It was literally an up and down weekend for rider Michael Dube and
ACIDFast Racing at the scenic 2.4 mile road course in Ohio's rolling
hills. A crash on the unfamiliar and uneven surface during Thursday's
practice and a blown motor during Friday morning's session set Team AFR
well behind on set-up. Thankfully, a spare motor from Jeff Nash's
Advanced Motor Sports and quick work from AMS mechanics were able to
bring ACIDFast Racing back on line for the weekend's race action.

Unsettled mid-summer weather repeatedly interrupted the weekend's AMA
schedule. The first ProThunder heat race was won handily by Tilley H-D's
Mike Ciccotto on Saturday over second place finisher and series points
leader Jeff Nash. When ACIDFast Racing and the rest of the field lined
up for hear race number two, a few light raindrops presaged the carnage
that was going to come. Although the track was dry when the green light
appeared, heavy rain and a thoroughly slick track awaited riders at the
entrance to turn 2. Five of the riders crashed heavily in the turn,
including reigning ProThunder champion Shawn Conrad, and the race was
immediately red flagged due to unsafe conditions and postponed until
Sunday. Luckily, Dube trailed most of the pack and was able to avoid
disaster and stay upright to race another day. "It was like a demolition
derby out there. Some dude even crashed after the red flag was thrown,
just motoring around to the pit lane" commented Dube.

Sunday morning again brought threatening conditions but rain held off
long enough to allow the heat to be completed without incident.
DucShop's Mike Smith won in dominant fashion over the defending
ProThunder champion Shawn Conrad on the HMC Ducati. Dube finished a
disappointing tenth, to qualify on the fifth row for Sunday afternoon's
ProThunder main event. "I'm never happy with this poor a result," said a
dejected Dube, "But given how little practice time we were able to
accumulate over the weekend I suppose it was not so bad."

Occasional sprinkles again appeared Sunday afternoon but ultimately
played no role in the final outcome. But the adventures were not over
yet for ACIDFast Racing, as on the warm-up lap for the main event the
rear brake locked solid as Dube and the AFR Ducati 748 approached the
grid. As the field took green and sped away, Dube and the corner workers
had to carry the AFR machine off the track and behind some hay bales to
clear the start/finish area for the approaching riders. A red flag
however was brought out on the first lap and a full race restart was
declared. Quick work by the AMS crew fixed the brake problem and Dube
was again set to do battle. Additional misfortune ensued, as Dube
stalled the motor on the grid and had to pull to the side as the field
once again took the green without him. He was finally able to fire the
machine with the help of the AMA starters, but started the race dead
last, easily a full 30 seconds behind the back of the field.

"I decided I would just keep my head down, be smooth and persistent, and
I thought I would be able to catch some of these guys," said Dube. "But
I soon discovered that if I kept my head down, I couldn't see the track,
so I picked it up". He began closing on the back of the field after only
2 circuits of the scheduled 16 lap event. Ultimately, ACIDFast Racing
finished 13th out of the 26 who started the race.

Meanwhile, Mike Smith made short order of the field, finishing far ahead
of the potent Ducati of Advanced Motor Sports' Jeff Nash. Third went to
Bill St. John on the BMC Racing Ducati. Tom Hull was able to edge Richie
Morris for fourth after a race-long battle. With the second place
finish, Jeff Nash extends his point lead going into the final 3 rounds
of the series. Dube is expected to miss the next 2 rounds, but is
planning on making the season finale at his old home track, Willow
Springs, in southern California's High Desert. "Bring it on BabyCakes. I
am freaking going to REIGN there," exclaimed an ebullient Dube.

Full ProThunder results can be found at
http://www.ama-cycle.org/prorace/00rr/lexington/pt/m/index.html
 
 

RACE REPORTER