Sweet home Alabama Where the skies are so blue Sweet home Alabama Where the sun is beatin down on you. Lord, I'm out here racin in my leathers, watchin the rubber flyin up from my back wheel. Sweet home Talladega, where the racing is so true. Little Tally I'm coming home to you. Talladega Gran Prix Raceway aka "Little Tally"is a 1.33 mile 10 turn road course located near Munford, Alabama. The Dime City Pits were bustling, with racers Scot Fiedler, George Hernandez, Jim Korn, and Scott Turner.
Friday was a long hot day of practice. Saturday racing started with the LeMans Start Race - Scott took 3rd place! Deciding to save himself and the bike for the Sportsman 350 Race, Scott sat out for the Sportsman 500 Race, and it certainly paid off, he won the 350 Race!! Sunday once again started with the LeMans Race, Scott took 4th. Sportsman 500 he took 3rd. The Sportsman 350 Race didn't start out so well, on the start the bike popped out of first gear and Scott found himself in 6th place, with some serious race determination he was able to close the gap and caught up with the lead 3, finishing in 4th place by 1/1000th of a second.
George Hernandez had a rough weekend, he and Jim Korn had to replace the head gasket on Friday night, but while practicing on Saturday morning George went down, a few scrapes, but he was ok, the bike not so much.
Jim Korn finished 4th on Saturday in the Novice Historic Production Lightweight Race, but had a mechanical issue on Sunday and was unable to finish the race. Scot Fiedler finished 3rd both days in Novice Historic Production Lightweight.
There's a lot of wrenching that goes on during these race weekends, and it's amazing how fellow AHRMA racers are always ready to pitch in and help. John Scales came to Talladega to take the race class and try out his racing skills, unfortunately his bike was not so cooperative and required carburetor work, finding a large group of racers wrenching into the night so he could race on Sunday.
Gary Fuderer has been a fellow racer with Scott in the Sportsman 350 class for years. Gary had motor issues and was not going to be able to race. Scott offered his backup 350 to Gary for the racing on Sunday. He was able to race with a smile on his face, grateful the weekend wasn't a wash!
Racing is full of twists and turns, some you hold your line and come out clean, others you just hang on and hope for the best.
The AHRMA 2016 race season will finish up October 6th-9th at Barber Motorsports Park, in none other than Sweet Home Alabama.
