Hottest weekend of the year thus far and it made everyone hurt. Saturday was mostly uneventful as I only had one race which I finished 4th place in just beating Tommy to the line. The main event would be the Team Challenge on Sunday.
Will and I had a 1 stop strategy with myself doing the first hour or so with Will finishing it off. The heat would play a role and spoil this plan. I would start the race coming out of turn 1 in 2nd behind Mavros but I would pass him on the out side of turn 2. I held the lead for the first lap until Hanig on his Ducati came on by down the front straight. For the next 30 minutes Hanig and I would battle hard going back and forth countless times. After Hanig would make his first pit stop I realized I was not in good shape. My shoulders were tired, the air was hard to breath, but I had to last my stint. I pushed on and made it to the 50 minute mark before signaling to come in. We were the last team to make a pit stop putting us in a good position in class and over all. I realized I had pushed entirely way too hard and was exhausted. About 5 minutes after I got off the bike I started to feel better but that quickly took a turn for the worst. My entire body would succumb to a numbing sensation which would scare me quite a bit. Got a ride into the media center for the air conditioning but it wasn’t long in there that I realized that maybe some medical attention was needed. After arriving at the Medic Center it was very clear they had nothing there to help. I was having trouble putting 2 words together. Katie was kind enough to escort me to the ER where an IV was placed and I instantly felt better.
Will finished the race in the extreme heat getting us a 2nd place. We did not accomplish our 1 stop strategy but with Mavros getting a DNF we were right back in the points chase for the championship. Ben and Todd came in a close 3rd.
Missing from the photo…. Will is a bad dude.
