Travis Wyman - Daytona Race of Champions
MACEDON, NY (October 2011)

After my unfortunate weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in late June, I suffered an injury to my left hand. I lost the front end in turn five of race two resulting in a serious injury to my pinky finger.

The race of champions was the first time that I would grid up and race since my wreck. So I flew down to Florida in hopes to shake off the jitters and get some quality seat time. I spent most of practice getting used to new Suzuki 600’s that I am riding now while building my confidence back up.

I had two races on Saturday where I had to start from the back of the grid, which was around 35th place. The first race was 25 minutes, and I got a good start. My only goal at this time was to just make it through turn one. There was so much traffic and clutter through the first section of track that I kept careful until we got up on the banking. I got a good drive and was able to draft pass five bikes going into the next section. Still uneasy about my wreck and confidence, I made a few passes here and there in the infield, but did most of my work on the high-speed sections of this race track. I managed to make work my way up through the pack to finish 8th place!

I had the same mind set going into race two but felt more confident. Unfortunately this race was only six laps so I knew I had to get down to business quick. I got another great start and worked my way through the field drafting riders left and right. This race I was able to finish 10th place, which I was quite happy with starting from the back of the field. At the end of the day I had the opportunity to qualify for the race on Sunday.

I spent most of the session working with other riders trying to get a good draft, but nearing the end of my session I found myself all alone. I worked really hard on pushing myself as much as possible and was able to put my best time in on my last lap ultimately putting me 6th on the grid for Sunday’s race. I got a good start and suffered a mechanical issue on lap three forcing me to pull in the pits. It was an unfortunate way to end the weekend, but I was happy to get back on the bike and get some solid track time.

I would just like to thank all of my sponsors for their support in this up and down season. I will come back even stronger next year!

Thanks to Harv’s Harley-Davidson, AB1 Motorsports, Arai, Rev It, Long Pond Autobody, Superseal, Vortex, ODI, Drippenwet, and MotoOption.