Getting ready for the first race of the year for Texas Devil Racing came right down to the wire, as usual. Miles couldn’t attend the Friday practice day, so Saturday practice was the first time on the bike since the final AFM round last year. Things were a little rushed on Saturday morning between tech inspection, getting tires mounted, and finishing up a few last things on the bike. Miles was excited to get out there, and he ended up pushing it a little too hard too soon on tires that hadn’t been on the warmers quite long enough, which resulted in a low side coming on to the front straight. With a little banging on the rearset, he was able to get out for the next session without a problem, but he was tentative for the rest of the day, running way off the pace he was hoping for.
Even after a mediocre practice, Miles was pumped for the first races of the season. He rolled into the hot pits ready for his 650 Twins race and closed his visor as they were signaled on track for the warm up lap. Unfortunately, one side of the visor popped loose from its mount, and the track officials couldn’t manage to get it back on. Miles had to remove his helmet and gloves to get it fixed, and by then everyone was lining up. He got a decent launch, but took it a little easy through the first few turns, remembering where cold tires had put him the day before. As the race went on, he got back into the groove and his lap times dropped every lap, finishing in 11th place.
Miles had his next race, Formula 4, after lunch and got a pretty good start off the line. He was running well until he overcooked it into Cotton Corners and had to stand it up and run off track. Since he knew he had a good chance at a podium in his next race, he brought it in safe in 14th place rather than push it on dirty tires. In 650 Production, Miles didn’t get the start he wanted and spent the first lap in 4th, but made a pass on the brakes going in to turn 1 to put him in 3rd. From there he focused, relaxed and turned his fastest laps of the weekend, getting his first Expert Podium!