TEAM DIRTBIKEMIKE

Round  8 ---  Springfield, Illinois  

February  2 -- 4 , 2007

 February 1

            The bad weather put us in the parking lot at the Isle of Capri for the night.  Of course, Pam showed us how to walk out a winner.  We got a good night of rest and then headed over to Springfield for round eight.  After the trip from Denver, I had to find a carwash to clean up the Toyota.  Of course, some of the car wash guys were really checking out the truck.graphics.  I gave them some Toyota swag and they did a great job on the truck..  With the Toyota all shined up, I headed back to the arena.  It was starting to snow and I was glad to get that baby inside for the show.  Mike and the guys had secured a good spot for the rig and we were ready for the weekend.

February 2

             It’s always hectic on Friday and we sometimes don’t always organize the trailer when we get through racing.  It took us awhile to get things lined out for the weekend.  The track in Springfield was a bit different from all of the others because the arena is square, not a rectangle.  Mike was sick Thursday and Friday, so he missed all of the action.  Since we are down to only two riders now, my job has become a lot easier with only three bikes to get ready instead of the eight we had back in November.  Tolland had to go through the LCQ to make the night show in the Lites.  Beau didn’t make the night show and has struggled all year with this series.  When the night show rolled around, Tolland couldn’t find the handle on his starts and once again was in the position of trying to work his way up. Of course in arenacross, getting a bad start is like not racing at all.  He missed the main event.

February 3

            On Saturday it was more of the same for the team.  It looked like Tolland was in the movie Groundhog Day.  He ended up in almost in the exact same position as the night before.  He had a big crash on one of the triples when he seat bounced it and endoed into the face. He was able to walk off the track.  After a quick check of his bike, he collected himself and went back out in the next race and transferred to the night show.  Beau failed to make the night show again and it is really starting to bother him.  Once again, Tolland didn’t get a very good start and failed to make the main.  Even though he didn’t make it in, he did put in some good lap times. 

February 4

              On Sunday, I worked at my “day job”.  As usual, I’m sure that I mispronounced some of the rider’s name.  Plus my southern accent is always good for the crowd.  I’m still hot to race again before the series is over and the track at Springfield looked like it would have been a lot of fun.  After the races, I loaded up in the Toyota headed back to Dayton to hang out with Angel.   Mike, Pam and Tolland headed to OMA in Anna, Ohio for some seat time. On Tuesday, I went up and joined them for the day and got some good practice in.  Before I could head back to Dayton, it started snowing and it took me three hours to drive thirty miles.  We’ll meet up in Michigan for the next round.  It’s been freezing cold here in Ohio and I’m sure that Michigan will be more of the same.  But I’m sure that the 4WD in the Toyota will get me anywhere I want to go. 

Moving Forward

Toyota Phil