Mother Nature Wins at AMRA Season Opener in

Bowling Green, Kentucky!

Monday, March 30, 2009—What a weekend! It was great to see old friends and new, but Mother Nature had other plans when it came to racing!  Friday afternoon and evening, and again Saturday morning greeted us with lots of rain.  We finally got on the track to run some Time Trials late Saturday morning, and we were dead out of the hole—our transmission locked up completely.

Chip managed to get down the track and back to the pits—all the way in 1st gear.  But, as many know, it takes quite a bit to count us entirely out of a race weekend!

Jane Nelson looks on as Erik Nelson & Chip

begin to remove the old transmission.

Erik Nelson (lower right) helps Chip thrash

We missed the first round of qualifying completely as Chip thrashed hard (with the help of Erik Nelson, Joe Barber, Jim VanFleet, and Clay Cobb, among others — THANK YOU) to change out the transmission (TWICE). 

We weren’t the only ones wrenching hard to get back to the line.  Being the first race of the season, there were a lot of other folks with breakages and things going wrong.  As Chip thrashed on his own bike, others kept coming to him for help, spare parts, and advice.  As many know, Chip is the go-to guy at the track; we often have the parts to get you back into the race. 

We managed to get ours fixed up and got back to the line just in time for the second round (or was that the third? - it was impossible to keep track) of qualifying in “E” class; we decided to use the pass to attempt an 11.50-second run to prepare for our “SE” pass (the 11.50 index), and Chip ran an 11.499—we’re READY.  Unfortunately, Qualifying Round Three was cancelled due to the impending storm—no sooner did Chip pull into the pits that the sprinkles started yet again.

Chip, Jane, and Erik had some fun relaxing in the tent, which was all battened down to withstand the gale-force winds that were expected Saturday evening.  Here is a picture of what was jokingly and lovingly referred to as the “Vertically Challenged Camp”:

We were greeted with a blustery Sunday morning, but still held out hopes we’d get to race.  When the rain drops continued to plague the air and the temperatures were at 30-something, we knew it was only a matter of time that they’d be calling the race.  Racing can be done in the freezing cold, it is true, but safety is paramount and it would be too slippery on the track and near impossible to get all the moisture gone from the track.

We look forward to seeing our friends again in June here at Bowling Green’s Beechbend Raceway Park.  There is a Regional event in May in Alabama that we will not be able to attend, but look for more updates on our Main Gallery Page for Milan, Michigan’s racing that will be starting up in April.

See you at the track!

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