Last weekend March 5th- 7th Stephens Motorsports headed south to Valdosta Ga. the the first AMA Dragbike race of the 2010 season, "The Bike Week Nationals. The weekend started off as the first race of the season usually does with minor problems with the bikes and a major problem with the rider being a bit rusty on riding skill from the time off and 25 lbs. heavier from all the holiday eating! After two horrible time runs and two first round losses in Saturdays Street E.T and Pro E.T classes it was time to qualify for Street Fighter. With a brand new set of clutches in the bike and no burn in time I knew I would have problems launching the bike off of the starting line. My first qualifying pass I ran a 9.64 on the 9.50 index which wasn't bad and would get me in but I knew with a little adjustment on the clutch and a better launch I could do better. The second round of
qualifying came around and this time the clutch felt a little better and the rider was a little more focused on the task at hand. I left the line with a career best .014 pro-tree reaction time and ran a 9.54 lifting off the throttle at the finish. That pass was good enough to qualify me in the no.11 spot in the field of 39. Sunday morning came with hope that it would be a great race day but it just wasn't in the cards for me. First round of Street Fighter the new clutches bit me once more and pulled me through the beams on the starting line to a -.120 RED light! After being in the final of the last two Street Fighter races I was eliminated in round one and going home! Needless to say it wasn't a good weekend but I'm looking forward to race two April 10-12 at Atlanta and I'm sure I will be a little better prepared and will have my ducks in a row by then! The worst part of having an off weekend like I had in Valdosta is letting my sponsors down and with a little luck and better focus maybe my next race report will be a little more exciting to read! Thanks Again for all your help!

Schnitz Motorsports Inc. - 222 N 3rd St - Decatur, In 46733 - 260.728.9457