Well, this was it. The final round of a long season, full of joys, frustration, triumphs, and exhilaration.

We would be racing on the FULL track at Miller – my personal favorite of all the tracks I’ve ridden. 4 ½ miles, 23 turns, and an incredibly long straightaway. Only one problem – the weather forecast had been calling for rain for the weekend, and for once the weatherman was right.

SATURDAY
Rain, rain, rain. On Friday night I managed to snag the last set of Pilot Power 2CT’s that my Michelin buddy had left. Rain tires were in short supply, and I knew that I could run in the wet on 2CT’s, as I’d raced on them once last year and they were remarkably good. The forecast for Sunday at that point was still calling for showers, so I really didn’t know if I’d wind up with a dry track or a wet one when my races came around. I figured I could mount the 2CT’s on my 749R, and use that bike in all three classes if it was wet, rather than buying new tires for both bikes. All I really needed to do to clinch the championship in SuperTwins was to not crash, so I went with this strategy on tires.

All day it rained, so I only went out for two practice sessions. It was really slippery, especially on the West track, where they had resurfaced some areas. The track didn’t seem as porous as the East side, which actually drained well and had remarkably good grip. Each lap was very stressful, and I could feel the tension in my forearms from the death grip I was maintaining on the bars. How would all the other racers do on a wet track?

It rained all night, and when I awoke Sunday morning, there was standing water all over the place, with very dark skies above.

SUNDAY
The radar forecast said that we were done with rain, and that the skies would start clearing up around 10 AM. Well, the first race of the day was SuperTwins, with a 10:05 start. I didn’t bother with the morning practice sessions, figuring I’d be out there on a wetter track than we’d likely have later in the day, so what good would that do? I also didn’t want to risk crashing in the warmup and not being able to wrap up the championship. Instead, I let others go out and try to dry a line for us. I saw the crash truck in use a few times during the morning sessions, which told me I’d probably made a good call.

SuperTwins – By now the track was beginning to dry, a little. I rode out to pre-grid on my 749R, already missing the 1098 that had gotten me to this point in the championship chase. I pulled up alongside my two main rivals in both the SuperTwins and Twins GTO classes, Paul “PK” Avery and Mike Bunds. Both of them were on full rain tires. I felt a bit frustrated because I really wanted to go out to try to win, but knew I really didn’t have the tires for it, and decided I’d better just be smart. During the warmup lap I could see they were much more comfortable at a faster pace than I could be.

I survived a slippery warmup lap, and made it to my grid spot on pole. A chance to ride for the championship! How cool. I never thought this would happen, but it really was. The green flag flew, and off we went. I got an excellent start. The distance between the starting line and turn one on the full track is, well, forever! You approach it pinned in fifth gear, and click a couple of downshifts. Hmmm, how were these 2CT’s going to grip at this pace?

As I leaned the bike into turn one, PK dipped in underneath me, and took off on his 848 on those grippy rain tires of his. I still wasn’t feeling confident enough in the tires, although the track was starting to dry a bit more with each passing lap. By turn five Bunds got by me as well. My pace was nowhere close to PK’s, but not too far off of Bunds. There were a few close calls with slides of front and rear, but I managed to keep it together.

We stayed in that order the rest of the race, and I managed to get a podium and win the championship! Both Bunds and PK went out of their way to congratulate me after the race, which was very cool.

Twins GTO – This race was the third one of the day, and by now the sun was out and by now the race line was really pretty dry (although without anywhere near the usual amount of rubber on the track). I thought about switching to race tires on the 749R for this race, but decided there just wasn’t time between races to do so, plus I didn’t really feel like buying another set of race tires for one race, so I went back out on the 2CT’s.

When I got to pre-grid, there were Bunds and PK again, this time on fresh race tires! Uh-oh. This was going to be tough. I knew it would be my last race of the year, and I was ready to push it to the max. Although I was really out of the championship points chase (due to missing the last round after thinking I’d sold my bike), I wanted to go out in style, and also get some payback on Bunds for my most recent race in this class (back in Round Five). At that time I was second in the points chase. I got the holeshot in that race and led the whole way, only to have him pass me with just three turns to go and win the race!

Even though I knew my tires weren’t optimal, I figured I was going to push them to the max and see what happened. I didn’t want to do anything to hurt either of their championship hopes, but I sure wanted to win my last race of the year! On the warmup lap, I pushed hard, trying to find the limit. As has happened before, I found myself incredibly impressed with the 2CT’s. I was dragging knee everywhere, which hardly happened at all in the wet race an hour earlier.

This time I was in grid position four on the front row, with Bunds on pole, PK next to him, and Shannon Moham between me and PK. Bunds and PK are both on 848’s, and Shannon rides his butt off on a highly-modded SV (rumored to be like 900cc). Let’s party, boys.

2, 1, green flag! I fire off the line, and can see all three of the other bikes in my peripheral to the right. As we tear down the long straight, winding up the snarling twins, shifting as fast as we can, tucked in tight, I start to see each of them disappear from view, as the grunt of my heavier, outdated 749R out-accelerates them to turn one! Holeshot! I’m in the lead through the first four VERY high-speed turns on the west track, praying that these street tires are going to maintain their grip on the semi-wet track.

I can tell that PK means business as he late-brakes me into the Blackrock Hairpin. I do a decent job of staying with him, feeling the tires reaching the limits of their grip both under braking and acceleration at various points around the track. Half a lap later Bunds gets by me. Next thing I know he and PK start having an epic battle right in front of me. Bunds probably only has to finish to win the title, but he seems to really want to win the race, too.

They’re making some really close passes on each other. Really close. I chase them through the second lap of the four-lap race, and found myself cringing at some of the overtaking attempts I was seeing in front of me. I was dropping back a bit, just not quite able to maintain the pace they were on with their superior tires.

As I rounded the final turn leading into the straight, I see PK tumbling across the track as his bike spins directly across alongside of him. I manage to maintain my line, hoping he’s not seriously hurt, and wondering exactly how it happened as I was in the earlier part of the “S” section at the time it started and only saw the end result.

I chased Bunds down the straight and through the first few turns, wondering if I could reel him in. Seemed unlikely. Just then, the red flags came out, stopping the race, apparently because of PK’s wreck.

They told us we’d restart the race, with PK on pole, me second, and Bunds third. Although PK wound up being okay (thankfully), he didn’t make the restart. It was to be just a two-lap sprint. Hmmm. Could I hold off Bunds for two laps and actually win the race? I was sure gonna try!

I hoped I had enough fuel in the tank, as the extra warm-up and cool down laps weren’t really in the original plan.

I got another great start, and was flying. In the Blackrock hairpin, I felt the front tire slide a bunch under hard braking, but I managed to save it with my knee and keep going. I held off Bunds for the entire first lap, with just one to go. He exited the final turn leading into the straight right next to me. Drag race time! It was so cool – we both tucked in and pinned it. We absolutely matched each other the entire length of the straight, side by side, me on the left, Bunds on the right. Come on Mike, brake already!

I was on the inside entering turn one, with him on the outside. I braked slightly before him, still concerned about how my 2CT’s were going to grip in the very high-speed turn. Props to him for outbraking me! He got out ahead of me and took off. I could feel my tires squirming as I tried to keep up. Although frustrated, I knew I was at the limit – certainly of my confidence with the tires if not their actual capability. I brought it home for second place, and was satisfied at having a fun and successful race.

My lap times were about three to four seconds slower than I’d done recently on the full track on race tires, so who knows how it might have turned out had I been on stickier rubber. It might not have mattered – Bunds was determined and riding great! I was really happy for him, as he’s a good friend and a competitor I really respect.

I decided not to run the Amateur GTU race later in the day. After missing the previous round, I’d fallen to third in the points, and had almost no chance of catching my pal Nate Titus in second, and the guy in third was quite a bit back in the points, and wasn’t there this weekend.

CONCLUSION
I’m really grateful for a fun and rewarding season. First in SuperTwins, third in Am-U (missing two rounds), and fourth in Twins GTO (missing one round). I definitely will wonder forever what might have been in the two classes I missed races in, but that’s the way it goes.

I stayed healthy, won a good bit of money and some dandy trophies, and most importantly made a bunch of great friends (and strengthened friendships I already had).

So what will I do next year? That’s a good question, and one I can’t answer yet. I would really like to be one of the faster racers there, in a bunch of different classes. I like being the best. I don’t like losing to anyone. I’ve found, however, that at the next level of speed, the racing gets pretty “hard.” Not hard as in difficult, but hard as in nasty and dangerous.

I love racing and I want to keep it fun. Trackdays are great, but nothing will ever match the thrill of the start and first turn for me. Seeing a competitor’s wheel coming up alongside in the heat of a race is a rush like no other.

I guess I’ve got all winter to think about it. I’m sure I’ll change my mind about 167 times as the days go by until next season.