Braden Vallee’s Amazing Flat Track Adventure Blog… it’s GO TIME!

Could time go any slower???

We leave in less than a week for our race vacation, and the days are really starting to drag on. My family and I have been planning this trip for well over a year now and we can’t wait to get going with it! I will be writing a daily blog to keep everybody up to date with our adventure and the racing action.

We are departing Kitchener on the morning of March 6^th and plan on stopping in West Virginia for the night. The next day we are getting up early with the hopes of making it to Savannah, Georgia in time for an evening practice session at Oglethorpe Speedway. We race two days in Savannah, and then we will be headed to New Smyrna Beach where we have rented a house. With New Smyrna as our home base, we will be racing at Daytona on March 10^th and then at Volusia Speedway on the 11^th and 12^th.

I am so excited to go down and race at all of these tracks, including “the world center of speed” in Daytona. Who knew there was another Christmas in March? I am hoping I can turn a few heads and look forward to racing against some fast U.S. competition. I am a bit nervous that I haven’t rode any of these tracks before, but I’m sure when it’s race time the nerves will go out the window and I will race my hardest.

Through what seemed like the longest off-season ever, we took my entire bike apart to clean it up and hopefully make it a bit faster. We sent the motor to Steve Simms Racing so he could do a bit of work to it and I am thinking my Kawasaki KX450 is going to run better than ever.

I have spent the winter months preparing myself for this adventure. I know that having the proper mindset and staying positive when I hit the track is going to be important. We recorded last year’s AMA Pro race from Daytona and I have watched it dozens of times trying to imagine myself being there. I have spent the past few months in physiotherapy rehabbing an old racing injury to my shoulder, and it is back to 100%. I have also been lifting weights in school and feel like I am in the best shape ever at the start of a season.

Fellow Canadian racer Shane Corbeil will be coming down as well to do five races in five days. My Uncle Paul will also be coming to help at the races and with the bike. Tomorrow can’t come quick enough, and I look forward to sharing my adventure with you!

Braden Vallee #107

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