So I was plagued with little issues here and there Saturday that kept me from practicing.
1. Didnt finish bike assembly till 3am Sat. morning. Hellish So Cal Friday PM counter productive driving in all directions to pick shit up. Decided not to drive up that night.
2. No numbers on bike, had to source em from our sponsor Cycle Gear in Palmdale Sat morning on my way.
3. Numbers were too tall, had to cut em down.
4. Needed to balance tires, they were mounted to roll the bike, but no balancer was available at the time.
5. Season opener paperwork at front office needed a few details filled in.
6. Post entry, tech inspection.
7. Reassemble bodywork. Dzus fasteners gave me issues cuz they werent tweaked in to go on nicely since I was in a rush.
8. Boots. Borrowed a pair that were waiting for me at the track. Turns out, yeah, I was loaned two right boots.
Sourced a loaner pair of A* boots, (which I HATE riding with, they feel so loose and blind on the shifter. Sidi FTMFW!!!)So 3ish PM rolls around and I decided to withdraw from practice since I'd only get two sessions, wasn't worth payin for. Hit the practice starts and got that rush to go racin! Rode a massive wheelie on the first start, but that blew my psychee on the 2nd and 3rd. Sucked ballz on those.
Met up with Dustin (Trackpimp) and his wife Lily and partied a bit Saturday night after rollin out to eat with Beantown to Rrrrrrraaaamone's!!! Good eatin.
Hit Sunday's second practice. Skipped the first session, track was way too cold. Got out, felt purdy OK knockin the rust off. Brad and I came in thinkin we ran quite a bit faster. NO. WE DIDN'T.
Yeah I was suckin balls with :39's avg., 7+ seconds off my best. 
Oh well...Race 4: Formula 2
I was gridded out back 21st next to Brad. Got a mediocre start, not able to pass anyone really but able to at least hang with the back of the pack.
Staring ahead of Beantown I knew he was the only one I'd have chance at catching. I kept him in my sights and was workin aprehensively given it was my first race since June, new gear, etc., but knowing I wasn't pushing as hard as I have before through spots like T2 & T8. I would reel Brad in, then he would walk away. I started to notice where he was stopping off to make a deposit at the pearl factory and used those areas to my advantage to bring him in closer.
I was kinda just ridin along till about the middle of lap 3. I noticed he was starting to get a decent lead on me, so I said, "fuck that" & turned it on a bit. In that race I was rushing into 2 & 8 a bit harder than him, letting me stay on the gas and pull him in through these giant right hand turns. I pulled him in close on lap 5 in T2 and stayed on him like a vulture. Through the Omega, down through 5 up and over 6, down the back straight. Noticed he had been lifting a bit coming off the "chute" exiting 8 for his downshifts going in to 9. I decided to wait on my downshifts and stayed in the gas. He was toward the outside coming off 8 and I snuck in under him, got in front slammed my shifts in, cracked the throttle, gassed it out onto the front straight!
Now I got that mad rush going cuz I actually had to fend someone off. I think I was kinda sloppy on my T1 entry, a little early cuz I tried to push it a lil further on the gas. Came up on T3 and tried to go in too hot there. Totally blew my line and I thought Brad was gonna blow back by me. Turned out he followed my shitty line and that saved the day.
I was able to keep him off and finished a stellar 6th out of 7! 
I felt my tire was good to run another race with a flip...
Race 9: TrackDaZ 650 Superbike
Gridded 10th. Got a crappy ass start and ended up last into T1. Coming off 1 I caught Nadine LaJoie in my sights. If yall remember from my previous report last year I got into some heated battles with her all race long, back and forth passes, and slOmar Smith & Mark "Now and Later" Hill were also in the mix at the end of a race with her and I and I just couldnt get around her FTW.
Anyhow, I decided in T2 on the first lap I was gonna give her another go. Turned out not to happen. Came off 2, tossed it into 3, (tight left uphill turn,) and the rear decided it wanted to slide out and say "WAZZUP" to the corner workers on the hill. And I, much like our fellow TrackDaZ staff member El Vez was like, "FAAAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKK!!!!"
Stayed in it and then the psychee punched the clock and went home. I started thinkin about my tire too much instead of just riding. Seemed everywhere I went that thing was just not happy, skippin like Dorothy and makin me click the heels of my loaner Sidi's together and say "There's no place like home!" So lap 2 comes on and Nadine is checkin out with the rest of EVERYONE. I'm gettin close to exiting 2 when what do I see? A super bitchin C5 ultra familiar paintjob owned by our very own Beantown go right on past me. Randomly I remember specifically thinking to myself during a race, coming off the turn looking at the exit cone, shifting my vision to the white tail section and thinking "Wow, that paint looks sweet!" beofre entering T3.
Watched Brad slam it into 3 ahead of me. 
Now that I had a slide in 3, that re-became my weak point after feeling more confident there earlier. I started repeatedly blowing my line on 3 trying to keep the slide from happening again, which turned out to completely fuck my race. I fell further and further behind, and Brad walked away, About lap 5, 3 people all blew by me in 8 FTL. Last place. 
Turns out When Dustin said "Are you sure you wanna do that?" aboot flippin the tire, he meant, "Dont be a cheapass, put a new bun on it." Low Budget racin FTL on that one...
Even though my performance blew on track, I was stoked just to get back out there, knock the rust off and get re-acquainted with my pile, with the shock & settings, the clipons, the new leathers, new Attack rearsets, etc. It was a complete win in my book, and I had a blast!!!
The lone Danger, 650 SB, gettin some!!!
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