Hey everyone,
Here is my race report from the Springfield Short track and Mile, in Springfield, Illinois. I always look forward to the double-header weekend at Springfield. This weekend was no exception.

Saturday was the short track and I knew going in that out of 65 pro entries that at least 15 riders potentially could stand at the top of the box. As always the day started off with qualifying, and I could not catch a break. The lap times were around twelve seconds and as the points leader I am the first one to hit the track. As I came around for my first full lap I had already caught the tail end of the pack. No problem that was the free practice anyway. I made some adjustments and got ready for the first round of qualifying.

As I got to the staging area I realized we made a bad choice with our tire selection. The track crew did not prep the track before our round of qualifying. I qualified thirty-seventh. At this point if I don’t get a better time I’m not going to make the 32 rider cut. I still had one more round of qualifying to go.

As we were sent out I did not want to make the mistake I made in the free round of practice and catch the tail end of the pack, so I came out a little slow and the rider behind me passed me like it was a race then falls in front of me. As I come around for the first full lap of clean air I see the same rider trying to start his bike cross ways in the middle of the track for the next three laps. We only get four laps to try and get a qualifying time and three were lost. I finally thought I was going to a break on the last lap and another rider gets into me and stands me up in the corner. At this point I’m doubtful I even made the program. I ended up seventh in my group and thirteenth overall. That means a second row start for my heat race. At this point I was happy to just make the program.

In the heat race I came off the second row and made some great passes and knew that top seven transfer directly to the main event and the top three make the front row. I knew I needed a front row start in the main if I was going to win this thing. I had the pass for third but could not make it stick and had to settle for fourth. That meant a second row start in the main.

At this point I was satisfied that I had a decent grid position on the second row and I was just going to make the best of it. There was a few restarts, but once we got lined out I had to work my way thru some traffic and ended up settling for a sixth place finish, but we still left the track with a 4 point lead for the season championship.

As soon as the checkered flag was thrown I was already thinking about the Mile. So I wanted to get a good nights rest, so I loaded the van and got to our motel room early.

The track was perfectly groomed as usual and I could not wait to get out there. I was the first one out to hit the track. I got out there and was waiting for some one to draft with but no one was close enough behind me. I came around turn four to see a red flag and a few rides down.The reason I did not have anyone to draft with was because the rider behind me could not get his bike started and eventually got it started and came out on about lap three and made about one lap when his bike had a mechanical failure, him and another rider collected with each other. I ended up qualifying sixth overall and had a front row start in my heat race and ended up finishing the heat with a second place finish. That meant a front row start in the main.

Main event time I was ready and I knew exactly what I needed to do. I had led the race a few times but knew that at Springfield it’s all about the draft and it is important to be in the right place at the right time. On the white flag lap I wanted to position myself for the win. Going into turn one I got moved pretty good but recovered and was still in good position for the win but in turn three I got hit hard again but this time I got moved out to the top and about six riders got by me. I had to settle for seventh but still increased our points led to 16.

The next round of the AMA Pro Singles Grand National Championship is round 18 a ½ mile at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA. Stop by the pits and say hi.

We want to wish a speedy recovery to Corey Crawford 80B who was involved in the three-rider incident on the last lap going into turn three.

Mikey Martin 91Y/Weirbach Racing

Special thanks to our sponsors:
Weirbach Racing, General Engineering, Barnett Clutches, Spectro, K & N
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Products, Hindle Exhaust, Supertrapp, Regina Chain, Loudmouth Intakes,
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