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TEAM
DIRTBIKEMIKE
Round 4 -----
Charlotte, North Carolina
JANUARY 5 --- 7,
2007
January 2
Hey everybody, it’s good to be back on the road again, I hope everyone
enjoyed the holidays. We are headed to the 4 th round of the series in
Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s a good thing too because my old Dodge
crapped out on me about two days ago and I didn’t have time to mess with
it before I left Arkansas. I guess I need to trash that junker and go
out and buy a new Toyota Tacoma like the one I’m driving for Arenacross.
Toyota is excited about the release of their new Tundra that will be out
very soon. It’s a half ton truck that will out tow all the domestic
trucks in its class. It will actually tow 10,000 pounds which is what
the ¾ ton trucks tow. So go check this truck out at your local dealer,
they should be there soon.
We left Arkansas on Tuesday after celebrating
New Year’s Eve. We had to stop in Little Rock at Kawasaki Sportscenter
to pick up some parts and headed east on I-40. It sure is a straight
line on I-40 all the way to North Carolina. In fact we didn’t turn once
all the way from Little Rock until we got to North Carolina.
January 3
Man this day was rough on me. I went to sleep at about 5 am and got up
about 8 am when we arrived at the Bobcats Arena in downtown Charlotte. I
got volunteered to be the loadmaster for all 15,000 yards of dirt that
was hauled in to build the track. That’s a whole lot of red clay and it
was all over everything. But, hey it looked good caked on the Toyota.
That’s one thing about a truck and motocrossers, we both look good
dirty.
After a nap and a shower, we decided to go
check out Charlotte’s downtown area and grab a bite to eat. We ate at
the Pixx’s Pizza joint that featured fire cooked pizza and it was really
good. After flirting with our very interesting waitress we got the
entire lowdown on Charlotte’s nightlife. I think I might want to live in
North Carolina. There were some HOT looking women in downtown Charlotte.
January 4
Thursday was bike maintenance day, but not a lot to do. I did rebuild
Chad’s 450. Have you ever rebuilt a four stroke? Not something you do
while watching Jerry Springer. Toyota Tim showed up and we helped him
unload all of the really cool replica helmets from their sponsorship
program. Later that night, we headed over to Wal-Mart in the Toyota for
weekend supplies. We typically need a lot of chow and Pam’s crew eats
more than we do. Good thing we had the TOYOTA. On the way back, Beau
found Tim’s air horn in the backseat of the Toyota and announced our
presence to everyone on the sidewalk. I really felt like a redneck, but
I knew that we were still pretty cool in the Toyota Arenacross truck.
Our top rider, Robbie Smith is still recuperating from his Reno injury
and won’t be back this season. Mike recruited a new rider, Mason
Glorioso. He’s from Missouri and will ride a KX250F in the Lites class.
Thanks to Mike West from Hidden Valley MX in Covington, Tennessee for
giving Mason a ride up to Charlotte.
January 5
The afternoon qualifiers went well and Chad made the night show in both
classes. Tolland qualified for the night show in the Lites, but crashed
out in the big bike class. Our new rider, Mason Glorioso qualified for
the night show in the Lites class with a second place in the semi. I
think you could say he was a little excited. But none of them qualified
for the mains Friday night. Even Kevin Johnson failed to qualify for the
night show. In Arenacross sometimes the big dogs have bad nights too.
January 6
Saturday was a new day and that meant there was a whole new set of
possibilities. You have to look to the future rather than the past. One
thing that we try to instill in all the riders on the team is that
positive thinking will produce better results than dwelling on your
failures. If racing is your life, then your results reflect your life.
Beau made his first night show of the year in the Lites and he was
pumped. Chad made the night program in both classes and Tolland
transferred in the Lites class, but a big crash in the whoops ended his
chances in the Arenacross class. There is always a track party on
Saturdays at the Toyota AMA Arenacross Series. All of the team took
their bikes out for display and signed lots of autographs and answered
questions from the fans. If you are planning to check out an AMA
Arenacross this year, come early on Saturday for the track party.
The night show went well. Chad and Tolland both
made the main right out of their qualifiers. Beau didn’t have a great
night and he struggled to get it all put together. Chad’s wrist was
bothering him and he decided to not ride the big bike and focus only on
the Lites class. Chad and Tolland got mediocre starts, but hung in there
and were moving through the pack. Chad and another rider went down and
it took Chad about three laps to get his bike fired off. Tolland worked
his way up to eighth for his best finish of the year.
I wasn’t prepared to race on Sunday, so I
decided to go blow off some steam at the Arenacross after party. There
was a crowd at the Bullhead Bar after the event and I just thought I
needed ear protection at the races. It was loud and raunchy. We had a
great time watching the Anaheim Supercross on the big screen. But
socializing with some of the local talent was also interesting. We
topped our day off around 5am by dining at one of America’s fine
eateries, Waffle House.
January 7
We slept until noon on Sunday and just hung out at the arena watching
the amateur races. Mike stayed busy wrenching on Sunday as the Toyota
Mechanic and even got a good tip from a 50cc dad. Mike tried to turn it
down but the dad insisted that he take it, since Mike saved the day for
his rider. I guess I should have gotten up and helped, naaaaah. Tolland
went to Tennessee with the Team Faith riders to check out their new
training facility in Cookeville.
January 8
On Monday, we hit the road again. With the next event in Baltimore less
than seven hours away, we didn’t get in a hurry. We only made it 200
miles and decided to stop at Wal-Mart for supplies. After some shopping
we watched a movie and ended up camping in the parking lot.
January 9
We headed out Tuesday around 10am. It was time to hit the quarter car
wash and clean up the bikes. Of course the Toyota always draws some
lookers and we soon had some fans at the car wash and we all signed some
autographs. One question we always get: Are you famous? And I always
say, “Of course I am, don’t you know me?” They don’t have to know that I
am only famous in my backyard. Thanks for all the recognition, Denise
and R.D. After taking care of the dirty bikes, we spent a couple of
hours at a laundry taking care of business. Dirtbikemike rolled up the
high score on the MS Pacman. We rolled in to the First Mariner Arena in
Baltimore around 11pm. Being the first rig in is always a plus and we
got the primo parking spot inside the building. Corey Smith and his
mechanic Lance met us and we planned our trip to Washington, D.C. on
Wednesday. My plan included checking out the Smithsonian, the Washington
Monument and probably talking foreign policy with old George W.
January 10
Beau, Corey, Lance and I all loaded up in the Toyota and
headed into D.C. The four doors on the Toyota are nice when you have
four adults. There is plenty of room in the back seat for three adults
if needed. The Capitol City is interesting and we took in plenty of
sights. We spent most of our time in the Smithsonian. We even acted our
age and didn’t cut up or disrupt things like we would have just a few
years ago. I guess we’re getting closer to adulthood because we tried to
represent Toyota and our sport well. Since Lance and I are more
intellectuals than the rest of the crew we try to lead rather than
follow. Well, Lance and Corey just graduated from college too. I guess I
get that maturity from being around Dirtbikemike for the past six years.
He’s always on us to speak proper English and not act like heathens. We
also checked out the White House and the Washington Memorial. After
spending most of the day walking, we had to jump in a cab and get a ride
back to the Toyota. Of course we got lost and were headed south instead
of north. I live in the country on a dirt road, so driving in rush hour
traffic in DC is not for me. 45 minutes later were going the right way.
Beau had fallen asleep and couldn’t believe we were still in D.C. We
made it back to the arena okay and we are ready for this weekend.
Check back next week for the full Baltimore
report.
Toyota Phil |