Now it was heat race time, and we were in the second race with Jake Johnson, Bryan Smith and others. I knew Johnson would be tough, but I felt like we really had a shot at this one, as we had pretty much gone back to last nights setup by now, but always trying something new too, as I knew there was room for improvement on this slick surface. We just had to find it!  The starting line was pretty even all the way across, and at the light, I was about third going into turn one. Johnson had the holeshot, followed by Brady Mueller and myself. Just as we come out of turn two, Mueller grabs too much throttle, and around he starts to go right in front of me. This makes me check up to avoid hitting him as he is trying to save it, which he does, but this let a couple of people by us both. I then get going again, and get back into second in the next turn or two, and then just as I enter turn three, here comes someone really hard down low, going way too fast? This makes me have to check up and swerve really wide again to avoid getting hit, so I take a look over my shoulder and see Brady, riding the wheels off his bike, charging hard. I'm thinking, dang Brady, settle down and lets get this race going. I lost some time again, and the whole time while this was all going on, Johnson was out front getting away from us all. I put my head down and put in some real good hard laps and closed the gap up on Johnson by a bunch, only to run out of time before the finish of the race. We ended up having the fastest heat race time of the night, and beings I knew I had closed the gap on Jake from 3 or 4 seconds to just under one second at .8 he beat me by, plus I had the fastest individual lap time of the race by a couple of tenths, I knew we had something going in the right direction. And we was fast!

    For the Dash For Cash, I would line up 4th over, with Johnson on pole, then Wiles, Sam Halbert, Johnny Lewis, and Raun Wood. I was second off the line, with Halbert up front and the rest right behind. They award points in these dash for cash races, so it is pretty important to try and get as many points as possible, as most guys have to sit and watch this race, as only the top 2 riders out of each heat race get into these. Right away I was pressuring Halbert, with Johnson and Wiles pushing me too. Lap after lap I was right there, having to check up at times as Halberts exit speed was not that great, but he was getting into the turns pretty good.  Halbert and I had two different lines, and they were kind of crossing right in the middle of the each turn. I was running out of time, as these races are only 4 laps. I knew my line was working great, but I just could not find a way past him yet. On the last corner I went for it, and grabbed a huge handful and tried to go around the outside of him, and this shot me way wide on the exit of turn four heading to the flag. Side beside we went by the finish, with Halbert getting the win by .017 second. Dang, that was close, but once again, I had the fastest individual lap time of the race by a couple of tenths over Halbert and the rest. I knew I had to just keep doing what I was doing, and it would come to me in 25 laps for the final. I was ready!

    Right before the main event, once again I seen the Pro class racing their final, and there were some guys using the high cushion, but my new line I was using still looked like it would work for me. It took me quite a few laps in my heat race to figure out this line, but once I got it going, it sure worked good. I also knew the track was going to be a little different for the final, and it would probably take me some more time to get my line working again, but I had 25 laps, and I was going to figure it out once again.

    Off the start, Johnson got the holeshot, then it was myself way up high going into turn one, with Sam Halbert down low, followed by Lewis, Wiles and the rest. Right away coming off the first turn, Sam Halbert grabs a huge handful and his bike just about does a circle, then he saves it and his bike does a circle the opposite way, with him finally hitting the ground. You would have to see this one, as it is a classic, and how he did not get hit by someone back in the pack? I donot know. It was classic "Halbert style".  He picked it up quick and the race kept going. With Johnson up front, and myself in second, I knew this was the exact same race as our heat race. Time to figure out your line again Joe I told myself, but I knew I could not get in too much of a hurry, as this track was still very, very slick, especially on the entries to both turns. I kept trying lap after lap to figure out how I could get into these turns like I was earlier, and there just was not near the traction right here as there was earlier in the night. So I moved my line up pretty high for the entry's, and I would stay way up high the entire corner. High, Wide and Handsome as they say! Well, it was definitely the long way around the track once again, but when I moved down to try the lower line a couple of times, I just could not make myself comfortable down there. I'm sure I may have been able to figure it out down there if I had tried it lap after lap like the rest of the guys did, but that was just not in my style today or last night. They started getting past me one by one down low, but I was having so much easy fun up top, I was not going to move. Wiles was following me the whole time up high too, so I was not the only guy up here, just one of the few. I ended up coming home in the seventh spot, which I was more happy about my ride tonight than last night really. I knew I had them covered earlier tonight, just the track kind of went away from me once again, just as it did last night you might say. You might wonder why I did not keep working the lower line, but all I can say is, "I had fun up high and they didn't" hah aha

    After the two days of nationals, I ended up coming out of Daytona tied for 2nd in the overall points standings. And this year the AMA is going back to giving the overall points leader at years end the # 1 plate, as it should be. So it was a GREAT start for me in 2010. I can't wait for the rest of the season to get going.

    Until next time, G'day! Joe