Rick Sherker Talks About Montgomery, AL Race

I arrived in Montgomery Thursday evening and made the first stop at Dreamlands for some barbeque.  Friday was spent getting the skis adjusted to the hot and humid weather.  I also had the opportunity to do a course demonstration for the locals involved in the corporate challenge around the bow tie course set up for them, giving them an idea of what they can expect to see for the races.   This was followed by an opportunity to meet everyone involved and sign some T-shirts UWP was giving out at the awards for the corporate challenge.

When Saturday started, Rd. 2 officially started - I was coming off a win in the Pro Stock Spec class and a disappointing 5th place finish in Pro Ski GP from Rd. 1 in Panama City two weeks earlier.  Things started out great, I was fortunate to get the pole on the first moto of GP thanks to the computer.  Unfortunately, I sucked up the band from the starting line and the race was red flagged after coming around on the front straight with the lead.  After a delay from trying to get the majority of the band off from around my driveshaft, I was able to grab another holeshot from the pole position and never looked back.  In moto one of stock, Josh “Blockhead” Block grabbed the holeshot, followed by Rob “Flo” Flores and myself, finishing in that order.

Sunday, I found myself sitting in the driver’s seat for GP Ski after a moto one win.  Again I grabbed the holeshot, but the race was red flagged, for good reason, after a major chain reaction pile up off the starting line.  On the restart, I bobbled out of the start, got a rub from the side heading to the first turn buoy and wasn't able to hang on to the ski, loosing it and finding myself a lap down after getting a ride back to my boat from the course marshal.  With a disappointing second moto, finishing 6th, I had nothing to lose in the third moto.  I had a good start and finished 2nd within striking distance of Chris MacClugage This was enough to get myself back on the podium with a 3rd place overall finish.  Stock class, I finished 3rd in moto 2 and 3 finishing 3rd overall, the theme of the day from me. 

It was a weekend of ups and downs with a lot of things going on and an atmosphere that felt like that of the World Finals on the starting line. But even with muddy conditions at the starting line, my RS-15 race boots connected flawlessly with my Hydro-turf mats, giving me a lot of confidence going into the first turn.

Round 3 of the UWP-IJSBA National tour takes place in Racine, WI, where I hope to put everything together.