Charles "Chuck" Skarsaune The 2008 Historic Cup Roadrace Series Champion
Production Lightweight & Production Heavyweight
Classes

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1st Race Update

2nd Race Update

3rd Race Update

4th Race Update

5th Race Update

6th Race Update

7th Race Update

That's a wrap - 2009 AHRMA racing season finale at Barber Motorsports Park

Having started a new job recently and therefore having no vacation time as of yet, I was working Friday instead of being at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama for the final practice day of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association season.

My plans were to head out Friday as soon as possible after work, having prepared everything Thursday night and loaded it Friday morning. Everything was fine Friday morning as I stepped outside at 4:45 am to begin loading. 5 minutes later after I had moved the truck and positioned the ramps it was pouring rain - something Mother Nature has blessed us with WAY TOO MUCH lately.

OK, so got everything loaded in the truck eventually and made it to work. The 3pm meeting someone had scheduled was canceled. Getting out of town and down to the track prior to the gates closing at 9pm was looking good. Then the text messages started. Tony crashed - could I go by Tom's shop and pick up some fork tubes? Pat needed a brake cable. Tony again - how about an OIF left side footpeg? Of course Brit bike racers have to stick together, so after picking up my crew chief Zach (who was actually going to his first race of the season)and the parts and fighting rush hour Nashville traffic, we made it to Birmingham, too late to get in the park, but early enough to get a good night's rest in a sketchy motel. Which wasn't a bad place to be considering the monsoon rain that hit Friday evening.

Got to the track, got our passes, hit registration, handed out parts and suited up for the one and only practice session. Even though it was raining/misting/damp, I needed this practice to run the bike, check out the course, and remind myself of the corners since I had missed the Friday sessions (when the weather was gorgeous, naturally). The bike ran strong, all corners on the track were still in the same place as the last time,and I got off the track after the back tire slid the first time (over aggressive throttle hand),which shows more common sense than I usually display. Things looked good for the race. The Goodpasters had shown up with their Nortons. Pat Hanson moved up in to the class with his BSA. All the HDs were rebuilt. A couple of other BSAs and my Triumph rounded out the line up for a grid of 8 bikes - best of the year.

All 8 bikes made it to the starting grid for race 5. The rain had mostly let up but the track was still damp. Not much of a worry since it had good grip in practice. I was gridded behind Wes Goodpaster and planned to launch right at him since I knew he wouldget a good start. Green flag dropped and the entire first wave headed for the downhill leftturn 1. I got a good start and got around all but one of my class in the traffic. Wes got around me after the hairpin turn 4 and we were off. About lap 2 I had a pretty substantial rear slide into turn two. It seemed like right handerswere a little sketchy. After a few more eyeopeners, I had to start babying around right handers.I missed a shift into 4th on the front straight, and soon after the clutch started slipping. And I started going backwards, between lack of power (clutch) and what I thought was lack of traction due to the wet. 3rd, 4th, 5th place and dropping, with the clutch just slipping away. Last lap and I'm really babying it trying to get through the race. And here comes rookie Pat Hanson with a last lap, last turn pass and out raced me to the flag. Nicely done.

I pull into hot tech and tech inspector Cal notices pretty substantial oil all over the right side of my motor. He yanks my tech sticker and sends me on my way. I get to the pit and notice I have oil all over my boot and leg up to my knee. Funny, I thought the footpeg was slippery because of the wet... Seems like the base gasket leak that I "fixed" after VIR wasn't fixed, and the oil was blowing back all over the bike and me. Luckily it didn't dump to the ground and oil the track. And the clutch was shot. I had two options - thrash all night and try to patch the bike up for Sunday's race, or put it in the truck. Having the championship wrapped up made this an easy decision. Take it home and fix it right.

I watched the rest of the days races and went visiting around the pits Saturday night. Sunday I said my goodbyes and got an early start back to KY. After unloading the gear, hanging up the leathers, and putting the bike on the lift, the post-season blues set in a bit. February? Are you kidding me? I have to wait that long? Lots of contemplation to do - I need to set a direction for the next year. What class to run, what changes to make, how much $$$ this is all going to cost... :-) I do get 2 weeks vacation next year, and I'm making a bit more money now, so next year looks good too!

For the 2nd year in a row I've won a national championship - AHRMA Classic 60's 650. And I absolutely could not have done it without my sponsors. I'd like to thank everyone of you for the contributions and support, and I hope you're proud of the championship you helped bring home.

Cheers, Chuck Skarsaune