Daytona Bike Week

Well another year of preparing and making the trip to Florida and back is over. Getting ready for the trip is always fun, but very hectic. I left for Daytona Monday February 25th to give me a couple days of testing to get use to my 2007 & 2006 RMZ 450 that I was to ride in the hot shoe series until the 2008 bike is released. Many of you know that American Suzuki and Bromley’s came on full time to help me for the 2008 season. I was very excited and prepared to take on not only a new season, but a new bike.  Paul who is the owner of Mid Carolina Speedway decided to give me a day and a half of testing before the open practice at Savannah. We arrived at Mid Carolina at 9 in the morning after driving nonstop to arrive in time. Once we arrived at the track there was some rain that was coming down that lasted long enough to wet the track, but short enough for us to be able to ride. I got on the track at about 6:30 at night and after the first lap I knew my change to Suzuki was going to be a success. The bike and the setup were incredible and I couldn't have been happier with how it handled. After finishing the night with a couple practice starts I was ready to start racing. The next morning we woke up to about eleven other riders being at the track to dial in their equipment. The track dried out and became real rough, so I decided to do some laps on my framer to get some time on the fresh motor. After getting some time on the bike I made the decision to load up as the track was getting dry and the bumps were getting harder to rider over. We loaded up and took a 2 hour drive to the next track to do some more testing at Savannah with Nichole Cheza. I arrived there with total focus on my 450's, but after running some fast times on them I took the opportunity to do some testing on the XR 750. I felt a lot better on the bike this year and felt that all I can do now is improve on it. The next night was an open practice to everyone and anyone, which I again took the opportunity to ride my 450s against other riders. I did only two sessions and called it quits as I felt real confident with the first race approaching quickly. The next day was finally Friday February 29th, which was the first day of the new hot shoe series.

Savannah Hot Shoe Race February 29th
In my scratch heat I got off the line not exactly where I wanted to be. I think I got off the line somewhere in 4th or 5th. I went into the first turn and passed up to second with only one rider in front of me. I worked and worked to get around him, but just couldn’t get the straight away speed that I needed. So I ended up finishing 2nd out of 8 guys in the scratch heat. For my heat race I had the 2007 horizon award winner Jeffrey Carver in my heat. I knew coming into the series that him and James Rispoli were going to most likely be my biggest competitors of the year.  Once again I got a bad start, but worked my way up to second keeping about dead even with Carver from start to finish. I was very pleased after looking at heat times to see that my heat was fastest with Carver having the pole. I lined up for the final with hopes of just wanting to be consistent and just wanting to get a podium finish. After a couple of restarts due to jumps everyone was finally ready for the green light to actually go.  The light went green and I actually got the hole shot. I lead for 8 out of the 12 laps just trying to keep the lead as Rispoli was all over my back on the straight-ways. I could out ride him in the turns, but thankfully my boyfriend Brandon Robinson gave me the tip of the night before going out on the track for the main. He told me that if I want to win I am going to have to hold it wide open.  So every lap going into the turns I never shut off even though it was way past my comfort level. Rispoli finally got by me on the back stretch by just clearly out motoring me. I was happy that I got the podium finish that I wanted and I couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s race to approach.

Barberville Pro AM Race March 1
Arriving at Barberville I had in mind that the track was going to be a little rougher then Savannah. After walking the track and talking it over with my team I made the decision to ride my stock framer over the frame bike. In my scratch heat there was a very noticeable jump by a rider that pretty much messed the whole start up for all of the other riders. So I think I was pretty much the last rider to get off of the line. I thankfully made my way up to 3rd out of the 8 riders in 4 laps. I was a little upset, but I knew it was only a scratch heat and not the main. In my heat race I lined up and still had a little disappointment hovering over my shoulders, but wanted to prove to everyone that I was a little better than what my performance showed in my scratch heat. I got a good start and led the race from start to finish. Not only did I finish my heat race in first I had pole for the main. I lined up with a lot of confidence, but kept in mind that today didn’t mean anything towards points as it wasn’t a hot shoe race. I got the hole shot and led for a little over half the race until frame bikes were starting to handle better then stock frames. James gave me a little tap and knocked me off the grove and went on to win, but I re-gathered myself and finished 2nd for the night.

Barberville Hot Shoe March 2nd
Today was a day that I will never forget. I won the scratch heat, the heat race, and the main event. The main event did not go the way I wanted to as I basically had to win the race three times. I got a good start and was leading by a straight-way when the red flag came out. I got another start and took off in the lead and the red flag came out again. So finally this was the start that counted. We had about 4 laps left to get to the front and stay there. I got off the line in third and passed for second coming out of two. I followed the leader for a good lap before I made the final pass for the lead coming out of two once again.  I was so excited as my dream had finally come true and I could finally repay my sponsors for all they have done. I took a victory lap with my Dad not only in celebration of the win, but in celebration of the taking the points lead in the series.

Barberville Hot Shoe March 3rd
I arrived at the track today a little bit more nervous than any of the other days because for one I had the points lead, for two I was last night’s winner, and for three I just didn’t want to let my fans and family down. After practice I really did not feel confident in myself to be able to perform like I did the previous night. Being on a new bike and facing unfamiliar track conditions my team and I had our work cut out for the night. In my scratch heat I finished second to Carver which raised my confidence level up a little. Then in my heat race I ended up third behind Evan Baer and James Rispoli. I was starting to get worked up, but I walked it off and just stayed focus. In the main I just wanted to finish on the podium. I got off the line in about 8th and worked my way up to 2nd closing on 1st when the red flag came out. I got very confident then with myself and told myself that I could win this. I got an amazing start and was leading the race by the time I was coming out of turn 2. I led the final 9 laps of the race with Evan not giving up one bit. I clearly have to stay that I rode my butt off and that Evan wanted it just as bad as I did. 


Leaving Florida and Georgia after a week of racing I was very happy. I had what my Dad called a dream week. I left with a 2-2-1-1 week and with a 22 point lead in the series over 2nd. I signed a lot of autographs, met & picked up a lot of new fans, and most importantly learned a lot. I stayed for the stadium to cheer on my racing friends and to see if I could learn a little bit about the stadium in, which I will be racing on next year as an expert.  I also must admit that I was one of the people that stood at the speedway in the rain watching the super cross. That race was amazing and I could not believe how muddy it was. After the conclusion of the super cross I headed back north bound to my home just to get home in time for my 17th birthday on the 12th of March.