So 2013 is already off and kicking.

There was a press release earlier this year (http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/melissa-paris-to-race-honda-cbr600rr-in-ama-pro-daytona-sportbike-with-support-from-freegun/ Don’t mind the AWFUL headshot there) about my plans for 2013. So I’m riding on a “Team Hammer Contract Services” Honda CBR600RR. Some people have asked what that means… In a nut shell, it means that with support from my sponsors, I’m leasing a motorcycle and support from Team Hammer. Team Hammer is sort of the “super structure” behind the M4 and Geico Honda Racing Teams. I knew it would be pretty awesome being on a bike with a crew that I know for a fact is capable of winning races, but I was still pretty nervous for Daytona…

But in the end things went great! If you watched, you know I got 10th, which so far is my best finish in Daytona Sportbike. It would have been 9th, but for a ride through penalty for a silly pit stop violation. Frustrating yes… But I’m choosing to look at the positives. The bike and team were amazing. And knowing that we accomplished that with only one day of testing makes me even more excited for the rest of the year…

None of this at all would be possible if it weren’t for all of my fantastic sponsors signing on for another year. It’s super cool when such great companies stick by your side year after year and for that I’m eternally grateful to Joe Rocket, Freegun, MotionPro, Apex Carbon Fiber, WIDSIX, Roadracing World and Drippin’ Wet. Even more so, I’m super grateful every time you guys patronize these businesses! So thank you all!!!

That being said, things are still a bit tight for the season, so Freegun stepped in with a great way to raise some funds for racing. They created a signature line for bras and panties (boxers AND thongs) which are for sell on my website www.melissaparis.com/products I had a lot of fun designing them, so I hope you love them!!!

I’ve been getting lots of requests on my website and facebook for autographed hero cards, so I’m working on getting some of those made too!

Other than that.. I’m just training my butt off until the next race… also scheming on how to get a practice bike too. You can only pedal so much before you start looking weird making motorcycle sounds on your push bike!

As I mentioned in my last blog, the reason for missing Barber and Mid-Ohio has to do with my quickly dwindling budget. To say I’ve tripped over a few hurdles this season would be an understatement. A lot of people have been asking about what’s going on- and the truth is, its a lot of things all tangled together. It would be nice to heap all the blame somewhere but that would take too much energy away from finding a solution. The truth is that the amount of luck it has taken for me to have gotten the experiences I’ve had at this point is unbelievable. There have been so many times when I thought I’d never figure out how to find the money to go racing, only to have it work out at the eleventh hour; its kind of inevitable that at some point this would happen.

That all being said- the amount of support I received from all of my friends, family, fans and sponsors after announcing my situation has been unbelievable. I’ve struggled more racing this year than I ever have. At times it felt like the more I put into it and the harder I worked, the worse things got. It’s been one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever dealt with. So, in the midst of all of that to get the overwhelming support of everyone was so amazing and humbling.

So I guess where I’m going with this rambling blog is that I just really want to say thank you to everyone who donated, bought a t-shirt, sent an email or said a prayer for me. It’s meant the world to me. It made watching everyone else race at Barber a tiny bit more bearable. It made me even more grateful for the opportunity I had to to test at NOLA. And its giving me even more motivation to get my program sorted out to be back on the track in old form at Laguna Seca.

Oh… did I mention that I have t-shirts for sale? (nudge, nudge. wink, wink. ) www.melissaparis.com/products

I will not be racing at the next two AMA Pro Racing rounds, at Barber Motorsports Park and Mid-Ohio. As has been the case with many others in our paddock, my budget has been very tight this year. I made some decisions earlier in the year that unfortunately did not work out as I had hoped they might, which leaves me in a spot where I do not have enough funding to finish the season.

As a racer, it’s a really difficult decision to make, but after speaking with a few people whose opinions I trust most, I realize the smart thing to do is to regroup and focus on coming back strong at Laguna Seca. It’s torture to sit on the sidelines, but it would be even worse to attempt to race without all the proper pieces in place.

We will work hard to have our equipment sorted out and hopefully more funding in place as we move towards the Laguna Seca round of the AMA Pro Racing Daytona Sportbike Championship. We continue to have t-shirts for sale on my website at www.melissaparis.com/products . All sales contribute directly towards our race efforts. Further, anyone interested in partnering with MPH Racing can send inquiries to mphracing13@gmail.com or click on the “Get Involved” link at www.melissaparis.com

I really want to thank Yamaha, Yamalube, GYTR, Joe Rocket, MotionPro, LeoVince, Vesrah, DrippinWet, WIDSIX, Freegun, GB Racing, Braking, Zero Gravity and all of my amazing friends and fans for the support so far this year. I look forward to being back on track as soon as possible.

Snow capped mountains in the distance and heavy hanging rain clouds set an overall gloomy mood during Saturday’s practices and qualifying. Melissa Paris faced wet conditions in her morning practice and qualified 19th in the afternoon session while navigating the tricky conditions of a slow drying race track. The Sunday morning qualifying
session proved to be another wash out as Melissa and the rest of the GoPro Daytona Sportbike grid rode in damp conditions. As the afternoon race approached the rain clouds finally scattered and the GoPro Daytona Sportbike race would see a dry track for their main event.

Melissa cut out some work for herself with a slow start but soon began to work through the competitors in front of her. Melissa put her head down and battled ahead to reclaim several lost positions and finish solidly in 21st position. Though slightly disappointed in her start this past weekend Melissa looks forward to the next round with much anticipation: “I really look forward going into Road America for this next AMA round. I know that my mechanic Joe and Richard Stanboli of Attack Performance are working hard to make the Yamaha R6 better fitted for me and Road America is another track I really enjoy and I expect to get better results at our next race.”

Melissa Paris is also excited to announce a new partnership with Freegun Underwear, an underwear company with strong roots in action and motorsports. Melissa hopes to gather enough support to fund her race efforts for the entire 2012 AMA Pro Racing season. “Being a privateer effort is difficult and every sponsor is integral to our team. As it stands we are a few funds short of finishing the 2012 season but I am optimistic that there are more partners out there we can connect with and I hope to show them my resolve with strong finishes at the next few race events.”

Melissa Paris would like to thank all of her current sponsors who support her race efforts: Yamaha, GYTR, Attack Performance, Joe Rocket, Leo Vince, Motion Pro, Vesrah, Motodex Performance First, Yamalube, GB Racing, Braking, Zero Gravity, Drippin Wet,  GoPro, Freegun, and WIDSIX

Melissa would also like to say a special thanks to the men and women of the armed forces who have served and continue to serve so we may all enjoy great race events such as this past Big M event on Memorial Weekend.

For more information about MPH Racing, contact mphracing13@gmail.com

Sunday 3:30 PM- Finally settled at our gate at LAX. It’s going to be a long 12 hours to Rome!!! At least the battery on my phone is nearly dead already. FML

Sunday 5:00 PM- Already getting stir-crazy on this airplane! I’m kinda stoked that we got a bulkhead seat so although my butt is shoe-horned into a seat at least I have leg room. Oh and I also have the movie “Paul” to watch. This movie is pure genius.

Monday 1:15 PM- We’re sitting in the airport in Rome waiting for our connecting flight to Valencia… It’s like, 4:15 AM at home, so I’m in a bit of a fog, but I’m almost certain I just saw a giant boquet of Chupa Chups for sale in a shop. I can’t stop thinking about them, but now they’re on the other side of Passport Control, so they might as well be on a different continent. All this motorcycle nonsense aside, I will NOT leave the European Union without a large stash of lollipops.

1:45- We’ve just boarded our plane to Valencia and walking down the aisle I notice there is no row 13. Seriously, it just goes from 12 to 14. I am thoroughly offended!

Tuesday 6:45 PM- I’m chilling in my hotel room snacking on a watermelon flavored Chupa Chup. (Nom nom!!!) We’re flipping through the channels on the TV trying to kill time until we can get a bite to eat. I’ve just learned, that even in Spanish, its pretty easy to understand what’s going on in an episode of Jersey Shore. I can’t help wonder how much of Snooki gets lost in translation. The whole “eating late” thingy here baffles my mind. Like, how do these people not end up enormous after carb loading at 10 PM every night? Meanwhile, I’m STARVING. Literally. Like my stomach is digesting itself as we speak!

Wednesday 10:45 AM- I am ashamed to say I did it… I had McDonalds in Spain. And for the record. They don’t have Egg McMuffins here. Is it Friday yet?

3:30 PM- We went to the track today so that Josh could meet up with is team and kinda see what was what. Everyone at Tech 3 seems awesome and so far I am doing a good job of keeping all of my French jokes to myself. One of Colin Edwards bikes was put together and up on a stand… While Josh chatted with his data guy, I watched with interest as a few other guys started unpacking things from various boxes. A frame just came from a bit of bubble wrap and joined a swing arm on the floor. Hmmm… wonder where this is going.

Thursday 10:00 AM- Well, there is now a complete motorcycle where that frame and swing arm were sitting so I guess those guys had a lot of work to do last night. Every single bit of the bike is gorgeous. When you’re used to being around production bikes all the time, its nice to appreciate the artwork that is a grand prix motorcycle.

4:30 PM- Josh has been running around a ton today trying to get everything settled for tomorrow. He seems nervous, but I wish he wasn’t! He took me for a couple laps on the scooter around the circuit. The track really seems more like an American style track; very tight and technical.

Friday 4:00 PM- Well, talk about a trial by fire… errr water. Josh’s first session ended up being wet and his second session was wet and rainy. I was pretty nervous for him so I can’t imagine what he was feeling. He did pretty well though, ending up tenth in the second practice. Pretty impressive to me! Meanwhile, I am starving. These people never eat.

Sunday11:00 AM- Talk about awful conditions here. Its useless to even look at the weather forcast. Josh impressed everyone this morning in warmup. The track was definitely wet at the start and everyone was on rains. With about 7 minutes to go he came in for slicks. I thought it was a bit brave as the track still looked pretty iffy to me. But then he went to P1 ahead of a couple world champions. Sooo.. That’s never a bad day.

The tribute they’ve done for Simoncelli was really moving. I stood on the front straight with hundreds of others while every bike in the paddock did a lap of the circuit. Once they’d stopped on the front straight there was a load of fireworks and a huge picture of Marco that covered the whole side of a building. It was so intense to feel the love and adoration that everyone has for Marco.

3:00 PM- I feel like a rag that has been wrung out after watching that race. It was declared wet, but everyone went on slicks. I’m not sure that you could have more difficult conditions for a race. I hated to see the pile in turn one on the start and was relieved that Josh got through cleanly. It was awesome to see him ride so smart and with so much heart to a 7th place finish. I always feel like I know how great a rider he is, but it is good when he shows everyone else as well. The whole team seems really happy as well, so that is phenomenal.

Monday- All Day I hate the stupid rain. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. After working all weekend to convince Herve (Tech 3 team owner) of all the reasons he should let me try the Moto2 bike, it hasn’t stopped raining all freaking day. This is definitely not helping my cause! Le sigh.

Tuesday 10:15- I am standing in the Tech 3 box, in my leathers about to climb onto the M1. Talk about surreal. I kept waiting for someone to sit me down and give me the stern, “Don’t mess our bike up” speech, but it never comes. Josh and the Bridgestone tech quickly brief me to give the tires a lap or two to come up to temperature but assure me I’ve got the softest tires available and that it shouldn’t be so bad. Cal Crutchlow (whose bike I am actually riding) offers some advice on the carbon brakes. “They absolutely will not work until they get hot. If you go into the corner and the bike isn’t stopping the best thing to do is to let go of the lever and squeeze again”.

The next thing I know I am walking out of the garage to get on the M1. I can’t believe how many photographers are here. I climb on and as I get a few last minute instructions I briefly contemplate how funny it would be if I stalled it now. But then I am rolling down pit lane, with a knot in my stomach; I am actually doing this.  As I tip-toe around the first lap, figuring out where the race track goes, my nerves are going through the roof, but then as I come out of the last turn on to the front straight, I remember, its just a motorcycle, and motorcycles are fun.

The next 10 laps are spent learning a new racetrack and a new bike at the same time. The first thing you notice about the M1 is how fast it gains RPM compared to a production bike. It feels like as soon as you shift a gear the lights are coming for the next gear already. The carbon brakes are the next surprise. They stop so well. The strangest part about them is the feel of the lever. Compared to the steel brakes on my R6, the lever on the M1 feels like it barely moves. Being cautious, it’s hard to ever get the full idea of just how well they will work, and it feels like it would take a while to ever get your brain to trust how well they would stop. After 10 laps I come in. There are so many people who want to see the expression on my face and they are all rewarded with a big smile. Cal’s crew chief sits down with me for a moment and asks me a few questions about what I think of the bike. I think it’s cool that everyone is so rad to me about it.

After a few minutes I head back out for another go at it. This time I’m able to settle in and really enjoy it. Even though I am nowhere near what the big boys pull out of the M1, its neat to see how easy the bike does some things. When I rode Josh’s superbike in 2010 it was SO hard to ride. It had more headshake than anything I’ve ever ridden. I really expected this thing to feel like that, mean and unfriendly, but thats not the impression it gives me at all. It’s actually pretty stable feeling.  It really feels more like my 250 used to feel. Even the way you sit on the bike is so different to a production bike. The M1 is really long and skinny. My legs actually feel less cramped than the do on my R6. To be fair, I’m pretty close to the size of the average GP racer, so I guess it really is built around someone my size. On my R6 I often feel like you sit high on the bike, with your weight biased towards the front, but on the M1 it feels pretty neutral. It’s the sort of feeling that I remember from the 250 where, when if you sit up to just putt around, it makes the bike feel awkward and uncomfortable. Like it only feels right when you’re actually “going”.

Through the course of the weekend I had listened to Josh’s impressions of the bike and now I start to see what he was talking about. The M1 likes to wheelie. Coming on to the front straight I’m pretty sure it picks up the front wheel in the first four gears. The electronics make it so you don’t have to lift, but I can see where if you were racing it would be frustrating because you’d lose some acceleration as a result. I’m just hoping someone is getting pictures.

Now the laps seem to slip away and after another ten or so, I see they are giving me an IN board. I briefly consider pretending I didn’t see it, but think better of it. It’s time for Cal to start testing his new 1000 and the team needs to get to work. Climbing off the bike, I wish I could have somehow savored the experience more. I’m not ready to be done.

3:00 PM: I’m sitting in the media center looking over the front straight. All day people have been asking what I thought of the M1. I wish I had better ways to explain what the experience meant to me. I’m checking my email and see I have one from a really cool girl that I coached at a trackday a few weeks ago. She rides a Ninja 250 and even though she is new to riding on a racetrack, she made impressive progress. I had sent her a picture of myself on the same bike at Palomar Mountain when I first started riding and its still attached to the string of emails. I suddenly realize that the picture is only about 8 years old. That’s when I realize how blessed my life is. I know that girl at Palomar dreamed of his, but I’m not sure if she would have believed she’d be here.

I really want to make sure I give huge thanks to Herve and the rest of the Tech 3 Yamaha team for being so generous and kind to Josh and I. Also, big thanks to Yamaha US, YES, and GYTR for arranging this whole thing!!

So how about that Daytona 200, huh?

My season started early… I worked pretty hard during the off season. I got to do a couple of WERA races, some testing at Las Vegas, and Chuckwalla (which is a pretty sweet new track in Palm Springs that sponsors me) and I have been working out a ton too.

I revamped my training program this winter and its been a pretty cool experience. In the past I really only focussed on cardio. Living with a four time AMA Champion, its usually a pretty good rule of thumb to just copy what he does. Josh pretty much lives on a bicycle, so naturally I did the same thing. We started looking at things a bit differently this winter though. While roadracing doesn’t take as much brute strength as a lot of other sports, it does reward a strong athlete. My size is often an advantage, but the flip side is that I don’t have the natural strength of a guy. I realized I needed a strength training program to go with my normal cycling routine. I won’t get into the gory details, but I definitely logged some hours at the YMCA.

I’ll admit that the “girly” in me didn’t like seeing the number on the scale climb up, but as soon as I was back on the bike I was SO grateful for that extra five pounds of muscle. Having Josh even notice the way I moved on the motorcycle was awesome.

Sooooo… with all that said, I was super duper pumped to head into Daytona with my brand new HT Moto Yamaha R6. Thanks to HT Moto, this year I have really been able to improve my program.

Most of the first day of practice was rained out, which was frustrating. I really can’t remember the last time I was SO excited to ride. It felt like Christmas eve. It was a long day of sitting around and by the time we finally rolled out onto the track, I think I had lost a bit of focus. I had a tough time getting going coupled with the bike not pulling so well on the top end. I was pretty much mid-pack and annoyed because I knew I had a lot more in me.

After practice we ran the bike over to DynoJet where we resolved a mapping issue that found us a few more pony’s. The next morning I got going better and found myself P18 with some grip problems. At the end of the session the Dunlop guys told us we could safely drop some pressure to get a bit more grip from the rear, so I felt pretty good for final qualifying. Unfortunately, they split the last session into a fast and slow group based on the first practice. That put me at the top of the “slow” group… Not good. I tried to find the next fastest guy and head out on the track with him so maybe we could work the draft together, but unfortunately he wasn’t feeling very generous and just stayed behind me. Even pushing my own air the whole session I still went a tiny bit faster and knew I would just have to do my work in the race.

The pre-race festivities helped take my mind of the butterflies I had. There was a HUGE mob during the fan walk which was really cool. I had a lot of fun hanging out and taking pictures with all of the race fans that came out. I also had a pretty cool umbrella boy Melvin who is a UFC fighter.

The race FINALLY got underway and unfortunately I got a pretty pathetic start. I never seem to find the right line in turn one at Daytona on the start. I’m going to have to work on that! At any rate, I set to work, but within a lap or two I noticed a strange noise coming from my bike, and it stopped pulling very well. It was frustrating because I was riding as hard as I could but my lap times weren’t showing it. The bike just didn’t seem to pull very well. I just kept at it and hoped that it would finish the rest. I got into a pretty good battle with four or five guys that kept me busy until the first pit stop. When I did finally roll in, my guys did an AMAZING job. Its always so cool when a privateer team can pull of a flawless stop nearly as fast as the factory teams. My hat goes off to them for sure. As soon as I restarted my bike, I knew that Joey my crew chief must have heard the noise the bike was making, and for a split second I wondered what he thought it might be.

As soon as I got back on the track I hooked back up with Tyler O’Hara and we picked up where we had left off before the pit stop. A few laps later I noticed Danny Eslick’s bike laying in the flat coming off of NASCAR 4. It was weird, because I really couldn’t think of any logical scenario that would have someone fall there. A few laps later, there was a red flag and the whole field was brought in. Apparently Eslick and a few other riders had chunked front tires and they needed to assess the situation. As frustrating as it was, I was glad that they AMA and Dunlop put our safety before the “show”. They finally brought out a new batch of tires and shortened the race. There was a lot of confusion, that saw a lot of riders having to change tires several times, but it was finally sorted out, and then we waited a bit longer to try and give everyone a chance to get some heat in the new fronts.

They elected to give us two warm up laps to get used to the new tires, followed by a 15 lap sprint. On our out lap someone hit a seagull in the International Horseshoe, and there was feathers and bird parts everywhere… awesome. Then some riders helped themselves to a third warmup lap while the rest of us let out bikes overheat and our tires cool off on the grid. Thanks guys.

When we finally restarted, two riders inside of me collided and I had to ride off turn one to avoid hitting their sliding motorcycles. I re-entered in last place. Awesome. Love it. Great. =D Luckily (?) someone else had blown an engine on the start so they actually red-flagged it AGAIN. My next start was slightly better, although I was trying to go easy on my motor, in case it was in a fragile state. I settled in and tried to do the best I could, but at this point my bike wouldn’t even pull 6th gear anymore. I was having to leave it in 5th all the way around the banking. Somehow I was able to stick with a group of four or so guys until we got a red flag on our last lap. When we came around and I saw two motorcycles absolutely destroyed in the tri-oval I was stunned. Talk about a worst possible scenario. A few riders got tangled up drafting to the checkered flag and Dane Westby and Taylor Knapp were the unlucky victims. I was relieved that they were mostly ok. You never want to see someone get hurt. I had been in the front of my group our last time by start/finish so I ended up 18th.

Now that its all over, I’m hearing a lot of the expected negative comments about the AMA, Dunlop and Speed channel. Speaking from the point of view of someone who was there… it kinda bums me out. The AMA really got a bad rap in 2009, but the new crew running the show has done a miraculous job of turning it around. As much as it sucks to have the race stopped, I appreciate their concern for rider safety. Same thing goes for Dunlop. I’m not engineer, but I imagine its hard to predict what a new surface will do to tires for any given temperature range. Again, I thank them for bringing us in and putting our safety first. I would have much rather finished the 200 mile race, but there were too many variables to do it safely unfortunately. And finally, to Speed. Yes, I wish Speed channel showed nothing but motorcycles 24 hours a day… but its also hard to keep a camera trained on a vacant race track I imagine…

I’m definitely not pleased with my finish, knowing that I was capable of so much more. But with that said, it could definitely have gone a lot worse, all things considered. I’m glad I was able to finish in the money and I know we’ll have plenty of time to get the bike problem sorted out before my next race. Trying to stay optimistic over here =D Positive outcomes only!

Before I wrap this up, I have some thanks to give… First God… goal this year was to learn that a lot of things are out of my control and to put it in his hands. A hard lesson, but a good one. Next the 4 J’s:
Josh- thanks for the support and love… and telling me you’re proud when I go deep on the brakes  ;) Joey- I know you don’t like being called a crew chief, but you worked so hard on my program… Its awesome knowing that I have a teammate. I have two words for you… El… Camino….
Jen- I knew I liked you from the minute I met ya… You did an awesome job of handling anything that needed to be handled. And you made a great umbrella girl too. Looks and smarts. You don’t often get both!
Jason- Thanks for coming down to be my front wheel man on such short notice. Funny how one weekend at Daytona can make it seem like you’re old friends!
Pete- Any excuse to have my clean-up eater around is a good one. Thanks for making time for me buddy!
Fred- I am so glad you were gullible enough to answer that add for an “internship”. Ha! We fooled you!
Dreb- My pit board man… Always nice to see you giving me a bow at the end of a session. Thanks man!
Dad- I know you were nervous to be my fuel man, but you did awesome. Also thanks to Rae Lynn for coming to support me too!
Also thanks to Lou and Arno for coming to cheer me on!!!

And now… Some pictures for your enjoyment…

Joey and I trying to figure out the easiest way to move our Yamaha Generator.

Not every idea can be a winner.

At least I had on the proper safety gear!

Jen and I with some race fans… a few people thought she was me =D I take that as a compliment!

And Joe Rocket comes through with some AWESOME gear =D

With the state of the econcomy it’s gotten harder and harder to find support to go racing lately. This year I was so incredibly blessed to have so many of my sponsors step up their support from last year as well as to have more come on board. Nevertheless, a lot of it came together last minute, which left my new mechanic, Rick Matheny of RM Racing with little more than 2 weeks to build 2 Yamaha R6′s into proper race bikes. He came through for us though, and I rolled into Daytona this year with some stupid fast machinery (insert huge smile here).

My first practice had a few snafus which unfortunately delegated me to the slow group for qualifying. Ordinarily this would just be annoying, but at a track like Daytona, it’s super important to hook up with someone fast in qualifying for a draft… not so much of an option for me. As a result I ended up qualifying 28th…which was better than last year, but definately not where I knew I was capable of being.

We went into the race knowing that the most important thing to do was be smooth, play it smart, and not make mistakes. That got tested right away with a massive pileup right on the start. Luckily I was able to avoid it and make my way back to the pits for the restart. By then I’d realized that despite tire warmers… the groud was so cold that it was still really slick. On the restart I took it really easy for two laps. A few people got by me… but I knew I had 200 miles to do my thing. As my first stint went on I picked off rider after rider and worked my way up to the top twenty or so. I *almost* felt bad when my RM Racing tuned R6 would just motor by people on the banking… but only for a second! I settled into a decent battle with another guy that helped me keep my focus as I waited for Drebber to show me my “In” board.

My first pit stop went super smooth. I had been nervous how we’d stack up against all the big name teams, but my All Star crew of Rick Matheny, Vic Fassola, Michael Godin, Steven Breckenridge, Joe Capelli and our fearless volounteer Josh (from Wyotech) was flawless. I was in and out and back on the track FAST.

A lot of people must have struggled in that first stop because as soon as I went back out on track I saw that my position had improved to top 15 or so. I settled into a battle with the same guy again and just put my head down to do my thing. After the second pit stop I couldn’t believe that I was running between 10th and 12th position consistently. A top fifteen finish had been my “realistic” goal… but true to form.. in my heart I’d been hoping for top ten. Not to mention that the purse money would have really helped get me along to the next event. I made sure not to think about it too much and just focus on the race lap by lap…

With about ten laps to go Cory West came by me and I had a laugh that I nearly drafted right back by him on the banking… Have I mentioned how fast my R6 is? A few laps later Herrin (the race leader) came by on the run up to the chicane. I made a point to sit up at my normal break marker and just take it easy since I knew I had a big gap back to the next rider. I tipped it in left and flicked it right… and then I was tumbling through the dirt. Before I’d even stopped I was thinking to myself, “you’ve got to be kidding me! How can this be happening?!” It was like instant heart break. You cannot even fathom the disspointment when in one glance I knew I couldn’t finish the race. Immediately I felt a burning in my fingers and I looked down to see that my glove was torn open. I must have gotten my hand caught under the handlebar when I fell because other than that I didn’t have a scratch to speak of. Oh dear… it was like adding injury to insult… lol. I knew I didn’t want to see it so I just walked to the ambulance.

When they got my glove off they saw that most of the top of my pinkie finger had been ground down to the bone from the second knucke to the tip. Not a pretty sight. I had to go to the ER to get it scrubbed out and xrayed to see that the end of it was broken. I was relieved that Josh was able to go to hospital with me this time and that my team joined us there later… I guess only the people that know me best could understand that the anguish was over not finishing the race and not about my mangled finger.

We’re driving now to see the hand specialist tomorrow to see what needs to be done. I’m hoping it’ll be a quick fix because I’m definately ready to get back riding. Lucky for me (ok, maybe lucky isn’t the right word) Josh has been through a very similar injury and has a great doc for me to see… Plus he kinda knows how I’m feeling and is taking great care of me. (Although it is kinda embarassing to be babied over a finger injury, lol).

I really want to thank ALL of my sponsors for their support and believing in me… I wish I could have brought home the top ten finish for them… but there will be plenty more opportunities this year. Thank you Yamaha, GYTR, Royal Purple, Joe Rocket, RM Racing, LeoVince, Barbara Conner Jewelry, MotionPro, Concept 5, Millennium Technologies, Factory Bodyworks, GB Racing, Vesrah, Spiegler, Zero Gravity, XT Racing, and Dynojet.

Stay tuned for updates… I really wanted to post a picture of my finger but Josh said a lot of people who paid good money for their lunch probably wouldn’t appreciate it too much. lol.

You may know by now that I had a bit of an “accident” at the Big Kahuna National at VIR. I crashed out of race 1 uninjured save for a bruise on my backside and went into Race 2 hoping for a better result. That was pretty shortlived. I actually got a pretty good start and jumped up a few rows into turn one. Unfortunately I arrived just in time to be present for a massive pileup. One rider tucked the front and cleaned out several others. I was on the brakes as hard as I could to avoid the situation, and for a brief moment, I thought I was going to make it out ok. I could see one of my friends face down under a pile of bikes and was really scared I was going to hit him. It was everything I could do to get slowed down. Just when I thought everything was going to be ok, I became plainly aware of the fact that there were several riders behind me. A few of them had also crashed apparently because the next thing I knew a rogue motorcycle had slammed into my right leg inflicting the most pain I have experienced ever. It was like someone flicked a switch and sent me into full on panic mode. Its kind of funny but at that moment I had this realization that I was in for a rough day and there was absolutely NOTHING I could do to change things. A lot of friends who saw the race on tv asked me why I was hitting my fist on the ground. I guess its because I didn’t have a stick to bite! Another racer, Josh Galster was right there and he must have seen my eyes as big as saucers and he came over and kneeled next to me. I remember telling him, “Josh, my leg is freaking broken”. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. He was super cool and sat with me the whole time while the paramedics cut my leathers off. One of them said it was my tibia and fibula that had broken right at the top of my boot. They splinted me up and took me to the infield medical center for xrays.

When we got to the medical center, Josh, my mechanic Mark, and a few other people were waiting on me. I kept apologizing to Josh because I knew he still had to race and I didn’t want to stress him out. Everyone was super cool and comforting though. Mark and Josh’s manager Gina followed the ambulance to the hospital where they attemped a few times to stabilize the breaks. Because of the angle of the break, I was going to need a rod placed in it, but since I was going to fly to CA to see Doc Ting, I needed it somewhat stable. That process totally sucked. I could feel the bones snapping back and forth. Each time they’d get it straight and set my leg back on the table I could feel them snap back again. Nasty!!! Finally they got me in a splint clear to my thigh and sent me on my way.

The trip home was no fun at all. The bones kepts snapping around and it felt like the longest flight EVER. Add to that the fact that I wasn’t allowed to eat anything (because I was having surgery) and I could not have been a good travel companion! As soon as we drove up to the surgery center they had a bed ready for me, and I went right in. Dr. Ting put a rod in my tibia and left the fibula to heal naturally.

After that I basically spent the next two weeks laying on the couch with ice on my leg… All in all, I’d have to say I don’t reccomend it… But I won’t be down long… I’ll be back at it VERY soon!