Remember this place is cursed

Tooele, UT – At this point in the team’s history, it should come as no surprise to our fans, that Utah Motorsports Campus is not our favorite track. In fact, it’s absolutely our worst track. There’s no doubt that it is somehow cursed and in need of some form of exorcism.  Would this be the year that we break that “Utah Curse”?

Following round five from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the team never really took much of a break. There is always plenty to do during the down time and these past few weeks were no exception. The biggest item on the checklist was getting Jayson Uribe more time on the bike. So with that in mind, Jayson, his crew chief Phil Allison and team crew chief, Scott Jensen hit High Plains Raceway to continue Jayson’s education. Despite some glitches, Jayson was able to run very impressive times at the Colorado track and that buoyed his hopes ahead of Utah.

When the team arrived at the desert facility, it was hot!  Not just, “Hey, is it warm enough for you?” hot, but “I’m melting into the tarmac!!” hot. The heat was going to be playing a major role in the weekend and there’s just no getting around it. It consumes a person, turning every breath into a labor and every lap was going to be felt at the riders core.  Come Friday morning, there was absolutely no let up in the conditions.  This could have been seen as a sign of what was to come had the team not been so focused on getting down to business. Remember, this place is cursed.

Friday morning, the heat was still penetratingly oppressive. Yet despite the heat and track temps that made the Dunlop guys giggle, Cam and Jayson got right out and began turning laps.  With every lap the guys were upping their pace and Cam was setting the tone for Jayson to follow.  This was looking incredible as Cam was well within the top ten and knocking on the door of the top five.  Jayson, who considers this track a second home (Laguna being the first) was trailing and soon it became clear that something was amiss on his Genuine Broaster Chicken / Honda CBR1000RR SP2.  After only completing a handful of laps, Jayson was forced to pit in and hand his motorcycle to his crew while in P12.  Was this the beginning of the curses’ return?

As QP1 was winding down, Cam was still on a very quick pace. P6 in fact.  Crossing the Start/Finish just before the checkered flag was flown, Cam was gifted another lap at speed to improve on his blistering pace.  But remember, this place is cursed.  Just as Cam was entering the very fast T1, the curse would take over and decide that his motorcycle should be in pieces rather than finish completely assembled.  Cam would suffer a massive wreck that would see his bike broken and almost completely destroyed while he was fortunate enough to escape unscathed. When the bike was returned to the team’s transporter, all looked lost. The decision was made to salvage what could be salvaged and just set aside the rest while the back-up bike was built out of the wreckage. During the break between QP1 and QP2, both crews were working feverishly to reset the bikes and give the riders the best possible chance for success for QP2.

Both crews achieved the impossible. The by the time QP2 it looked as if both Jayson and Cam would be able to take to the track in the hopes of making improvements. But remember, this place is cursed.  Before he could even take to the track, Jayson’s bike was acting up again and it seemed that electrical gremlins arrived as part of the curse.  Unfortunately, Jayson wouldn’t turn a single lap in QP2 relegating him to P15 and outside the threshold for Superpole. Cam, on the other hand, was able to get out and turn some laps. However as this was the back-up bike with no set-up time, there was little hope to improve on the P6 form shown in QP1. Cam was only able to achieve P13, which when combined with his earlier time put him in P12 overall, and in the last spot for Superpole on Saturday.

Over the night and into the early morning of Saturday, it was all hands on deck to rebuild one bike and diagnose / reset another. By 4am, Cam’s crew had rebuilt the best possible machine for him and Jayson’s crew had chased out the electrical gremlins. Saturday morning’s free practice was more of a complete shakedown for both riders to ensure that everything was back to normal in proper working order.  Did the guys exorcise the demons? Only track would tell and when both riders returned to the pit, it seemed as if the curse had at least been satiated. A tentative Cam and crew headed into Superpole wondering what could possibly happen next. With only 15 minutes to put on the best possible display, the curse would have to work fast. As it turns out, Cam out ran the curse! At one point, Cam was sitting in eighth when he was done with his fast lap. All was looking fantastic until a group had worked together and knocked him down to a very respectable P10. All indications were that the bike was working better than before and hopes were flying high ahead of the afternoon’s race one.

The heat and the sun arrived in perfect unison by the time the riders took their starting positions for Race One. On the gird, the focus was not so much on the bike but keeping the riders as cool as possible. Once the leathers are zipped and the helmets secured, they wouldn’t be able escape the heat. But, it was an equalizer as no-one was safe from the conditions and this was looking to be a battle of attrition as heat can sap a rider’s energy within a few laps. No time to worry though as the lights went off and the grid was set free to chase foxes in the desert. The thing to know about UMC (Utah Motorsports Campus) is that it doesn’t take long for the field to spread out. The run to turn one is about the only time all riders are close together. Both Cam and Jayson got off to decent starts and within a few laps were battling within a chase group. But remember, this place is cursed.

On lap five, Jayson would lose his front brakes. He would do his best to maintain pace but couldn’t overcome not having those all important brakes. He would continue to race, running incredibly respectable 1:55’s without the ability to stop properly.  Cam would suffer a different fate. A stomach bug that had plagued him all weekend got together with the heat and decided to cramp him up. Doing his best to ride through the pain and nausea Cam would cross the line in 9th with his teammate Jayson grabbing P11. The “Utah Curse” as if to taunt to the paddock, brought a full on sand and wind storm that night causing everyone to stay late and batten down their hatches.

When the team arrived back to the track on Sunday morning, there was a feeling that maybe the worst had occurred and that the guys would finally catch a break. While warm-ups aren’t much an indication about how the race will go, on Sunday morning before a red flag Cam had gone to P6 while Jayson had shown a top ten form. But this is race day and that’s the only thing that counts, so the crews kept their confidence in check and prepared for Race Two. Fingers crossed, shamrocks on display, and anything else that could’ve brought good luck was being dolled out as the riders left for their sighting lap. Again, the heat was making everything more difficult but it just has to be dealt with and with a full grid of combatants to contend with, the only thing that mattered was getting a good start. Once again, the lights went out and full grid charged towards Turn One at full speed.

This time, the guys were together in a tighter pack than they had been in Race One. Able to compete with the riders around them, Cam and Jayson settled into their race pace. As is the case on a track of this size, the groups can get separated from each other and the Genuine Broaster Chicken / Honda duo were soon isolated. While the battles ragged on up front in the lead group, the bulk of the superbike field were riding in a solitary procession. Cam would improve upon race one’s result by one place and take P8 while Jayson would score his maiden P10 and celebrate with a beautiful stand-up wheelie across the line.

All in all, the guys had a solid weekend. Cam would improve his overall standings in the championship. Inching closer to the top ten in P11. Jayson would also move up a position overall to P17 but most importantly, he broke into the top ten. So while the results were overall good, just don’t ever forget that, this place is cursed.

Cameron Petersen – 45

Jayson Uribe – 36

Danny Walker – Team Principal

Scott Jensen – Crew Chief