Kris Turner

Road A x's 2

2008-07-16T19:52:00.004-05:00

Sorry its been a while since Ive updated this.. I raced at Road Atlanta the last week of June. I was real excited to see the new track to see what the new changes were like (read about it here http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=33100) Over all the the new chicane for turn 4 just didn't cut it.. I dont know what they were thinking when they drew it out but it just did not work.. It's not just totally useless though, its fixable. And the new turn 12 rocked!! Anyways, In Saturday practice, I got down to 1:33's. That's using the esses instead of the revised turn 4. I was getting more and more comfterable on the bike and track and started to turn some decent lap times. In the race, Middle weight Solo 16, I started last row, I think it was row 6 or 7, I dont exactly remember. After just the first lap I was in 6th, then worked to 4th by the end of the second lap and then 3rd on the 5th lap when Ryan Clay crashed in turn 5. I spent the next 11 laps there until coming out of the last turn when I stepped the back end out on the last lap letting Brett Sassaman to just edge his front tire in front of mine.. I was kinda bummed that he beat me just before the line with me in front of him the whole race. My times were still in the 33's though so I guess it wasn't to bad.

In Sunday's races, C SuperStock Expert, and B SuperStock Expert, I finished 3rd in both. In 600 SS I had a lead opened on the first lap but the race was red flagged which deffinitely did not work to my advantage. On the restart I came out in third by the end of the first lap and was really mad about it. The first 3 laps, I screwed up the esses and my times were 33's, I fought past that and stayed in front of Parkerson, both Sassamans, Day, Stokes and Clay before fixing the problem and dropping my times by 2 seconds!! I pulled away from the group and kept a consistent gap between me and Jenson and Knapp up front. I was kinda mad at my self at the end of race knowing that I could have been with the leaders at the beginning of the race if I woulda not made mistakes..

In 750 SS, I was in 3rd at the top of the hill behind Opie and Jenson, I tried to stay with them but made a mistake entering turn 3 and let them gap me.. the rest of the race I spent in 3rd.. kinda lonely. The rest of the race, I just kept my pace fast and kept my times in the 31's! I was happy with that but I coulda been closer up front..

After loading up and getting home, we had a lot of work to do to the bikes before leaving for Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the CCS/ASRA race at Road America. Lisa Gerloff (mom of Garrett and Grayson) picked me, mom and all my stuff up on Tuesday and made our long trip up there getting there on Wednesday. I signed up for the practice day Thursday for the 600. I was also picking up one of the Moriwaki MD250H Hondas while there. Well in the first practice session, I had mechanical issues and ended up switching practice stickers so I could make laps on the Moriwaki. It was a fun bike to ride but I think I woulda rather made laps on the big bike.. I think I needed it more on it. That night, Lisa drove me and mom to Mark Junges house (thanks a ton!!) to pick up a spare motor. When we got back, my dad put it in with help from Mark Gerloff (the dad) who came up together that morning. Friday qualifying was canceled due to time restrictions so I the only time I got on the new motor, and only real session was in practice that morning. In the first session, I noticed how different the slipper clutch was.. It allowed the back tire to slide around a little more on decel and it really got me mixed up. Going into the last turn a few laps in, I got on the brakes and the back end slid around, I caught it and turned in but the previous mistake pointed my front tire right over the curb on the inside and I tucked the front. The crash was so mellow that I never even let go of the bike while sliding, I just picked it up and rode across the track to the trailer. That night after everything was over and after getting thing on both bikes organized, I went to supper with Josh and Melissa Hayes with Mark Rozema (mechanic for Chaz Davies) a guy from RRX who I never got a name from (he even sat beside me) and Joe AKA the guy who kept me entertained for the most part.. So did Josh's Dave Chapelle impressions and our very drunk waitress.

The next morning, after a great night of sleep, I woke up ready to ride and went out for first practice. After practice, I sat around all day waiting on the Moriwaki race, the only race of the day. Everything on the Moriwaki will be in a RoadRacing World Magazine coming out soon.
That night I went to bed kinda early for race day the next day. I felt great on the bike in practice, but was still only turning 2:26 laptimes. Garret Carter was in the 22's so I knew I had a lot of work to do. My first race was the CCS Middle Weight SuperSport. I started 31st in the back and came up to 4th place. The race was shortened due to a red flag or I really think I could have done better. The next race was ASRA Super bike, where I started from the back of the grid again, on 4th row. I came back to 4th again having a real fun battle with Mark Junge (thanks again for the motor!!) and barely beating him at the line. In the last and final race of the day, ASRA Factory Pro Sport Bike, which was shortened from 12 laps to 8 laps then down to 5 laps due to more time restrictions, I started again from the back on the 3rd row (small crowd). I worked up to 3rd place on the 4th lap when a red flag came out because the organization lost track privileges at 6 and guess what time it was. We did Podium shots then dyno'd the bikes. They had a 105 limit and was under that on the test run we did earlier. After dyno'ing a few bikes 4 times max, the dyno'd mine 4 times, let it sit for a minute allowing it to cool off with the fans blowing on it, then did it a few more times when on the 7th run, it came out as 105.7! They docked me 3 positions and left a sour taste in my mouth. I was kinda upset that they kept going at it til it barely went over.. Next race on the list is at Barber in a few weeks.

Tally

2008-06-19T19:09:00.002-05:00

With all the races being so close together the next month, we decided to just head down for Talladega for the Southeast WERA race for just Sunday. Showing up to the track that everyone had been riding on since Thursday or Friday and only getting 10 laps of practice (seperate sessions, thats total) before the race, was a little bit nervousing for me. I even totally forgot it was Father's Day til mom reminded me around the start of the mini race. oops.. The all famous Steve Ault, personal friend, showed up just before practice to watch for the day.

In the Practices I got down to minute flats in the first session and then into mid 59s in the second session. I wasn't really going real, real fast but it was decent to be so early (I'm not a morning person!) and not have anytime on the track the whole weekend. After practice, we sat through lunch for an hour then another 2 hours atleast until my first race came up. It seemed every race that came up had a red flag or something happen.
When I finally got gridded up for 600 Superstock, I was starting in the middle of the front row, and got a good start and lead the first 2 laps. My second lap was kinda slow and Taylor Knapp passed me. When he got in front of me I started to push much harder and realed the little gap he put on me back in and made a pass for the lead entering the last turn esses deal but ran a little wide on the exit allowing him back up the inside. This is when I figured out that Payton Sassaman was also right there with us cause he came around me to and we all three split a lapper entering turn one. I got back by Payton and started to run different passes through my mind. Going into the 90's on the last lap, the only right turn on the track, I missed a down shift and let Payton back by me. I tried to fight back by in the next turn on the outside of the carousel. I couldn't get back on the throttle soon enough to make it stick and ended up .389 of a second off of Taylor who won, and only .119 off of Payton.

I was real excited with how I rode even though I knew I coulda made a couple different things work better for me and came out on top. but every time on the track is a learning experience. My fastest time was a 58.2! I was also real happy with that.

The next race was 750 Superstock. I gridded up second row and didn't get as good a start this time. I came out third in turn one behind Tim Hunt who held me up the first lap letting Opie Caylor get a little gap on me. Then Corey Burleson got by me and I got in front of Hunt. I still had Opie and Burleson in sight but I couldn't shave any time off. I worked real hard for it for a few laps and made the choice to settle down a little after having the back end step out right after the apex of one. I wasn't happy that I got beat but I still rode good. Actually my fastest laptime was a 58.1! A little faster.

Next race is Road Atlanta

Roebling Road.

2008-06-10T19:47:00.003-05:00

First off, I wanna apologize for not keeping this updated. After the Rookies Cup last year, I am now getting the chance to race for M4/Emgo Suzuki in the WERA Nationals and Regionals with the occasional CCS/ASRA race to collect points to get an AMA License for next year. Big thanks to the whole M4/Emgo team and to John Ulrich and Doug Gonda for making all this happen for me. And to Chris Ulrich for being John Ulrich's son! =p.
So far this year, I have raced in 4 races finishing with two firsts and running close to the same times as Jenson and the Sassamans and the rest of the leading group, even racing with them when they're there. I am getting up to speed quickly on the 600 which is a lot different than the 125 I raced last year. I still have a lot to learn before next year and its all an adventure.

We filled the Surburban up after getting the trailer loaded and made our way towards Roebling Road Raceway for a WERA Regional race. On the way down, Susie (the Surburban) started acting funky on us so we pulled into a parts store after babying it there and got it fixed. My friend Nathaniel Parton and his dad Donald were car pooling with us so Donald helped my dad fix it so we could get on the road quicker. We showed up at the Microtel at around midnight and got some sleep in before Saturdays races. Early in the morning Saturday, I headed out for practice. I already raced the National at this track earlier this year and did good for it being my first time on the bike. In this first session, I was getting everything sorted out and shaking the cobwebs off not putting in real fast laptimes. I was only in the 19s. In the second session I went a little faster and got some things straight but I wasn't really setting the world on fire. I got into the 16's and I knew I could do 13's, even with the track being a little greasier than it was at the National. After the hour long break, we got dressed and gridded for the Mediumweight Solo 20. I was starting second row so I knew I had a good chance at taking the money at the end of it. I got a decent jump on the start and my M4/Emgo Suzuki motored by the front row (even the one who had moved a bike length before Chuck waved the flag). From there on, I lead the race to pull about a 3 second lead at the end. I know the times still weren't where I wanted them to be with a mid 14 being my fastest lap, but I only got a few clean laps without any lappers. In the end I was happy with how I rode, kinda conservative and smart and got into some ok laptimes. After the race, we got everything loaded and Nathaniel and I raced across the track to collect the earnings. We stayed in the air conditioned tower with Emily from WERA and her duaghter feeding us and having a good laugh. After our parents made it across with Susie, we headed to the hotel and to get cleaned up and to Tybee Island afterwards to eat at AJ's. Its this little seafood resteraunt we found on vacation at the Island a few years ago. Thanks to Donald for paying for it! :)
Sunday morning early in the first session, I got in behind Josh Day and was following him for a few laps. We only made a few laps before I suddenly lost the front for no obvious reason in turn one. I wasn't pushing real hard it just kinda fell away from me. As I was pushing my bike out of the impact zone, 2 more went down, seperatly. On the ride back in the crash truck, I saw Josh's bike laying outside of turn 4. When I got back to the pits, I was explained to that someone spilled oil all around the track after busting a crank case. The guy came to apologize for causing the big scene to all the riders who crashed so props to him for that! We got the bike back together for the next sessions but didn't really do anything impressive in them. We spent the whole two sessions trying to figure out my front end problem. It turns out that Day's bike was to crashed to even fix to try to race. I was kinda looking foward to racing with him and having someone help push me to faster times since I was struggling with it myself.

The first race of the day was 600 Super Stock. I was starting on pole, left side of the front row and got a decent start and lead into turn one. I struggled getting to pace and after 2 of the 8 laps, Tim Hunt worked by and stayed in front for the rest of the race. I got into the high 13's but I knew I could do better than that. I ended up P2 at the end of the race.

The next race was 750 Super Stock. I was starting again on the first row. In between Hunt and Opie Caylor. I broke out of the start right beside Caylor and my Suzuki GSX-R 600 motored by his 750. I beat him into the first turn before he got by. I pushed the my Pirelli tires hard but I couldn't stay with Opie. My fastest lap time wasn't as fast as the first race but the times were more consistently lower so I was happy with that. I finished P2 again. I guess in the end, the weekend was decent but I know I could have done better.
Im still working on getting better.. I'm coming after you Opie. I'm gonna beat you by the end of the year!! (I hope..)
Next race is Tally!

USGPRU / AMA at Road Atlanta

2007-09-27T14:10:00.001-05:00

I had a lot of confidence going into the USGPRU race at Road Atlanta, combined with the AMA for the second time this year. The first race, at Miller, we missed being in Europe for the Rookies Cup, so I was also real excited to get to race in front of the big teams and riders.

The first session on Thursday, I rode at a decent pace the whole session. I was kind of trying to get my confidence up to carry more speed through the turns then I was able to last year due to the new pavement. At the end of the session, I was already going faster then I did last year at the GNF and Cycle Jam with WERA.

The second session, I was really wanting to pick it up some and get faster. I wanted to be the first one in the mid-'30s wherever that was going to be. I made all of about a lap before the bike seized entering one (for those of you who dont know, turn one is 105+ mph on a 125, third gear...). The backend locked up and jumped sideways so fast, I had no idea that it was gone 'til it was to far gone to react to it. I was lucky to get off the bike before it really highsided. The crash was still painful though!! I got up and immediatly found my arm to be hurting more then anything. So the paremedics MADE(!!) me get in the ambulance to get a ride over to the medical center to get my dad to sign me off to let me go, and that we didnt want to go to the hospital (like that was going to happen...)

So, my hopes of being fastest with a real fast laptime was shattered like that...but theres always tomorrow right??

On Friday morning, we had a brand new piston in the bike, so I spent just about the whole session breaking it in. I ended up third fastest with a '37.8. Not exactly as I would like, but with just one and a half fast laps on the track in the session, I was happy. I felt I could do much better for the after noon session. Little did I know that I wouldnt have the chance to do so.

At right after lunch, Connor (who I just met this weekend) and I went out to watch AMA practice on his Zuma. We rode over to inside of turn 7 and watched them go through there, then as we were leaving, I saw Elena and Tyler Odem sitting on a pitbike in between turn 6 and 7. I rode the scooter over there with Connor on the back. About the time I got to them and got my helmet off, two patrol men drove up in thier cars and told me to get off that I was kicked out!! I was so confused and they wouldnt even tell me what I did wrong. They then told Tyler that they were going to impound his KLX 110 because it wasnt a 125...everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. I got ahold of my dad on Elena's cell phone and he came over there to talk to the two... They then told my dad that I was doing stoppies on the Zuma with Connor on the back. When he tried to defend me (best way to put it [everyone knows its nearly inpossible to do stoppies on a Zuma, let along with two people on it!!]) they kicked him out also.

So, here I am missing the second practice of the day because two hire cops wanna show some autority that they think they deserve....

Lucky for me, Kevin Schwantz and I had become friends after meeting at Assen earlier this year, and with the help of him and Stuart Aitken-Cade, I was let back in the next day just in time for the morning practice.

In this session, I was not really thinking about riding so much as I was about pretty much just being mad...I wasnt thinking about being fastest or anything like that, I was just riding and trying to blow off some steam while doing it. Well this helped, because I came out of the session fastest with a '35.7. I was happy with this and was a little more confident going into the qualifying session later that day.

In the qualifier, I went out and immediatly began to turn fast laps, just looking for places where I could get more out of myself. I knew that it would be hard trying to get a faster laptime then PJ Jacobsen on his RS 125 which is a pretty good bit faster then mine, but this didnt slow me any. The whole session I was in a group of slower riders though, it seemed like they were everywhere! I would come in to get away from them and when I went back out there were more...I was trying to use them to my advantage and draft off of them when I could. I finally caught PJ on the next to last lap and tried to get a pull off him on the straight, but it didnt so much work when he shut the throttle off on me on the back stretch. I just went by him and finished the lap. Yet, my fastest lap ended up being a few laps earlier with a '34.706!! This time put me in 2nd behind PJ on grid which I was happy with. I was on front row atleast. Nobi Iso was third with a mid 35 and Elena completed the first row with a high 35. The race was going to be close but I knew that if I could be behind PJ on the back straight, then I could do the laptimes faster then his, maybe 33s. I knew that most of the time he had on me was mostly the horsepower he has, dont get me wrong, he is real fast, but I felt like on equal bikes, we would be much closer...

So on race day, I wanted to win soooo bad!! Just like everyone else I would assume though.

On the start I broke out with a decent start entering turn one in third behind Nobi and Elena who both got killer starts. I followed them for about a lap and a half and then made the pass on Elena, then Nobi just as the red flag came out due to a rider who fell in turns 10a-b. On the restart, it was almost a replay, Nobi, then Elena, then me, then PJ. I got by Elena quicker this lap and then passed Nobi and lead the last half of the first lap. Nobi got back by me and I made a real good move on him out of the esses entering turn 5. Then PJ drafted by me on the straight. I got back by him and started to ride just hard enough to stay in front but still save tires. Coming on to the last lap, I let PJ by coming out of turn 12. I knew that being in front of him on the back straight on the last lap was pretty much suicide and that he would have no problem drafting by me there. The whole race I was getting passed down the straight away but braking back by them in a killing effort into turn 10a. But they kept going deeper and deeper every lap and it was getting just as much harder to pass them as they did. So my plan was going right until we went entered turn one and PJ got by a lapper and I didnt. I passed the lapper and began to reel him back in, as soon as I caught him, another lapper began to held me up. Then entering turn 6 another one, but this one I stuffed the unnamed lapper in an effort to get back up to PJ before turn 7 so I could draft with him and pass him on the brakes like I have been. I was too far behind and lost it right there. I then noticed that he was getting held up though 10a-b. I kept running as hard as I could and almost caught him but was held up by a squirrel all the way over the hill and through turn 12. I was mad at first but then turned to an instant happy and proud of the way I rode, I congradulated PJ and then did a couple wheelies before coming back in.

So I didnt win, but I think I made a good impression this weekend!!

Thanks to Kevin Schwantz and Stuart Aitken-Cade for getting me back in!!
Also to the AMA for letting us come out and ride with them!!

summit point (sorry took so long)

2007-06-12T09:32:00.001-05:00

This interesting weekend started by me, mom, and dad riding up with Daniele "Duzzi" Lenarduzzi because Hillis couldnt ride with him. Hillis is he mechanic and had a last minute emergency so we decided to go with him to save on gas and keep Duzzi company. The ride to the track was almost as adventourous as the actual racing part. We had two blowouts on the trailer, one forcing us to drive around Morristown for two hours looking for the place with the trailer tires and then looking for the interstate. The other leaving us using the real wore out spare to drive us the rest of the way in. So lets get to the fun parts now.

The next day was just a practice day. When we first got there and got through sign up, me, dad and Duzzi walked the track for a first time analysis and even ended up helping put out some air fence. That stuff is so heavy, it took all three of us plus someone else, just to pick up 30 foot folded up.

After we helped them and finished our walk, we went to get the bike ready for the first practice session. The first few session went well, just learning the track and (for the first time) trying to set up my suspension for the roughest track that I have ever been on. I love the bumps though from my motocross background. We finally got everything in range of being good, and I set a laptime about a half second off of PJ's. The next day was qualifying. I did ok but still struggled to qualify 5th in the 125 and 7th in the 250.

Sunday was the race. In the 125 race, I got a good start and even got beside PJ in the first turn (depsite his horsepower advantage over me) but ran wide giving him the position back. I never really let him and Nobi g0 until Scott Smallwood passed me entering turn one, that same lap a big crash happened in the last turn and caused a red flag.

On the restart, I started first row instead of second row (due to position when the redflag came out). Another good start put me inside of PJ again and this time making the pass stick! That is until he motored me through turn two. A few laps later, Scott passed me again entering turn one. I passed him back through the middle of turn three. The next lap, I tried entering turn one a little deeper. Scott still passed me, so I made the same move on him in turn three. This went on a few laps, every lap me going deeper on the brakes and he just kept passing me. That was until I went deep enough that when he did pass me, I let off the brakes just enough to edge my back tire right by his front tire, I was so scared that I was going to take him out when I made this pass. He squared up the inside of me, and motored out of the turn, forcing me to follow through the real open, blind sweeping turn two, only to make the pass through three again. Yet this time, he realized what I was going to do and waited a little bit to turn in, making my "all-b*lls" outside entering, inside exiting pass almost impossible (the track kinks to the opposite direction after the quick lay it in lefty). I squared him up and put it on the inside entering with much greater speed, I could feel the bike wanting to give up on me as I sat the bike up to go over the next downhill. The track kinks to the left just a little bit as it crest the hill but has an almost wide-open right hander at the bottom, so you can usaully come out of turn three on the outside bumpers as the track kinks right, and hold the line straight over the hill crest to keep the bike settled down and turning in a little later at the bottom of the hill. So anyways, as I crest the hill with Scott only leaving me inches of track, I felt the need to let turn the bike to the left a little bit and let it follow the trackto get enough room to pass him on the brakes aftr the right hander at the bottom of the hill for the next real tight left hander. When I did this, the front end lifted a few inches off the ground, turning the bars to the bar stops and scaring the bi-ejibbers out of me. I hung off the inside (right) of the bike and took my right foot off the peg trying to turn the bike away from the grass. When the front end rejoined the ground, the bike fell into the turn at the bottom of the hill and I never missed a beat (to scared too!!). I braked late and felt the back end bounce off the ground inside of Scott. When I got in the middle of the real slow, tight and slick left turn I thought, "Man, he has to be thinking 'This kid is crazy'". I thought that myabe he would leave me alone for a while and I could get back in grove to run away from him. Man was I wrong, just a few turns later (come out of the decresing radius left, over a very small mound type hill, drops into the tight yet short and quick left hander and transitions to a right almost the same up the hill to the last turn.) When I flipped from left to right on the transition, I was in front of him through the left and he just appeared right in front of me through the right. I had no idea he was going to pass, nor how he did, he had the slower line through a wide open turn and he somehow made it worked. I though all this while seeing sparks fly off his footpeg going up the hill. Entering the last turn, a drop off a little hill (and I mean a drop off too, the bike literally falls out from under you and once you catch it your on flat ground again), while clicking high gear for about a hundred feet, just before tapping the brakes to grab three downshifts, and opneing it wideopen only to almost run off the track while clicking fourth and entering the front straight away, but save yourself by using the outside bumpers as a berm. Any ways, while dropping off the hill, I saw that Scott got cought behind a few lappers, I fell down the hill and threw the bike inside as hard as I could, just hoping that the tires ould stick, I realized that he was probably either going to follow me through the turn inside of the lappers, only to attempt to draft past me or was going to run on the outside hugging the outside bumper berm to try to use momentum to drive by my. He ended up trying the first one, but it was to late. He got cought off gaurd when the lapper squeezed in bhind me not knowing that he was there, almost running off the track, he didnt give up. He held it open but never got close enough. I didnt realize it until I came out of the last turn that it was the last lap. I began to do these little back-and-fowards motion across the track to keep him from passing me, not knowing that he had fell back in the last turn to much to pass me. It was the gruliest, most hard worked for, brutale and painful (armpump) yet funnest races that I have ever raced. Atleast in a while.
After the podium time, weigh-ins and my dad fixing my broke pipe. I went out for the 250 race. This race was not near as exciting, I sat back and watched the race finishing 11th. A good weekend.

topeka

2007-05-02T16:10:00.001-05:00

The first USGPRU race of the year was scheduled at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas. The 12 hour drive from our house was horrible! The only cool thing about the traveling part (which I usually find some way of having fun) was being able to witness the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. It is enourmus, and really well crafted the way it is shaped. So anyway, We arrived in Topeka at around 2:30 in the morning (not sure how, I was asleep) and stayed in a motel for four hours. Friday morning started the race weekend with a planned practice round in the morning and a GTLights race (like the WERA Solo 20 race) for ccs. The problems started early though. I left my wallet at home with both of my expired WERA lisences, plus my FIM lisence was on the Dining room table. Ccs calls for "racing experience" to get a ccs lisence, which was all at home, so we had to call my brother Robbie back home, from work (thanks man) to go to my house to get all my lisence and than go back to work so he could fax them to the ccs people at the track. After this mess, we went inside and parked by Miles Thornton. We unloaded the truck, I got dressed and acually made the second round of practice (only four laps though). THe GTLights race would be my first real ride on the track to get to know it, and it ended up pouring down, which just made it that much harder for me to learn the track. I wound up coming in half through the race asking for tape on the radiator because the bike was running to cold, but my dad didnt have any, so I just went back out and finished the race anyways. Saturday was a little better of a day. Practice in the morning went OK. Qualifying killed my whole weekend pretty much though. I qualified 3rd row for the 125 race and second row for the 250 race (both USGPRU races). In the ccs 125 GP race on Saturday, I came from a good ways behind, only to catch Scott Smallwood at the last second to pass him only milimeters after the finish line. SUnday went pretty good. In the ccs 125 GP race, I had a great, strong battle going with Hayden Gillim (who has most deffinantly improved a bunch since last year). It was a really fun race, only with about 2 or 3 laps to go, he entered turn two to deep and tucked the fornt end on the brakes, givign me the win. A good way to start a day off in my opinion. The USGPRU 125 race was the best race of the weekend. I came from 3rd row on the start and fell in behind Hayden Gillim in fourth place entering the first turn. I worked past him and started reeling in PJ Jacobsen and Nobi Iso who was acually on an Aprilia 125 (so much motor in a straight line!!/Hayden was still on my tail). Once I caught Nobi and began to lose Hayden due to his tires giving out. My tires started to go out, they were sliding all over the place in every turn. My front tire has nothing left AT ALL!!! Nobi ended up motoring away on the front stretch to take second which left me with third. The podium thing is way cooler than any of the other podium things I have ever done. They an accual podium and a guy went by all of us with a microphone and interviewed us all. They had champange (for kids/it was acually like sparkling grape juice in a fancy bottle). The USGPRU 250 race was not near as good. My tires were so far gone that I couldnt keep up with myself really. I wanted to go much faster but my tires were holding me back. I ended up 6th in it. Miles had a bad weekend but maybe he will be back up to par this weekend at Barber for the WERA National race. See Ya.

2007-03-19T07:13:00.000-05:00

I started this year off at the newly configurated Talladega Gran Prix for the first round with WERA all though I didnt stay for the whole weekend. I also had a test with the RedBull Rookie Cup a few days afterwards. We left for Talley Friday February 9th for a very wet/rainy, cold, and not so fun day. Not knowing it was going to be wet, we left my rain tires on the other wheels in my mom's car, who was driving down later. I only made one session and Nathaniel Parton and his cousin Zach Lewallen (who both went with me) made two. After heading to the motel that my mom had reserved and was waiting for us at, we decide to go eat supper at the Western Sizzlin' down the road. After a kind-of joke at my mom and Nathaniel saying that I wouldnt do it, I crawled into the trunk of my mom's Lexus to save on room in the car. When we finally arrive there, I make a decission to never do that again. After a delicious dinner, we head to Books-A-Million across the street to pick up the latest issue of RoadRacingWorld magazine to see my article in it. We then head back to the motel to hang out. The next day, we do our ussual "get up early, get ready for a day at the track, and go to Waffle House" routine. We show u pat the track and the sign up line is a mile long. While I am getting ready for my first Expert race, Nathaniel is getting ready for his first race off of his mini and on a real motorcycle, and Zach is getting ready for his first road race ever. Nathaniel later finds out that he dosent have to do rider's school and we both go out for the first practice. Setting in some decent laptimes still a few seconds off the leaders pace, I begin to wonder how hard this Expert race was going to be. After two rounds of practice, we all three go and check the grid, only to discover that I was starting last row for my class for the Light Weight Solo 20 Expert due to later sign-in. This is when I really start to wonder. Nathaniel was racing the Light Weight Solo 20 Novice on his 125, but ended up eixing a crank in his practice session. So he raced his ex-mini and Zach's new race bike, the KX 85. When I heard this, I thought this is going to be the funniest thing ever. A KX 85 racing against SV 650s and RS 125s and other bikes that just demolish this bike down the straight away. I told him htat I would give him atleast 5 foot when I passed lapped him...YEAH, like that was going to happen. So the race starts, I get a horrible start and start my journey to the front fo the pack. I worked real hard and on about lap 7, I catch a group that ended up being 2nd, 3rd and 4th. After working pass them all by lap 10 (half way/Paul Steven's dad later told me he timed me 10 seconds behind the leader at this point) I start really putting in some good laps. In practice, I got down ot a 1:12:281, in the race my fastest lap was a 1:06:318 turning 7 total 1:06s in the race. SO I am running the leader down fast and at the twisties before the white flag I run it up inside of him on the brakes and I feel the back-end squat into the turn and then the back tire lose a little bit of traction, as soon as I feel this, I put all my weight o nthe outside foot peg and rip the throttle pinned and sit up a bit. This shot me out of the turn but my being on the inside of John Walters (the leader) placed him right beside me heading for the white flag. Once I pass him and set it in to turn one, I rode super hard to stay in front of him, sliding the bike in every turn and having a blast doing it. It is amazing what you wont do with the bike in practice but as soon as you get the pressure and determination in the race, you will od just about what ever it takes. Coming out of the old Caresale, we catch a lapper witch really worked for me. You see, the inside of the track was un-ridable due to all the dust and track scrapings from the new pavement, so there is really only one line through it. At the end of the turn, it opens up and hits a kink which I guess makes it a double apex turn in a way. It is a real long sweeper with a kink after it into the new back straight. So anyways, I follow the lapper through the turn which forced Walters to follow me. Coming out of the turn, I crack the throttle real hard and run up the inside of this un-known lapper and Walters decide to split the lapper and go outside. When I ran it up the inside of him though, he saw me and moved over, right in front of Walters forcing him to slow down and go around him. But it was to late. I ran it down the straight away and into ht etwisties harde then I have the whole race. I then ran it down the new front straight and to the checkard flag. "I just won my first ever Expert raced I ever even raced" I thought! A celebration wheelie. a mini interview over the microphone, getting my winning earnings and saying bye to Nathaniel, Zach and Donald (Nathaniels dad) and we were off to the Atlanta Airport to head to Jerez for the test. What a good way to start off the year.

Winter "break" turn around...

2006-12-29T09:07:00.000-06:00

The fourth round of the motocross series that Ive been doing was two weekends ago. The first class-first moto, I got a bad start, as always with me being on a 125 two stroke and them on there 250f's. I worked all the way up to third where I was a pretty good ways behind for a few laps. I then began to reel the Kawasaki in front of me in. I was right behind him on the last lap. (The section of track that we are at at this point: you hit a small step-up and land in a hard left, you find a rut and stick it in there wide open 'if you can' and hit a maybe 10' tabletop that even the PW 50s are doing, you land and hit a quick right into a real long sweeper left.) So I land from the small step-up and pin it when I find my rut for the next turn. There a lot of lappers in front of this un-named Kawasaki in front of me and when we land from the PW tabletop, he attempts a pass on the outside in the ditch that's off the track. He ends up sticking the front tire in it and falling, giving me second. The next class still first moto, I got another bad start. I think this one was 125 B and the first one was schoolboy. I work up to second but no real good story behind this one. I was riding at least a second faster a lap, maybe even two. I was really moving along for me. (Last lap, important track description #2: so after this long sweeper left, you keep it pinned for the uphill quad/triple with a ski jump after it, you land and hit a small step-up kind of like the PW tabletop only a little bigger, you than land wideopen in the next turn with your foot already out, you hit an about 50' supercross type double/tabletop with two humps kind of thing, I was landing wideopen on the landing of this for the kink to straightaway right after.) So in this moto, I'm all alone in second on the last lap, two short straights from the finish. I land wide open like always form the supercross double thingy and lose the backend. Well since I'm standing up when it happened I some how save it. The only problem was that when I did, the back tire hooked up sending me off the inside of the turn to another part of the track. Right here the track drops a good 5' to where I'm heading and I'm 3rd gear pinned not realizing that I'm about to endo hard off of a pile of "scrubbed off dirt" about 3' high. I fly off my bike right off the face and landed about 20' out and 5' down in between the start stretch and the straight that I should be on in a bunch of dirt clogs and big rocks. My bike went so far that when I landed I looked up and saw it land. I started to get up so I could move out of the start stretch so the next race could start. I'm laying on my back and roll over to my belly to push my self up. As soon as I do I lay back down from pain, figuring someone will move the bike and Ill lay here for a while. As far as I could tell at this point was that my hip hurt and my lower back was killing me. I was right about everything but the next moto starting. There was about four to five people on there bikes and a few other people including my dad and the paramedics surrounding me. The paramedics wanted me to say something because I was just sitting there kind of staring at everyone. I said the first thing that came to mind, "Did they get a picture of it?" and also after looking at where I came off the track "Man, I went far!" The paramedics told me to walk over to the ambulance when I got back to the trailer so they could check my blood pressure. I walked all the way over there and back before I realized that something was wrong with my leg. I went inside the big rig thing that we came in (not ours, we came with someone,) and laid down some. My dad called my mom to come get us since we didn't have a car and we went to the hospital. So after a few hours of back and fourth and a few wheelies in a wheel chair they finally take an x-ray. And after a few more wheelies, peeing in a cup, and learning to "Back-it-in" in a wheelchair, the doctor finally comes back with some results. He said that I have a fracture in my fibia right below my knee and a fracture in the growth plate in my ankle. Its been two weeks and four days now and in another 3 I can start exercising again. I'm still a little soar and not to "flexible" with my left leg. It also feels real weak. I guess the whole motocross thing is over for the winter for me. We got my frame for my RS back from the welder place and gonna start putting it together soon. There is also a track day at the new Tally (the new layout of Talledega Gran Prix.) I cant wait for that. I'm still on a hunt down for some leathers that I can wear for it but it should come soon. I'm ready to do something, anything too now because Ive been stuck with nothing to do since I have a fractured leg. I have been working at my dads shop and that's where I am right now. Ive been working on alot of different bikes, including re lacing a front wheel for a Yz 85 motard for a kid at my school. I also cant wait until I can start training for the next trip and the first race for the RedBull MotoGp Rookies Cup program. That comes up soon with a few pre-season test before in February and March. The test are at Valencia and Jerez and the first race at the end of March is also in Jerez. So roadracing will be starting soon and I'm more than ready.

2006-12-07T13:45:00.000-06:00

The off season/winter has been going well so far. I've been racing motocross some and thats been going real well. I'm leading the series which is just a local track series but thats all I really want to do, and I'm still doing good in it. The first weekend I rode, it took me a while before I really got going good, but when I did I just got faster everytime I rode. I won 125 B and got second in Schoolboy. The second weekend went almost the same. I got second in both classes, but to someone else this time. The third race was this past weekend and I won Schoolboy and got second in 125 B. I got to ride the new crf 150 Honda "mini-four strokes" the other day and really liked it. I'm also wrestling for the high school that I go to. I was the only Freshmen on Varsity but lost that spot after a few mistakes when it came time to try and keep it. I've got strep throat right now so I'm out of everyting for a few days and missing a wrestling match tonight but hope to get back real soon. We got an e-mail with a schedule for next year and a few test also at the beginning of the year. I have to go to Jerez Febuary 13-14 and to Valencia March 1st and 2nd, then back to Jerez the following weekend for another test and then in two weeks go back again for the first race over there. So its all going good and hope it stays that way. Happy Holidays everyone.

2006-10-29T12:14:00.000-06:00

After all my luck this season, I was happy to hear that I had to go to Italy for a test with the RedBull Rookies Cup program. Mostly so we all had the chance to sign the 5 year contract for them and to get and meet the other "Rookies". I had a real good time over there. Me and my dad showed up a day before any of the other riders or parents, which made a good time to get to know some the workers. We ended up eating with Josh, who does most of the talking in the meetings, a lady that does the press media for KTM, and another lady that works for WWP, which was who all the mechanics are from. The next day people started coming in. We ate dinner with Dean Mitchell and Stewart Mitchell and Stewarts granddad who vaguely reminds me of Bert Munroe from "The Worlds Fastest Indian"! After meeting the English participant, we head back to the motel thinking we would go to the room to settle down and go to sleep. As the elevator barely big enough for two people doors open, we see JD, Cameron, and Norm trying to sqeeze out I began to realize that this night was going to be longer then I thought.We ended up going to eat with them coincidently at the same restaurant. We finally get back and get to bed which was good because I thought I was about to pass out anyways. The next morning I ate breakfast at the complimentary breakfast thing and waited for the group to make their way down so we could take off to the track for the first day of the official test. Luckily we ended up doing exactly what I wanted them to do. They lined us up and let us go, of course after a practice and qualifying practice. I grided 2nd row disappointingly. I got a bad start and started trying to make it all up. I passed an English kid and lead him about a lap before he tried his first out of positioned pass. Running his bike up the inside of me on entrance of the hairpin ran both of us off the track. I finished 8th after this little incident. Cameron lost his chance to ride both days after a high-side his second practice. He fractured his arm a few weeks ago and was healing from it. He did not re-fracture it but made a good attempt at it, leaving him soar in the hip area and arm. The next day was horrible with fog in the morning. We all had to wait for the fog to settle and clear up before we could ride. So we all made our way to the cafeteria/restaurant for some food. After lunch we headed down to get ready. In qualifying I met with the English rider that ran me off of the track the first day. After passing him down the back stretch, he makes another very out of place pass. He ran up the inside as I crossed the track for the chicane and tried to pass me back. He hit me almost in a T-bone position. His elbow hit my front brake which I was already on. This sent my bike fish-tailing! I barely was able to save it. I qualified 7th again on the 2nd row. With my ex motocross background, I knew exactly how to start (the bikes we rode had Husky 125 motocross motors in them.) I had a good start until the first turn came. A failing attempt on an inside passed left me a little behind than I would like but I made a good effort to make it up. About lap 14, I caught JD who was riding with the leading pack till he made a mistake into one. I followed him for a few laps and made a pass on him into one on the brakes. As soon as I passed him and the bike settled in the turn, I crack the throttle and head down the back stretch. As I reach about half way down the back straight I see an amazing crash. I saw bikes going into three which was a sweeper left following a flick right where it all took place. All of a sudden A bike flips and a rider gets body-slammed hard. As soon as I saw the red flag I throw my hand up realizing that I would be scored 5th instead of the third I was in when it came out. That's where I was going across the line last time. So a disappointment I didnt try the pass on JD sooner that way I could atleast say that I beat him. After all this, I didn't realize that it wouldn't turn out as bad as it seemed at the moment. The night before our plane left I got to see Vinnince which was something amazing. The water canals as roads the lessened noise from no cars and the peaceful environment was just awesome. I cant wait till I get the chance to go back. Well my year is officially done. Time to hit the motocross tracks for winter training!!

2006-10-14T13:26:00.000-05:00

...And the bad luck continues. The GNFs at Road Atlanta is this week, my races were on Thursday. The bike ran real good during both the morning practices, the first being a short break in the motor practice and the other being an all or nothing practice. When the first race rolls around, I'm already a little upset because of the way they grided us. They placed Clubman in front of us, which turned out to be a bad mistake by the first turn. I made a real nice move by railing the outside in the roughest part of the track and passed almost all of them and a few 125s also. Staying in my unique line up the hill and tapping the grass on the outside-to-inside move turned out real good by time I got to the end of the chicane. I had almost everyone passed and was leading my class when I came around the finish line the first time. Little did I know that right before the halfway point my luck would turn around. Coming down the hill on the back strecth, my bike is wound out as I get all over the brakes for 10a. I float the rear tire into the turn, and apparently set it down to late, right in the middle of the turn. Now if you have ever been to Road Atlanta, then you would know how far the gravel trap is from the inside "gator-backs". As I set the rear tire down the bike starts to step out, then it threw me off, I "...got threw off from the inside of the track and landed face first in the gravel..." and "...went further then (my) bike." as Miles described it to me later that day. So a DNF in the first race would soon continue the streak of bad luck that I have had here lately. I get the bike fixxed and Tony came and teched my bike at my pit to keep me from having to go all the way to the other side to get it teched. Formula 2 is up next and my last chance to grab a grand national title (remeber Mid-Ohio). The start comes and Im ready. A bad start puts me in third for my class yet still in striking distance. As I work my way through a few in my class and some in the expert class, I see the black flag. Not sure if it was me or not, I keep driving. I was running down Russel Wikle Who was winning my class and I catch a glimpse of the black flag again. Still not 100% if Chuck was holding my number as to come in or not, I keep pushing yet again. Now Im really reeling Russ in. I come down the hil torwards the finish line and as I cross for the third time, Chuck is standing in the middle of the track with my number on his board and a black flag. I decide I better get off the track. I knew right when I pulled off what it was. My countershaft seal had a very minor leak and would drip a little bit of oil on the pipe and would make a puff of smoke. I ride down to the start where a few WERA officials are standing to make sure I was right about the problem. After a brief discussion, I rode back up to the pits feeling like a nothing. Feeling s if the national champion title was just stolen from me because I was riding a two stroke, though it was a more mechanical error. So my seasons over. A little soar from all the crashing here lately, but over all wrapped up o.k. I cant wait for next year!

2006-09-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a not-so-well week in Mid-Ohio for the AMA Grand Nationals race. We got there late Wednesday night. Thursday was a practice day. I started a little bit off pase due to the time it took me to get use to the "refined" asphault. I also screwed up two more top-ends ,and found out whhy too. There happened to be a crack in the transfer port of my cylinder from the first top-end "malfunction". Friday, we had a practice and qualifying. When I went out for the 125 Qualifying, I set in a lap time good enuff for fourth starting position. It started raining real hard and they "rain-checked" the 250 qualifier for Saturday morning. So, Saturday morning comes around and its still raining buut the rain washed some of the slick stuf like wet laid-down rubber off. It was kind of slick if you stayed "on-line" though. We had one practice in the morning and the last four qualifiers before lunch. After a red flag due to excessive crashing in my practice, they sentus back out. After two laps, coming into the Caresale my bike starts shifting wrong, and then it acted as if it were stuck in neutral. I dropped a bearing (out-put bearing Ithink is what it was called) in the transmission. I coasted into the pits and waited for my dad to run over there to see what was going on. He pushed my bike up the hill and to my pits when he found that it wouldnt move. We bought the stuff we needed from RSC. The 250 qualifier rolls around though, and my dad is still having trouble putting the case on. I ended up missing the qualifier. We ended-up having to use a motor that Debra Kuick offered for the 125 race that was later that day. I started second row left side for it. I had a real good start falling in right behind Cameron Beaubier. Then my luck started showing--two turns after the back stretch the bike just dies. I fell back to around 15-20 place and realize that the bike had compression even with the clutch in. So I let go of the it and the bike bump-starts it self. I worked through traffic real hard and finished in 9th place. Sunday, we had my motor back in and working great. The track was still soaked and Im still on slicks. I made a lap and decided to give it one more before I came in (Miles was out there on slicks to and came in after that one lap--I wish I would have followed him in!). Entering turn one, not even that fast, the bike just escaped at first I thought HIGH-SIDE and then THIS IS GOING TO HURT. I decided to try and do everything I could to try and make that not happened, and if I was going down to make it a low-side. So I low-side my bike, get a ride back in the "crash-truck" and get to work. I had everything repaired by the second practice. The track dried up just enuff for almost everyone to change to slicks. It still had some wet spots which made for a real fun practice session. I spun it up alot with one in turn one that about put me on my head again! So the 250 race comes and Im starting 5th row due to not qualifying. I work up to 5th and had a good battle with of the 250s when he decides to turn it up a notch. He ended up beating me. In the Formula Lieght Weight race later that day, I started 17th row which was like 6th row for my class. I worked up to first by the third lap and battled with Miles a little. A mistake in turn one wpuld put me back to second which is where I ended up finishing. That race also earned me a "FASTEST LAP" reward. So it wasnt the worst week ever but just a lot of bad luck.

Heres a list of people I want to thank and why:
Debra Kuick for loaning me her spare motor,
Richard and Miles Thornton for hauling my bike back and forth,
My brother Robbie for picking my bike up at 2 in the morning,
Shawn for his help on the bike and advice,
And my parents for bringing me and letting me race!!!!!!!

a special thanks...

2006-09-19T14:12:00.000-05:00

I want to thank my family for coming to watch me this past weekend at Nashville Super Speedway. I also want to thank Sharron and Evelyn (<---SP) for my Crazy Frog action figure. I really like it! And why Im at it, I want to thank Donald Parton for helping my dad fix my bike when it messed up this weekend and for making sure that I was OK when I fell and for calling my mom to tell her I was OK so she didnt pass out trying to run over there. THANKS TO ALL WHO HELP!!!!

2006-09-18T19:49:00.000-05:00

I got back from Nashville Superspeedway last night kind of late. I had an on and off weekend. Saturday went real well. We got there early as usual and went straight to registration. In practice Saturday, I was real fast setting some of the fastest laptimes in the light weights. Saturday afternoon I raced in the light weight solo. A 20 lap race which is like a mini endurance at some tracks. I started tenth row and by the end of the third lap I was leading! So, I kind of dominated in my class in that race giving that my only competition were the lappers and experts that I was catching. I had fun working through them all though. Nathaniel got second in the mini race after a red flag ended the race ( the cause of the red flag was the kid behind him trying to run him down and crashed). Sunday didn't go as well for me. In practice Nathaniel and I decided to switch bikes in the first round. He rode my RS125 in the light weight practice and I rode his KX85 with the EX500 front ferring on it in the minis. For the second round my bike broke a ring on the first lap! So I got no practice on my bike on Sunday. So, we got the top end fixed on my bike and got ready. I was the first race (excluding the Minis that is accually 1A). I was racing in heavy weight twins against 1000's and real fast bikes like that on a 125. I started next to last row inside. I was running down the leader on the third lap and got pushed off going into turn 2 by an Aprilia RSV 1000 that went to deep with me--leaving my only option to be to run down the apron and come back on in turn 5. I finished first but was scored last because of this incident. I also pinched a ring in that race when coming in. So, after another top end put in, I went out for the 125GP race. I went out on worn out tires and had trouble keeping it straight coming off the turns. I also had Miles on my back the whole time pushing me through the clubman lappers a few times. After a mistake in the last turn, he made an inside move in the last turn for a last attempt. So we're coming on the banking at about a hundred a few inches away with cones under my right foot and a tail section poking my fairing ( or the other way around). I started to drift down on him not realizing it and kind of rubbed on him a little. Well, enough for him to let of atleast! But a real good race as always. I love riding with him. Well, right as my day started to turn around, I went out for the Formula 2 race, the last one of the day. I went out for the warm-up lap last like always so my bike doesn't over heat on the grid waiting for the rest of the riders to show up. Going into the first turn, though, was scary. I got on the throttle real hard and the bike died. I thought I messed the bike up again. So, I coasted through two, across the grass on the outside of two, pushed the bike across the track in between three and four.and sat there thinking for a while. I lifted the gas tank nad saw the gas hadnt been turned on. So I turned it on with relief that I didn't break for a third time that day. After making the rest of the warm-up lap, I pulled into the pits for the start. Since the problem held me up so much, I had to start from the back of the grid. But by the end of the third lap, I was leading. I set in some real good lap times from the addition of a new rear tire and a different, used, yet better front, and from the secret line gone into turn two, which little did I know was about to get me in trouble and end my day. Lap Four comes around and I spot the last of the expert riders still in front of me. A little inspiration can also get your hurt if your not careful. I decide to carry a little extra speed into two in an attempt to catch these last few riders that weren't even in my class. Not only did I go in deeper, but got on the throttle sooner and whenthe power kicked in, I was on my way to a few Aleve pain killers, a bag of ice, a head ache, and a soar ankle that still hurts real bad. Yea, that's right, I had my first high-side. Apparently the little extra speed made the back end step out and spit me off. I crawled off unhurt but the minor leather rashes, a couple soar ankles and a soar shoulder. Im good today. My ankles still soar but its just a little limp. And I cant wait to go to Mid-Ohio to start all this over again ( except no bike problems or the crashes/just the wins!)

Valencia, Spain

2006-09-14T14:11:00.000-05:00

Well, I just got back from the RedBull Rookie Cup Selection a few weeks ago and everything went real well. We had a hard time getting around but over all was deffintly worth it. We flew into Madrid and got there at around 8:00 a.m. their time. We tried to rent a car and they wouldnt let us (dont know why), so we had to get a train from there to Valencia. The train ride was kind of cool. Theres alot to see in the desert! When we got there we had to find our motel (side note: make sure you have the right street name! Our motel was on Valle de Aoyora and the road on Map Quest was Calle de Aoyora, which is on the other side of town in the deep ghettos!!!) So after looking for the 4 star motel in Ghettoville, Valencia, we finally got a cab to take us there, which is hard also because they dont understand English. The motel area was alot nicer and had some real cool stuff there. There was a huge statue of a head known as, by the Americans, "The Mickey Mouse". So we checked into our motel, the one on the bottom left of the building, got a shower in the weirdest bathrooms ever(one with a butt washer by the toilet), rode the underground metro to a McDonalds by the train station we started at and went back to go to sleep. The next morning, we thought we would take a train to the stop thats right beside the track. Another big mistake in our long list, yea i got a list. Noone told us that the train didnt stop there until after we had paid for a ticket and got on the it. So we get off at the stop before thinking it wont be that long of a walk to the track which was another big mistake(I told you I had a list!!) So after an about 5 mile walk of wondering if the road even went to the track, we ended up making it there, FINALLY!!!! We showed up right at the beginning of the second group. We watched all day, routing on the "Americanos" and left. We got a ride with Tyler Odem who was from California and was staying in the sme building but different motel (his was on top of ours). So we got up the next morning ready to go. We met Tyler and his mom outside so they could give us a ride to the track. Yea, theres no way we were trying the train again! We decided to stop and eat on the way there. Eggs, bacon, and orange juice. The eggs just plain sucked, the bacon was uncooked, but the orange juice rocked! It was accually orange juice with the seeds and all. So after the veryodd breakfast, we go to the track. With the Americans pretty much all in the same group, Cameron, JD and me must have shined the most because we were the three who made it to the afternoon session. We all three made it to the Wednesday session. JD and me rode the first group and and Cameron the last. So me and my dad got a ride with JD and Norm (the Bostrom brothers manager) to the train station. We caught a train back to Madrid and took the plane from there to Chicago and then back home, Chattanooga, TN. We waited about a week for the good news. At the bottom is a list of the twenty kids who made it. Notice the three at the bottom!

Lukas SEMBERA Czech Republic
Johann ZARCO France
Cyril CARRILLO France
Lucy GLOECKNER Germany
Markus REITERBERGER Germany
Christoph SCHOENBERGER Germany
Peter SEBESTYÉN Hungary
Lorenzo SAVADORI Italy
Sturla Borch FAGERHAUG Norway
Javier CHOLBI Spain
Johnny ROSELL Spain
Cristian TRABALON Spain
Robert GULL Sweden
Adam BLACKLOCK United Kingdom
Matthew HOYLE United Kingdom
Stuart MITCHELL United Kingdom
Jamie Charles MOSSEY United Kingdom
JD BEACH United States of America
CAMERON BEAUBIER United States of America
KRIS TURNER United States of America

Hi

2006-09-10T15:23:00.000-05:00

Hello, My name is Kris Turner. I roadrace motorcycles. In this blog space, I will be writing race reports, thoughts, news, chat about sponsors, and things happening in my racing life. Please check back often.

Thanks,
Kris
www.kristurner.com