Kevin Johnson Racing Again At Budds Creek
6/23/2002
Recapped By: Bubba Bunders
Well everyone this past weekend was my first race back
after getting mono the week before the Las Vegas Supercross. I had a fairly good weekend even though my
overall finish were not that good.
Coming into this race at Budds Creek I did not expect to last through
either moto without fading. I have only
been riding for the past two weeks and before that I spent two weeks lying
around and the previous month I was not able to train at all. With mono if you try to work out without
resting it only gets worse.
Budds Creek was a fun track and I
had a great time riding there. On Saturday, I got the holeshot in my day
qualifier and led from start to finish.
I was happy to win my first race back even if it was only a day qualifier. Sunday's qualifier for the main event did
not go as well. I started second and
then proceed to fall over in a corner and let a few guys by. Next, I just jumped right off the track and
let another person by. I still finished
in fifth, so it was not too bad of a moto.
In the first moto of the 125
National I started around 12th place. I
wanted to make sure that I did not follow on the first lap so I tried different
lines. The only problem with that was I
would pass one guy while being passed by three others. It was a little crazy with everyone going so
fast right around each other the first lap. It has been a while since I have
raced and was not quite used to the hectic pace. I ran around in 15th for the first four laps only to have my chain
break. I picked in my chain guard on a
corner and the chain just snapped. It
was no one's fault. A rock just jammed
me up and I was done.
In the second moto, I started about
10th on the first lap and ended up in 13th place on the second
lap. I stayed there for another eight
laps. I made it twenty minutes before I
started to fade. I started off by
getting passed by about one guy a lap.
But at the 25 minute mark, I caught my leg on my radiator shroud and
ripped it partially off. My leg kept
getting caught up on it and I missed the rear brake a few times. The shroud problem helped me move backwards
a lot faster. I had to stop and rip the
shroud off the rest of the way. After
that it made the last two laps a little better and I caught up to Rodrig Thain,
but I did not get him. I finished 24th,
but I was just happy to make it though the moto.
Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson Racing Again At Budds Creek |
6/23/2002 |
Recapped By: Bubba Bunders |
Well everyone this past weekend was my first race back after getting mono the week before the Las Vegas Supercross. I had a fairly good weekend even though my overall finish were not that good. Coming into this race at Budds Creek I did not expect to last through either moto without fading. I have only been riding for the past two weeks and before that I spent two weeks lying around and the previous month I was not able to train at all. With mono if you try to work out without resting it only gets worse.
Budds Creek was a fun track and I
had a great time riding there. On Saturday, I got the holeshot in my day
qualifier and led from start to finish.
I was happy to win my first race back even if it was only a day qualifier. Sunday's qualifier for the main event did
not go as well. I started second and
then proceed to fall over in a corner and let a few guys by. Next, I just jumped right off the track and
let another person by. I still finished
in fifth, so it was not too bad of a moto.
In the first moto of the 125
National I started around 12th place. I
wanted to make sure that I did not follow on the first lap so I tried different
lines. The only problem with that was I
would pass one guy while being passed by three others. It was a little crazy with everyone going so
fast right around each other the first lap. It has been a while since I have
raced and was not quite used to the hectic pace. I ran around in 15th for the first four laps only to have my chain
break. I picked in my chain guard on a
corner and the chain just snapped. It
was no one's fault. A rock just jammed
me up and I was done.
In the second moto, I started about
10th on the first lap and ended up in 13th place on the second
lap. I stayed there for another eight
laps. I made it twenty minutes before I
started to fade. I started off by
getting passed by about one guy a lap.
But at the 25 minute mark, I caught my leg on my radiator shroud and
ripped it partially off. My leg kept
getting caught up on it and I missed the rear brake a few times. The shroud problem helped me move backwards
a lot faster. I had to stop and rip the
shroud off the rest of the way. After
that it made the last two laps a little better and I caught up to Rodrig Thain,
but I did not get him. I finished 24th,
but I was just happy to make it though the moto.
