This week was such a chaotic week for us.  After recovering from last weekend, Joe was able to look ahead to this coming stressful week.  He had made plans earlier in the month to spend an extra day back in Ohio to visit his Grandfather who was just diagnosed with stomach cancer.  We don’t know how long he is going to be around, so with the race being close to home, he left a day earlier.

Problem is, we found out on Sunday last week that Joe was a rider for an event on Sunday.  If he wanted to race that event on Sunday, he would have the opportunity to practice on Wednesday due to the SX event happening in Detroit that might prevent some of the riders from getting in their practice before the heats on Sunday afternoon.

So, let’s begin our crazy week shall we?  We left on Tuesday afternoon to head to Pro Circuit and Answer to get some stuff dialed in for Joe.  We arrived at my Uncle’s house in San Diego around 8pm.  We spent the night with the kids there so we wouldn’t have to get them up super early to get down for practice which was from 8am to 12 noon.  Joe got his practice in on Wednesday and we headed back home.  We made a few more stops on our way again to Pro Circuit and Answer to finalize what he needed for these last few rounds. 

We arrived home at around 5pm.  Joe cleaned up his practice bike that he rode in San Diego that day for practice.  That bike would be his “race bike” for that event.  He then laid out all his stuff that I needed to pack up for him come Sunday.  He packed up his gear bag for Detroit and we left the house around 10pm for him to catch a flight back to Ohio to visit his Grandpa and his brother’s family who were visiting as well on spring break. 

Joe was able to spend time with his family on Thursday which he doesn’t get too much time to do.  He sees his brother Rick about once every 2 years.  With Joe’s crazy schedule and Rick continuing his military career, they rarely cross paths.  Rick is a Green Beret now and is a big part of the War on Terror.  We couldn’t be more proud of him!!!

Joe drove up Friday morning to Detroit with Rick, his dad Jim and his niece Ebany.  They made the 3 hour trip to get his race bike ready for Saturday’s event.  It is pretty cool to see the pits open to just a select few that are a part of the show.  Come Saturday, the people involved in the show and the fans make for a chaotic place for sure! 

Joe struggled in practice with getting comfortable on the track.  His practice times showed just how bad he was struggling.  Joe said that during practice on Saturday his bike was bogging a bit and it didn’t feel right.  With the moisture in the dirt, his bike seemed to perform differently than what he was used to on the hard packed tracks.  After pulling apart the motor, they discovered that the valves needed some work.  His mechanic wasn’t able to get the bike ready for the heat race, but made it to the line just in time for the LCQ. 

I got a call from a close friend of ours that was at the race asking what had happened to Joe?  I hadn’t been able to log on to the internet just yet with getting the kids situated at home.  I immediately hung up and called Rick to find out what had happened.  He was on his way down to the pits when I called and said that he didn’t know if the bike was ready.  When he arrived, the bike was ready, but it wasn’t starting.  They finally got it started after kicking it over and over.  They rolled it to the line just before the gate dropped on the LCQ.  Joe said it still wasn’t running great, but was able to pull out a 13th place finish.

Joe crashed for about 3 hours and then caught a flight with about 10 other guys at 6am out of Detroit into San Diego.  He arrived at 10:45am at the track and practice started at 11am…perfect!  His bike and equipment were all ready to go for him as I had left with our good friends Dallas and Margy and the kids at 7am to get to the track and get parked for Joe.  Dallas helped out Joe on the line and Margy helped me out with the kids.  The day was beautiful in San Diego but Joe was jet lagged for sure.  I could pick out all the guys that had taken the early flight to make it back from Detroit. They were all dragging butt for sure on the track! 

Joe had 2 great starts in the heat race and LCQ but wasn’t able to hold onto the top positions.  He cased an on off section that left him about 10 seconds behind the group.  The time never spread, but he was too far back to be a threat.  In the LCQ, he bobbled a couple of times and wasn’t able to make up any time.  The fatigue had definitely set in!  He ended up 15th for the day.

This whole week was a whirlwind for us.  Joe traveled so much and did more than he usually does in a weeks time.  I think he is due for a little break these next few days.  Onto St. Louis next week, let’s hope that Joe can finally turn his luck around.  This season hasn’t been near what we had hoped for and it is definitely taking a toll on him mentally!

Thank you to everyone for keeping Popeye in your prayers…he is truly an awesome person that we all love very much!  Keep him in your thoughts.