I’ll never forget the look on Annie’s face after her first lap at Barber Motorsports Park, because it reminded me of my first lap here. Let’s explore why in this 2024 Barber WERA Race Recap!
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – getting there
It took us a bit longer than planned to get to Barber, as it seems that traffic and weather had conspired to slow us down. We got there Friday evening, got the pit set up, and then headed across the highway to dinner, rather than cooking.
I’m not going to go into detail, but Friday night people watching in Leeds, Alabama in the local mall is spectacular. I highly recommend it for an hour or so of amusement.
After dinner, we dropped into Buc-ee’s for a couple more bags of ice, went back to the track, and called it a night.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Saturday lightweight practice
Saturday practice is where the weather starts to become a factor for this weekend. The forecast was pretty sketchy for the whole weekend, and it changed pretty much every time you looked at it, and it was different according to where you saw it, so there was really no telling what you were going to get.
It was dry when we woke up Saturday morning, but just as the calls were being made for my practice group, it started to spit a few drops here and there. As I pulled onto the racetrack, it was sprinkling. I hesitated briefly before I decided to go out, but I went for it anyway, as the rain didn’t seem to be wetting the tarmac, evaporating as soon as it hit the ground.
So much for that idea.
On the second or third lap, going through the museum corner, I came over the curbing on the left, leaned the bike right, and the realized before I had even hit full lean that the front was going away. I wasn’t moving that fast when I hit the ground. The bike slid maybe 15 feet into the middle of the track. I immediately got up and walked away from it after waving to the corner workers that I was okay.
My airbag had gone off, and the Klim airbag vests don’t deflate automatically, so I looked like the Michelin Tire Man , and it was a bit hard to get a breath.
The session was red-flagged, and the corner workers helped me get the bike back up, and I rode it back to the pits. It was barely damaged, though I bent and slightly cracked another rearset mounting plate.
I got back into the pits, got out of my suit and airbag vest with some assistance from Annie, and started fixing the bike. A couple borrowed nuts and bolts and some pounding on the rearset plate with a hammer to straighten it and it was good to go. I decided to wait until after Mini practice to have it re-tech’ed.
For second practice, I went out mainly to make sure the bike worked. It did, but I was really slow – like 7 seconds off my best lap at Barber. I know I’m not generally as quick in practice, but that was slow even for me. Something seemed amiss.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Saturday mini practice
I had rented a Grom from Joe Fischer for the mini races so that Annie could run the Benelli. Joe had asked me to give him some feedback on the bike, since he had made some suspension mods that he was pretty sure would be favorable, and also a mild engine tune.
We went out and I followed Annie around for a couple laps so I could give her some pointers, and then I took off. That Grom was pretty sick! It wasn’t significantly faster than the other Groms I’d raced, but the handling was superb! The bike steered beautifully and held a line. I got a little chatter on the last corner before the straight, but outside of that it was a joy.
We got back in and I gave Annie a few pointers, and then we went out for 2nd practice. I only followed Annie for the first lap for that practice, focusing on a couple corners I wanted to work on. I didn’t make any real breakthroughs, but she gained about 5 seconds a lap from her prior practice, so a good job on her.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Saturday mini race
Mini races are so damned much fun! The bikes are so closely matched, with a few exceptions, that it’s hard not to have a fun race.
We gridded up, and I got a pretty good start. Jon Wilkens had given me a couple pointers on lines, and I took advantage of those. I was battling it out with 3 other guys the whole race. There was a provisional novice who I’d pass in the corners, but he was much lighter than me so he’d get me on the straight and I’d have to do all the work again. Overall, though, a fun race. Not really sure where I came in, but it wasn’t a podium, so not important.
Annie came in pretty pumped, she had gained a couple more seconds on her practice time, and came in 2nd in her class.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Saturday F Superstock race
This race was kind of forgettable, to be honest. I got a decent start, chased a couple guys around, made a pass or two, and finished the race upright, which was what I wanted to do. I was a bit confused, though, because there were a few guys there who I normally fight it out with who finished ahead of me be quite a bit, and my lap times were 5 seconds off my best. I still finished first in my class, but I wasn’t where I wanted to be.
It it had only been 2 seconds, I wouldn’t have worried too much, as sometimes you just don’t have the motivation, but 5 seemed like a lot. I was puzzled, still.
After the races were done, Annie and I did the normal things – got showers, made and ate dinner, hung out with some other folks, and then called it a night.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Sunday F Superstock practice
The weather on Saturday afternoon had caused the last three races of the day to be postponed to Sunday, and Sunday races had been shortened to four laps, with the mini race shortened to three laps. That also eliminated the 2nd practice round for Sunday, so we got one practice.
I went out for F Superstock practice, and was still slow in spite of really pushing. I just couldn’t get any of that time back! I was still 5 or 6 seconds off my usual pace. After talking through it with Annie, I decided that I was going to go out as hard as I possibly could in the race to determine if it was me or the bike, as I was pretty sure there was a problem, so I needed to eliminate myself as a factor.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Sunday mini practice
Annie and I went out for mini practice, and I passed her in the first corner and just went out for it. I figured out a couple places where I could be faster, which was fun. When we got back into the paddock, she was mad at me for not following her for a couple laps, but got over it pretty quick.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Sunday mini race
Both Annie and I had a great race on Sunday!
It had rained between practice and the race, but the track was mostly dry. There were a couple wet patches on the front straight and the inside of Charlotte’s Web and the left into the carousel, but nothing that wasn’t easily avoidable on the mini.
We got off the line and I got a pretty good start. The rest of the race was a blur, as Jon Wilkens and I were going at it! I think we changed leads with each other 9 or 10 times in a 3-lap race. He got me in the end, but it was so much fun that I really didn’t care. Once again, no idea where I placed.
Annie, however, just killed it! She made a last-lap pass in the penultimate corner to take a position from Bonnie Wilkens, and then held it through the last corner as Bonnie tried to come up the inside. She took 2nd in her class again, too. You could see the big grin on her face as she pulled into the pit from a mile away!
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – Sunday F Superstock race
I went out for this race determined to eliminate the rider as the problem factor on this bike, and I think I did. I had a great start, with a small wheelie that I held through first gear and a smaller one into second. The front end came down going into turn one, and I just started to grind.
I don’t know that I’ve worked that hard to be that slow in a long time. I was shifting in places where I knew it would upset the chassis and make it hard to handle. I was braking crazy late in corners where I’m already one of the later brakers in the class. My knee was down for the entirety of turn 2 for every lap. I was giving it everything I had and then some.
I came in first in my class, but still 5 seconds slow. At least I can be pretty sure it’s the bike and not me.
2024 Barber WERA Race Recap – aftermath
After that, we packed it in. Just as we were finishing up packing, the sky opened up, and we both got drowned. We finished up packing and went to pick up our trophies.
I’ve got some work to do. The Ninja needs to go to the shop to figure out where the power went, and when it comes back I need to safety wire some of the trackside repairs and replace the cracked rearset plate.
Tech inspection decided that I really need to do a little more safety wiring on the Benelli, too, so that’s on the list as well.
It’s probably lucky that we’re skipping the next round at Talladega GP so Annie can compete in a powerlifting contest. That gives me a month to get the Ninja sorted before Road Atlanta.
