Pictures
Well, you couldn’t have asked for better weather for racing. The
temps were
in the high 70’s and the sun was out. The track is still coming
out of
hibernation as well as the racers. My goal for the weekend was to
pick up
where I left off last year. I hadn’t been at VIR since June of
2005 and I
wanted to improve on those lap times I had set then(1:36’s). Now
that I am
in the expert category, I knew it would take a 1:34’s & 1:35’s to
win. First
up was Heavyweight Twins Superstock. When I pulled up to the grid
after my
warm up lap, I saw a rider I did not want to see – Taylor Knapp. I
recognized his name from some of the AMA races I had seen. I
didn’t even
know he was competing in this class. I figured I had my work cut
out for
me and I did. I got a pretty good launch off the line. I went into
turn
1 side by side with Russell Massecar. He’s a tough guy to beat. He
got
me into turn 1 and I spent the whole lap behind him watching where
I was
faster. Coming out of the last turn, I drafted him down the
straightaway
and took the lead. I led for 2 laps until Knapp came by me. I
repassed
him at the end of the straightaway but couldn’t beat him out of
turn 1.
I could see where he was faster but I wasn’t comfortable at the 2
places
where he was faster. I was turning 1:35’s but Taylor kept putting
in 1:34’s.
I managed to hold off Russell and take 2nd place. Not bad for my
expert
debut.
Next up was Heavyweight Twins Superbike. I had seen that Brian
Stokes was
supposed to be gridded next to me for this race. I figured I was
going to
have to fight for the remaining positions. To my surprise, when I
pulled
up to the line, Stokes wasn’t there. I was definitely happy that I
now had
a chance. I knew there were some other tough racers behind me so
this
wasn’t going to be easy. I got a great start and went into turn 1
in the
lead. I just tried to ride as clean and mistake free as possible.
I looked
back after the 1st lap and Frank Shockley was about 4 bike lengths
behind me.
I put my head down and tried to put down a really fast lap to see
if I could
shake him. When I looked back on the 2nd lap, he was no where to
be seen.
Turns out he had jumped the start and was penalized with a stop
and go. I
kept putting in 1:35’s and I ended up winning the race 14 seconds
ahead of
2nd place. I was stoked. Winning at this level is definitely not
going to
be easy. I was happy to get the win. I want to thank all of the
sponsors
that made it possible for me to participate in this event –
BR-111,
Maximum Hardwood Floors, Sienna Motors, Prysma Lending Group,
Om-Air conditioning services, Genesis Accounting, Tiola Pavers,
Sobre Rodas,
Gazetta, and EBC Brakes.
Round 2 is at Summit Point, West VA on 4/22/06.
See you there….
Dennys Passeto
