Pat's Race Report

Well, the 2011 Daytona 200 was the most bizarre race I've ever been in!


After our first practice session my lap times were good enough to get me into the fast "A Group" for qualifying, this was good, now I could hopefully get hooked up with the quick guy's and learn from them.


In the first, very cold, A Group qualifying session on Friday morning I had three people crash directly in front of me in turn 2, the international horse shoe, and the chicane, and almost collect me each time. I almost got spat off my Buell 1125R in turn two where SIX people crashed in the one session, including Michael Barnes and Josh Herrin. I was happy to come back to the pit's in one piece.


Things were better in the afternoon qualifying with the warmer temperatures, my lap times were coming down nicely.  We tried some different rear shock settings to try and make the bike work better with the new, harder compound spec rear Dunlop tire. I had the pleasure of having Danny Eslick come by me into turn one with both tires sliding, I could actually hear the tires howling loudly under protest. I ended up qualifying on the sixth row along side some very fast, young guy's and girl's! The sixth row included Huntley Nash, Mellissa Paris, Jason Farrell and myself.


I started preparing myself and my Buell 1125R months before the race, and I was looking forward to the hard challenge of a long 200 mile race. Luckily for me Mike Kirkpatrick, Crew Chief for James Gang Racing, had offered his services to act as our Crew Chief and technical advisor. Mike brought along Alex and B.J. De Jong to help with pit stops, I’d rounded up good friends John Cronshaw, Joe and Ralph Matera and Paul Brown for the rest of the guy’s that would be going over the wall. In our pit box behind the wall we had my young lady Lori, Pat JR and Misty to help with all the other duties. I met some very nice people during the Fanwalk that the AMA had put on. My Grandson Hayden was there to help me to sign lots of autographs too.


It was quickly time for the start of the race, I stayed out of trouble for the first couple of laps then worked hard to catch the group in front of me, when I got there it made my life much easier because I could use the ever important “Daytona Draft” I’d caught Russ Wikle, Tyler O’Hara, Ricky Orlando, Melissa Paris, David Sadowski JR and Jason Farrell. It was great fun drafting and passing with this group. On lap 18 I turned a quicker lap than I had in qualifying, so the pace was fast for me. 


I had one very scary moment though, as I drafted past Sadowski JR in NASCAR turn four, I went round the outside of his Ducati, and when I hit the huge wind blast as I got past him, the front tire started to fold under the bike at 160+ mph! I lightened up on the ’bars and the bike luckily straightened its self up. 


Mike then came on the radio to tell me it was already time to come in for the first pit stop for fuel and a rear tire. The pit stop went very quickly as everyone did their job’s so well, all the pit stop practices Mike had insisted on had paid off! 

On lap 27 the AMA red flagged the race due to front tires overheating and a mandatory tire change to a harder compound tire was ordered. 2 hours later we got to restart the race! 


During the down time Danny Eslick was telling me about how he completely lost the front end in NASCAR turn 4 and crashed at 160+ mph on his Suzuki, I told him how close I’d come to doing the same thing. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, it would now be a 15 lap sprint race, so all the preparation for a 200 mile endurance race was for nothing, no more pit stops for the boys to show what they could do, or for me to prove I was up to the 200 mile race, I was not happy. 


We were told to take two warm up laps and then re-grid for the restart, so we all took off row by row, and came back on pit road after two laps for the start. I then see the front two or three rows are taking a third warm up lap! So as ¾ of the field sat on the start line for another 2 minutes, I watched my coolant temperature go up to 225 degrees! I got a great start as the 1125R wheelied away from the line into turn one, then I hear that horrible scrapping noise of a bike sliding on the ground, Russ Wikle had lost the front end, his bike then took out Jason Farrell and the bike was coming after me. I stood the Buell up and ran off the outside of turn one trying not to get taken out by the sliding bike, it missed me by a few inches. I then got the bike turned and accelerated into turn two to see Barrett Long’s Ducati pouring smoke and cart wheeling 10 feet in the air, I just barely missed all the bike trying to avoid the melee, another red flag.


Start number three saw us all cleanly through the infield, I got drafting with the exact same guys I was with during the very early laps! minus Russ Wikle. We were now battling for 18th place. The race was in much cooler conditions now, and after about 10 laps I was having trouble with a lack of rear grip from the hard Daytona tire. I was working hard to keep in the draft, ultimately I ended up at the back of our group and finished 22nd. I was glad to end the race in one piece after all of the things that had happened.


I can’t thank enough Mike Kirkpatrick, and all the crew for doing such a fantastic job, without all these guys offering up their help I never could have done this race. 


I do feel cheated by the circumstances, I’d signed up for a 200 mile Endurance race, and got a 15 lap Sprint race, there’s always 2012.


Pat Mooney.