Pro Perris Race Report

Well, the Southern Cali. Flat Track Association kicked off its season this weekend with a double header. There were many AMA pros in attendance and that provided for some FAST racing. I rode the Pro class and Open Unclassified, in the 1st Pro practice the bike was not close to being set up right, the gearing was off and the tires had a combined 15lbs of air in them :facepalm: I added air to the tires and went out for the second practice. It became relevant early in the day that my bike really likes running deep in the corners, about 10 feet off the wall to be exact. I hesitated on making a gearing change before my 1st heat (open class) and had a pretty bad low side which bent my radiator pretty good. After almost destroying the bike I dropped a tooth off the counter shaft sprocket and got ready for my Pro heat. I got a decent start, coming out of turn 2 in 4th and held position for a lap, then the fun began. A rider went down causing a red flag and a restart. On the restart I got a decent start but Ian Folds went down in front of me causing me to lay my bike down in order to not run him, and his sponsors TRICK framer over. The race was red flagged yet again :rolleyes: and it was back to the line for yet another restart. I got a bad start coming out of turn 2 in 5th and left the door open due to the WIDE line I was running, I got stuck in a battle for the remainder of the heat race with Scotty Hampton JR until I had a very near high side and he pulled away leaving me to play catch up with the pack, and miss a direct transfer to the main event. I talked to Jim Wood of Southland racing about some bike problems I was having and came to find out the rear shock on my 450 is in need of rebuild, and is blown out. I took a groover to my tire using a pattern he showed me and finished just in time to line up for the Pro semi. The track had changed A LOT form the Pro heat to the Pro Semi, it was very tacky on the inside and loose and WIDE OPEN on the outside. I choose the tacky line for the semi, and it was working great for about a lap until the track developed bigger ruts, then the inside line became like trying to ride a bucking bronco through the corner and I realized it was time to go out of the groove. When doing so I gave up valuable positions and did not make the Pro main event. I took the deep coushin outside line in the open main and ended up in 5th, I rode a pretty good battle for 3rd until the shock started acting up and wanting to send me over the high side in every corner. There is only one thing to do when your bike does that and that is hold it wide open and hope you dont get sent flying!

Thanks to Herrera Racing, Rocket Exhaust, Mr Happe hot shoe repair/hardfacing, Lightshoe Hotshoes, Dodge Bros Racing, Pro Model Helmets, FTWCO, Kodinkos Automotive, The Shop, Johnny Angel Chop Shop, Southland Racing, and Cal Coast Motorsports.
 
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