Tony Davila #18h
 
  Hi Everyone,

            This weekend was the hot shoe in Elkins West Virginia on Friday and National in Hagerstown Maryland Saturday. We left Iowa Thursday morning right after I finished my night shift at the grocery store I am working out. I slept most the day but woke up to relieved Dick from driving for a while. It was a very long day with bet on weather the whole way. We got to our motel late Thursday and got a lil rest before the next day of racing.

              The next morning we stopped and picked up some subway’s for later that day. We got to the track; escorted by a father-son duo on Harleys we met at the gas station. After sign ups, unloading and tech inspection. It started to rain. I was skeptical if we would ride but the AMA crew insured a race so we waited. Every time it would stop raining and the track would dry out it would start to rain some more. Soon enough the track dried and we got out for practiced it was on.

              For how much rain we got it was one of the best tracks we’ve raced yet this season. It was more like a large ¼ mile then a ½ and had a generous banking. With the moisture in the track you could ride any line and make it work.

  Practice felt god and I felt faster every lap. When we got into scratch heats I found a great spot on the line and got one of the best starts I’ve had all season. I got 3rd and it wasn’t long before we were lined up for our qualifying heats. Top 4 qualified. I was second into the first corner and was passed coming out of turn 4. About two laps later I ran wide coming out of turn four and was passed two more times and put myself out of the main.

  My night was over and we headed to back to the motel for the night. The next morning we packed up and headed off for the 5-hour trek through the mountains of West Virginia. Never in my life have I seen houses made of 4 mobile homes held together by duct tape and super glued before. It was quite an experience how some people live. And before we knew it we were in Maryland and in a big city. It kind of reminded me of home.

When we got to the track we were surprised to see sooo many people. It was sure to be a heck of a show. When I saw the track I was pretty excited. It was a very big red clay ½ mile. When the wheel packing trucks were about done the track looked amazing!

Just after I got through tech, it stated to rain…again. There was talk about rain-outs but again AMA pulled the riders together for a riders meeting ensuring a race.

It was about 4 more tries to dry the track out and start practice before we actually got rolling. The track would have been very cool but with all the moisture in the track the corners turned very rough and sticky. I couldn’t put my foot down because every time my foot would fling back and I really didn’t want to hurt my knee anymore then I had to.

The heat races were adjusted to suit our rushed agenda. There were 2 heats of 18 and 9 from each heat. I was on the third row oh my heat. I got an amazing start. I was at about 6h place by the second lap. Coming around at about half way a rider ran it up the inside of me and almost lost it into the pack ahead of me. Instead of getting on it and passing the pack I rolled off the throttle and was passed a few times. I ended up two out of transfer position. 

The weekend wasn’t quite what I was looking for nor was it what I have been looking for but with the miles coming up I am very confident that good results and possibly a podium and soon to come.

Thank you so very much for helping me follow my dreams and your continued support in my program.

Tony

 


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