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This was the first year that we had ever had a race at this new track in Virginia. Last fall a few of the guys like Hacker, Coolbeth, Mees and Morehead came here and tested the track out, and I heard back then that this was going to be a great new track for us. This was a first class facility, and yah, it looked like it was going to make for some great racing action once I saw it on Friday. It did not look like mother nature was going to rain on us for race time, but it was going to be hotter than heck, and very, very humid. I think this was one of the hotter races I can remember for the last few years actually.

Most of you probably heard, but after my crash in Michigan a couple weeks, I had some nagging injuries that I could not shake off in time for last week’s race in MinerWells West Virginia. I had lots of sore spots, ribs, hips, elbow and such but the biggest problem was one that I did not think would be a problem at all that night. I had hit my head really hard in that crash last weekend, and every time I laid down or sat up, I would get a pretty bad case of the spins. Anyway, all week long it felt like all that would be ok as long I was not to lay down right before getting on the bike or something like that. My biggest concern all week was actually whether my ribs were going to allow me to race because of the pain I had there. Anyway, to make a long story short, I ended up racing last Saturday at Mineral Wells, whether I should have even been racing is another story. I was able to qualify for the main event by winning my semi-race. I had gotten fourth in my heat race. Which sent me to a semi that I had not had to run in for quite some time. But all night I was having problems with my head feeling like it was just shaking around while I was entering the turns. Right when you really needed to be watching the track as you entered the turns, my head felt like a slight bobble head if ya will. Anyway I forced myself to try and fight through this problem all night long, but it never got any better. My head had not done this to me all week long while driving down the road, but then I guess it is a little different entering a turn in the motor home at 65 than it is entering a turnaround 100 on the bike and throwing it sideways. I had a decent start in the final that night, but right away being in a tight pack was really bugging me, so I opted to just ride around in the final and get whatever points I could. I finished in last that night, but two guys actually broke, so I actually gained those two spots and got an extra couple of points. The track was one of those that really suited my style too, but my body was just not up for it yet. Was it worth it? Probably not but it is hard to tell a racer not to race. So I was pretty bummed after the last two races with a crash the week before and my head problem this race, and all week I was hating life. I mean I live to win races, and when I cannot do that I am not a happy camper at al. But I knew I just needed rest and hopefully things would come around.

Now onto Saluda Virgina. All week long I was just trying to rest and relax and let my body heal up. I knew that after last weekend I would not be able to see what my head was going to do until I got on the race bike and got it up to speed on a track. So here comes race day and this new track looked like I was going to love it, but I just had that big question mark in myself whether I was ready or not. If I felt like last week once I got on the bike, I was going to sit it out. At least that’s what I told myself before the day started.

My first practice session started and I let everyone go and went out last in my group. Right away I could tell my head was back in the game of going faaasstt! Yee haa I thought to myself, let’s roll! I finished practice/qualifying in fourth place tonight, and every time we had went out we had made a little change each time, and my bike was getting better and better each time, and my confidence was coming back too, which is a big plus in this sport.

I got off the line second in my heat race right behind Logan Myers. I could tell right away that Logan was putting in some pretty fast laps, but I was glued to the back of him, trying to find my way past. We had made one more change to my bike right before this heat race, and it was better once again, but once I started running with Logan I noticed one more area on my bike that I needed to change for the final. Logan ended up winning my heat race with myself in second. We ended up having the fastest heat race time of the night, so that meant I would get a front row start for the final. Logan had never even qualified for a GNC main event, and here he was sitting on the pole for the final. Congrats to Logan and his team on a job well done!

For the final, we had made that one more change to my bike and we also put on a different rear tire. Two changes but I felt confident about each change. On the front row it was Carr, Coolbeth, Murphree, Mees, Myers and myself. Off the line I spun it up a little bit and did not get that great of a start, as I came out of turn two in the 5th spot, with Coolbeth leading, then Mees, Murphree, Carr and myself. I could tell right away that my bike was working pretty good, and I noticed right away that Carr was having a hard time keeping his wheels in line on the exits of the turns. So by lap two or three I had found my way past him, and I could see the leaders were trying to get away up front, I couldn't let that happen. Murphree was next in line about 5 bike lengths in front of me and within a lap I rolled up on his rear wheel. Then  I got a good drive out of turn four and passed him on the outside going down the front stretch. Wow! My bike was flat working awesome. By now Mees was up front leading and Coolbeth was running second. Coolbeth was another 5 or 6 bikes in front of me now, and within another lap I was glued to his rear wheel. Wow my bike was rollin'. After another lap or so, I had gotten underneath Coolbeth coming out of turn four. Now I was in to second and Mees had built up a pretty big lead by now, probably around 20 bike lengths, so I knew I had some hard work to do now. This was one of those tracks where it was very hard to make up a bunch of time on someone, as it was very easy to overcharge a turn and end up losing more ground than you gained. So I knew I was going to have to chew into his lead little by little, but then I knew I did not have a whole lot of time either. So I kept pushing it, and at the same time I was moving around on the track a little, trying to find some other lines that might even be better than the ones I had used so far. This was a very racee track, by that I mean that there was traction from top to bottom of the track, so you could pretty much move around to wherever you wanted to. The halfway flags had come and gone by now, and I was very slowly starting to catch Jared it seemed. I knew the five lap to go board would be out very soon, and by now I was definitely getting closer, probably down to around 15 bike lengths now. When the five lap to go board came out, I knew I had to really put the hammer down. I really started pushing it now, as I had looked back a couple of laps earlier and seen that we had a full straight lead over the pack in third on back so I had nothing to lose now, either go for the win or settle for 2nd at the worst. I had really closed the gap now, down to around 10  bike lengths now with 3 or so laps to go. Another lap and even closer, and going past the white flag I was about 3 bike lengths behind him. I closed up more in this next turn, then going into the last turn running for the checkered flag, Jared got real sideways on the exit of turn four, and I pulled right up on his rear wheel going to the checkered flag. Sooo close. Jared ended up getting the win, with myself second and Bryan Smith in third. I had closed up such a huge gap onto Jared that it was a real heart breaker not to get that win. But I was very happy with second too, especially after the last two weeks I had had.

Now this next weekend we are headed to Greenville Ohio 1/2 mile which is a pea-gravel cushion track. I won there last year, and I am more than ready to go do a big repeat!

Until next time, G'day! Joe