Indianapolis, Indiana
 
FINALLY!
 
We left on thursday night to head to Indianapolis, Indiana for the biggest dirttrack race of the year. We had a hot shoe national short track race scheduled on friday, but due to mother nature we got canceled. I was pretty bummed because I really wanted to ride it as it looked like an awesome track. I feel bad for the promoter as well, but sometimes you just can't do anything about it. As we looked at the radar, it didn't look like we would be racing the mile on saturday either but who knows.
 
We woke up saturday and it was very nice outside. The track was really wet however, but they got it into shape for us. In comparison to Springfield Mile, it had longer straight-aways and tighter corners. We had 55 riders or so. My dad raced here in the past and always said it grooved up and got a dark rubber, but today it looked like it was going to stay a cushion. This worried me a bit, but I felt pretty good all practice. I qualified 16th or so overall, and I felt we could push a little harder if we had to. The crowd started to pour into the grandstands and infield. I heard we had around 25,000 people there. Anyone and everyone within the industry was there as the Moto GP races were the following day. Because they were worried about rain, they were going to run a shortened program. Instead of 4 heats(top 3 transfer) and 3 semis(top 2 transfer), they were going to have 4 heats(top 5 transfer) and no semis. This can help or hurt you. You have to be fast right out the gate and that is something we struggled with all year. I lined up for heat 1 and got an OK start for me on the 750. I was 6th into turn one and quickly put myself into 5th coming off turn two. I started running really high and wide up in the cushion and I started to reel in Cummings and Atherton a bit. Atherton was peeking over his shoulder as I peaked over mine and saw I had a pretty good gap on 6th place. I rode a real conservative heat race and made my first ever grand national final. To do it at the Indy Mile, was even better. I expect to make these main events, but to finally make my first one was just awesome.
 
I lined up for the main event and I wasn't nervous at all. The track grooved up since I was last out on the track so on the warm-up lap, I sighted it and was pumped for the main. I got a good start in the main event and I guess I was running about 12th or so. My bike was loosing all it's straight-away speed and bikes were just blowing by me on the straight-aways. I didn't know what I was doing wrong at first. I faded back to 15th or so until my XR 750's rear wheel locked up on the back straight-away. I pulled in the clutch and skided to a stop in the middle of 3 and 4. I was very lucky I didn't crash going 125mph or so, but then again I was very bummed about the motor breaking. I always said I wouldn't care how I finished when I made my first final, but something tells me we were good enough to finish around the top 10.
 
All in all, it was a very good experience for me. I finally feel great on all types of tracks, and I want to finish out the year strong in Topeka, Kansas on October 4th and train harder then ever for 2009! I want to thank everyone who has helped me this year. Chris Carr has been a huge help to me keeping my head on straight and making sure I know I can do it. I also want to thank my dad for everything he has done, and he has done everything. It was tough this weekend doing for us as he was working on my bike and Shayna's bike all by himself, and he had us dialed. Also thanks to all my great sponsors and to god for keeping me safe out there!