Auto Club Speedway (Fontana,Ca.)- Well friends today was the start of my season. Over the past few months I have been riding alot of Motorcross and some Supermoto to keep my skills up for roadracing. After help from the Lancasters, I just recieved a stock Yamaha R6 for a practice bike just after christmas. Over the past week we have added a few racing parts to bring the bike up to safety standards. This weekend was the first time I have been on a road bike since I last raced at Daytona in October.  I was hoping to do well. We had some problems with the bike on saturday and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to ride.

I signed up to race in the Expert 600 Superbike Class and Expert 600 Supersport Class on Sunday. The Superbike class was my first race of the day. Due to this being the first race of the year for WERA, gridding positions were based on when individual entered. So I was gridded on the 21st row. When the flag dropped I just charged as hard as I could. I knew it was only going to be a six lap race and I had to make up as much ground as possible. I was able to pass several bike each lap and managed to finish in 8th place. I thought I had done ok for it being my first race.

The Supersport class was schedule after lunch. Once again I was gridded in the back. This time I was gridded on the 16th row with only six lap to get the job done. When the flag dropped I started to charge hard. At the last second someone stalled on the grid and I had to swerve around them causing my to lose some moumentum. This caused me to fall back even further (last place). I put my head down and laid down some fast laps. At the end of the race I finished in 8th place. I was mad at my results until I had seen I layed down some laps in the 1:28's. Seeing the lap times made my resuts worth it.

This weekend was only practice. I will be riding for the TLD team in the AMA 600 Supersport class. I can't wait for the Series to start. My goal this year is to stand on the podium one place higher at Daytona and to finish as the West Caost Champion. I know I have alot of work to do, but this year I have a bike in which to practice with. I know I will be stronger and faster then I was last year.

Thank you to all of you who follow my racing and come to my website. This is going to be a great year.

Peace

Joey