2009 AMA season Higbee Racing recap

It’s amazing that even though the AMA season was relatively short, at 6 months in length. It felt like it absorbed more than a years worth of emotional and physical energy.  Racing of any type is difficult but even more so with the flux which was rampant in AMA roadracing competition this year.  Major changes within the AMA race organization, rules package, race format, and a struggling economy made for a very long season.  The 2009 season felt unfamiliar, however it certainly delivered change and was a growing year.  In my opinion the improved brand parity in AMA roadracing has increased the competition levels to rival world class events.  Sure it was an untypical year, but the 2009 season is more memorable in many ways than previous seasons.

In 1989 I started my racing career, and it has been an incredible 20 years of competition!  The peaks have been a mixture of international racing success, a score of 3 U.S National Championships, plus many individual race wins.  On the flip side, I’ve learned to endure the pain of injury and how to deal with the defeat of crashing. My body has been punished with broken bones including : both femurs, right wrist, ribs, collar bone, fingers, hip, and shoulder dislocation. The waves of glorious highs and treacherous lows have made me appreciate the essence of life.  After dedicating more than half my lifetime to motorcycle roadracing, it has taught me much.  I’ve learned how to over come fears and break through self limiting barriers.  Motorcycle roadracing has afforded me confidence to succeed and provide an arena to accomplish things I didn’t realize were possible.  To succeed I’ve learned that it takes passion, dedication, perseverance, positive visualization, courage, and to be surrounded by others who share the same attributes.  When all of this comes together and is injected with the right tools and equipment, a champion is born.  Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to possess the championship attributes in 2009.  And as a racer it’s frustrating to compete knowing that you’re lacking some of the pieces to achieve the best results.

There has been more up and down this year than any previous race season. By far the biggest up of the year was the amount of support that came from race enthusiasts, friends/family, and my fiancé.  The downs included a mechanical dnf, series of crashes, and difficulty coming to terms with the new rules and procedures.  Partly out of spite and necessity, I created team Higbee Racing to buck the system and test my ability to survive.  The strategy that developed throughout the season was laughable.  Instead of racing to improve, the strategy became how much of a disadvantage can I withstand and still finish in the top 20 paying position. There was one positive to this that materialized.  As the cards where increasingly stacked against me, I pushed my riding abilities further and further.  It was very satisfying to consistently exceed the traction limits and elevate my personal riding limits.  Throughout the 2009 season, I rode harder than ever before in my career and developed a very high level of stamina and endurance.

In every aspect of racing the thoughts of efficiency instigated over usage, which became the status quo to extract every bit of usefulness. It was a season of getting the most out of used tires, the overworked volunteering crew, the high mileage engines, and skimping to cut all expenses!  When I worked at Buell I hated the concept of the 80/20 rule. However that’s exactly what I was forced to adhere to this season.  Arguably this is a misuse of the pareto principle, but I really did try to get a 80% result with only 20% of the proper resources. Now that the AMA season is complete, it’s gratifying to have stayed true to my principles and not folded in to an unjust offer. Ironically the best finish, 5th place in DSB,  was at the start of the season during the Daytona 200. It seems that the other teams were able to develop their bikes throughout the year, which allowed the competition to improve however we stood still with little to no development.  Progression and bike development wasn’t an option and  I feel that hindered our results, even though I rode better than before.  It was quite exhausting knowing that every race finish was paramount to being able to continue racing at the next event. The stakes were always high!  Not only was I putting my life on the line but I’d have to gamble everything I had to make it to the races and needed to make it into the money or else…  For the most of the season we finished inside of the top twenty in Daytona Sportbike and American Superbike, but when I didn’t it was desperate times.  I felt some relief throughout the year, and honestly my ass was saved more than once by generous race supporters.   Thank you to all!