast for Blackhawk and Brainerd was going to be beautiful.. which it was!

My racing buddy Joe and I decided at that moment that we were driving to Minnesota. It's about the same drive and definitely a way faster track which seems to suit me better. It would be a late night for us though, as the CRA has different regulations as to bike preparation than other organizations have. Joe's bike would need several drill bits and a bit of safety wire to get up to spec for them. Me, I had the holes drilled, just needed them filled with safety wire.

As the sun came out on Saturday morning we knew we made the right choice. It was a beautiful morning and practice was starting early due to the fact that there was a five hour endurance race on Sunday and all the sprints were being run on Saturday. We talked about doing the endurance race, but it just wasn't in the cards for me due to the fact that I had to be back at work first thing Monday morning. Practice went really well for me. It had been since 2000 that I have been to this track, but it has always been one of my favorites and I remembered why really quick. I came off the track for the first time this year with a grin from ear to ear!

My lap times weren't there yet, but they were coming down quickly. Joe on the other hand was having a bit of a hard time coming to grips with Brainerd's sixth gear wide open turn one. You can see some of his video's from the weekend on his YouTube page. He did really well for his first time at BIR.

First race of the day for me was Heavyweight Supersport. I got my usual good start and started moving forward. Being my first race of the day I was a little gun shy at passing. I ran off in turn seven a bit and finished up the race just getting a good rhythm going and getting comfortable. I ended up in 9th place and smiling from ear to ear. This track is a ball to race at! Next up was Middleweight Superbike. Once again a good start but not as good as it could have been. This left me doing quite a bit of passing on the first couple of laps and I was running down a large group of riders in front of me on the last couple of laps. I didn't have enough time to catch them, but I was coming and it felt great to be in the hunt! I finished in 8th place and gaining! That was AWSOME!

Exiting turn nine at BIR

My third race of the day was Formula 40. After the previous two races I was ready to put it to the old guys..LOL. I got my best start of the day and entered turn one drafting the winner on his 1000. By the time we got to the second lap that would be the last time I would see him. That bike had legs and he was riding it well. Next lap a red flag came out and we all headed back to the hot pits. At the restart it was exactly the same result. I was in second and never saw first place again as well as the other eight riders behind me. It felt good and I took 2nd Place!

The final race of the day for me was Unlimited GP. My 600 had no chance against the 1000's on the mile long front straight. I gave it my all, battled past a few riders and ended up in 9th place once again. Another good race and I had the most fun and best day of racing I had in 2011. I'm definitely making it back to ride here again next year!

Another unexpected find at BIR was the fact that they race Ninja 250's.. and a bunch of riders have them. We watched the 250 races and could not believe how much fun it looked like the riders were having. Close racing and lots of battles going on throughout the field. There are even Ninja 250's for rent! This just might be something I look into doing next year as well.. hmmmm.

Support those who support the sport! THANK YOU!

With my 2011 race season over I am already looking toward 2012. Currently the race schedules are not out yet. My plans are that I will be racing, but where is the real question. I had a great time at BIR with the CRA, but they only run the big track two times to the new smaller courses three. It's not that big of a deal really. Chasing the CMRA is out of the question, the tracks are just too far away. Maybe I'll try and make it to Hallet to redeem myself there? The CCS is usually the last to come out with their schedule so I'll really be waiting on them. I would love to race at Road America, but if the CCS doesn't;t go there like this year I won't be going there. Or maybe I'll make my own series like I did this year and have a ball spreading the roadracing word! Whatever it is I will be riding my GSXR600, toting my spare engine with me, and maybe you'll even see a 250 Ninja in my toyhauler if I get lucky!

Till next update sometime in December----> Jimmy


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11-17-11

Straight up 2011 really was not my year for racing, but it did end up on a high note!

BIR Paddock.. It hasn't seen me in over 10 years

Between engines blowing, riders crashing, schedules changing and tracks flooding my last race weekend of the year was a blast from the past and really made me look forward to the 2012 season. Now, to read all about that you are going to have to wait because this site has been on the back burner since near the get go this year and I've got some season updates to type...



Hear we go... IT'S THE END OF MAY 2011 and I've spent the last few weeks rushing to get my bike back together and on the last day before its time to leave for the next race weekend I'm installing a new used engine I found on MotorcycleRoadRacingForums.com. Got it all plugged in, it starts and runs, and off to the races I go.

The hills of Hallet,Oklahoma

It's 8am and I'm filling up the truck with gas and I decide to check the weather for Blackhawk Farms. Uh oh. It's gonna rain like crazy and I'm on my basically brand new shiny just painted and reassembled race bike. Well, I'm out of the points chase already since Heartland Park was a double race weekend (this is why double race or points weekends stink). No problem, it's supposed to be great weather in Oklahoma and Colorado.. Either an eight hour drive to Blackhawk Farms, Hallet Oklahoma, or Colorado. So off we go.. I haven't been to Hallet, Ok in over 20 years. In fact, Hallet was my very first race track I ever raced at back in 1989.. and that's the last time I was there too! So I will be lacking in the track knowledge department, not a problem because at least I am going racing.

Turns out I have a good friend who has started racing with the CMRA this year, John Deuser, and just my luck he asked if I would like to ride a five hour endurance with him and some of his new found racing friends at Hallet. (Since the Great Plains Region was removed from the CCS racing schedule this year a lot of racers have been displaced and started racing with other organizations.. looks like that is me now as well.) When I arrived at Hallet I could not believe how many racers were already at the track. I don't think I have seen this many people at a track since the mid 1990's! There is no lack of racers in the CMRA. Being an endurance weekend all the sprint races are on Sunday and the endurance races are on Saturday. That leaves me with zero time on my bike to make sure everything is ok since my rebuild, so its gonna be a lets try and survive type of day on Sunday.

As Saturday rolls around I find my new endurance partners and the bike we are going to be riding. Turns out to be a great bunch of guys and an old completely stock TL1000S. I've never ridden one, but I'm up for the challenge, and II hope John told these guys this is basically my first time on the track since my very first race ever back in 1989 (I think he left that part out..LOL). Anyway, I took a couple laps on the bike (its like riding a big couch), I kinda remember the track, and its time to go racing. Main game plan: don't crash this guys bike (it's his street ride), have fun, and don't crash this guys bike! Everything turned out well for our five hour race. I had a great time, learned which way the track went, made some new friends, and we took first place in our class!

Sunday morning was my first taste of Hallet on my own bike, and boy did it feel a lot better than that TL we race on Saturday. I got two short quick sessions on my bike and ended up pretty comfortable but definitely off the 600cc pace. I had three races, middleweight supersport, superbike, and formula 40. I was gridded around the 10th row for each of my races. For my first race I got the perfect launch and ended up around fifth place exiting turn one! From there I went over the wheely hill and felt like I was gonna launch to the moon.. that's about the time everybody got their positions back from me. I road as hard as I felt comfortable with trying to figure out how to make my bike get around the place as fast as I could without crashing. I ended up 18th. One thing I did notice was that my bike overheated on the cool down lap.. that made me start to question this new used engine for the first time. Next up was the 600cc superbike race and I just couldn't match that start from the first race, but is was great none the less! I felt better and actually battled with a couple of riders for position all race long which made me more confident for sure. My lap times dropped another two seconds but I still ended up 18th again. Then of course my bike overheated even quicker this time on the last lap.. not good. So I pretty much knew that I had a head gasket leaking, but how bad was it was the real question. I refilled the radiator one more time and got ready for my last race of the day. Unfortunately it was getting a lot warmer out and I was really worried about blowing up another engine. At the start of the formula 40 race I got another good launch and bounced off a couple guys which sent me off the outside a little into turn one. I recovered and was only able to do two laps before my bike was really overheating. I called it a day before it really broke and spilled more than just water on the track. Best thing about the day was that each time I went out on track I dropped about two seconds a lap (even on those last two laps!). With that in mind one more race and I could have been in the hunt for a position in the top ten with all those CRMA riders.

With that trip over, I got back to Clifford Cycles to do a leak down on my engine. As I suspected it had a blown head gasket. So off with it's head! A new head gasket showed up a week later and back together it went. One other thing we found with the new engine is whoever had been in it before me had the cams in wrong as well.. so we had to redegree them back in to spec. Now I have to cross my fingers it will last for the next few races.. great more to worry about.

My plan was to get out on a track day locally and give this new engine a proper shake down so I wouldn't have to be all worried about it at a race weekend. Guess what happens next, the day I get off from work to go get some laps in I find out that the local track Mid America Motorplex is going under water due to flooding! Great! Now I'm back to being worried or find a stock spare to take with me just in case. And to add to all of this the next race weekend I had planned I was unable to get off work.. seems everyone decided to go on short term all at once in the middle of summer.. oh well, guess I've got extra cash now for a spare engine. Clifford Cycles was able to locate one for me. Next up is Blackhawk Farms in August, see you there!

Blackhawk Farms Raceway Paddock

IT'S NOW AUGUST 2011..
Once again I find myself heading to a track I have not been to in around 10 years. This whole no Great Plains Region thing is making me go back to traveling to a bunch which in turn makes it harder to get out of work due to two extra travel days which also means I don't get to go racing as much as I would like. Ugh!

It was nice to get back to Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Illinois in part for all of the upgrades they have made at the track. It has definitely turned out to be a nice place to travel to. The weekend started out with a heavy downpour of rain first thing in the morning. I really didn't mind that because I would be starting off a little slow learning the track again and Saturday was all day practice. It came back quickly though since I had raced there a lot between 1989 and 2001. This weekend was a really good one to attend due to the fact that it was the annual Red Flag Fund Auction weekend. The Red Flag Fund provides help to injured racers who are in need. For more information or donations please click on the the Red Flag Fund image on the right side of the page. My travel partner Mike and I did some bidding at the auction, but we were not able to outbid people on some of the really cool stuff that was available.. maybe next year!

Sunday morning racing got started early due to the one day race format. I entered four races for the day and was looking forward to the nice sunny day. First up was Solo GTO. I got a great start and had an uneventful race. I was the first finishing 600 in the big bike class at 5th place. Next up was the Heavyweight Superbike race. I ended up with a great start and rode a hard fought race. The leaders pace at this track is still a few seconds off mine, but I know that these riders are true locals and have a big advantage to someone like me who has to do the traveling routine to get to a track day or race. I ended up in 5th place once again and dropped my lap times a second!

Jill, Suzi and her boy, Todd and of course SuperDave

At this point in the day lunch time came around and it came around with a nice surprise.. old racing buddy Todd Harrington showed up to hang out. It was a nice surprise and great to see him. Now I just have to get him to come out some more and maybe do some team challenge racing with me next year.. HEAR THAT TODD... After lunch two more good friends showed up.. Jill, Suzi and her son showed up just as race time got started and the old stories began to fly!

Middleweight GP had a disastrous start for me. A bad launch left my front wheel in the air and a crappy turn one position. I road hard, battled for a few laps and ended up in 8th position. My lap times have leveled out now so its time to work harder on going faster. Back at the paddock the old stories were really flying. It was a really great time seeing my old friends again and having a good time. Such a good time that I missed my last race of the day! LOL... I can laugh because it was worth it. I will definitely have to get back here soon and spend an extra day or so in the area. Thanks for coming out to the track Todd, Jill and Suzi! Oh, and Dave I always enjoy your company too!


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05-07-11

Well, things don't always go as planned. My start to the 2011 racing season ended in the second practice of the morning on April 23rd. I went down in turn two, a fast left hand turn on the gas. I tucked the front and slid and tumbled for quite a ways. (Did you know there is a ditch out there? I guess it's a good thing they moved that wall a couple of years ago otherwise I would be part of it!) I ended up with some holes in my leathers and a really sore neck and jaw. My my bike however, was down for the count. It tumbled and stuck the throttle on in the dirt. I crawled to it as fast as I could and shut it down.

Once I got back in the paddock it looked bad, but I knew I had all the parts except an for an engine. New radiator, subframe bandaged back together, bars, levers etc. It took a couple hours and it started and ran. So I figured I'd give it a shot in the first race, except that it didn't make it but just over half a lap and popped the engine. I guess it screamed just a little too long laying on its side in the dirt. Check please..

After that lackluster start to the season, I would really like to thank those who help me get to the races and have supported my racing for several years:

DP Brakes - Woodcraft - Clifford Cycles - Mason Racin Tires

And I would like to thank my newest sponsor for 2011 ------> Armour Bodies

So far my leathers have been repaired, my body has healed up, and my bike is coming together nicely. Armour Bodies body work is at my painters, Woodcraft replacement parts are all on the bike set up, and a new set of Mason Racin Tires' Michelin race tires are mounted. Last but not least Clifford Cycles and I are on the search for a new GSXR 600 Engine while we tear into the old ones to build a spare for next time.

See you at the races! ---> jimmy

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03-01-11

Another month and a half and it will be race time. The 2011 Midwest CCS schedule has turned out be a short one this year, but that just means everyone will be at all the races and that will make for some exciting events. Most of the schedule is at Blackhawk Farms in Beloit, Illinois. I haven't been there for 10 years. No worry's though, I'm sure it will all come back really quick, Blackhawk Farms was always fun and always packed full of people.

More to come soon..



2011 Milroy Racing Tentative Schedule

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