6-30-2000 in the pm.

Welcome back! Fresh news from Carolina Motorsports Park.       

The good news is that we didn't crash at a new track. Technical and fast will describe this track to a "T". 2.4 miles and 14 turns, lots of hard braking and fast slow turn combinations. Over all a very neat track. Here are the results.

 Saturday 6/24/00 started out with two rounds of practice for me and my endurance partner, Steve Baxter. Since we had half a day each from the previous days practice the bike was fairly well set up but it could still be improved. Practice went well and we bettered our setup just a bit. Lunch time rolls around and we are waiting for our race which is the last of the day at 4:00pm. Democratically Steve and I flip a coin to decide who will start and finish the race. Heads I lose and Steve has to start while I have to finish the now one hour race. Race starts and Steve is off and in second place when he comes around for the first lap. Not a very eventful race so far, Steve looks to have the better of the rider in front of him. To soon to call it a race, on the fourth lap around we watch as our bike coasts to a stop in turn 13,a 1/4 mile away. Damn! A little talking to the officials and the let us go after the bike and take Steve a water. We get the bike in the pits and find that the battery is dead. A quick scramble through the pits and we find a loaner battery to finish the race. After 19 minutes we are about nine laps down and are well out of the race win. For the track time we get back out and Rick finishes the race dead last with several laps down. We got some track time anyway and we didn't crash. Time for dinner then some rest before Sunday.

 Sunday 6-25-00,time to sprint race. Our first race of the day is middle weight superstock(600cc). The race starts out with eleven bikes in the field and by the end there would only be seven. Four bikes would crash and we would survive to finish in sixth position. Learning more about the track along the way and not falling off pays big dividends. Our second race of the day would be middle weight superbike(600cc modified). With only four bikes in the field, due to the first race crashing, we know we will get a good finish. At the end of this race we finish in third. Good  finish and more track knowledge. Our third and final race of the day is heavyweight superbike(750cc modified). Maybe just a little bit scared of racing against the big bikes, not a lot though. Off the start we are in seventh place. After 6 laps we will finish there. Though we weren't a factor in this race in due time we will be. Our last race of the day we would run our fastest laps all weekend. Attending this new track we have learned a lot. Racing is more than just riding fast around a track with a bunch of other men/women. With help from fellow racer Steve Baxter we are learning more about setting up our bike to handle. This with track time is what will give you competitive success  at the race track. Our bike is still mostly stock and can only get better, I hope to do the same. 

Thanks for keeping up with Passion Racing 

Our next event will be at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. July 8/9th. If your at the track Look for the all white #717 Yamaha R6. See you at the track, Rick Hulsey      

6-16-2000 in the pm.

Thank you for visiting with us!

Flash top five all weekend! Yes it is true. Passion racing raced the weekend of the 10th and the 11th at Roebling Road Raceway in Sav., Ga . 

Our 20 lap Saturday race started out great. We get the jump on the rest of the field and lead until turn four. Yeah this is when you try your best to hold on. For three hard laps I tried to run the leaders pace. Trying my best to keep up we just couldn't do it. We just couldn't match the leaders pace going in and coming out of the corners. With only five racers in this race. We rode around the remainder of the race and raced the track. Yes the fifth place was a gimmie but we did get valuable track miles and we didn't fall off!

Sunday 6-11-00

  Sunday starts out with two rounds of practice before lunch and then racing. First practice we go out to make some laps and learn more. No problem we can do that. Second round we go out and do it again. Done. One problem our new rear tire we bought for the 20 lap Saturday race has now been burnt up with just 30 laps on it! No problem go and see the tire man. Problem tire man says he doesn't have a tire for us, he has run out. Our only option is to buy another brand of tire. With many questions asking around the paddock we decide to go with Dunlop. With no practice left we will have to get used to the tires during our races on this day. We hope it will go ok.

Our first race of the day is 600 Superstock. We start on the second row of the grid in 4th out of 5 positions. Our start is off good. We go into the first turn in 5th place. The new tires are going pretty good and I am gaining confidence. Racing for eight laps I finish in 4th place. I am happy with that considering we have new tires to get accustomed to. We drop one second on our lap times.

Our second race of the day is 600 Superbike. On the grid we get a little better starting position. We are starting on the front row of the grid in 3rd position out of 5 racers again. Our start goes good and we go into the first turn in 4th position. racing around for 8 laps we stay in 4th place and drop two seconds on our lap times. (tires must be working)

Our third and final race of the day is B Superbike(750cc). On the grid we start out on the second row in 5th position. On our start it goes ok except that we are in last place. No problem though because I am gaining more confidence in our tires and we go better than we have all day. After it is all said and done we come out in 3rd place against the 750's on our 600. We drop one more second off of our lap times. All in all we have a good weekend. Coming away with the bike and myself in one piece we have saved some money. Hopefully we can continue to improve and keep finishing in the top three even when their are more racers in attendance.

Our next race will be in Kershaw, Sc. on the weekend of 6\23-25th. On this weekend we will attend an open practice Friday the 23rd. Saturday the 24th we will have our first endurance race. Partnering with my long time friend and fellow racer, Steve Baxter. Steve and I will race in the first of the WERA 2 hour regional endurance races. On Sunday the 25th I will race three classes again 600 superstock, 600 superbike and 750 superbike.

Thanks for keeping up with Passion Racing. See you at the races,

Rick Hulsey