Racing
August-September 2007
“Peoria was my first
national since my neck injury, so I was a little nervous. I came into the pits
without any expectations for myself to try to keep as much pressure off me as possible.
I struggled a little bit getting used to the track as most riders do when they
come to Peoria.
Not many riders have the opportunity to jump their dirt track bikes 115 ft.
“practicing,” so it’s almost a new track for everyone because it’s so different
from what we are used to. I ended up qualifying 48th, enough to put me in the
show and get another chance to put myself in a national. With rain coming,
there was doubt that the show would be finished, but I was the first heat so we
got a chance to ride. I was staged in the last starting position for the heat
and got a pretty good start with a drive around the outside to put me in 7th,
but there was a rider down on the second lap resulting in a restart. The second
start I got almost the same drive out of the first corner but was pushed wide
into the grass just before the jump and put back to ninth, then once again
there was a wreck right behind me coming into turn one of lap three. The third
start put me into eighth, where I ended up for the heat race just as the rain
started to come down. The race ended up being cancelled.” –Kyle Wyman
“For
Lake Odessa, Michigan, I would get my first chance to
ride the Basic Expert Twins class at the GNC Twins national. I qualified 7th
with no pressure; I was already behind in the points series so I was just
looking to see how I would make out with this new class. I went out for the
heat race lined up with Matt Weidman and Justin Hittle and took the win to put
me in the second starting position for the main event. I choked on the start in
the main and had to settle in for a 5th place finish.” –Kyle Wyman
Labor
Day weekend took us to Springfield,
Illinois. Cody stayed home for
his opening football game (they won 46-0!). On Friday night, Travis competed in
the Amateur classes on the technical short track. He was smooth and fast
finishing with two first places and a third.
“As
the Springfield
short track approached, I was feeling less and less ready for it. I knew I
hadn’t been riding as much as the rest of the pro riders all year, but I felt
good so I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured it was going to take a
lot of work if I planned on making the main event. I felt good in practice, but
I was having trouble with traffic keeping me from putting up a decent qualifying
time. In the final session I was able to quickly get around the rider in front
of me and put in my fastest lap of the session. When I came off the track, I
was listed as 20th fastest out of about 95 riders. I realized that it was
possible, if I get a good heat, that I could put myself in the main event. So
all the time goes by between practice and heats that do nothing but put more
butterflies in every rider’s stomach, and finally my heat was called. I always
get nervous lining up for a national heat race, since I’m lining up next to
names like Sammy Halbert, Shaun Russell, and Kevin Varnes. But once that green
light turns on it all goes away and all I can think about is “gas on.” After a
wreck on the first lap that put us back on the line for the restart. I had a
decent start, coming out of turn two in 4th. Coming into turn three I decided
that 4th wasn’t good enough and dove under the “preferred line” as hard as I
could to pick up as many positions as possible. When I came out of turn 4 I
realized that I just passed two riders in one corner and couldn’t believe that
I just got into the transfer spot (transfers you to the main event) under my
own power. So I followed Sammy Halbert into turn one for lap two and through
3&4 again and to my discouragement the red flag was out for a down rider in
turn 3. All that work for nothing was all I could think of, and as the restart
didn’t go as well in my favor, I had to settle for 4th place for the heat race.
In the semi I got the holeshot, but I was immediately passed by Joe Kopp and a
few others and ended up 5th for the semi. So much for making the main event,
but I felt as though I was starting to make a name for myself in that heat
race, not just for the fact of making a name for myself but also to help boost
my confidence for 2008.” –Kyle Wyman
The
Grand National Series returned to New York on
Sept. 15th in Monticello.
This promise to be a successful weekend on the boys’ favorite track: a cushion
half mile. The cushion quickly turned into a narrow groove that was marbles if
you slipped off it. This groove and other unfortunate incidents turned our
promising weekend into our most unimpressive weekend on record. A couple
competitors stated that the Wymans deserved the Hard Luck Award for the
weekend!
Cody
– Heat Race – Open Am – Running in 5th place, a rider went down in front of him
and Cody had nowhere to go and took a hard hit into the hay bales. With only 2
riders from the heat transferring to the main and a sore body, Cody knew his
chances were slim and sat out the rest of the race.
Travis
– Final – Open Am – Travis was fast qualifier out of over 40 amateurs!
Unfortunately, he jumped the start twice putting him at the back of the pack.
Once the race finally got under way, Travis was flying, picking off riders one
by one every lap. About ½ way through the race, Travis
drove it in hard in turn three and touched the rear tire of a much slower
rider, resulting in a high side and face plant with the dirt. Since Travis was
seeing stars, we wisely chose to keep him out of the race.
Kyle
– GNC Basic Expert Twins – After the 1st practice, Kyle was fast qualifier,
going into the second practice, Kyle slipped off the groove resulting in a bent
front end. With only minutes before his last qualifying run, there was not a
chance to repair the front end. If he did not go out for the last qualifying
run, he would not be able to compete for the day, we sent him out to make a
“slow” lap around, just to set a time. Of course, slow to Kyle means “let’s see
how it handles.” Kyle qualified 3rd overall, enough said. In Kyle’s heat race,
he was leading and the dirt gremlins got him again – he slipped off the groove
and fell, came back and finished 3rd giving him a front row start for the
final. Kyle got a perfect start in the final. Running third, another rider went
down. On the staggered restart, if Kyle could get the holeshot, he had a great
chance of making top three. But not to be, a missed shift put him in last going
into turn one, resulting in a 9th place finish. No, it was not our typical
weekend, but you know the saying - you can’t win them all!
September
22-23 – our first road racing weekend!
It
took a year after Kyle and Travis attended the Kevin
Schwantz Suzuki
School in Atlanta, but we’ve finally done it. We are
road racing. The three boys attended the Ed Bargy School in Birmingham, Alabama
the Friday before the race weekend. Cody’s first time on a road race course was
successful. He advanced quickly in the class riding our Honda 250 set up for
SuperMoto road racing. The Honda ran well, but was hitting the rev limiter
constantly, so without any additional sprockets, we decided to not have Cody
race for fear of blowing the motor up at over 100mph. Travis and Kyle would
race the weekend, but the rule is first time racers start in the back, last
row. We knew we had our work cut out for us.
Travis
rode our Honda 450 set up for SuperMoto and entered the Clubman class on Sunday
and WON! Awesome first road race finish, Travis!
On
Saturday, Kyle rode our Suzuki 600 in the Mediumweight Novice class, a 16 lap
race that lasts about 35 minutes. A grueling race for a first timer, but age
and determination were on his side. He finished 8th out of 25 riders.
On
Sunday, Kyle raced in the Superstock Novice class and Superbike Novice class
finishing 18th out of 36 and 7th out of 26.