April 23, 2009

Time is moving along, and we have a couple things to report. I don't know where the time goes, so I guess I really need to keep these reports somewhat more current. I will try to keep up with developments and news, as actually alot is happening.

Let's start with a re-cap of Daytona. I traveled down with my race mechanic, Shawn Doner, and our first stop was in Neeces, SC for a test day. We were riding our 2009 Honda CRF 450 for the first time. Although I have been building Hondas for 7 years now, the 2009 model is considerably different than the earlier models, so we knew we would have some bugs to shake out. And this was also to be our first outing together with Guy, Rachel, and Matt Weidman, the new MDR rider for 2009. After Shawn, Ion Stear, and myself survived the biggest blizzard of the year in NC on our way down, we got to Neeces and had a great meeting and day at the track.

Matt rode the 2009 and was turning lap times that were very competitive right off. Rachel had been clocking lap times for several days as many different teams had been there testing, and she had times on everybody who had been there. Matt was right in the hunt, timewise. Then a funny thing happened. We got a flat tire on the 2009, and as I was changing it, I looked over and told Matt to take out the back-up bike, "Old Paint" my 2006 bike for a few laps. Well, Matt goes out and turns about 4-5 laps and Rachel walks up to me and says" He is going .30 of a second faster than ANYBODY else who has been here so far". Although that was good news, we were supposed to be riding the 2009 bike, not the 2006. Matt has been riding a 2006 of his own, so apparently he was very comfortable on that bike. The day concluded on a very good note, we all left happy and confident that we would have something for Municipal Stadium.

Things went well at Municipal, we made the Final both nights, with a pair of 14th place finishes. And although Matt was a little disappointed, I think all the rest of us, myself, Shawn, and the Weidmans, were really happy. Matt was bummed because he wants better results, he is very competitive, and I like the fact that he is striving and pushing himself to be better. I felt that for our first attempt racing together as a newly formed team, we did awesome! Making the show BOTH nights at Municipal is really hard, and doing it as a first effort for a new team, is tremendous. We left Daytona with some points, and I felt like I had made 3 new, and very good friends, speaking of course, about the Weidman family.

I can't say enough good things about Matt Weidman. This young man is mature, intelligent, funny, and a pleasure to be around. Matt is totally focused on his racing, and works very hard at improving himself for his race effort. I have been around racing my whole life, and have sponsored a lot of riders with varying degrees of success. In my honest opinion, I believe Matt has all the tools to be a Champion before his career is over. He has the right mix of talent, finesse, and intelligence to get the job done. And he is only 17 years old. I couldn't have found a better rider to represent MDR, and I am very proud to be sponsoring Matt Weidman.

Right now we are getting bikes ready for the Springfield TT National. Matt and I went to a local TT race in Illinois a few weeks ago. We rode the 2009 all day, and I have to say we had a great day. It was apparent that we had the fastest bike at the track, no one could hang with Matt on the straights, and as the day progressed and Matt got more comfortable on the new bike, he got faster. He ended up winning both Pro TT classes, and I think we left with a very nice feeling of confidence to take to Springfield. And we figured a couple of things out with the chassis and suspension that will be a big help at Springfield.

So, I will keep working on these bikes to make sure all is as good as it can be for our next National, May 23 in Springfield Illinois.

If you come to the races, please stop by the MDR pits and say hello, get an autograph, and cheer for Mack Daddy Racing and #20 Matt Weidman!

Thanks for reading and see ya at the races!

Geo