De Keyrel Racing heads to AMA Pro Racing at Road America.
We arrived at Road America Wednesday night at 11:30 pm. Thursday, we got moved in at 10:00am in the morning. We parked the rig in the upper paddock and set up the canopy for the long weekend to come. Tech was open, so we went and got the pass for the Zuma and asked questions we were wondering about. Thank you to Richard and Mark at Cortech for the tickets and lining up the great parking spot.
Friday, I got up and went to the riders meeting with my dad and watched morning practice. Then, I went for a 20 mile road bike ride with Nick Mcfadden at lunch. We had a great ride through Wisconsin with some major head wind. We got back just in time to watch more practice.
After Friday’s activities, Larry Pegram made a track out of chalk for Levi and his two daughters.
Saturday, I got up ready to watch a great day of racing. I ran around on the Zuma, watching all day, learning as much as I could. Larry Pegram was parked in the upper paddock right next to us. We got to hang out with him and his family all weekend. I watched the Superbike race 1 on his TV in his pit. It was a day full of great racing!
Sunday, was another great day of racing, but the day started out with a bad crash at the start of Supersport race 2. I was watching on Triumphs TV in their pit. When I saw the crash, I ran out to the pit wall. There, I saw broken bikes and people laying everywhere. That was the worst crash I have ever seen at the start of a race! I have been praying for Tyler Linders, Ricky Valdez, Caroline Olsen and everyone else involved. I hope they have a speedy recovery and get back out on the grid. The racing in Daytona Sport bike was great with Jake Gagne taking the win away from Cam Beaubier, ending his winning streak. There was also a great finish in Supersport race 2 with Corey Alexander, Stefano Mesa, and Tomás Puerta. The finish was insanely close!
I had great days of testing at a STT event on Monday and Tuesday. The weather was beautiful both days and I got a ton of riding in. There were a lot of people on track, so I had to make a lot of passes. It was tough to get a clean lap. Monday, Trackside Suspension & Engineering stayed around to work with us on different suspension set ups. We road a different set up every session and logged in all the information. I think Monday was a great success. Thank you to Mark, Scotty and Meghan for taking the time to work with me. I turned 16 on Tuesday, and it was great to spend it with my family riding. I had a great birthday weekend at the track! Thank You to Richard Harris of SportBike Track Time for allowing us to ride.
Kaleb De Keyrel #51
Road America AMA , STT track day
All the AMA races had great battles. I wheelied my mountain bike all over watching in different areas. Trying to check out lines that the pro’s were using. I saw the Super Sport crash on the start of the second race and was praying for all those affected. We have two friends of ours still in the hospital from that crash. Hoping for a speedy recovery!
STT track day
I started out running three minute lap times. As I got used to the track and my braking points my lap times started to drop. After getting a couple session in, I was getting into to the high two minutes. At the end of the week end, I was at 2.57 lap time. Unfortunately, my riding time was cut short due to my chain getting caught between the rear tire and the swing arm. I had a great weekend watching the pro’s race and getting to ride at Road America. I’d like to thank Richard Harris for letting us ride with SportBike Track Time.
Mason De Keyrel #54