Halbert Brothers update

Sammy sends this out to sponsors and fans and the like. Thought you might like to read it. See how often these guys race. The next big one is today, Lima, Ohio. We have a really great interview with Sammy in for Sideburn 6 (which is coming along, no release date yet, though)
Sam is 7, Jethro is 69. GI

May 29th
Springfield, IL
TT GNC round 4
I finished second place in my heat at the Springfield, IL TT in round 4 of the newly named AMA Pro K&N Grand National Championship. I placed fourth in the Dash for Cash, then in the main event I crashed on the first lap in the tight right hand corner. I got up and was able to pass five guys over the next 25 laps to salvage an 11th place finish.

May 30th
Springfield Mile round 5
I had one really fast bike for the mile, and unfortunately the crank pin broke on that rocket ship and we could hear it making a bad noise when I was about to go out for my final qualifying session. I would have to switch to my back-up HD XR 750. I finished 3rd in the heat race, but I was struggling to get traction. I made a few big changes for the main event and I quickly found that I changed too much as the bike would go into a high speed wobble down the straight aways. It was a long 25 laps for me, and it was all I could do to hang on and finish 7th.


June 4th
Dairyland Classic
Plymouth, WI
We generally come away with some good results at this slippery short track in Wisconsin. This year was more of a struggle with our YZ 450's. I finished second in my heat race and the other half of Halbert Brothers racing Jethro won his heat race. In the main event Jethro started in second and I was in fourth. Jethro was trying to find a way around Wiles while I was slowly working my way back to finish 8th, I tried a different compound tire than we normally run here and I found that it didn't work too well. Jethro couldn't make it past the blocking Wiles and that put him off line a couple times causing him to drop back to a fifth place finish.

June 17th
Decatur, IL
All Star National Flat Track series round 6
We did this fair race on a Thursday night, it was really nice to get out on a big pea gravel cushion half-mile, I always seem to do well on these types of tracks and I really enjoy riding them. I got the day started off well by pulling a holeshot en route to the win in both my 450 expert and 750 expert heat races. I pulled another holeshot at the start of the 450 expert main event and had a great time riding out front on a fresh track with a nice layer of cushion. I felt like I was wringing the neck on my YZ 450 holding it to the pin halfway into the turn, I led every lap and was really happy to turn around after the finish and see the #69 of my brother who made a pass on Mees late in the race to complete the first Halbert Bros 1 and 2 finish of the season so far.
We didn't spray the champagne on the podium though as we had the premier race of the night coming up next the 750 expert Twins main event. I once again pulled a beautiful holeshot but this time I had to out maneuver Mees in the first turn to take the lead. I had a great time throwing my black HD XR 750 around this track, we call this bike the Vinny bike as our good friend Vinny bought it for us to use. I put it to good use and led every lap but didn't push hard enough in the final couple laps which let Mees close in, I saw him coming on the last lap and luckily I rode a near perfect last lap to seal the deal. Jethro came from the back row to finish 5th.

June 19th
Gas City, IN
GNC ST round 6
This extremely wide and banked short track proved to be very technical and challenging for us. We didn't have the greatest run in qualifying but both Jethro and I were on the front row of our heat races, Jethro finished a close 3rd in expert heat race number two of the night. I pulled a sweet holeshot in the third heat race but was passed by Wiles and I barely held off the next guy to finish second earning my spot on the front row of the main event and a ticket to the points paying Dash for Cash.
I got a decent start in the Dash but was quickly swallowed up by the pack in the first turn, over the next couple laps they shuffled me back to fifth where I finished earning just one extra point for the championship.
I felt like I was struggling just a little bit with my suspension settings, and I just didn't have as much traction as I should, I tried a few minor changes with the suspension and a different rear tire.
It proved to be a tough main event as I didn't get a great start and there were riders all around me trying different lines, we must have been three and four wide at some points. I had a great battle going with Coolbeth for the first half of the race with Jethro slowly starting to pull away using the low line. Then we had a restart, I started in 8th but was able to get clear of Coolbeth and pressure Jethro and Pearson for fourth. I was starting to find a good line by using a combination of the high and low lines I felt like just as I was starting to get within striking distance of Pearson for 5th the white flag came out and I wasn't able to do anything. Pearson had a fast last lap and edged Jethro out for 4th by .06 Jethro finished fifth and I crossed the line in 6th. I felt like we put in pretty good rides and gave it everything we had but we just have a little work to do and some more learning to pick up that last tenth of a second or two on these types of tracks on our Yamaha's. I have a couple idea's on what I could have done differently.

Now I am coming into Lima tied for 5th place in points in the Grand National Championship, this is a perfect track for me to get things rolling so I am shooting for the win to get me back in this championship battle.

Next event
June 26th,
Lima, OH
GNC round 7