An off weekend had us at a local NCHSA event a couple hours’ drive away in Denver NC. I had been to this venue years earlier practicing with Shane Watts, Glenn Kearney and Josh
Strang, so had an idea what to expect.
I drew first pick of the gate and chose well, taking the hole shot. There had been a machine over the track that made it fairly smooth and recent rain kept the dust down.
I opened up a gap pretty quickly which was good as we were soon into traffic. A short lap of 5.5 miles had the lap times hovering around 14 minutes.
It was difficult for Katherine to get split times as it was tough to see any other part of the track from the pits. Most times I got were a lap behind so I had to be careful not to relax too much and let anyone sneak up on me. After the gas stop where Katherine had drafted in a bunch of help (Thanks Guys), I continued to edge away.
Using the event as a bit of practice ahead of upcoming OMA and GNCC events I decided to try out some new stuff in a race situation. Leatt makes a drink system that is designed to route the drink hose in through the helmet to save reaching for it. I have used the Leatt drink system for years now but never in this configuration. I must say it was pretty good. I never needed to take my hands off the bars to find the hose. It could be a real advantage at the rough tracks or last lap battles when the action is too intense to grab a drink. By the time the checkered flag was out I had a safe lead and some good seat time.
1st: Paul Whibley
2nd: Robby Norwood
3rd: Trevor Barrett
