Well, I got to see my first national, and it didn't disappoint. I wish Bubba was there, but I can't complain at all. Tons of people, great weather, F16 flyovers, great track, girls everywhere...
Racing before his hometown fans lit a fire under Short's a$$, but he just couldn't reel in Tedesco. Ivan put in two flawless motos. Brown was off the pace in moto 1, then he got a piece of a hay bail stuck in his rear wheel in moto 2. Hepler was fast, but didn't get the starts. Langston looked good in moto 1, but had some bad luck in the second race.
Both 450 motos ended up in the usual fashion, but K-dub kept RC honest for a good 5 or 6 laps in moto 2. Reed was fast in the first race, but way off the pace in the second. He was gracious on the podium, but he didn't even stick around for the champagne ceremony.
What surprised me the most was how loud those thumpers are. It's actually annoying.
I timed the 250's and the 450's with a stopwatch. I had Tedesco around 2:20 in the early laps of moto 1, and I timed RC around 2:15 in the early laps of his first moto.
I rode Thunder Valley two years ago, and it was in bad shape. It's completely different now. They made a big effort to get it into pro national form.
The worst thing about the races was the traffic. We waited on the OFF RAMP for 45 minutes. Then taxi'd for another 30 minutes to the parking lot. We then waited 20 minutes for the bus to arrive. They didn't plan on this many people showing up.
All in all, it was a blast.
Ryan