I left home early on a Tuesday before the Savannah race to do some testing
there, and also to do some short track testing at Neeses, SC. I tested at
Savannah on Wednesday. We unloaded the bikes and didn't make one change
except for gearing. Brent Armbruster, tuner of my new Craig Rogers team,
did a great job on everything. Savannah isn't really the best track to test
on because everyone seems to go fast there and a goofy set up seems to work
or even a set up that isn't supposed to work, works. So we didn't want to
make changes and beat our heads against the wall.

We went north a little bit to a track called Mid-Carolina Speedway in
Neeses SC. It is the closest short track to Daytona but still is no
Daytona. We cut the track in half width-wise and tried to shake out the
bugs on the Hondas. I am racing the all new fuel injected Honda so I wanted
to play with mapping and suspension. Well, the suspension was spot-on
thanks to Steve Beattie. We did a lot of homework before we went down
there, so it made sense why everything worked the way it did.
The mapping was a little different; there is so much to learn and so much
you can do now with this motorcycle that it's hard to say I got a good
handle on this part of it. But I will say I really like the bike a lot and
think it's a big step in the right direction. We called it a night and I
was happy with the test.

SAVANNAH - FRIDAY

Friday we just cleaned up the bikes and got the tires mounted and ready
to go for the race the next day at Savannah. Well, they were calling
for rain all weekend and sure enough, we had to start the season with a
cancellation. It was a bummer because my mechanic, Brent, spent endless
hours working on the Harleys and the way they worked at the test day it was
going to be a good day. Savannah was the only race we had to race the
Harleys and we didn't get it in.

DAYTONA - SUNDAY

So we traveled to Daytona and there was a local race going on Sunday at
Municipal Stadium where we would be racing a couple of days for the
National, so it made sense to race it and get everything set and get the
feel for the stock frame on the track. A lot of pros showed up with
the same idea. We got to run the first practice and it started to pour
down again. It rained for a good hour and a half and the sun came right
out. The stadium can take a lot of water, so that's good. I went back
out on my other bike for the 2nd practice and felt really good. I was the
fast guy there in practice so I chose to ride that bike. I was in a heat
race with Joe Kopp and he was the fastest guy there in the 1st session, so
it would be a good test to see where we stacked up. Only the winner goes to
the Main and 2nd through last goes to the semi. Joe was on the outside of
me and he beat me to the corner. He pulled out a little on me but once I
gathered myself up I matched his pace but it just wasn't good enough to
catch Joe. I went to a semi and won that. I was in the back row and got a
good jump and moved forward. I got up to 4th and stayed there. I caught
the lead back and was matching the pace, so I was happy with that. The bike
was working great and Brent and I were clicking good as well.

We had two days off and I spent pretty much one full day prepping the bikes
for the National. Brent and I changed oil, tires and washed them
up and pimped them out. We were ready. Steve Beattie was there
lending a hand and changing a few things with my rear shock. Tuesday I got
to ride my street Harley all day but it got freezing cold so it really
wasn't that much fun. I just came from Michigan where I rode on
the ice all Winter so I wasn't digging this.

DAYTONA - WEDNESDAY - GNC

I woke up super early on Wednesday, the first day of the National. I
wanted to get there and get set up. I tried the one bike in the first
practice and felt good, but was 13th fastest. I tried the other bike that I
rode on Sunday at the test race and moved to 2nd fastest and stayed there
for the rest of qualifying, so I guess you can tell which
bike I rode. I was in the 2nd heat race on the pole. This year they
are running three heats and the top four go to the Main. I got a decent
start and was running 2nd behind Sam Halbert. There was a re-start and
we lined up in a line. I was starting to catch Sam a little before
the restart so I knew that if I just got off clean I could probably get
him. I did just that and won the 2nd heat race. Municipal Stadium
always gets me and other riders I talk to, with a big knot in your
stomach. It must be because it is one of biggest races of the year. I
was 3rd pick on the front row and picked the middle of the line. I studied
the starting line with other races and noticed the middle was the best.
Usually the bottom is the best. We lined up and the light went green and I
wish Joe Kopp would have been on the front row because I think I would have
had another $100 [our standing bet] because I nailed that start perfect.
The red lights came on and I thought it was because I might have jumped but
it was because Jake Johnson went down.
We lined up again and I didn't get that awesome jump again, but it wasn'
t bad--I was 3rd. I rode around there for a while and then Coolbeth
got by and then Joe. Joe was the fastest guy there for sure but had
bad luck all night, falling down and then a flat tire. He ended up
3rd from the 4th row. I ended the night 5th, which was the best I have
ever done at Daytona as a professional, so I was happy about that.

DAYTONA - THURSDAY - GNC

Thursday seems to be the bigger day for the crowd. For some reason,
everyone thinks it's the big National day on Thursday because a few years
ago the first day at Daytona used to be a Hot Shoe, so everyone would skip
that and only come to the National the 2nd day. Now it is a double-header
National. I wanted to have my guns loaded for this one.
I pretty much sucked in qualifying. The track was getting faster every
session due to the track getting hotter and the more rubber that got laid
down. I was in the first session, so by the 8th session it was faster. I
went backwards with gearing for the last time out and ended up 25th fastest,
which wasn't good enough for a front row start in the heat race so I had my
work cut out for me. To boot, I didn't have that easy of a heat race--not
with Kenny Coolbeth, Bryan Smith, John Lewis [who was the fastest qualifier
that night], Nick Cummings, Mick Kirkness and Matt Weidman, to name a few.
I got a great jump off the back row and was up to 4th right out of turn two.
I started to pick on Bryan Smith for 3rd and we had some close racing --
thought we were riding the ice back home --got pretty close and did a little
rubbing. I messed up making a bobble and couldn't gain 3rd back, so I ended
up 4th, good enough to squeak into the Main. I was on the 2nd row for the
Main. The first start was red flagged due to Smith falling in turns 3 and
4. So we re-lined it up and I got another killer start and was almost the
leader off of turn 2. I came off 2nd and got passed down the straight by
Hank Wiles. I was running 3rd and almost went down and Coolbeth went by. I
was running 4th and JR Schnabel got by and I started running with him,
passing him back and forth a few times before I moved down and got
away a little. I moved all the way down to the inside bottom of the
track and started to pull away from 6th place, slowly reeling Schnabel back
in. I ended my night with another