Race Report from the Springfield TT and Springfield Mile

AMA Pro Flat Track Series
Round 3: Springfield TT
Round 4: Springfield Mile
Illinois State Fairgrounds

By Ryan Wells
SPRINGFIELD, IL, MAY 26-27, 2012

On May 26, the Weirbach Racing team and I traveled to Springfield, Illinois, to ride the Springfield TT. Going into this event, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After finishing up the free practice, I felt very comfortable on the track and bike, and I knew I would be able to throw down a solid time during the two qualifying sessions.

Ryan Wells (94B) at speed.

After both of the timed sessions, I was the fastest qualifier, which was awesome! This would put me on pole for the heat race, and that is exactly what you wanted on this very technical track.

In the heat race, I jumped out to the early lead and continued to pull away from the pack until there were about three laps to go, when the red flag came out. On the staggered restart, I didn’t get the start I needed and ended up getting a very close second.

In the main, I sat fourth on the front row. Off the start, I came out of the first turn in third but made a slight mistake and l slipped back to fourth, and about halfway through, the red flag came out – which was just what I needed.

I got a great jump on the restart and sent it into the first turn hard, getting up to third once again, but I got hit from behind and ended up stalling the bike. I had to salvage 14th-place points in that race, but I knew there was still a long season ahead of us.

On May 27, we traveled over to the Springfield Mile. This was only my second Mile ever, so I really wasn’t sure what to expect on this very fast and close racing mile.

After the first free qualifying session, I realized this track was awesome and fast! After the first timed session, I was sitting about 12th, which I was happy with. The main thing I needed to work on was the draft.

After the second session, I set the fifth-fastest time, which would put me on the front row in the heat race.

In the heat, I jumped out to the early lead and led the pack for the first lap around. After getting drafted and drafting back, I ended up getting a fifth in the heat race, which would put me back on the second row in the main event.

This being my first Pro main event on the Mile, I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. After 16 laps of Mile racing, I ended up in 10th place. This wasn’t the best result, but it put me in third place in overall points and just10 points behind the leader, which made me happy. I know some mistakes I made and some things I didn’t do that I know I should do come September, when we travel back to Springfield.

With three weeks until the Lima, Ohio, half mile, I plan on training nonstop and racing nearly every weekend. Of course, none of this would be possible without all of my dedicated sponsors. Special thanks to Weirbach Racing, General Engineering, Barnett, Spectro, DynoJet, K&N, Saddlemen, MotorcycleSuperstores.com, Bell Helmets, White Lightning Retrievers, PMP Sprockets, Motion Pro, Spider Grips, Evans Coolant, Cheney Engineering, G2 Ergonomics, Works Connection, All Balls Racing, Firecoat Custom Powderworks, Web cams, Foudree’s Graphics, Pro Wheel, Durelle Racing, Supertrapp, TNT Honda, Pingel Products, Regina Chain, Factory Backing, Hinson, MotoBatt, Pit Posse, Jet-Hot, CP Pistons & Carrillo Rods, Sunoco, Chicken Hawk, FMF, JR 43, Newman Motorsports, Precision Power, RLJ Racing, Vortex Sprockets, Ride 100 Percent, Defiance Lifestyle, and Arlenness.

– Ryan Wells 94B