Spies won three races in Utah

Utah was a season turnaround for us. We hadn't had a bad season, but really we've had a lot of little bitty stuff going wrong. Nobody's fault, just little stuff. Like I said in my last column here on Soup, it has just been little stuff that you just can't have go wrong and hope to come out ahead in a tough fight like this championship has been so far.

Last weekend reminded me of last year, when everything went smooth for the team and me. I came to Utah and definitely stepped up the pace with my riding. I almost threw it down a couple of times, but that's what it looks like it's going to take to win the title. I knew going in that was something I had to do.

Did I mention it was hot in Utah? Everybody was really complaining about the heat. I had my guys sticking a bottle in front of me every time I pulled in. It's easy to get dehydrated in a dry heat like there is in Utah because you don't feel it as much. It was a real funky deal. I'm from Texas so I know all about the heat. In the end, it really didn't have much of an effect on me.

We had a good weekend going from the start. The first Superbike race, we got the holeshot and got a lead. Mat got into second place and the margin just leveled off. I just tried to be real consistent and not make any mistakes, but it was pretty tough. In both Superbike races, we had some issues and had to ride around 'em a little bit, just like you will in just about every Superbike race. It wasn't really affecting lap times too much, it just made it a little more difficult to ride. Still, we were able to finish that first race strong and got a much-needed win.

Then came Superstock the next day. We got the holeshot on both starts. Ben Bostrom was riding really well there all weekend, and so was Yates. Except I think Yates had a little tangle with someone, I think it was Blake Young, and that messed his race up a little bit.

So Superstock was a pretty good race for us. We set out some good laps early and got the win on that bike. It's tough riding in two classes but it is important for Suzuki. As for my guys and me, we want to win any race we enter. So we give it maximum effort.

For the second Superbike race, as soon as I left the starting box on the sighting lap I knew that we were going to have some problems getting off the line. With what the clutch was doing with the bike, I just knew. So I told my crewchief Tom Houseworth, "Hey, we're not going to be coming from first place going into turn one trying to win this thing." I got two terrible starts by my standards, but recovered pretty well. On the first one, I was in fourth going into turn one. I moved by Tommy Hayden and had a little problem getting around Jake Zemke, but I finally did, and set off after Mat.

I saw he had a little gap, and I knew what I had to do to catch him. It was going to be really tough. Even though it was only a second and a half, when you're riding the same times and you're riding at the limit of the same motorcycle, it's going to be tough to catch somebody. I could tell that Mat was pushing pretty hard, and obviously I was too. I just took a tenth or so out every lap, and before I knew it, coming out of Turn One, he was mid-highside. I almost did the same thing in the first race. He had almost done it, actually, the lap before, but obviously not nearly as big. Luckily he was all right, and he was able to get back in the race after the red flag.

The re-start was good -- or better, anyway. We got out to the lead, and I just put my head down. I was pretty surprised when I got out front, that by lap three or four, Mat was already up to P4 or P5. After watching the video, I understood it -- that he was pretty much seventh or eight in the first couple of turns. He must've got a killer start. He rode really well after the same kind of thing that we went through at Road America when I crashed at the very end of that little practice session right before the race. He did what he had to do, and came up and almost got on the box.

It was a big points weekend for us, maximum points in both classes. We did everything we could possibly do. I know we can't do that every weekend, but it was a good turnaround for us. It showed that we're definitely going to ride a bit harder and do what it takes. I know Mat's been saying all year long that he's winning or crashing, and not worrying about a title. We've got to show up at the track and I've got to ride as hard as it takes to win. If that involves crashing sometimes, it does. But I definitely am looking for a championship in the end, not just race wins.

We know I've got to push it to the edge, and that's what it's going to take. The team worked really hard for me, and the bikes worked really well, and it was a really perfect weekend for us. We were some happy guys that night.

I guess Miguel Duhamel is the only other rider to win both Superbike races and a support race in the same weekend. That's cool. If we could do that every weekend, that would be really good. But it was one of those rare weekends and you have to enjoy it because they don't happen very often.

Between Road America and Utah, we really worked hard on the bike setup. At the Ohio test, we did find some things with the bike that made it better. After the Road America incident, coming back after crashing twice and all that, we needed some momentum. The changes worked at Miller, too, and hopefully it's going to work everywhere else. If it does, the bike should be pretty strong at all the tracks.

The Mid-Ohio test just shows the value of all the work we put in testing. That was a really important test for us. I wasn't even going to ride, because I was still banged up from Elkhart. I wasn't able to sleep much the night before. I didn't want to go. I was probably being a little girl about not riding.

But we went there, and I got on the bike, and it was a good thing we went. We figured some stuff out, like I said earlier. I consistently got under my track record from last year. Then I was just crossing my fingers, hoping that what we found was going to work come race day. Last weekend, it did.

But testing is hard work. Especially on long, hot days, and there's no trophy at the end of it. But you've got to know that it's going to help when you get back there. And I'm not the best tester. I'm good enough to get a bike working well and go fast, but when I go back to the race, my team always sees it and says something to me. You can see it in my throttle traces, and the rest of the data, that I take it to the next level when the race weekend comes. That's just how I am. But we test well enough to get a good setup for the bike.

I'm going to Mexico now for a little vacation. Last year I went to the Bahamas with Jamie Hacking. It's good to have a weekend like that leading into the break. Jake Holden and my cousin and I are going for a few days. We're going deep-sea fishing, check out the scenery, have fun, and get that second kick when we come back for the rest of the season and finish out hard. You train and you do all that stuff, and it's nice to take a week off, then come back and hit it hard. So that's what we're planning on doing.

Then we've got Laguna, Ohio, Virginia and Atlanta, then Laguna again. That's quite a few Superbike races still left. We've been pretty strong at Laguna at the past. We were fast at Ohio last year -- and at the test earlier this year -- so that's a strong track for us, too. Atlanta and Virginia last year I was hurt, but they've both been good tracks or me in the past.

I don't expect anything to come easy. Hey, I might not even win a Superbike race from here on out. That's how it could be, but we're going to show up and we're going to put it on the line every time we get on the bike.

Mat and I are definitely going to have a good championship run. We traded situations last weekend. At Road America, I had one stupid crash and one really big crash, and last weekend he had a small crash and a big crash. We're definitely pushing each other hard, that's for sure. I think that's what racing should be about.

Even in practice sessions at Utah, after I got the checkered flag, that whole lap coming into the pits I was going as hard as I could, trying to find stuff with me and the bike. That's how it's gotta be from here on out. We've been working on a lot of stuff -- everything, really. We're not satisfied because we know every little improvement we make might pay off. That's what we've got to do when we go to the tracks. We've just got to put it on the line and try to get every single tenth out of the bike and me, and hopefully it'll add up to a bonus at the end of the season.

Did I mention I really want to win this championship?