SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025 – Q2 and Race 1
The Saturday schedule gave us a late start to the 2nd qualifying session. Super Hooligans would be on track at 11:20 am, allowing us plenty of time to sleep in (whatever that means – I can’t sleep late on a normal day, but race day? Forget about it!), to relax, enjoy breakfast and each other’s company, and make all the final preparations for the bike. Of course, Carbon has worked long and late to get the front end sorted back out and used Saturday morning to put on a few finishing touches.
With all my pre-ride preparation rituals complete, and a couple of minutes before the track goes green, I mounted the bike, the team removed the warmers and stands, I got my customary kiss from Shanea and fist bump from Hailey, and made my way to the Hot Pit.
The session was relatively uneventful. I managed to pull off a few decent lap times, but didn’t improve over Q1. Unfortunately, some of my competitors did, bumping me back a few spaces on the grid. After the combined qualifying times were tabulated, I had earned P19 on the grid for the races. Not great, but not bad, and a spot closer to the front than in the previous round. Nevertheless, working my way into a top-15, points-paying position wasn’t guaranteed by any means.
When I decided to throw my hat in the ring and enter the 2025 MotoAmerica Super Hooligan National Championship, I had somewhat muted expectations. Of course, I hoped to make the grid for each of the four rounds I would be competing in. Beyond that, I set my sights on finishing my races, “not last.”
The previous year, when I raced in the Supersport class at Laguna Seca, I qualified 29th out of 30 on the grid, and finished 26th and 25th, but I was the last rider to cross the finish line, only advancing my position due to other riders crashing or otherwise retiring early. It was, nevertheless, a huge, triumphant accomplishment by any measure, especially given all the circumstances – my first MotoAmerica race, and in one of the premier classes, not to mention that I was suffering from a severe cold (Covid??) that made it hard to breathe and left me weak and exhausted. Still, as incredible as it was to make the grid and complete two races in Supersport, I wanted to have much more fun this year and really soak in and fully enjoy the experience.
This season, I was not only a more experienced rider, but I also carefully chose the Super Hooligan class so that I could race in a slightly less competitive class. I didn’t expect it to be easy, by any means, given the challenge of learning an entirely new bike and riding style, and several tracks I had never been on. I also knew I would have to contend with the growing popularity of the class, which was attracting faster, more experienced riders, more factory teams with immense budgets, more competitive bikes, and an excessively large entry list for every race. It seemed that a lot of racers hoped that entering the Super Hooligan National Championship would be as easily done as said, but many had no idea how much more challenging it would be to compete in the class this year, compared to the previous several years. Tighter competition meant more entrants were getting eliminated by race day, so simply earning a spot on the grid was turning out to be an accomplishment in and of itself.
I therefore had every reason to temper my expectations leading into this year’s championship. But after my performance in my first race weekend, my bar had been set just a bit higher than simply making the grid. I now knew that scoring championship points was a possibility.
I almost can’t believe I just wrote that!! Championship points at MotoAmerica??? That requires being one of the 15 fastest riders in my class in the entire country! I’m still not used to that, and to be honest, I hope I never get used to it!
So, here I was again, starting my races several spots out of the points-paying positions, facing an uphill battle to make my way into the top 15. Shanea, Carbon, and the rest of my team seemed to think I could pull it off, but they tend to have far more confidence in me than I have in myself. I love those guys!
Race 1 was at the very end of the Saturday schedule, giving the team plenty of time to relax, enjoy the day, and get the bike as fully prepared for competition as possible. For me, however, it was just more time to be nervous and wrestle with my demons, but I did my best to stay out of my head and soak in the moment. I had a light lunch and also took a quick tour of the paddock, visiting other teams’ pits, reconnecting with old friends, making some new ones, and even doing a little fan engagement, especially when anyone stopped by to see Shanea’s amazing mental health awareness exhibit. Best of all, she and Hailey caught the attention of a podcaster, Janelle from “Driven by Janelle,” who invited them to an interview at her booth in the fan zone. I went with them and was so proud of the inspiring on-camera interview they gave, not to mention thrilled about all the extra publicity they were giving to The Remix Racing Project and our cause.
But my anxiety was buzzing just below the surface, and I honestly couldn’t wait to get back on track and see if I still had what it takes to compete at this level and pull off another successful performance.
Finally, the time had arrived. I went through all my pre-race preparation routines – a series of stretching, including eye-stretches, getting suited and booted, peeing (several times), earplugs in, helmet and gloves on. Then, with the call from Carbon, I mounted and started the bike. Warmers and stands off, a kiss from Shanea, a fist bump from Hailey, and I rolled out to Hot Pit.
This was it. Everything I had worked for. All the years of practice and preparation, blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice. And especially the demon chasing. Moments from now, it was all going to coalesce into an 8-lap test of skill and talent, speed and race craft, against some of the fastest riders in the country. Did I belong here? We were about to find out.
I pulled through the Hot Pit and made my way into the crowded field of racers, all waiting to be released for our sighting lap. I intentionally “barged” my way into the middle of the pack to let everyone know the gloves are coming off and I’m ready to fight. As soon as the marshal traded his red flag for a waving green one, we all took off and ripped down the front straight and into T1. As usual, I used the sighting lap to get my bike, body, and mind up to speed, put some heat in the tires, and show my competitors that I’m here for business.
As I come out of the final turn and head toward the starting grid, I see Shanea waiting for me at spot #19. Seeing her smiling, excited face, I knew that everything was right in the world, and just as it should be. She catches me, then grabs my helmet and plants a wet one on me. The horn sounds, and she gives me a high-five before running toward a small ladder at the K-wall, where she exits the track to watch from Hot Pit.
Moments later, the marshal waves another green flag, and we all take off for our warmup lap. In the Super Hooligan class, we use a “quick start procedure,” which includes a sighting lap, a warmup lap, and then the race start. This is an alternative to a “pro start” which also includes several minutes following the sighting lap where bikes are put on stands and warmers at their grid spot, supported by a small crew contingent (along with an optional umbrella girl…or guy), and interviews for a bunch of the front runners.
Following our warmup lap, each of us slots back into our grid spots and gets into position to (literally) get this show on the road!
Lights on.
Lights out.
LAUNCH!!
I get a decent start, but by the time we hit the chicane, I’m swallowed up in a tight grouping of racers all vying for precious real estate on the super-tight race line. As we rip through this initial twist left, then right, we peel out of the chicane toward turn 1. My heart rate bounces off the rev limiter as a flood of adrenaline slams through my veins and lights up my nervous system. There has been almost nothing in my life more thrilling than the start of a race, especially at this level!
The intensity of the moment makes it almost impossible to think straight, so at this point, I’m running on pure instinct, relying on skills I have honed over my relatively brief racing career. I have never ridden a track as technical as the Ridge, so I was going to need every bit of skill I could muster, not just to avoid another crash, but to stay in the hunt for a decent result, not to mention those elusive championship points.
I enter the swooping, early apex of T1, which bends to the left, then drift to the far right of the track to set up entry to T2, a sharp, uphill left turn. I square off my line and dive into the turn, feeling my suspension compress as the bike slams into the rise at the bottom of the hill. I quickly flip the bike back over to the right and crest over the first of many blind turns. Leaning hard into the apex of T3, the suspension lightens as the track drops back down to the left again, then over a blind, downhill undulation into T4. I hit the apex perfectly, then let the bike drift to the far right, at full left-lean, and into T5 to finish off the double-apex left-hander. Then, a hard drive up a gentle slope to set up for the long, left-handed, decreasing-radius sweeper of T6. The entry to this turn requires patience, and once I’m in position, suspension fully compressed and steady, knee down, I raise my eyes to the exit of the turn and prepare to stand the bike back up and rip the throttle.
T6 spits me out onto a short straight with just enough distance to flip the bike back over to the right before swooping down over T7, where the bike literally drops out from underneath me and my butt temporarily leaves the seat, before gracefully but aggressively slamming back down to brake for the entry into the tight right-handed T8. I enter a few feet from the apex, then settle the bike to lean hard into a right sweeper that sets me up to hit the apex of T9, a right turn that shoots me up a gentle-sloping hill to another blind crest at T10, and past a jam-packed stadium section full of cheering fans. I cheat as far left as I can before flicking the bike back to the right over the top of the hill, with the throttle still fully pinned. I hold the throttle wide open for as long as I can, then quickly but gingerly roll off, grab the brake, and drop a gear to set up for the super sharp, left-handed T11. As the track spits me out of the turn, I pick the bike back up to charge down the 50 yards to T12. The front tire lifts off the tarmac while I’m flipping my body and bike back to the right, then heavy trail braking into the turn, hitting the apex as late as possible. I get the bike stood up, full gas, and grab another gear as I race toward the ”Waterfall.” I work my way to the far right edge of the track, grab a handful of brakes and downshift back to 2nd gear, then square off the turn as sharply as possible, drop into the tight left, off-camber, fall-away apex of T13. Nailed it! Then I flick the bike back to the right with a quick twist of throttle, swing down T14, then back to the left again into the final, tight sweeper of T15. Timing is everything as I drift away from the apex, then back again, and pick the perfect moment to stand the bike back up, get to full throttle, short shift to keep my front tire down, and bend the bike back to the right and over the inside rumble strip to enter the front straight. Head down, I drive hard to the start/finish to complete my first race lap of the weekend!
As I charged down the straight, clicking through the gears, then under the bridge and far to the right to start my braking for the left-hand entry into the chicane, I was chasing #16, AJ Peaslee, who started one grid position in front of me and had thus far kept me behind him. AJ was on a beautiful, brand-new Ducati Street Fighter that had been getting a lot of attention for being the latest new addition to the growing variety of Super Hooligan bike entries, not to mention how freaking clean and sexy it looked. And AJ was fast at the Ridge! He now lives in Austin, TX, but was formerly from Washington and had a lot of laps here. But today I had pace on him. His bike definitely had more motor than my MT-09, as evidenced by the gap he would stretch at every straight, but I would easily close back in on him into the turns. In fact, I almost ran into him at the entry to the chicane and had to back off to leave room for both of us to make it through cleanly. I chased him for the next couple of laps, with the gap growing and shrinking like an accordion with every turn.
A couple of times, I tried to set him up to make an inside pass, including into the downhill, cambered T8, following the steep drop off where my bike falls out from under me. I broke later than AJ, taking a wider entry into the turn to dive underneath him. For a moment, I thought I was going to make the pass of a lifetime with the thinnest margin of track, but sensing my encroachment on the stake he was making for the race line, he stuffed me by hitting the apex and closing off any opportunity I had to pass. Crafty!! I had to briefly check up and slot back in behind him to look for a new passing opportunity.
We continued to battle, and he managed to thwart my next couple of attempts to pass. Finally, just when I thought I had set him up perfectly for a pass into the 2nd turn of the chicane, he stuffed my line so tight I had to run the bike through a small patch of asphalt just outside the curbing, technically off the track. For a moment, I thought we were going to collide, or at least that I would have to bail and dump the bike to avoid him. I managed to check up and keep the bike rubber-side-down, but just barely, and I completely lost all my exit drive! Before I was able to get back up to speed, AJ had increased his advantage to about a second, entering T1 while I was still getting back on the race line out of the chicane. Damn it, that was close!
Unfortunately, losing time to AJ wasn’t even the worst part. Before I was back up to pace, #811, Andrew Berkley, took advantage of my close call and blitzed past me into the first turn! Damn it, again!
Well, there were still a couple of laps left, so I put my head down, determined to take back my position from Andrew and get on with the challenge of finding my way around AJ. But I had to make my move quickly, before AJ put an insurmountable distance between us. I knew I was faster than Andrew, so I jumped onto his tail, picked my moment, and overtook him before the end of that lap.
Now it was AJ’s turn! As we started the penultimate lap, I drew close heading into the chicane. This time, I was careful not to rush the overtake and simply followed him closely to make sure I would be in position when the moment presented itself. I stayed on him for the next several turns, clearly faster than him, but not wanting to make another clumsy attempt at a pass. AJ was not only fast, but his race craft was next level, and I would have to outsmart him if I had any chance of gaining the position.
As we entered the heavy braking zone into T11, I drifted to the far right of the track to get my bike turned before his, allowing me to stand it up sooner and get a better exit drive. Perfect! I was able to draw him in by the end of the short straight, and with the same technique as the prior turn, I set up a cleaner drive out of T12, full throttle just a beat before he could get on his. I chose the outside pass, not only gun-shy from getting stuffed at the apex so many times, but also because I knew that drawing alongside him to his left would position me for the perfect block pass into T13, the entry to the Waterfall. I executed my plan flawlessly! Best of all, I did it in front of one of the packed grandstands, giving the fans the show they came for!
We drag raced, side-by-side, into the braking zone, then with perfect positioning, I dipped into T13, completing the pass, then flowed through the rest of the lap with no way for him to retake the position! Awesome!!
I raced down the front straight and past the white flag, knowing that I had pace on him and was much faster through all the turns, starting with the chicane. So, I broke as late as possible, ripped through the chicane, then spent the rest of the lap consolidating my position by squeezing every advantage I could, at every turn.
At the end of the last lap, I threw the bike over the inside curbing and onto the front straight for the final time. Head down, throttle wide open, clicking through the gears, and past the checkered flag!! I stayed on the throttle past the line to leave nothing to chance, then took a deep breath, grabbed the brakes, and entered the chicane as I started my cooldown lap. As I exited the chicane, I took a brief look over my shoulder and saw AJ pulling up to me. Classy as ever, he reached out to shake my hand in congratulations. What a battle. Win or lose, I always love a good on-track fight. Today was my day, but I would have to keep an eye out for AJ, since dishing out payback is a close 2nd to winning the first battle.
I cruised around the track, waving at all the marshals and turn workers, and also the thousands of fans in the grandstands. I was finally able to relax and really take in the moment. I did it! I not only completed my first MotoAmerica Super Hooligan race at the Ridge, but I did it in style, winning a super intense battle on the penultimate lap!
I was so focused on chasing down AJ that I had absolutely no idea what position I finished in. Regardless, I had definitely achieved my goal. I had finished, not last! I pulled into Parc Ferme where Shanea, Carbon, and a couple other members of my team were waiting. Carbon put the bike on its rear stand, I dismounted, and removed my gloves and helmet.
Shanea didn’t waste any time. “You got 14th!!!” She wrapped me in a tight, congratulatory hug. I did what?!?! Not just a point, but two! I almost couldn’t believe it. I finished hugging Shanea, then hugged Carbon. We did it! Another incredible race with a points-paying finish. Maybe the last round wasn’t a fluke. Maybe I belong here after all.
We had already planned a huge team dinner for Saturday, but the food couldn’t have tasted any sweeter. We all basked in the success of the day and enjoyed a great meal, excellent company, and tall tales about our on and off-track excursions.
After dinner, Roland Sands stopped by our pit to invite us to the Super Hooligan afterparty. He was impressed with our mental health exhibit and learning about why we ride. He shared about his own spiritual journey, and connected with us and our mission on a pretty deep level. We eventually made our way to the party and got to catch up with AJ, Andrew, and other Super Hooligan racers. The camaraderie was awesome and gave me such an appreciation for the people I was competing with – on-track rivals, paddock allies.