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I can't say I was much into bikes when I was a kid. My brother and I had a couple dirt bikes that we rode around a little bit, but nothing serious. At the time, he was more interested in racing than I was. It was only when I came out and watched my dad race that I got the bug to try it myself. My dad had been racing for a few years and had been very successful doing so; winning races and championships both at the amateur and expert level.

After getting out of school, I decided to attend a rider's class to get my race license. I used my dad's bike for the rider's class - until I crashed it. Oops! However, it was a temporary setback. I was finally able to get my license on the second try and jumped into racing full-force. Even with my limited track experience, I was hooked. I started racing on a Honda Hawk that my dad had built as a backup bike; a 650cc twin machine that was the perfect learning tool for a beginner.

My first racing season wasn't so much successful as productive. I picked up speed, kept from crashing, and was fortunate to end the year with my first race win. The feeling of racing alone was enough of an addiction, but winning that race was a new high all in of itself; enough to carry me through the winter and into the following year. This helped set the tone for 2002, where I won a handful of races and two class championships with the now-defunct Great Lakes Road Racing Association (GLRRA) series. GLRRA ran primarily at Grattan Raceway and had extremely strong competition from top to bottom. It was a great year in terms of learning how to race a bike.

At the start of the 2003 season, I began riding a Suzuki SV650 and had joined the WERA (Western Eastern Roadracing Association) series. At the outset, I was unsure how the season would pan out. WERA was a bigger organization and presented a deeper pool of riders. I had only raced at one track with a different bike, so it was questionable how I would do at these new tracks.

It turned out to be quite a year. I adapted to the SV650 quickly and was able to win 24 races at a variety of different tracks. My dad had taken the year off from racing and was helping me at the track, which was a huge benefit. His help directly accounted for two race wins, as I needed a jump start after stalling the bike on the grid on two separate occasions and had to chase after the pack (he ran down and jump-started the bike with a small battery pack we had). Both of those wins (one at Putnam Park especially, where I started 16 seconds down and came back to win) were great and something I'm proud to have accomplished.

Among the race wins, I was also named the Lockhart Phillips Privateer of the Month for August; shortly thereafter I won 4 races at the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta - the most important being the Formula 2 National Championship. Road Atlanta was the biggest event of the year, finishing off a near-perfect 2003 season for me.

The 2004 season looked good initially. After strong amateur results the previous year, 2004 would be my first year as an expert. We had been able to acquire some support from Suzuki, which helped us acquire a new Suzuki SV650 - an all-new model and essentially a completely different bike to run alongside my current SV650. My dad had returned to racing, so we would be swapping bikes to run in various classes - one being my Superbike-spec SV, and the new Supersport-spec SV.

Right out of the gate we had problems. We were having all sorts of nagging issues with the Superbike, although I was still winning races on it. However the new SV650s had engine reliability issues that plagued us all year. Beyond that though, was the realization that I just wasn't adapting to racing two different bikes effectively. I did manage 11 wins and 3 WERA class championships, with the highlight of the season being a second National Championship - the AMA Sports Lightweight Superbike Grand National Championship won at Mid-Ohio - another big event similar to Road Atlanta's Grand National Finals. This was the highlight of what otherwise would be considered a disappointing season.

The season reached the bottom when I crashed at Nelson Ledges in August. After avoiding a near highside, I ran off track into the grass, dirt and ruts, getting thrown from the bike in the process. I injured my shoulder pretty badly.

As the "regular season" began winding down, we still were planning for the Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta, and running in the Suzuki SV Cup (the premiere SV race in the US) with the new SV650; after all, that was the main reason we had gotten it. But the problems continued as we now had two motors fail with the new bike. I also crashed and landed on my shoulder again while testing at Gingerman Raceway - the timing couldn't have been worse, seeing we were a few days from Atlanta and the Grand Nationals.

The first day of the Grand Nationals, four bikes got caught out in the first practice session when it started raining. Road Atlanta's Turn 7 was very slick when wet, and the four bikes went down even before the track was completely wet. Sure enough, I was one of the four - landing hard on my shoulder yet again. By that point, I wasn't in any physical or mental shape to ride. I was tired of dealing with the injury and all of the bike issues. With three hard falls in a short span of time, I just didn't have the confidence I previously had with riding the bike.

My dad, now-wife Gina and I packed our stuff and made the long 12-hour drive home to Michigan - the longest drive ever. How ironic that the trip to Road Atlanta in 2003 had low expectations that were surpassed in every way possible, but 2004 presented the exact opposite: high expectations with no results, and a bunch of excuses that I really didn't like using.

I took the year off from racing in 2005. I had shoulder surgery, got married, and basically recharged myself after three years of nothing but racing. It was painful to do (both the shoulder and not racing), but it was the right decision. After selling both SVs, I bought a Yamaha R6 and started setting it up for the 2006 season.

Talks with Total Racing Solutions progressed and I rode for them in 2006. It was a learning year aboard the 600 in the most competitive class around, but with consistent progress throughout. I made the podium several times both at Regional and National events, racing against some pretty strong competition. In addition I partnered with Jim Cottrell and Darren Womack and won two Fasttrax 3-hour endurance races during the season as well.

I finished the season on a high note, racing in the AMA Sports 600 Shootout held at Mid-Ohio. This race was comprised of the top 20 amateur "up and coming" riders that had to qualify beforehand to make the field. The race was part of the AMA Pro weekend at Mid-Ohio, which was a great experience in and of itself. I finished 6th and the race was televised nationally as part of the AMA Pro weekend.

2007 was a great stepping stone. Things started to click and I proceeded to win both the WERA 600 Superstock and 750 Superstock class championships, capitalized by winning my first two races in the highly competitive 600 class; all on the same bike from 2005. I made significant improvements in my riding and was able to consistently run at the front of the pack week in and week out.

2008 started off extremely well with key sponsorship from Flagstar Bank and Honda East of Toledo. After coming out of the gates strong, winning our first race of the season, the season quickly took a turn for the worse. I crashed the following day on cold tires, breaking my collarbone somewhat severely. I underwent surgery where a plate and ten screws were inserted, resulting in nine weeks of downtime while everything healed and strength was built back through physical therapy. In the meantime, David Grey rode the bike at Grattan where he put in great results and represented our sponsors extremely well. I attended every event even while being out of action, as my dad was back into racing and doing quite well himself.

When I came back, there wasn't much time before we were set to race in our first AMA Pro event. Running in the AMA Supersport class at Mid-Ohio, we continued down the path of challenge, while the motor decided to let go in Friday's first practice. From there on out, the weekend was an exhaustive one, but as a team we fought through it, qualified and finished 22nd out of 34 bikes. Not the ideal result, but competing at the highest level in the most competitive class offered by the AMA isn't an easy task no matter what.

As the season wound down, I did manage to win the WERA 600 Supersport race held at Grattan; after we put the newly-built motor back in the bike the previous night. We also found some critical setup information that we had been lacking all season with the new bike.

With 2008 complete, thoughts are onto the 2009 season. Now that all the quirks are now worked out of the bike, there's some unfinished business I have after racing at a level less than I'm accustomed to.

Stay tuned for more details ..