2021 Amateur Season with WERA
Yes... you are reading this correctly. We not only jumped into the big bike racing blind folded...we jumped right into the deep end chasing two championships. WERA is a national series through out the USA and I was racing in a few of their regions which were mainly located in the Southeast (no events in Florida though). Being my first big bike racing season, all of the track are new to us and we had no information to come prepared. So we literally learned each time out and just progressed altogether as a team.
This season actually started in 2021, unlike FMRRA which started Dec 2020, so we had a couple of events under our belts already. Unfortunately Tim and Buch couldn't make most of these races due to schedule and the really long drives. They would prep the bikes for us and my dad would handle any changes at the track with Tim on the phone as a guide. It worked out really well cause the bikes were always mint. If I had any issues they were able to resolve them quickly and I was back to riding and learning.
Round 1 was blistering cold as it was in February and we were up in Alabama riding Talladega. That one sticks on my mind cause it was freezing. Being the first event and a brand new track. We took our time figuring out what worked best for the bike and went out and executed. My family came along with the dogs and it was very cool to share that event with them all. The rest of the season was about the same. We would pack up Friday, ride all weekend and then come home super late on Sunday or evening 5am Monday mornings sometimes. I still have no clue how my dad did that for 37 weekends out of the entire year...but I am so glad he did. It was so fun being the truck with him and my little brother. Big thanks to my mom too for holding down the house and letting us explore the southeast and race.
The other cool part about racing WERA was that I got to ride with some of MINIGP family here too with Logan Cunnison and Ryan Barbour. Logan and I were on similar chassis (later in the season on the same) and Ryan was racing his 400. We had a blast hanging out and sharing the track together. Logan and I ended up having some epic battles in the amateur ranks chasing down the experts which typically started 8-10 rows ahead of us and by the end of the race we either passed them all or were super close to doing so. He pushed me and I pushed him in return. Tons of fun for sure.
As the transition came from going to the NSF from the waki, I started really enjoying the much larger tracks. I was able to get about 2-3 races in with WERA before heading out to the UK for my wild cards. This was big cause the more seat time I got the better I knew I would feel across the pond. I got to learn the bike and understand how to stay in its power, carry corner speed but my one lack was braking. Just couldn't figure out how to take advantage of its strength there. Its probably a skill I have been working on for years trying to conquer. I'm much better, but there is always room for more and this bike was helping me find it. It did however, allow me to carry sooooo much corner speed. The more I pushed it the more it wanted. It was unbelievable. The Dunlop tires were awesome as well so that combination was gold for me. I was so confident on the bike. She just kept asking for more.
Eventually my little brother came of age and he was allowed to get on the big tracks as well in the minis class. He had a blast and I had so much fun coaching and helping him out. It also kept him from being so bored while I was the only one who rode for awhile. But he likes being at the track and annoying me. Its what us brother do.
As the season went on, I ended up missing two rounds while I was in the UK. That hurt my point standing in some of the championships, but again we were there to learn and progress. The overall wins and trophies were just a biproduct of the whole thing (Mike T. told me that one). Thankfully Chris Holder was at most of the event and we were able to capture a ton from him (Apex Productions, LLC). So big thank you to him as with his pictures we were able to see things to work on and plus...he is a very cool dude.
I ended up taking a handful of regional championships in the small classes and twins classes along with a couple national championships as well this past year. It was a ton of traveling and racing but man I had a blast. The track family, my mechanics, my family and my sponsors all coming together to help me put one heck of a season together. I don't think I would be as mentally, physically or rider ability as successful without a season like we had.
