Off Season Update

Posted on November 17, 2011 by ashley

Hey guys-

I’ve definitely let the page slack a little bit, and I want to apologize for that. Things were pretty crazy at the end of the season and I was traveling a lot and I just never really found the time to sit out and pound out a race report after each race. However I want to give you all an update on how my off season is going.

I’m living in Salinas, CA now and loving it. We’ve had some great weather so far, a little rain and a lot of sunshine which has allowed for some AWESOME trail riding at Hollister Hills. I’ve been spending a lot of my time there. I’ve also been real lucky to be getting a little bit of help from Knucklehead Racing. These guys ROCK! They give me a place to keep my bikes and help me out with everything from race gas to bringing my bike to the races. My off season has really been awesome thanks to these guys.

I’m also looking for a job for the off season :’(… since Salinas is the Salad Bowl of the World I’m hoping to get involved in the Agriculture Industry… and who knows that may help my racing career also.

I will not be riding the Memphis Shades/Demay’s Race team Harley Davidsons next year. I’m exploring other options. I did ride Ron Wood’s BMW at the last race of the year in Pomona California and that was a BLAST! I would not be opposed to riding that where ever Ron will let me! :)

I will be attending local races through out the winter hopefully & I will try my best to keep you guys posted on what is going on with me and my racing career.

 

Thanks to everyone for supporting me along the way! You guys are awesome!

 

Go Fast & Turn Left- Jethro 69

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Round 10- Hagerstown, MD Half Mile

Posted on July 11, 2011 by ashley

Friday before the race I found out that my bikes were not going to be in Maryland on time, the Memphis Shades hauler had broke down near Nashville and there was no way they could make it to the race. I was bummed to say the least, but I started looking for a bike to ride right away. I wasn’t having any luck finding a ride until Friday night, I was just sitting on a bench outside the hotel when Jimmy Wood and Steve “Driver” Hill came outside. I told them about my situation and they introduced me to Gary Goodwin, who has a really nice Harley that Jared Mees rides at the non-national events. So, Gary agreed to let me race his bike at the national! I was really happy and relieved to have something to ride at one of my favorite tracks on the circuit.

 

On race day I had plenty of time to come up with tires, race gas number plates, and get the bike all dialed in. Thanks to Mikey Martin for the tire and Ben Evans for the number plates. Everything came together and I was pretty fast right off the bat. I made a gearing change and a couple other little changes to try and get more traction coming off the corners. I improved my time ending up 6th overall in qualifying. I was in the first heat with fast qualifier Chris Carr. I didn’t get a great start I was running about 5th, but made my way up to 2nd pretty quickly. I found myself catching up to Carr with each lap. I was getting through the middle of the corners really well and I was able to push the Goodwin Racing Harley Davidson past Carr and held on for the heat race win!! In the dash for cash I got off the line well, but was carrying too much of a wheelie into the first turn and got a little squirley when I set it down. With only 4 laps to make up for lost time, I ended up fifth. With a direct transfer to the main it gave me plenty of time to relax and get myself and my bike ready for the Main Event. At the beginning of the 25 lap battle, I got off the line ok but I struggled to get going the first couple laps. I was comfortable running seventh place when then my tire started coming in and really started working for me. I was able to get by Carr and found a good line. I reeled in Bryan Smith and after a few laps of hanging right behind him I was able to get a run off turn two and get by him going into three. I put my head down and was charging hard I felt like I was catching the number 1 of Jake Johnson when the red flags came out for a crash in turns 1 and 2. Now I was thinking I might have something for these guys cause I was right behind them now. We finally got back going after a long red flag break, and I was right there behind the leaders but just couldn’t get the through the corners like I was earlier and held on to finish 5th in the national. It was my best twins ride of the season so far, and I’m very happy with my finish. I am going into the next race in Lake Odessa, MI at i96 Speedway shooting for another top five!

 

Jethro

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Round 8- Hartford, MI Half Mile

Posted on July 11, 2011 by ashley

The half mile in Hartford, MI looked great when we showed up, but the weather didn’t. It was pretty cloudy and looked like it could pour at any minute, thankfully the rain never came. I think the promoters were anticipating the rain and ended up not watering the track at all. When it came time for practice it was pretty dry and started to form a small one line blue groove. The groove kept getting faster and I was in the third practice session so I pulled off a pretty good lap and Qualified fourth. In the Heat race I got off to a pretty good start, I was in third behind Jared Mees and Steve Murray. I was in a transfer position, but I really wanted to get up into second to make the dash for cash and be on the front row for the main event. I just couldn’t get the drive off the corners to make up the ground on Murray, and at this point I could hear Chris Carr right behind me. I held him off to finish third in the heat and got the direct transfer to the main. Before the Main event Babe and I had made a few changes with the set up to try and get me going a little faster. I thought I had gotten a decent start, it just wasn’t good enough. I was just a little too far to the outside of the groove and a few guys were able to get under me. Even after making changes I was still having some troubles getting “hooked up” off the corners, and I was having a little trouble getting the bike turned in the middle of the corners. We didn’t make all the right calls this time and came home 12th, we are learning, taking notes, and figuring out how to work together to make the Memphis Shades Babe Demay tuned Harley XR750s work for me. This was only our second National working together as a team and we know things are going to keep getting better. The next round of the AMA Grand National Championship is June 25 in Lima Ohio and I’m really looking forward to that one.

Jethro

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Jethro Halbert Racing

Posted on July 7, 2011 by admin

This is the first post for testing

Posted in GNC | 2 Comments