SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2025 – Warmup and Race 2
The Sunday schedule gave us a mid-morning warm-up session, and ours would be the first race of the day at high noon. The only significant change to the bike was fresh brake pads, since I complained to Carbon about having trouble getting the bike stopped in yesterday’s race. Pads installed, the plan was to use the very brief 10-minute warm-up session to bed them in and test all my braking markers, rather than trying to lay down any super-hot laps.
I dropped my pace by a couple of seconds per lap, which was fast enough to achieve our goal of breaking in the brakes and resetting my markers, but slow enough not to take any unnecessary risks. It seemed that my rivals all had similar plans for their session, since no one was riding at record pace.
Thanks to the earlier race, I wouldn’t have to wait as long as I did between yesterday’s sessions, but Sunday is also Fan-day, and in addition to the Parade Laps and the Two Seat Superbike rides, the Hot Pit Walk and Autograph session was also a fan–and rider–favorite. Unfortunately for me, this round’s Fan Walk filled the final schedule spot before the races, which meant that I would have to leave early to run back to the pit to get ready for my race.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to being treated like a celebrity at these events, but they sure are fun as hell, and I absolutely love them! Fans of all ages stop by our booth to talk with me, take pictures with me, grab a bunch of schwag, and have me sign fan posters, stickers, T-shirts, helmets, and even take off tires!
Shanea, in addition to being our Team Captain, as well as playing so many other key roles, is also a marketing genius! She took the opportunity to open our Remix Racing and Truth Be Told Apparel-branded umbrella and stand in the middle of the fan traffic to draw attention to our team and rider booth. It was working, of course – probably just ‘cause she’s so damn hot! In any case, she not only helped direct more fans to our booth, she even caught the eye of Michael Hill, the host of the MotoAmerica Live+ “Mike On The Mic” live, national TV feed. Much to Shanea’s surprise, Mike slipped under her umbrella and into an improv interview! And she handled it like a seasoned pro!! She was adorable, smart, and funny. Mike asked if she was representing the rider who was next to us in the Hot Pit, and without hesitation, she said, “No, I’m with The Remix Racing Project and Jeremy Taubman, #417!” Perfect!!
I would have loved to keep interacting with the fans and soaking in the full spectacle of the event, but a few minutes later, Shanea told me that Carbon was calling back to our pit to get ready for the race.
By the time I had completed all my pre-race rituals, got dressed and ready, and mounted the bike, my entire team was back in the pit. I got my customary kiss, fist bump, and pats on the back, then rolled out through the paddock and into the Hot Pit to wait to be released for our sighting lap.
After being greeted at my P19 grid spot by Shanea, followed by a bonus kiss and high five, we took our warm-up lap and regridded. I was in the same grid spot as yesterday’s race, but for Race 2, the spot two rows in front of me was empty, since #12 Nate Kern had apparently crashed the prior day, ending his race weekend early. A quick mental calculation, and I realized I would now only need to advance 3 positions to earn another championship point.
Head down, chest down, elbows out, steady revs.
Lights on, throttle back, revs up!
Lights out, clutch out, launch!
My bike surged underneath me as I peeled off the grid. I wound up first gear to the limiter before shifting. It felt like I got a great launch, but I was quickly swallowed up in traffic heading into the chicane and lost at least one position. As we all crammed our way through this super-tight section of track, #310, Rodney Vest, who started on the opposite end of my grid row, was attempting to dive underneath me into the right-handed 2nd kink of the chicane. I noticed him just in time to see him wash out his front wheel, and bowl his way into traffic, heading right toward me. Evasive action!! I barely missed him, but #811, Andrew Berkely, wasn’t so lucky! Andrew would eventually rejoin the race, but Rodney’s race was over before he even reached T1 of the first lap.
Okay, that was close! Time to regroup. Head down, throttle open, the chase is on!
I had started the race needing only 3 positions to reach the top-15, but after the chaotic start, I had my work cut out for me, and would have to pull off a few extra overtakes. Within the fist couple laps I had made my way to the back of the fight between my rival from Race 1, AJ, and also #72, Jeff Lane, who was a local with a lot more experience on this track, and was much faster and more competitive here than I remembered him being at Road Atlanta.
The two of them were having a proper battle, and at least by the time I caught up with them, Jeff had the advantage. So, just like the prior day, I would have to outsmart AJ to get by him, if I had any chance of getting in front of this fight and giving myself a chance for a decent finish. Much easier said than done!
Like yesterday, AJ was not only fast but clever. Catching him was the (relatively) easy part. Passing him was another story altogether. Having learned my lesson from Race 1, I avoided the temptation to make an inside pass, knowing how tight he takes an apex. I would have to find my way past him either around the outside, down a straight, or into a braking zone.
I decided to make my first attempt sliding down the roller coaster drop into the right-handed T8. I took the turn a little wide to square it off and get an earlier drive than AJ into the turn, with the plan to make my way around him on the outside. I caught him quickly, and it seemed I might pull off the overtake – more dangerous on the outside, given that I was in his blind spot, and if he washed out, he would be taking me with him. I kept my line tight to his left to make sure I had a clean entry into the next turn, but AJ took a wider line than I expected, quickly closing off any margin of error I was hoping to keep between our bikes. Clack!! As he swung out to his left, he made contact with my right-side handlebar, nearly knocking my brake lever guard off the bar end. Well, at least it did its job, preventing my front brakes from activating and launching me to the moon! But the impact was enough to cause me to careen off his bike and nearly lose control. I got loose, gently stood the bike back up, briefly rolled off the throttle, then regained control of the bike and my composure. Wow, that was close!
As a result of the contact, AJ and Jeff had pulled a small gap that I would have to close all over again, then formulate a new plan of attack. Fortunately, after a not-so-stellar start to the race, I was quickly back in top form and full attack mode. Within the next couple of laps, I made my way back to AJ and Jeff, picked my spots, and got by both of them! Regrettably, the slow start, followed by all the battles, left me with an insurmountable distance to my next rival, #513, Adan Mendoza. Not that I had much chance of beating him on this track anyway, given that he was another local with a ton of experience at the Ridge, and was a couple of seconds per lap faster. So, my best hope was that consolidating my new position, along with any DNF’s in front of me, would be enough to make the top 15.
I pushed hard for the next couple of laps to make sure that I put a comfortable margin between me and Jeff. At one point, I looked over my shoulder and didn’t see him, or any bike, for that matter. As I raced down the front straight for the penultimate time and saw the waving white flag, I was certain that I owned my position heading into the final lap. Well, I guess I must have looked over the wrong shoulder, because as I was braking for the chicane, a bit more casually than usual since I thought I had my position in the bag, Jeff flies out of nowhere, dives to the inside of the track, and beats me into the entrance of the chicane. You’ve gotta be kidding me!! Where did he come from?!
I followed Jeff through the chicane and out the other side. Man, he was fast! He managed to stretch a gap of at least half a second by the time he entered T1. I was momentarily overcome with the sinking feeling that I was going to lose my position, and on the final lap. On my list of worst-case scenarios while racing, this wasn’t exactly at the top, but it was pretty damned close!
But there was no time to feel sorry for myself. I quickly shook off the self-deprecating and self-defeating thoughts. I had passed him once, so I could do it again. The only question was whether there was enough time left. Fortunately, I had spent several laps chasing him earlier in the race to have a sense of where he was faster, and where I might have the edge.
He was definitely stronger in the first couple of sectors, and I had to ride the wheels off my bike just to keep him in my sights. But shooting out of T6, the decreasing radius left-handed sweeper, I managed to get my bike stood up early and rip the throttle wide open. Visibly closing the gap, I flipped the bike back over to the right through T7, then dropped down the slope into T8. I managed to climb right onto Jeff’s tail as we entered this series of right-handers, allowing me to set him up into the heavy braking zone before T11. As I had done in other overtakes throughout the weekend, I took a wide entry in order to square off the turn and get onto the throttle early. It also helped that Jeff took a tight, defensive line, clearly aware that I was preparing a pass.
As we shot out of the turn and down the short straight to T12, I closed up as tight on his tail as I could, then used the same strategy from the previous turn with a plan of diving underneath him to the apex.
Jeff wasn’t having any of it! He closed off the line, stuffing my entry and forcing me onto the inside curbing! Aggressive, but smart! I was already committed to the pass and leaned hard into the turn, carving through the inches of track he left for me. We were side-by-side going into the turn, millimeters from touching. For a moment, I thought we might collide, ending both our races before we had a chance to settle who wanted it more. Apparently, he also thought a crash was inevitable because he checked up just in time, allowing us to barely, but safely, make the turn.
The close call was enough to blow both our exit drives, so it was going to be a slow rolling start to our drag race into the Waterfall. Fortunately, I had the slightly better drive out of the turn, so I enjoyed a moment of optimism, but it was short-lived. Again, winning these battles is as much about race craft as it is about speed, and Jeff is certainly a crafty one! Knowing that I would likely beat him to the next turn, Jeff shifted his line to the left, giving himself the best shot at a block pass into T13 at the top of the Waterfall. Apparently, he was taking a page from the playbook I used against AJ in Race 1. Well played!
This was my last chance to make a pass, and the only way it was going to happen was if I got far enough in front of him before the turn to keep him behind me, rather than allow him to steal my line to the apex. So, I stayed heavy on the throttle for as long as I possibly could. I made it past him and shifted slightly to the left to try and block his path, but both of these tactics combined meant that I was coming into the most technical part of the track WAY too hot, and with a far-from-ideal entry into the turn. I waited as long as I could, full-throttle, before grabbing a handful of front brakes, much deeper into the braking zone than I had all weekend long.
Please stop. Please stop! I was quickly running out of track and had to slow the bike enough to make the turn, and quickly! Thank God we installed the new brake pads! Just before I reached the top of the Waterfall, I tried to trail my braking into the turn as gently as I possibly could. But it seemed I had left my braking just a bit too late! As I entered the tight, off-camber drop off, I was still slightly too heavy on the brakes, and my front tire locked up and slipped out from underneath me! Oh shit! A front-end washout in the final sector of the final lap of the final race of the weekend would be the absolute worst way for this to end!
But I refused to give in to the crash. I became as light and nimble on the bike as I could, allowing it to roll back into an upright position underneath me. Feathering the brakes as softly as I could muster, still almost certain I might run off the track, I tried to regain control of the bike while simultaneously slowing and leaning it through the turn. Holy cow, I might save this after all!
As I ran out of track to the outside of the turn, I found myself skirting along the right-side curbing. But little by little, inch by inch, I was somehow able to regain control of the bike and barely managed to correct my line, just in time to get back on the throttle and roll into the next turn. God damn, that was close!
But it wasn’t over yet. Barely making the turn also meant that I blew my line, and I knew that Jeff had cheated left to take a nice, tight turn into this section, which would put him underneath me through the apex of T13. And, if he was fast enough, he would blow right by me with only two turns left. My only chance now was to keep him on my left, which was the outside of T14, and use my roll speed to push him off the race line so I could block his entry into the final turn. Well, it wasn’t pretty, but it worked!
I entered the final turn in the lead and knew I had to do everything perfectly to finish off the lap in front. Hard lean, knee down, eyes forward, waiting for the perfect moment to pick the bike back up and hammer the throttle. Mission accomplished!
As I drove over the inside curbing of the right-hand kink that spit me out onto the front straight, I tucked as tight as I could and focused solely on my tachometer, rather than the track. I needed to hit my shift points with precision to get every ounce of drive to the finish line. Just as my tach flashed red, 3rd gear! Then, 4th! In my peripheral I caught a glimpse of the waving checkered flag in front of me to the right. I was only meters away. Feet away. Inches away. FINISH LINE!!!
I stayed on the throttle for a few extra beats to make sure I didn’t leave anything to chance, and just as I let off, Jeff came flying by me! Where the hell was he during the drive to the checker? Behind me? Alongside me? Who crossed it first?!
As we exited the chicane on our cool-down lap, I pulled up next to him and we shook hands and congratulated each other. Win or lose, this was one of the best, most intense battles I’d ever had on a race track, and we certainly gave the fans their money’s worth!
Jeff took the lead through the next section as we waved to all the corner workers and marshals. Just before we cruised through T6, I caught up with him and gestured, “You or me? Who won?” He pointed at me, then gave me a thumbs up. I did it! It was close, but I somehow managed to hold my position to the line. Who knows what would have happened if Jeff had a few extra meters of track? Thank goodness we didn’t have to find out!
As we passed all the fan-filled bleacher sections, we got a standing ovation for our efforts. I waved and blew kisses to show my appreciation for the fans and all their support. We finished off our cool-down lap and made our way to Parc Ferme, where my entire team was waiting for me. They were all wearing ear-to-ear smiles, but also looked almost as relieved as I felt that I not only won the battles, but didn’t die in the process!
As soon as my helmet and gloves were off, I was covered in hugs, fist bumps, and congratulations. Once again, I had no idea what position I finished in, perhaps even more than usual, given how focused I was chasing down my rivals and paying almost no attention to anything else. If I’m being honest, even if I finished outside of the points and had slower lap times than Race 1, I would have still been thrilled with the results. There’s almost nothing better than a last-lap pass, and whatever position I finished in was the most hard-won of my racing career. So, when Shanea told me I finished P14, and with my best lap of the weekend, my head nearly exploded!
We grabbed each other in another celebratory embrace, hopping around like we just won the lottery! I kept dancing even after she let go. Another amazing moment on this magical MotoAmerica journey we were on!
I made my way over to Jeff to thank him for such a great race, and he congratulated me on my victory, which I won by the narrowest of margins, which turned out to be only 0.05 seconds! Jeff is a great racer, but also a very classy guy. I’m grateful I got to share the track with him, and I’m looking forward to our next epic battle.