Jake Lewis- Taking the Stock 1000 Trophy at Road America

Dave Sulecki

Welcome to Pit Pass Moto of the show that keeps you up to speed on the latest in motorcycling and brings the biggest names in motorcycle racing right to you. I'm Dave Solecki. And this week we have a stock one winner, Jake Lewis, as our guest, Moto America, the home of AMA Superbike Championship featuring one hundred and ninety mile per hour Superbikes is the official sponsor of pit based Moto Moto America. The official AMA road racing series for North America is that Moto America dotcom tickets info and complete twenty twenty one scheduled at Moto America dot com tickets.

Dave Sulecki

King of the Badgers returns in twenty twenty one for three rounds and that was a huge success in twenty twenty with millions of video views and social impressions and news stories. It's unbelievable. Between racing from Atlanta Road America and Laguna Seca, go to Moto America dot com for more info on registration rules and tickets for King of the Badgers, follow Moto America on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. So with us on the phone today, we've got PJ Dawran talking to us about the race events this past weekend at Moto, America.

Dave Sulecki

PJ, what's going on?

PJ Doran

But, oh, I am working my way home, sadly, because that was probably the most singular phone I've ever had at a road racing event. Moto America and Road America just put on an incredible, incredible show. The weather was could not have been better. Good friends and amazing racing all weekend long. The highlight for me personally was definitely Jake Lewis's race in the stock. One Thousand Glass. It was just incredible to be at the podium after that monument is when it was cool to see Jake really hit his stride one and get a whole bunch of confidence back that he absolutely has earned through a career of road racing.

PJ Doran

That was just one of the highlights. There were so many things out there day that King the Badgers racing was insane. Tommy Boy, our contributor, Tommy Boy, Hammerson and I went and watched Saturday morning warm up of the Badgers and we saw them line up at Pitt out there getting ready to take the track for a warm up session and one Tyler O'Hara in one day. And he has like banged saddlebags all the way from Pitt out to turn one.

PJ Doran

And I think somebody forgot to tell him it wasn't the race. It was a warm up session. So it was pretty it was pretty awesome. Seeing stuff like that all weekend was was incredible. A bunch of the Badgers really pretty much all the way to turn one. The crowds were amazing. The most crowded. I've seen a road race since pre 08. Honestly, I've been going to road America that long since the early 2000s. And this had a pre 2008 vibe, intensity and crowd size.

PJ Doran

It was impressive. It was a good sign. It made me feel good to know there are this many people who want to be out here watching this. It was really cool.

Dave Sulecki

So big news out of that King of the Badgers race was Harley Davidson taking some wins. And not only that lead in the points for the season and the three race series, pretty cool stuff.

PJ Doran

Yeah, it was it was incredible. I hung out with Tyler, defending champ, winner of the first king of the Badgers race this year, sadly out of DNF. But he was in it right there until he had some issues towards the end. We have yet to find out what those issues were. I'm sure we'll talk to him. But this series is now an open contest. Harley was very obviously putting some effort into this. They do not want to just give away yet another form of racing to a direct competitor in Indian.

PJ Doran

They do not want to do that. They brought out some hired guns. Again, I mentioned Danny. They brought in some very fast riders. They were being referred to jokingly throughout the crowds and groups of motorcyclists. I talk to you as Harley brought some blockers in and it's going to be a heads up race now. And it turned into one. So it was really cool to watch the race. Just see the hype that was going around it, too, and their practice sessions.

PJ Doran

And it's startling, startling how fast those bikes are. I mean, they're making real horsepower. They've trimmed them down to very little weight. They are proper racing machines going into five, the downhill, high speed, fastest point on the track because it's downhill Top Gear and then you're ninety degree turn to go up a hill. The amount of movement under those riders was insane. They've got legendary amounts of courage, Steve.

Dave Sulecki

Yeah, I would say there's something unnatural about seeing those bikes flying around the track. Now, switching gears, I know your guy, Jake, just had an outstanding weekend, two wins on the weekend and offer a new race team for him I thought was great. But also in Superbike, Jake Garner doing the double. How about that? That just had to be so cool to see live.

PJ Doran

It was. And his dominance in particular, I remember. Most clearly yesterday, race to a guy just he was away after one lap, you know, you got the starting line where you're stationary. And it seemed by the time he made it halfway around the track, he had a meaningful lead, which is great news for Jay Garner. Not such great news for anybody racing against him because he pulled the whole shot and was untouchable. He's clearly found another gear this year that was awesome to watch happen, get around to do the double.

PJ Doran

The guys, clearly, he and his team are hooked up and working the way teams want to work when everything's going right. It was pretty sweet. I look forward to watching, honestly, a bunch of this on American Live. Plus, I want to realize they have Jumbotron, thankfully, scattered throughout the facility there in Wisconsin. But you lose you lose track. Everyone's watching and you're constantly back and forth from the jumbo to here. They come and do their fly by wherever you're spectating from.

PJ Doran

I look forward to watching some of the racing because the weather was so good that no one had the excuse of my setup or my tires or whatever wasn't quite right was exactly the same Saturday and Sunday as it was Friday. So all the teams had it figured out as best they could. You know how to set up a bike. We did see a few accidents. Fortunately, nothing tragic that we witnessed. And it was a great weekend of racing.

PJ Doran

Just the number of people there was shattering. It was it was awesome. You couldn't go anywhere and not be surrounded by motorcycle race fans.

Dave Sulecki

So there you go, folks. There's your live feed and data from the race this last weekend. Moto America, thank you for coming on and talking to us about what went on over the weekend. And we look forward to more of this year in me to thank you to America for putting on the greatest race in our country right now. I can't wait to get up to Brainerd. That's the next one. And I'll be there.

Dave Sulecki

Sounds great, man. Thanks for the report, P.J.. This week's trivia question is who was known as Mr. Daytona, the five time winner of the Daytona 200 race event? And for bonus points, what motorcycle brand did he finished his career riding? More on that after our interview with Jake Lewis. We would like to welcome back to the past Moto Moto America racer and current points leader in stock one thousand class Jake Lewis. Welcome to the show, Jake.

Dave Sulecki

Appreciate you coming on today, man.

Jake Lewis

Yeah, thanks for having me on a day after a good win. So it's always nice to be driving home a winner. It was good.

Dave Sulecki

Yeah, absolutely. Congrats on your results last week. And that was awesome, man. And our guy is he's not on the show with us today, but boy, is he excited about your weekend, too. So I just got off the phone with him and he's just a static. So tell us about the weekend outings. Webman just play by play, if you could.

Jake Lewis

Yeah, man, it was honestly, I wouldn't say a tough weekend, but it was definitely interesting. You know, the stock thousand races this year have been super close and competitive. And honestly, there's probably six guys that could win on a on a given weekend. And I think I qualified fourth. But, you know, the Superbike race on Saturday because we do the Superbike Cup as well. So I learned a lot with the team in the bike during that race that helped us for the stock race yesterday.

Jake Lewis

And that was our main goal, to try to win the stock race or at least be fighting for the win and made a lot of changes on Saturday night. And on Sunday, the race was really good. Unfortunately, the race got red flagged, but it helped me out a lot because I got a bad start before the red flag was all the way back. And I think sixth place, that's a pretty good ways back, and especially with how short the races are going to be.

Jake Lewis

Tough making it up to the front. But after the red flag, you got a really good start and put my head down and chase down. Jeff made a good clean pass on him and just kept charging and ended up winning, I think, by second half or so. So it was a good day and good for the points for sure.

Dave Sulecki

Each round you just seems like your team is getting better and better. I mean, Atlanta go four for Virginia, one, two climbing up the ladder. And then this weekend it really kind of hooked together and everything was in sync. But you kind of wish it was two rounds of last weekend instead of just the one. But that's the way things go. And it's it's great. You guys are really making a run of it. Working with the Altice teams got to be a fun experience just based on their their record over the years.

Dave Sulecki

What's that been like for you this year as a kind of a brand new team for you to get used to?

Jake Lewis

Yeah, for sure. You know, the whole test motorsports team is really good. And, you know, I've had a good relationship with George ever since I started with the guys. But even, you know, dating back to last year, they kept in touch with me, you know, even when Cam was running for them, hope opportunity would come up for this year. And luckily, did you know and we saw the results of Cam and that team last year.

Jake Lewis

And that was our whole goal this offseason. And going into this year was to be battling and fighting for wins and try to bring them another championship to go back to back. So the team would be huge. And this is a relationship with a team. You know, it's a it's a smaller team and it's just kind of like a family atmosphere. So it's really good and kind of laid back. Not super big pressure to perform. Like, you know, obviously we want to win every race, but it's not like I'm going to come in and get yelled at for not winning, you know?

Jake Lewis

So I love writing for the team. The Suzuki's really good at not me being a bigger guy said on the the bike really well. And just it's been a fun go so far. And I think we're only going to get better, you know, start carrying the momentum now that like you said, Aboriginal went one, two and then they're winning this weekend. Looks like I already have a little bit of a nice points gap in the stock class, which is nice.

Jake Lewis

Honestly, I didn't even know I had almost a full race now, which will which will be pretty helpful.

Dave Sulecki

Yeah, for sure. Sitting on a very respectable ninety six points this many rounds in is great, great news and tough competition too in that class. So it's, it's really great to see. Come together for you. Really excited. I'm kind of curious. We've talked in the past. I know you like to play off road and do those things. Are there. I'm, I'm going to ask kind of tongue in cheek, are there team orders to lay off the dirt bikes for a while or do you still get to get out and play or.

Dave Sulecki

No?

Jake Lewis

Yeah, honestly, there's not really any team orders. I mean, obviously, I know I'm not going to go out there and do anything stupid for me. It's it's hard to stay off the dirt bike. You know, it's it's a great training and it keeps me in shape for the road races. You know, unfortunately, road racing, it's like we get to go out and test and ride a street bike every day like you can on a dirt bike.

Jake Lewis

But for now, you know, I'm not going to do any more woods races this summer, even though I love to. But it's just kind of too risky at this point. I mean, I have a track in my house now, so it's rather a train track and it has a couple of jumps. So Jadi Beach myself two, three times a week, either in my house or is this track. So definitely I'm going to stay off the dirt bikes, but I can't go out there and push as hard as I was last summer.

Jake Lewis

You know, last summer I was doing a full time woods racing and then even in the winter and I got pretty fast. But going that fast in the woods is it's pretty scary and the risk is definitely higher.

Dave Sulecki

Yeah, I don't blame you. And that's you mentioned JD Beach. Now, I know you've done some flat tracking in the past and in the mix with road racing. Is there any plans for that this season? Anything in mind as far as right now? No, because road racing will be pretty busy. We only have just. This weekend off and then we go out to the ridge and then Laguna and then no, definitely when you're in a points championship and just focusing on that as my goal and unfortunately, no, I don't even have a flat track bike right now.

Dave Sulecki

So it's kind of not going to work out as far as doing any dirt tracks. If you just do the road racing stuff this year and then in the wintertime, I get back with the hair samples again.

Dave Sulecki

So the ridge is kind of a new venue for Middle America. They've just come on board recently. What what do you think of the detractions this year? And do you have any favorites in the mix of tracks, Middle America?

Jake Lewis

I mean, also, I'm super excited to go to the because I've never been there before, so it'll be a new for me as well. And I've never been to that part of the United States. So it'll be going to go out there and check it out. And after that, we have Laguna and Laguna is one of my favorite tracks, not a big six hundred win back back in twenty fourteen. That was kind of like my biggest win, you know, to kind of put my name even more out there.

Jake Lewis

And I really like that track. I like Pittsburgh. That's coming up. I mean, we have a few good tracks that are a little bit more tight and technical, which I'll even play more in our favor I feel like.

Dave Sulecki

So that's your that's your preferred. You like the tight technical courses over maybe the bigger, bigger courses.

Jake Lewis

Yeah, for sure. You know, I feel like that this plays into my favor, you know, just being more of a technical writer, especially with my size and being taller, I can move the bike around a lot better with the long legs. And I'm really strong on the brakes, which which helped me this weekend, you know, this weekend, the Suzuki fast. But, you know, the new Honda is good, the BMW fast.

Jake Lewis

And I thought we were going to struggle more than we did this weekend. And fortunately, we came out with the win. So that was huge for the team and myself. And I said, I just like the momentum from here is just going to just keep going and coming up to some tracks that I like. And also I want to win. And that's all I've been thinking about and I want to do, which is all great news for you and bad news for the competition for sure.

Jake Lewis

And we're we we couldn't be more excited for you. I think it's really shaping up to be a great season, outstanding Weekend Road America this last weekend. So really, really excited for you, Jake. And thanks again for joining us. As we wrap up here, we're kind of running out of time, unfortunately. But if there are people that have helped you along this year and then you want to give a shout out to, now would be the time to do it.

Jake Lewis

Yeah, for sure. Just going to say a big thank you to all this motorsports team. You know, they kind of saved my career and gave me the opportunity to get back in the ballot this year. So big hats off to those guys. Jordan Ginnette listening over there, my crew chief, Eric Gray, and for example, Tucker Rocky, raw helmets, Korsak Leathers, my personal sponsors are all clone international and service and plastics. Without them, I wouldn't be racing this year.

Jake Lewis

So big. Thank you.

Dave Sulecki

And a great long list of sponsors. Make sure everybody go check them out. These are great helpers and participants in the sport. So, Jake, thanks again for being with us today. Man, we appreciate it.

Jake Lewis

Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys.

Dave Sulecki

We'd like to thank Jake Lewis for being with us today on the show. This week's bit past trivia question was who is known as Mr. Daytona, the five time winner of the Daytona 200 race event? And for bonus points, what motorcycle brand did he finish his career on? The answer is, of course, Russell, who was known as Mr. Daytona for his five wins, dominating performances in nineteen ninety two, ninety four, ninety five, ninety seven and nineteen ninety eight.

Dave Sulecki

His last race, unfortunately, in 2001, ended poorly on Ducati, where he was rear ended on the race track and had some bad injuries. So I think at that point he just finally decided to hang up his hat and call it a career. Upcoming events, we've got Imee Outdoor Motocross at High Point Raceway, Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, which will be this weekend, June 19th, American Flatrock at Remington Park, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which is June 18th and 19th.

Dave Sulecki

Moto GP, the Liquid Motor Ra'ed Grand Prix, Deutschland, Issacson Ring Germany, June 20th. Moto America at the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. Coming up on June twenty fifth through twenty seventh. Jinksy Racing at Snowshoe, West Virginia June. Twenty sixth and twenty seventh and the mix of Great Britain coming to Madeley Bhasin June. Twenty seventh. Thank you again to our guests for being with us today and thank you for tuning in if you enjoyed this episode.

Dave Sulecki

Make sure to follow us on your favorite podcast app so you won't miss an episode. And if you have a moment, please review us. We really, really appreciate it. Make sure you're also following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit Pict Best Moto dot com where you can check out our blog. This has been a production of Evergreen podcasts, a special thank you to Tommy Boy Helverson, Chris Bishop, producer Leah Longbrake and audio engineer Eric.

Dave Sulecki

OK, now I'm Dave and we'll see you next week.