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AMA Mid-Ohio Recap (Thur-Sun)

After the motor blew in Friday morning's practice, the five of us stood together and talked about what we were going to do. We had started off the weekend officially in 23rd out of 40 bikes in Formula Extreme. A solid start and nearly in the top half of the entire field right out of the gate, before the session had ended. After losing the motor with about five minutes to go in the session, I quite honestly assumed we were going to be done and out of action, but everyone else was so positive and focused on getting back out there, it was impossible to not become optimisitic and think that the weekend might not be over.

The weekend continued in large part to a number of individuals. Thank you to Joe, Doug, Matt and Gina. They comprised the team effort that made the entire week/weekend possible. Having to do a motor swap once in the course of a race weekend is big enough feat in itself, but doing it twice? It just amazes me how quick we were able to do that. And when I say we, I mean Joe and Doug. There were a few small things I did, but 98% of the work was done by them and it was an incredible job by both of them.

A sincere thank you to Jeff Agnes, who without him offering his motor for us to use, our weekend would have surely been over. Jeff drove back home to pick up his bike and bring it back, just so we could tear the engine out and keep our weekend alive. It was a class act without question. Thank you also to Garry who made specific time each day throughout the weekend to check up and see how things were going for us.

Thank you to Dave (Grey) and Richard (Harris), who pitted next to us and made the weekend fun and the atmosphere of what racing is all about. Going through AMA tech for the first time, we were newbies to some of the rules of a stock gas cap, countershaft sprocket cover, and stock rear brake rotor, so we were swapping and exchanging parts off of spare wheels, tanks and whatever else between the two of us just to get both Dave and I through tech. Jake and Dirk were also there as part of the Apex Manufacturing team, and we all helped each other throughout the weekend, which just made things so much easier.

Thanks to Jonas and Aaron. After our motor let go, Jonas offered to let me run his bike in qualifying, which I was going to take him up on. Unfortunately right before that he had a slight mishap and crashed in his qualifying session, altering those plans. He was alright, but the bike had some serious damage done to it. Aaron spent all night fixing it and did a fantastic job so that Jonas could get back out and race in Formula Extreme on Saturday.

When all was said and done, this weekend was one of the most exciting, disappointing, fun, rewarding, humbling, frustrating and eye-opening experiences I've had. I wanted to be competitive in my first AMA professional race and as the race concluded, I really wasn't. We finished 22nd out of 34 bikes on the grid. I went slower than I did last year and that doesn't really make sense to me at the moment. The results of the Supersport class and show that from 1st through 15th place, there are factory-supported riders that make this class the most competitive class the AMA currently offers. That doesn't change the fact however that I'm not where I want to be right now. With good family and friends however, it's hard to linger on the negatives without taking into account the positives and continuing to move forward.

After crossing the finish line, the huge crowd around the track was cheering and blowing air horns all around - for everyone from first to last. After the cool down lap and coming off the track, my dad, Doug, Matt and Gina were clapping and cheering on pit-lane. No matter what our result – we qualified and raced in an AMA Pro Supersport race. After getting off the bikes, Dave and I exchanged hugs, exclaiming that we did it; amidst all the obstacles we've both faced since starting.

Later back in the pits I said to my dad, "Did you ever think when you let me borrow your bike to take that riders' school years back, we'd end up here?" He laughed and paused; then went back to working on the bike – getting Jeff's motor out so we could put it back together and head on home. I think even he was enjoying the moment.

[Photos courtesy of Jeff Kovack – http://www.viphotography.ca/]

Related Articles:

AMA Mid-Ohio Recap (Wednesday)
AMA Mid-Ohio Recap (Tuesday)
AMA Mid-Ohio Prelude

Monday, August 4th, 2008 | POSTED AT: 6:53 AM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports

12 Comments on “AMA Mid-Ohio Recap (Thur-Sun)”

Doug wrote on 4 August, 2008, 11:15 AM
I’ve got to say Eddie…. you sure know how to make racing interesting. :) Good call on the rear geometry change. One more data point for MidOhio. You are always good for at least a second faster on race pace over qualifying. It was so cool to see you closing on Dave Gray.
Jeff Kovack wrote on 4 August, 2008, 11:51 AM
great team effort! you guys ran into some pretty big bumps in the road and still made it through the weekend, where most other people would have packed it in and went home.
Eddie wrote on 4 August, 2008, 12:46 PM
Thanks guys. I’m thinking now that maybe we ran too soft a tire and/or too soft of springs in the front (similar to what you had mentioned Doug) ..
paw wrote on 4 August, 2008, 10:27 PM
Something inside me just couldn’t let our AMA debut end on Friday with a broken motor. THIS CANNOT BE THE END, THERE MUST BE A SOLUTION.

After our round one setback, the climb to Mount MidOhio seemed even more difficult. Thanks to all our family, friends and the team for the support. Especially to Jeff Agnes for the “equipment.”

It’s definitely more fun pulling out and putting in motors at the track than in the garage, assuming there’s no rush.

Just hitting that start button and hearing it fire up is a thrill.
Eddie wrote on 5 August, 2008, 6:50 AM
Given the motor swapping and the hoopla with FX qualifying .. I still can’t believe we did all that in the short amount of time we did .. Phew ..
Nik wrote on 5 August, 2008, 10:19 AM
Way to go man. Your name is sandwiched on the list with Rog Hayden and B. Boz.

Keep it up! Great team victory.
Eddie wrote on 5 August, 2008, 10:57 AM
I actually got a good lap in behind Roger during the morning practice session. I think he was on his outlap, but it was good to run behind him and see his lines and such. Definitely a lot to be learned by participating at AMA events ..
mike wrote on 6 August, 2008, 1:21 PM
great job, kid! oh, the site is friggin’ sweet!!!
-(\/)
Eddie wrote on 7 August, 2008, 6:51 AM
Thanks Mike. What’s up!
Matt wrote on 7 August, 2008, 7:23 PM
You cannot be tough on yourself, wanting to be up with the front runners when you’ve reached a level of success that you have with GLRRA and WERA over past years. But you must be patient and accepting of the unexpected when thinking of that goal. Looking at everything now as a week has passed, you (WKR) did more then we could have hoped for and come next year, or perhaps next AMA round, it only looks better!

Great job bro! Nice work to the crew, great job to Gina for hydration and nutrition, Garry for always having the calming words that Eddie needs to hear, Doug for being Joe’s #2 and Jeff for the sweet pics.
Eddie wrote on 8 August, 2008, 7:10 AM
You were a huge help too Matt. Definitely a good team we all made together. You’re right .. the results will come ..
mike wrote on 9 August, 2008, 7:54 AM
hey Eddie, you’re on the right path, with the right people,
no doubt…