The weekend started with some rain and unsure track conditions, but Greg and his only crew, Karen Raffa, pulled together and started their NEW routines on how they would run the bike this season-together. Their Champion Crew Chief, Steve Allstaedt, is now with another Pro Mod Team, so Greg and Karen were on their own. First, Greg had to get the bike together after just stuffing it in the trailer to make the trip.all the bolts on the bike needed to be tightened and the wheelie bars setup. The added responsibilities did not seem to be a burden for Karen and Greg was patient and walked her through the duties on Friday's test and tune. With all the work the bike needed, Greg was only able to get in two TnT passes. Right off the bat, he had some technical issues with his computer.like it not working.so he had to leave the same tune-up in the ignition as when he raced in Rockingham last year. But with the help of Ray Corral of MSD and his 'computer energy fix', they were able to get it to work long enough.30 secs.to download the front cylinder fuel curve. Thanks Ray, it is really good to have you at an event. Greg managed an 8.76 pass but they had another problem.the wheel would spin on the tire for a full revolution.that really messes with your launches. All this misfortune was pushing the limits for Greg and the Dawg's motto of - "Are you having FUN?"

At Saturday's rider meeting it was decided to change this event to an 1/8 mile event for the Pro's due to guard rail safety. With that news, Greg, like everyone else, had to change their tune in their bike.in other words, start all over. Karen got the new routine down and had Greg in the lanes for the first qualifying pass. They ran a 5.487 sec pass (which translates to approximately an 8.63 sec in the ? mile) which put them in as #1 Qualifier and they held the spot throughout the day. COOL! On his second qualifying pass they changed some things but only ran a 5.527.the heat of the day was setting in. On the third pass he missed the 2nd to 3rd shift and aborted the run.

There were some funny parts on Saturday which brought back the "Are you having FUN?" question. The towing of Greg to the starting line and picking him up at the top end of the track after his run had them both laughing. Greg almost passed Karen while being towed to the staging lanes the first time. "She kind of slowed down quickly for some people and all of the sudden I was next to her.kind of made things interesting.", said Greg. After Greg's first Qualifying pass, Karen took her sweet time getting herself to the top end and upon arriving found that Greg had walked his bike most of the way to the scales. They weighed and then they hooked Greg up and Karen must have stalled the bike at least 3 times before she could get the two of them rolling toward the pit! "I was kind of nervous, making sure I didn't forget anything, so I put the starter cart away at the starting line, then put my screw driver, that HUGE air gauge, video camera and umbrella in the pouch on the tow bike, and then headed to get Greg. On the way I had a whole bunch of people I had to wave to.and when I got to the scales, Greg was weighing in. The return road was so narrow for my turns, so it took a few 3-point turns to get around and then hook Greg up and I guess I just wasn't letting the clutch out slow enough...PLUS.when I finally feel the weight coming from Greg's bike, there is a HUGE pulling from behind.enough to throw an inexperienced rider right off the bike and I didn't want that to happen, so yes, I stalled it a few times.but, I did get better every time" she revealed.

One of Greg's Great sponsors was displaying at the track, Carl Robinson from Mickey Thompson Tires, they had not seen him since Pomona 2007. Carl had some great advice for Greg's tire problem and Carl also met them on the starting line a few times and picked Greg's launch spot. THANKS Carl.you're the Best!

Back to the racing part..Sunday morning, Father's Day and the first day of Summer, Greg was honored as #1 Qualifier in his class on the starting line with the other class #1 qualifiers. The forecast was to be 95 degrees with high humidity.YUCK! In the first round of Pro Modified he just about ended the season. He didn't have the bike square when he shifted to 2nd and the tire broke loose really bad sending him sideways into a real violent fishtail and tank slap. After a few rights and lefts and keeping in the throttle he was able to put the win light on thanks to his opponents bog at the start. "Can you say lucky? I'm glad I had both feet on the pegs or I would've been off the bike." said Greg. "It was pretty wild to watch the video, just to see how much it moved back and forth in slow motion it was nuts." he added. The second round of eliminations was better with him turning on the win light while running a 5.594. The finals had him more focused and with the changes he made to the wheelie bars more confident the bike would go straight. Both riders had almost identical reaction times but Greg pulled ahead and won with a 5.560 run.

"By Sunday, Karen had the towing thing figured out and was a great Crew Chief. This first race was tough, we felt like rookies, we split up the things Steve did so we were a bit comedic at first, so by the time Sunday came around we had somewhat of a routine..I just need more seat time and practice. My focus came back rather quickly and on the track I try and do whatever it takes to put the win light on no matter what the bike wants to do." said Krenik.

After a very hot and humid day with a few hours of downtime from heat exhausted riders, the race was finished with Greg taking home the Pro Mod win, at the 'unplanned first event of 2009'. He was elated and happy to see so many friends and pit right smack in the middle of them all! He will not go on the tour with the rest of them to Bristol, TN, but hopefully many of the Pro Mod Class will make the trip out west and go the extra miles to Woodburn.it is a fantastic track and all will have the chance to race Randy Borho and of course, see his son Alex!

Courtesy of Desert Dawg Racin', LLC