Racing is back. After a big crash, surgery, and a year away from the track, I'm back competing with the MRA in 2026. Two rounds in, the speed isn't where it used to be, but it's coming. Here's how the season has gone so far.
I wasn't sure what to expect heading into Round 1. I knew I was slower. I hadn't raced since before the crash, and getting your race pace back isn't something you can shortcut. You have to put in the laps and trust the process. What I didn't expect was how fast everything came back the moment the lights went out.
The nerves were real going into that first race. But as soon as the lights went out, everything got quiet. The adrenaline kicked in, the brain locked onto what it needed to do, and I started racing. Passing people, fighting for position, pushing for the line. It came right back. I was reminded, immediately and completely, just how much I love this.
I'm racing the same 2017 Yamaha R6 that was crashed. The one that needed to be rebuilt from the ground up after the accident that also put me through surgery and kept me off the track. There was something deliberate about getting that exact bike back on track rather than starting fresh. It felt like the right way to finish what got interrupted.
That bike and I have some unfinished business. We're working through it together.
Round 1 was about shaking the rust off and getting comfortable again. Starting near the back and working forward is exactly how it needed to go.
| Class | Start | Finish | Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula 40 Middleweight | Near back | 6th | 17 riders |
| Middleweight Supersport | 21st | 17th |
Starting near the back in Formula 40 MW and finishing 6th out of 17 was a good sign. The speed isn't fully back yet, but the racecraft is. Knowing when to push, where to make moves, how to manage a race, that stuff came back fast.
Round 2 I ran four classes, including my first Amateur races back. The numbers were mixed, but every session gave me more data on where the gap is and where I'm already close.
| Class | Start | Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula 40 Middleweight | 6th | 10th | |
| Middleweight Supersport | 11th | 13th | |
| Amateur Middleweight | 20th | 11th | 9 positions gained |
| Amateur Open | ~8th | 9th | See below |
This one deserves its own section.
The Amateur Open class mixes bikes of all sizes. I'm on a 600, and I spent most of that race trading paint with a couple of guys on liter bikes. We were locked into a three-way battle for most of the race. I was faster through the corners and through most of the technical sections. They were faster than me on the long straight, which on that track is a big straight. So the pattern was: I pass one of them, they draft past me again down the straight, I set up for the next corner.
It was one of the best battles I've had in a long time. Exactly the kind of racing that makes all of it worth it.
Coming into the last lap, I had a plan. Get past them early, defend through the technical sections where I had the advantage, and hold them off to the line. The straight was the threat, so I needed to come out of the last corner with enough gap to survive it.
The plan was good. The execution was not.
In the excitement of the moment, I came into Turn 1 on the last lap way too fast. I blew the corner, went off track through the dirt, and had to circle back to rejoin. Race over. Finished 9th instead of where I could have been.
I'm not upset about it. That's racing. More than that, it tells me the competitive instincts are fully back, maybe a little too fully back. The brain was going for the win when the body and the lap times weren't quite there yet. That gap closes with seat time.
I'm slower than I was before the crash. That's just the reality. Getting your timing back after a long layoff, especially one that involved surgery, takes time. The laps don't lie and I'm not pretending otherwise.
But every session I'm getting my numbers down. The racecraft came back right away. The fitness is coming. The pace will follow.
What surprised me most wasn't the speed gap, it was how quickly the joy came back. As soon as I started racing, actually racing, fighting for position and working through traffic, it was immediate. This is what I do. I'm glad to be back doing it.
If you've never been to an MRA race weekend, it's hard to describe how good the atmosphere is. It's a big family. People help people. You spend the day watching racing, working on bikes, talking with friends you only see at the track, and then doing it all over again the next morning. Everyone is there because they love the same thing.
I've been part of this community for years, first as a rider, then as a coach at the New Racer School, and now back competing. It's one of the best things Colorado has going in the motorcycle world.
More rounds ahead. The times are coming down. See you at the track.
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