Brandon Robinson and the TJ Burnett Farms/USC/James Hart Racing Kawasaki team fought the good fight throughout the day at round 3 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season at the Stockton Half-Mile on May 11, good enough for a 6th-place finish in the National main, while holding on to the lead in the overall points championship.
The southern Illinois based team worked through adversity throughout the day with bike set-up, gearing and electrical issues on the team's EX650-based Twins Series mounts, and by the end of what was described as a 'very long day' by team owner TJ Burnett, BRob44 had worked his way into the top-6 after getting a poor start in the 25-lap National main held at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds last Saturday.
With round 4 of the season scheduled for the Springfield Mile I round on May 26, the team is ready to get settled into the meat of the 2013 season ahead.
In the shot above, Robinson walks alongside his bike as team owner Bill Werner rolls the #44 Werner-Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki out for rider intros at round 4 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season at the Springfield Mile I event, with co-owner and former 3-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen bringing up the rear.
The TJ Burnett Farms/USC/James Hart Racing Kawasaki EX650 Twins Series machines of then-rider Briar Bauman await the action ahead on the track during last season's round 4 at the Springfield Mile I at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, while team crew chief and head wrench, James Hart, talks with one of the team members.
Robinson's part-time team mate, JD Beach #95, will join the team next weekend at round 4 of the 2013 season on May 26. Bauman is reportedly going to be riding for the Werner team at Springfield after splitting from the TJ Burnett Kawasaki team before mid-season of last year.
You can check out the full press release below from the Brandon Robinson TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki team as we await one of the biggest racing weekend's in The Rolling Thunder Show on Memorial Day Sunday, May 26.
Brandon
Robinson and the TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki Twins Series team takes a
strong 6th-place finish at the Stockton Half-Mile on May 11
Press release –
For Immediate Release
Opdyke,
IL. – May 17, 2013 – Stockton Half-Mile Report
Round 3 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track
presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season is in
the record books, and the TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki team with rider
Brandon Robinson pulled-out all the stops to bring home a hard-earned
6th place finish at the San Joaquin County
Fairgrounds-hosted event on May 11 for the first west coast event of
the young season.
After a 5th-place finish and a win at
the season-opening rounds of the season at the Daytona Short Track
events, the first Twins Series event of the year proved to be a
struggle that the TJ Burnett Farms team and rider Robinson handled
with grace—or maybe that would be grease.
“The team worked really hard to get
the bikes sorted out for me for the day,” stated Brandon, “as we
had a fuel pump go out on us on the back-up bike, and we ended up
having to do a lot of work on the 'A' bike to get it right for the
National. I really have to thank the team, TJ, James Hart and Billy
Gruwell for working so hard to get a set-up that we could use that
would work for the track.
“We were kind of awful to start with
and it made for a long day, and we got things much better by the time
the 25-lap National main came around, “ continued Brandon.
Asked if he has been out in the fields
helping team owner TJ Burnett getting his corn planted this week
behind the wheel of one of the Burnett Farms big John Deere tractors,
Robinson laughed and said, “I don't think he trusts me that much,
unless it's on two wheels!
“We're all worn out after the long
haul back, especially TJ, who did about 90% of the driving. We made
it back to southern Illinois (the team's HQ) in about 32-34 hours,
but I think TJ is 'jet-lagged' from all the driving—ha!,” said
Robinson.
Brandon Robinson's #44 TJ Burnett
Farms/USC/James Hart Racing Kawasaki EX650 Twins Series machines sit
in the pits at the Stockton Half-Mile on May 11. “Holy cow, at one
point during the day, we had all three bikes torn apart trying to get
things right for Brandon,” stated team owner Burnett. Photo
courtesy of Tom Stein/Northwest Track Shots on Facebook.
“We mistakenly left the fuel pump
running in the pit area on one of the bikes for about 15 minutes,”
according to team owner TJ Burnett, “and that really cost us.
James Hart and I were working our tails off to get things set-up for
Brandon. Earlier we'd had a slight electrical problem we had to get
taken care of (diagnosed as a faulty switch) and then the fuel
pump problem. Wow, for awhile I wasn't sure if we were going to be
able to get things ready in time.
“I have to hand it to Brandon,
though, when it came time to race, he took us from the outhouse to
the penthouse. He came off of turn 2 in the National in about 17th
place (out of the 18 riders that qualified for the main) and he
worked his way up to 6th place after the 25-lap main. He
did a heckuva job for us,” continued Burnett, “especially as
bunched-up as the field got after Jared Mees' near get-off. He did a
super job of not crashing the Rogers Racing XR750, and it's something
like that that shows you why he's the defending champion.
“We've got all new parts ordered and
we'll be ready for Springfield next weekend. It was just an
overlooked item on our part with the fuel pump switch. We won't let
that happen again, “ stated Burnett.
“We signed a couple of new sponsors
since our last race, “ stated Robinson. “Next Moto Champion and
Matrix Race Products will be coming on board as of Springfield on May
26.”
Team owner and southern Illinois
resident Burnett added, “We're scheduled to meet Next Moto Champion
in Springfield next Thursday (May
23). They're helping us out with lettering, graphics and
some additions to our tents in the pits. Matrix Race Products has
helped us out with some new tool boxes and some race mats for our pit
area, which will bring a nice, new shiny look to our pit area.”
After returning to the team's base,
they went to work unloading all of the bikes and then loading up for
this weekend's Steve Nace All-Star round in Little Rock, AR. This
weekend's short track at the I-30 Speedway will see Brandon and team
mate JD Beach #95 racing together again for the first time since the
season openers in Georgia and Florida, but this time on the team's
Singles machines, the TJ Burnett Farms/USC/James Hart Racing Kawasaki
KX450Fs. Beach will also be contesting round 4 of the 2013 AMA Pro
Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship
season at the Springfield Mile I on May 26 on the team's Kawasaki
EX650-based Twins mounts.
“We're all ready for Little Rock and
it will be good to have JD along again in helping with the set-up on
the bikes at Springfield, too, so that should make for a great event,
“ continued Robinson, “we worked well together during the
off-season and at the events leading up to Daytona.”
Brandon Robinson on the #44 TJ
Burnett Farms/USC/James Hart Racing Kawasaki EX650 Twins Series
mount is shown in action at round 3 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track
presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season at the
Stockton Half-Mile on Saturday, May 11. Photo courtesy of
Dave Hoenig/Flat Trak Fotos.com.
“I'd
like to see us end up 1-2 at Springfield on Sunday, May 26, but I'm
gonna let Brandon and JD work that out, as long as they don't wreck
our equipment—ha,” stated Burnett in closing.
With Brandon's 6th-place finish on
Saturday night, the team still holds the lead in the overall
standings of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles
Grand National Championship season with 55 points, seven points over
2nd-place in the championship hunt, Dodge Brothers Racing's Brad
Baker (55-48) and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports' Henry Wiles in the
3rd-place spot (47 points) heading into round 4 of the season at the
Springfield Mile I event over the Memorial Day Weekend on May 26.
Brandon Robinson on the #44 TJ
Burnett Farms Kawasaki leads fellow Pennsylvania resident Johnny
Lewis on the #10 Latus Motors Racing Triumph during their battle in
heat race #2 at the Stockton Half-Mile on Saturday, May 11. Lewis
got the better of Brob44 in the heat with a 3rd-place finish to
Brandon's 4th-place, but Robinson brought the Kawasaki home in the
6th-place spot in the 25-lap National main, while Lewis took home a
13th-place finish in the 18-rider National main event. Photo
courtesy of Dave Hoenig/Flat Trak Fotos.com.
Unfortunately, the Steve Nace All-Star
event originally scheduled to run in Little Rock, AR., has been
canceled due to rain for this Saturday, May 18, so the team will take
a needed rest before Springfield.
Please make sure when you attend any
upcoming rounds of the races to come by and meet and greet the team
during each event's fan walk, as we want to make sure that we can
talk to as many fans as possible to show each and every one what we
are doing and how much we appreciate their support of flat track
racing.
Brandon Robinson #44 &
the TJ Burnett Farms Kawasaki AMA Grand National Championship team
would like to thank all of our sponsors for the 2013 season:
TJ
Burnett Farms, USC Racing Kawasaki, James Hart, Arai, Next Moto
Champion, ATI Physical Therapy, Penske Racing Shocks, AXO, Saddlemen,
Protect All, Pro Plates, ISC Racers Tape, Motion Pro, Southland,
Matrix Race Products, Race Tech, Lemonds Kawasaki, WKR, Mr. Sign,
Bill Built, Royal Publishing, VC Graphix, DAOapparel.com,
PMP Sprockets, Spectro Oils, CP Pistons, G2 Ergonomics, Works
Connection, K&N, Hartman Photography, Mitchell Mechanical, J&H
Repair, Big Dawg Racing, Ricko, Jim Chapman, Tom Scibek, Joe
Reynolds, John Y, Mom & Dad
2013
AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National
Championship season schedule: http://www.amaproracing.com/ft/events/
Or
via his Twitter account:https://twitter.com/BRob44
Press release prepared by: Mike
Stuhler/Stu's Shots/Indianapolis, IN 46234 (317) 373-0522
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