Frederick, MD

I was very happy to be racing so close to home for a change. For the past 6 weekends, we have traveled between 8-16 hours every weekend for a race, so only having to travel 2 hours was really cool. Frederick isnt the best track in the world, but I don't mind it. Plus it was going to be cool to get some more seat time on the twin on the cushion and try and pick some speed up. I was feeling 100% better from Lima the previous weekend where I was really sick with a fever and sore throat. I felt ready to go and try and climb the hot shoe point standings.
 
I went out for practice and felt great right from the start on my 450. I felt pretty good on the twin too. I just needed to ride harder and I picked up alot of time as practice went on. My 450 scratch heat was pretty much the main event. It was Mees, Weidman, Halbert and Myself with a few others. I wasn't getting the best starts on the 450 all day which was hurting me pretty good. Frederick is pretty hard to pass on because of how narrow the track is. I had to make a pass on Conklin which took me almost a lap to do, and by this time Mees and Weidman opened up a little gap. I finished 3rd with Halbert close behind me. Nothing exciting for my 750 scratch. My holeshot was crappy. Gedeon was flying and he won, with Ricky Marshall a close 2nd and myself in 3rd.
 
I lined up for my 450 heat race with the same riders. It was weird because they stacked one heat race and the other one wasn't stacked one bit. It was kind of like a mini main event everytime we lined up. I caught a crappy start again and Conklin raced me pretty hard in turn one and I didn't pass him til the back straight-away. By this time, the 3 leaders had a few bike length gap and I couldn't really make it up, but I defintely didn't loose any time and finished 4th in my heat. This was the crummy part about the stacked heat because now I was going to be on the back row for the final. In my 750 heat race, I did something a little different and got an awesome start. I led the heat for 4 laps before Gedeon made his way around me. I definetely wasn't riding as hard as I should of, but when he passed me I stuck with him and finished 2nd.
 
For the 450 main event, I was pretty determined to get a good start from the back row because I knew a few of the guys on the front row would be alot slower and if I wanted a shot at the podium, I would have to pass them pretty quick. I was like 9th or 10th off the line. I had alot of work to do in 10 laps. I passed two riders on the first lap and caught up to Mullen who won the slower heat race and was on the front row as well. It took me 2 laps to get around him. He caught me off guard with his entry speed and I almost rear ended him. When I finally got by him the next corner, Hazel was half a straight-away ahead in 4th. I reeled him in and made the pass pretty quick. I saw the three leaders ahead of me, and I didn't think I was going to be able to catch them with all the ruckus I had to come through. I did however slowly start to reel them in and I think with a front row start, it would of been a 4 man race, instead of 3. Halbert, Mees, Weidman was the order. They were flying. My bike ran awesome, I wouldn't of changed a thing. In the 750 main event, it was less eventful. Got off the line in 5th, passed Yoder in the first corner and ran with the leaders for the first half of the race. Made a few big mistakes in turn 3 and 4 and they gapped me a bit. I mellowed out, which wasn't good and I ended up a solid 4th behind Gedeon, Halbert, and Weidman. A descent finish but I was still disappointed. I think I had alot more in me then that.
 
I felt pretty good all day and alot of improvements from Lima only a week prior. Both bikes worked awesome. A couple of top 5 finishes and I am 5th in points in both the 450 expert and 750 expert classes in the AMA Hot Shoe Series. I missed one of the 450 races because of Dad's surgery and I lost my brakes the first 750 main in Missouri and DNFed or I think we would be a few spots higher. Regardless, I have had a pretty good hot shoe series all year, now I just got to pick it together for the GNC series. A few week break and some local racing before our next hot shoe race July 24th in Virginia and July 25th in Hagerstown, Maryland. Hope to see everyone there!