The Woodburn race was our first race of the season, after a long session of upgrading the race bike. Although we had a short field of four bikes, it was a veteran group with three of the top four riders in national points. So, we were truly an underdog on a bike that had not yet been down the track. But after a couple of shake down passes on Friday night we felt pretty good and thought we might have a chance to redeem ourselves for last year's lost in the finals.

Saturday's first round qualifying pass of 9.370 surprised all of us, but proved that our efforts were paying off. We felt pretty good about our chances on Sunday barring doing something stupid. Following that first round run, our plan was to make small adjustments to see what the bike liked and did not. Then after that 3rd round wheel stand we decided to soften up the setup to avoid any wheel stands or broken parts on Sunday, but keep the bike ahead of the field and in the right lane.

Winning the Team Latus Motors Harley-Davidson Northwest Nationals is truly an awesome feeling and following two seasons in Rivera Engineering-Primo Belt Drives Street Pro, this is my first class win. I would like to dedicate this win to my Dad, Glenn Stute, who unexpectedly passed away last October and is truly missed. I would also like to thank Team Latus Motors Harley-Davidson and Rivera Engineering-Primo Belt Drives for their participation and the many friends that have helped me put this bike on the track: Mark Elam and the folks at All American Cycle / Black Attack Racing, Hugh Doty of HD Unlimited, Dan Baisley of Baisley Hi Performance, Steve Dorn of Erectors Inc., my teammate Randy Borho of Borho Construction, my Mom, and children Stephanie and Nicholas for their support. I also wish to extend a special thanks to Mike Patterson of Mike Patterson Plumbing for his exceptional tow bike work over the weekend and the many others that come to the races to support our efforts.