Racing from the eyes of Jeremy D

Racing from the eyes of Jeremy DeRuyter

December 2,

My night started off well as I won my first heat race. This was really important since we accumulate points by how we finish. The two highest point scorers advance directly to the main event. Going into the second heat race, I knew all I had to do was finish first or second and I would probably advance directly to the main event. I was second off of the start behind Brock Schwatzenbacher with Jared Mees in third. I was probably a little impatient as I went for the lead on the first lap. Brock tried to block me which opened up the bottom for Jared to go by both of us. I fell back a few bike lengths when that happened and caught back up by the end of the race, but ended up in third and off to the LCQ I went.

In the LCQ we had 4 or 5 restarts due to crashes or jumped starts. The bad thing for me was that I was leading all of the races when the red came out to stop the race. When we finally had a clean start I was in second the first corner but by the time we came around to complete the second lap I had the lead. But that was short lived as the second place rider slammed into me and knocked my chain off which ended my night. I was really frustrated because my Husqvarna was working great and I felt like I would have been in the top three for sure. Oh well, that's racing.

The second round of the series was in Hampton, VA. Again my night started off well as I was won my first heat race of the night. Unfortunately, it didn't count for advancement points since they were going to have three heat races this week instead of two because there was more time to run the program.

The third heat race was one I knew I had to win to go directly to the main event. Once again I had a bad start and finished third, so again I was off to the LCQ.

I had to start on the second row of the LCQ, so I knew it would be tough to work my way to the front, but my bike was working great and I knew I could there. Just like I thought I was able to work my way up through the pack and win the LCQ.

The start of the main event was another multiple start race due to crashes (one of which I was knocked down in) and jumped starts. When we finally had a clean start I was in third place behind Rob Pearson and Jared Mees. After the about the second lap Jared and I were able to get bye Rob and put some distance on him. The next lap I set Jared up to pass him on the inside and as I was about to pass him he stalled his engine and it was smooth sailing after that. I was able to get my first win of the season and my first win on the Hall's Husqvarna. I was really pumped to get the win for Husqvarna to show everyone how good of a motorcycle it really is.

I am excited to head out to the West Coast this week and to keep the momentum going and get back into the thick of the championship. I race on Friday night in Everett,WA and on Saturday night in Portland, OR, so if you are in the area stop bye and check out some great racing.