We just returned from test and tune day at Miller Motorsports Park. We had a bit of a delay getting the Kart "teched" for today's practice and for tomorrow's race so we took a few minutes to watch the Historic Motorcycle Races that are occuring on the 4.9 mile road course. They are here for a three day event, with some even coming straight from SpeedWeeks, out on the salt, at Bonneville Speedway. Man oh man... what a weekend it is going to be at MMP.

Even the side-car bikes were running and I gotta tell ya' these guys are just plain crazy. From a team with purple mohawks glued to their helmets to guys hanging from the side-car (which is really more like a shelf with handles) almost dragging their helmets on the ground to gain maximum traction, it was nuts! We ran some good practice laps with our new set up and until one lead-footed corner exit were running with some of the best in our class. That one blown corner cost me dearly however.

With my permanent injuries, the little bit of an off-track excursion was the end of my practice day. I tried to maintain speed and ease back onto the track in a high speed section of "The Snake" only to get slammed down hard upon re-entering the race surface at close to 60 mph. Needless to say, the bullet hole like tears in my ribcage were given a very rude awakening. Also, I believe that my cervical spine was pressed into the top of my skull!This all occured when the Kart slammed back down onto the racing surface when I was done "playing in the dirt!"

So... that was the end of test and tune day. Unfortunately, our driver-in-development Amy Woods was unable to make it to the track today due to work commitments. However, we did learn from our chassis changes and our brake problem, which has plagued us all season long, is now history. We go into tomorrow's race-day with a positive outlook on our set-up and will run the best that we can.

I still need to remove a pound or two of lead from my right foot and be smoother on and off of the throttle. All of that will come with our continuing increase in "seat time" and in running more and more laps in traffic.

Wish us luck tomorrow! We will report back on the day's outcome after the awards ceremony and possibly taking in some more of the Historic Motorcycle Association's races. As we walked through the paddock to get back to our pit stall, we saw haulers from Edmonton, Michigan, New York, Florida, California and even Mexico City. It should be a great day for racers and spectators alike. Thanks for keeping up with us on our rookie year journey of continued improvement!