JD Beach Racing Press Release:
I finally got to put my hot shoe back on and swing my leg over my Yamaha 450 dirt tracker and do some racing. We made the trip out to Castle Rock, Washington and what a weekend to pick for my first race of the year. We had a three day weekend of non-stop racing. Two days of racing on the oval track (never really heard what size it is) and then the AMA Pro National on the TT.
Like I said this was the first race I’ve done since before Daytona so its been a while and I was really excited to be getting on the 450. We flew into Portland where we picked Jake Johnson up and headed straight for the Fisher’s house where Jake’s team and TJ Burnett Racing had set up base for the West Coast swing of the series. It was great to see everyone and be at Rex’s house again, its been two years since I was out there last so it was nice to see everyone. After getting up at 3 in the morning to leave to the airport and not sleeping on the plane it made for a long day at the races. The flight was perfect timing to get to Castle Rock in time for the first night of racing.
The first night went really well. Not too many pros raced but the ones that did were fast. I had some really good battles with Brandon Robinson and Davis Fisher. The track wasn’t the best its ever been but not to bad. It was good to have Jimmy Wood there to set up my 2014 Yamaha 450.
He had me take the shock off probably eight times to do re-valving and spring changes. It was a lot of work, with being tired and it being hot out but by the end of the weekend it paid off. After all the racing and loading up by the time Kerri and I got back to the hotel we had been up for over 24 hours and with little food. Castle Rock and the town that Davis lives in, Warren, OR is small, actually every town between Portland and Castle Rock is small so it was hard to find places to eat the first day when your tired and wore out. The next couple days got better once we learned the area but that first day was brutal.
Friday morning after a few hours of sleep it was time to unload the bikes at Rex’s and get them ready for that day. We ended up doing that every morning before the races and even Sunday after the races because they had to get ready for Sturgis that is on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun, getting to work on bikes all morning everyday with a good, fun group of guys. I’m sure by the end of the weekend Rex was tired of hearing “Hey Rex” because it always came
before a question.
After racing Thursday I had to flip my rear tire for the race on Friday along with other things. I got it all done and we loaded up to head to the track. After practice Jimmy had me pull the rear shock off again and with a little change the bike was working good. We made a gearing change and I was very happy with the bike. In the heat race they took two to the main and in my heat race Sammy Halbert was going really well and since we were on the same built bike it was good to see how they worked compared to each others. I finished second but a close second behind him and there was no drama until after the race. At Castle Rock you exit the track in the middle of the first turn and when you get to racing someone its hard to slow down. As we were exiting I was going way too fast and had the rear brakes locked up but slammed into Sammy. He was not very happy about it and ran back into me. It made for a good show for the fans, but after I went to the pits and explained what happened and it was all ok after that.
Before the main I decided to check the air pressure and to my surprise it was the first time I did since I changed the tire earlier that day. Once I had some good tire pressure I was ready for the main. Having to start on the second row on a track that is hard to pass on I knew it was going to be a tough race. Jared Mees and I were both back there. We worked our way up through the pack and I ended up 5th with Jared in 4th.
Going into Saturday I was feeling really good. A little stressed but good. This was the first national I’ve ever done in five years that I didn’t have a mechanic. Of course I had plenty of people there willing to help but they were also there for Davis. I’m just there to have fun and get a good result, Davis and his crew are racing every race chasing the points so I didn’t want to take away from him. Practice went really well, I had one tiny crash and a gearing change to make but we qualified 4th so I was happy about that.
In the heat race Mikey Rush got the hole shot and I was running third behind Brad Baker. The track was hard to pass on but I kept at it and tried to pass him. At the end of the day I’m not there for points so I wasn’t going to settle for 3rd even if it would get me into the Dash for Cash. The main part to pass was over the jump so one lap I just went wide open, flat landed and tried to make the pass. I think I almost had it made but Brad’s a big boy and leaned on me and I lost the front. I popped up as fast as I could and made a few passes to make it into the main.
The main wasn’t to exciting for us. It was a close race but with it being so hard to pass, there wasn’t much passing. Before the main though, I was going crazy, after three days of racing I was getting ready to do a 25 lap main event. I knew something had to be loose on the bike after working on it for so many days in a rush.
Surprisingly there wasn’t anything. Jimmy Wood pushed my bike out for me in the main which was nice because we were walking and laughing and it was very low stress before the race started. During the race I really only made one pass on Jeffrey Carver to get into 5th. It was just awesome to have such a great race coming from the second row and being my first national in 10 months.
Probably to top off the great weekend was Saturday night/Sunday morning at about 1am after getting loaded up and leaving we went to eat. TJ, Rex, Brandon, Davis, Kerri, and I. The food was just OK but the milkshakes were amazing but before we got into the restaurant, Davis locked his keys in his truck. You would of thought he just heard the funniest joke by the way he was acting so Rex and I gave him some crap. He was just laughing. After ordering our food we went out there and Davis GOOGLED how to break into a Ford Ranger and within 10 minutes we had his keys. That just finished the weekend off right.
Before flying red eye Sunday night we spent the day working on bikes. Then right before leaving to head to the airport I needed to make my mark on Oregon. So I jumped in my rental car and spun a few laps sideways on his short track. It was a good time. Next up is Indy this weekend for watching then the famous Peoria TT.
For more information: www.jdbeach95.com
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