Loretta Lynn's GNCC

April 29, 2007 - Hurricane Mills, Tennessee

I woke up sick on Friday morning and knew this was going to be a tough weekend.  All weekend long I just felt drained of energy....and that was before the race even started!  Since this is the closest race to home there seemed to be Arkansas riders everywhere I went!  I know a lot of you guys were wanting to see me get back on the podium and believe me...I want to get back up there too but I just wasn't feeling it this race and wanted to leave Tennessee with as many points as possible.

I actually got a decent start this time and after the first few turns was in the top 5.  Rodney was setting a good pace up front so I just tried to pace myself and stay with them.  Nearing the end of lap 1, however, I started feeling my back tire giving way.  I was in denial at first because I just couldn't believe I could have another flat 2 weeks in a row but as I crossed the road and headed to the motocross track I started sliding around even more.  I looked down and sure enough it was flat.  I went through the pits trying to get everyone's attention to let them know that I'm going to have to stop next time around.  I tried to ride as safely as possible on lap 2 and dropped back a few positions into 6th.  I pitted at the beginning of lap 3 where they had the rear wheel of Jason's bike waiting on me.  A few friends from Arkansas, Brian Sanders and Jim Ingram, had dropped by the pits and were then recruited to help out on the tire change.  It went as quickly as you could expect and then I was off going again in around 8th or 9th place.

With the new wheel on I knew I was just going to have to try to salvage as many points as I could.  I made it into 5th by the end of the 4th lap but could tell I was running out of energy and I could also feel my stomach starting to cramp.  The next three laps I basically did all I could do to just hang on to the bike and make it cleanly around the lapped riders.

It's kind of frustrating that I finally get a good start on a day when I'm not feeling my best but then again, I guess it's better than not feeling your best and getting a bad start!  Thanks again to everyone who wished me luck and rooted me on out there.  I hope everyone enjoyed a great weekend with nice weather and good racing.