Once practice got underway on this first day, the track started coming apart really bad. I mean there were some huge rocks that were the size of golf balls everywhere in the turns, as I did not mind this too much, but I know this problem was not what they thought was going to happen. It was very rough and slick too, but we all had to ride the same track. After three sessions of bouncing around, I ended up qualifying in the 7th spot. So now we would have a couple hour break until the night program would start with the heat races, semis, dashes and main events.  Like I said, this track was brand new, and even though they had brought this dirt from the old race track down the road that we raced on last year, it was acting way different right now. I knew the track crew would try something different for sure for the night show, so all of us riders were really not too sure what it was going to be like tonight.

    I would be in the first heat race of the night, along with Chris Carr, Bryan Smith, Johnny Lewis and others. A top two finish puts you into the Dash for Cash later in the night too, which awards points too, so I knew I needed a good finish right now. At the start, my Team Latus Motors www.TeamLatus.com  MotoConcepts www.MotoConcepts.com Honda 450 jumped out of the hole awesome, and the holeshot was mine. Wow, right away I noticed just how slick this track was now, which was way different compared to earlier in the day for qualifying. I changed my lines up a little the first few laps to try and figure out the best way around, and it seemed that just right around the bottom of the track was probably the best. Even though it seemed like I was just putting around the bottom, it was working I guess. Lap after lap my bike was working great. I ended up coming home with the heat race win, with Lewis second, and Carr third. Dash for Cash, here we come! Plus my heat race time was the fastest of the night, so I would have pole for the Dash and the Main. COOL!

    As the night went on, I watched and watched this new track, and it really had not been changing too much. Man the old track used to change so much, you really had to stay on top of what was happening, but that did not seem to be happening here so far.  It was just flat slick everywhere with a few holes here and there on the exits of the corners, which I was happy to see. My theory is, is that there is traction in the bottom of all those holes, ya just gotta hold on and hope for the best when bouncing through them. haha

    Now the dash For Cash was up, and I had pole, so I took the far inside starting spot. The 2nd and 3rd spots over looked best to me, but I could not take them, inside or outside only in this race. In the Dash, it was Wiles, Coolbeth, Sam Halbert, Weidman, Lewis and myself. A tough group for sure. At the flash of the light, my bike jumped out pretty good, but Johnny Lewis got the holeshot with me right behind. I followed Lewis lap after lap, as I was right there, nipping at his rear wheel, but he was not making many mistakes and with only four laps, time was running out. Wiles was right behind me the whole time I guess, but like Lewis, I was glued to the bottom of the track too. We came home in second, right behind Lewis, with Halbert, Wiles and Coolbeth in that order behind us. Good start for the year with 4 points in my pocket already.

    Now it was time for the Main event! The track still had not changed too much but I had noticed that in the Pro Singles main event right before our race, that they were running up high and making it work ok too, as there was a very little amount of cushion up there, but I just was not too sure how long that would last if I was to try it. So we roll out for the final, and I picked the second spot over, which looked perfecto to me. Somedays we get a warm up lap to feel out the track if they had changed it, but tonight, no warmup lap, just go for it! When the light went green, my Honda ripped out of there and the holeshot was mine! Yah, I knew it was gonna happen thataway. hahaha So right away I went up to the high side of the track and could feel some pretty good grip up here. The cushion felt pretty good to me, but I also knew that I was definitely taking the long, very long way around the track right now, as my line was probably a good 20 feet higher than I had ridden all day so far. But it was working, so I kept at it. Then about 5 laps later, here comes someone trying to make the bottom work, as I knew they were probably making time on me on the entrance to the turns, but my drive off the corner was really good. I moved down on lap 6 or so, and tried this lower line again, but I just could not make it work very good it seemed. Sam Halbert then got by me by using the lower line, and before I knew it, there were a bunch of guys battling with me. Some were up high, some were down low, some in the middle. We had quite the battle with about 6 guys going on for the whole race. I mean one lap I would be way up high, then the next lap I would be down lower just because the line I wanted was taken. It was Wiles, Coolbeth, Jethro Halbert, Johnson, Lewis and myself all having this great battle. The line I preferred was definitely the high line, but it was getting pushed higher and higher up the track, making it slower each time around probably. Sammy ended up winning it, followed  by Wiles, Johnson, Jethro, myself and then Coolbeth. So 2nd in the Dash and 5th in the final, and I was pretty happy with that for the night. Now it was time to go get some good rest and be ready for tomorrows race here once again. Until tomorrow, good'day! Joe