47 starters to the 2008 Ault Park Series B Race, among them, 3 Darkhorses. Brett, Tank, and myself started the night with slightly different game plans but mostly accomplished what we intended to do. On the gun, one rider took off like he was on fire but was put out within a couple of laps. We then settled in and prepared for the first sprint on lap 5. I had not intention of contesting it, the gameplan was to save myself for the double point sprints. In hindsight, I was in good enough position and the sprint looked mellow enough that I should have at least given it a try, but I stuck with my plan.
There were plenty of wobbles and almost crashes and plain bad riding but everyone stayed upright and we got ready for the middle sprint. I was in the top 8 or so as we rounded the back side and several guys went at the bottom of the hill, including Geoff Reynolds, who I believe won the B's last year. I started my sprint a little late (as usual) and had to squeeze between 2 guys which kind of slowed my down. I kept gaining and passed everyone except Reynolds who beat me by a hair. Not bad, 6 points with 10 laps to go.
The next few laps were uneventful as I drifted toward the back to recover a little. With 2 laps to go, I tried to move up on the inside which had worked before but was blocked in this time. As we started the last lap, I was probably 15 - 20 wheels back, not a good spot. I saw Tank several wheels up and yelled for a little help. He swung to the outside and I moved up to his wheel. Tank then turned the turbo on and we proceeded to pass everyone in the field. I yelled at him to slow down as we were still on the back side, I slowed just enough that someone got on his wheel and I jumped on his. Tank then flew around the whole back and bottom side, providing a beautiful lead out. Just as we started the uphill, several riders came underneath us so Tank swung right to get out of the way. I jumped on another wheel and wound it up. One rider had gotten a pretty good jump and managed to stay ahead but I came through for another second.
12 points was good enough for 3rd overall for the night, not a bad way to start the series. Huge thanks to Tank for the selfless leadout. Way to be a great teammate, I couldn't have done it without you!
There were plenty of wobbles and almost crashes and plain bad riding but everyone stayed upright and we got ready for the middle sprint. I was in the top 8 or so as we rounded the back side and several guys went at the bottom of the hill, including Geoff Reynolds, who I believe won the B's last year. I started my sprint a little late (as usual) and had to squeeze between 2 guys which kind of slowed my down. I kept gaining and passed everyone except Reynolds who beat me by a hair. Not bad, 6 points with 10 laps to go.
The next few laps were uneventful as I drifted toward the back to recover a little. With 2 laps to go, I tried to move up on the inside which had worked before but was blocked in this time. As we started the last lap, I was probably 15 - 20 wheels back, not a good spot. I saw Tank several wheels up and yelled for a little help. He swung to the outside and I moved up to his wheel. Tank then turned the turbo on and we proceeded to pass everyone in the field. I yelled at him to slow down as we were still on the back side, I slowed just enough that someone got on his wheel and I jumped on his. Tank then flew around the whole back and bottom side, providing a beautiful lead out. Just as we started the uphill, several riders came underneath us so Tank swung right to get out of the way. I jumped on another wheel and wound it up. One rider had gotten a pretty good jump and managed to stay ahead but I came through for another second.
12 points was good enough for 3rd overall for the night, not a bad way to start the series. Huge thanks to Tank for the selfless leadout. Way to be a great teammate, I couldn't have done it without you!
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