• Jim Broglio
• Joan Herwick
• JD Madlin
• Jeff Wieand
• Francie Stark

Jim Broglio (team captain)
For the second year I cobbed together the venerable CBR600F3 for racing; shes getting to be 'Well Aged' at this point but is still a runner. I then called up Joan and JD to see if they wanted to leap into the fray once again. Everyone was ready to throw-down and go fast but we needed a 4th to play with. Enter Jeff Wieand. Jeff races Buells so getting on a CBR should spin his head around in circles ala Exorcist! With the help of my main beneficiary and primary sponsor (my wife Keri) we (she) began sorting the details to make EVERYTHING happen while I prepped the bike and inventoried the track box. Less Creiss and JD had the pits all setup and ready to go by the time the rest of showed up like Rock-Stars on Saturday morning. Once at the track we had a quick team meeting to discuss strategy and riding order; the first team rule would be NO CRASHING. I would start the race then Joan, JD and Jeff. We were planning to run 40 minute stints because thats how much gas she holds. The weather was perfect, the bike was ready, SB Motorsports had loaned us a set of tire warmers to ensure that the Michelin tires were up to temp when we started so they could go the full distance. We had a second set of tires ready just in case we shagged the 1st. So all we had to do was get teched and make good use of what little practice we had available.

I started the race and got a decent start, bike felt good and after the 1st lap I started making ground on the rest of the field. (queue ominous music) On about lap 8 I came into T2 right on the tail of 2 other bikes, I took this as a good opportunity to pass said bikes, the only problem was that I was off my normal line and going pretty fast, but the tires felt good, the bike wasn't complaining, so I just pitched it in thinking to myself 'This is SO COOL!', thats when I came to the dip on the exit of T2 and the front tire gave up. I felt it go, stuck out a knee and pushed, gave it more throttle, tried to muscle it up! NO GO. Down I went. Thinking to myself, DAMN! I am gonna get SO MUCH CRAP for this one.

The crash was just a nice low side until we hit the dirt. Thats when the bike flopped over and crunched the tank and broke the radiator. DAMN. I jumped up cursing at myself for being a moron (its an ENDURANCE RACE! Consistant laps, 9/10 pace, hmmmph). Trashed my brand new Fulmer Helmet too!

The corner workers were right there to make sure I was OK and to get the bike moved out of the impact zone. Crash truck arrived in short order and I was carried in style back to our pits. HUGE Kudos to the corner workers and track-day crew!!!

Once everyone was convinced that I was OK we all jumped in to get the bike back on the track. 1st and foremost was the broken radiator. Word went out down the pit lane that we needed a radiator for an F3, Homie had a radiator from an F2 we could use! I told the rest of the team to start stripping the bike and ran to get Homies rad. F2 radiators don't fit on an F3, rats. Plan B. Fix our radiator. We had offers of epoxy and aluma-weld but I wasn't confident that that would make the distance in a safe fashion. So Keri and I went looking for a welder, which was just down the road but not open! Back to the track where JD and Joan squished up a batch of aluma-weld, waited the prescribed cure time and duct taped the bike back together. Have I mentioned that my team KICKS ASS! We sent Jeff out to test our work, told him to do a couple laps and then a stop and go to check our work. Everything was looking good (except the bike) and off we went again in search of fame and glory!

Our support crew did a terrific job of keeping things moving. Keri made sure that we had food and water available at all times, she then ran for fuel when we realized that we didnt have enough on hand to finish the race. Francie fixed Jeffs hand and forearm when he started getting severe arm-pump and cramping, then she fixed Joans knee when it locked up and she couldn't shift anymore. I think Francie Stark-Sports Massage Therapist, is now a permanent member of the team.

All in all it was a terrific race and loads of fun. BIG thanks to the race-day crew, corner workers, Keri and the rest of our sponsors; Fulmer helmets, Lake City Powersports, The Infernal Machine Shop, IRP, Fancie Stark Massage and the WMRRA crew for a terrific day.

Next stop; Portland Raceway for the last of the series on October 23rd.

Back to Top

Joan Herwick
Well, the second year of Imbroglio endurance racing started off much the same as last year, with a crash. Luckily, no one was hurt and the bike only suffered some minor damage that was repaired and we were back out on the track with only a little over an hour of lost time. This setback actually proved how well we work as a team. Everyone made sure Jimbro was allright and then proceeded diagnosing the bike problems. The radiator was off in a matter of seconds and Jim and Keri were on their way to find a welder in the area. Meanwhile, JD, Jeff, Les, and I were on the bike pulling off fairing and fabricating a new exhaust bracket. Even Francie, our team Massage therapist, was on hand for encouragement and to help out wherever she could. Just about the time we got all the bodywork taped back together, Jim and Keri returned after being unable to locate a welder. Alumaweld to the rescue. After working it in to the cracks in the radiator and letting it sit in the sun for a half an hour, we bolted the bike back together and pushed the start button and the trusty old F3 roared to life a few seconds later we were through tech and Jeff was back out on the track. With only a few minor mishaps involving lack of fuel in one way or another and the youngest member of the team having the oldest pair of knees, we finished the race, saw the checkered flag and all had a great time.

We were exhausted, the bike looked like poop, but we saw a checkered flag. Many thanks to Jeff for the super cool helmets and for being a great fourth rider in his first year with us; Jimbro, for once again taking care of the team capitan stuff and letting us all whack open the throttle on his bike; JD for always being a good sport and keeping everybody laughing; Les for being the greatest pit crew chief a team could have; Keri, for being willing to be our shuttle for gas, food, and radiators; and Francie, who kept all of us relaxed and riding. Thanks alot also to the other endurance teams who were willing to loan us radiators, even willing to rip them off their race bikes to do it. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again. Sorry it took me so long, but good things come to those who wait.

Back to Top

J.D. Madlin
Friday morning Les Criess stopped by to drop off equipment we would be taking over to the race with us. He went to work and I finished packing up the Suburban and was shooting for a noon take-off time. Riding over Friday was Les, my daughter Kelsy and her cousin Britney, and myself. No trailer to pull this time so it should be a breeze I thought. The trip went pretty good up through and over the Pass with our regular stop on top to get 4-5 pounds of beef jerky, HaHa!!! The weather was holding out better than predicted and we pushed on smoothly until about the time we were outside of Vantage. From mile marker 126 to marker 136 the traffic came to a virtual stop. With the sold out concert at the Gorge, the highway construction taking place, (over Labor Day weekend I have NO idea why), the reports now said to expect a 2-hour delay. We drove, we stopped, we watched people get out of their cars and walk faster than the traffic was going. All in all though, there weren’t too many idiots out there and everyone seemed to take it in stride.

When we actually reached Vantage, the two lanes reduced to one BUT the traffic was actually moving faster now. Made it over to SRP at about 8:00 pm and drove through the pits looking for any of our other team members. But didn’t see any right away, so we picked a spot close to turn 10 and setup camp. Fired up the lanterns and got the main canopy up for our staging area. Joan stopped by and filled us in on who was here and who was not and chewed the fat for a while. We decided to walk over to the “Hot Pits” and claim a spot on the wall. With all of us except Joan being of the older generation, we chose a spot as close to our other pits as we could so we didn’t have to hump everything a half a mile. The girls went out to explore the pits on the PW50 Les brought over so we could concentrate on getting everything setup.

The teen cage racers showed up at around 9:30-10:00pm to do their thing but amazingly, they had a pretty short night, wrapping up just after midnight. The weather was pretty comfortable as Les and I threw our cots out under the canopy and the girls setup home in the back of the Burb.

Saturday morning Les was up bright and early cooking coffee and trying to pry my out of my roost. It was bight and sunny but the wind had picked up a bit and it was considerably cooler than it was when I went to sleep. Got up and went over to registration to correct the change in transponder numbers for our bike…. we were going to use mine but used Les’s instead so I had to make sure the paperwork was straight and we were good to go. Still waiting for Broglio to show up so we just kind of mulled around. Jeff showed up and laid out this array of outstanding helmets his sponsor, Fulmer Helmets, donated to our racing cause. Fulmer Helmets provided each of us with two helmets, bags, and an assortment of visors, which was just too cool to believe…Thank you Arthur Fulmer III & Company for your generous donation…you rock!!! Jim, Kerri, and one of our other sponsor’s Francie Stark, showed up with the truck loaded down with everything we needed to get the “Hop Pit’s” ready. We off-loaded the bike and then drove down to the hot pits and unloaded everything we needed to setup for the race pits. Francie Stark, L.M.T, is a licensed Message Therapist and was attending the Endurance race for the first time, I believe. She setup her portable shop up under our big canopy in order to take care of any needs we may have before during and after the race. We got the Hot Pit’s setup, some sponsor banners placed where we could and realized that we only had two gas cans. Now, all of us HAVE extra gas cans…. at home, but somewhere in the cracks our communication on this relatively new team isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, HaHa!!! Not a problem…we’ll work our way through it as we go. We were doing a once over on the bike and found we still had a master-link in our chain but we had enough time to swap it out and rivet a new link in it’s place. With the riders meeting behind us, the bike already tech’ed, and the battery in the transponder…we did a once over on the bike again and deemed it fit for duty. The practice horn sounded giving us 5 minutes before the track went hot. Jeff had the least amount of time on the bike so he was eager to go out and throw down some practice laps. The bike ran good for him while he was out and then Joan jumped in the saddle. I, myself, didn’t get a chance to go out for the practice session which later would come back to haunt me.

When Joan came in she had a complaint about the location of the shifter so they made a quick adjustment on it and we were set to begin the race. Jim was going to start us off, and after a Francie Stark rubdown, he was ready to Rock-n-Roll. Joan was going to be our #2, I was had my same #3 spot, and I thought Jeff was going to be our closer, running #4. It didn’t play out that way, but there are several reasons why. Jeff went up to where Francie had setup shop and was giving him a message to stretch him out and get him tuned body wise.

Jim took his #1 spot and started us out again this year. We were running new Michelin Slicks this year as they were claimed to be able to last the whole race. Jim was clipping right along and setting a pretty good pace for us, but after about 20 minutes into the first session we got the call that Bike #82 was down in Turn 2 and the crash truck would be bringing it back. We heard that Jim was up and moving and heard nothing about a red flag so we started getting the back area of the hot pits ready to catch the bike. The truck pulled up, Jim jumped down but looked a bit flustered…(gee, I don’t know why!!!), and we started dragging the bike off the truck. The steering damper was tweaked so the steering was locked to one side, which made it more difficult to get off the truck so we lifted the ass end of the bike to get it down. After making sure Jim was okay we started scoping out the bike…from what we could see besides busted up bodywork and no windscreen…busted front fender, hole punched in radiator, exhaust bracket snapped off were the key issues at hand. Now we started to chatter amongst ourselves as to who could do what and what we needed done. The plan was to see if we could get across the track and see if we could get to a welder. While some of the team headed out to do this task, the rest stayed behind to work on the other project. We had a lot of people offer their help and support and for that, we are grateful, as we tried to get the parts we needed. Seemed to be a lot of F2 radiators around but no F3’s. One person came over with his a hacksaw and narrow aluminum dip stick for measuring his gas with and suggested we cut it up to make a hanger bracket for the exhaust. Cool… that’s what I started on…Les and Joan where busy patching up and duct taping the bodywork so that it was usable. The others came back from town and said that the welder was closed so we went to plan “B”. I reached in my box of spares and found a tube called the Aluminum Stick. It’s like JB Weld, only it’s for aluminum. Jeff and Les made sure the radiator was scuffed up as well as they could and we plastered a wad of the aluminum stick in it and on it. We set it off to the side to cure and continued to work on the other projects. All in all, with the amount of damage, everything went really smooth for us. The things we could fix, we did…the things we couldn’t fix, and others from the competing pits came over and helped us with. There were so many people popping in and out of our pits that there is no way I can even start to remember all their names…but we thank you all.

Jim started mounting up the radiator and decided not to hook the fan back up and just get it back into the bike to get the bike wired back up. The fluids went back in and the radiator seemed to be holding after only about 20 minutes with no pressure on it. Started mounting up the bodywork, seat, and transponder and fired the thing up. Yahoo!!! It LIVES!!! Bike fired up and there was some confusion as to who was going out next but Jeff jumped right in and said he would be the #2 guy. We agreed to send him out for two laps and then have him come in so we, along with “Tech”…who were right on the spot working with us which was very cool…could give the bike one more look. Jeff came in after two laps and the bike was running good and we had no problems…the radiator was holding it’s own. Due to a miss calculation on topping off the fuel, (I won’t mention any names Jim), but Jeff was out running his session for about 20 minutes when the bike started sputtering in Turn 4 and went dead in Turn 6. Another radio call from dispatch told us that Jeff had run out of gas and would be brought back in via the crash truck. Crap!!! What else could go wrong? This was starting to become a calamity of errors. We waited for Jeff to get back to the pits, refilled the tank, and away he went to finish his session. When he came back in…we topped off the tank and I was on my way without any major catastrophes. The bike handled better than expected in my session but I was having a problem with false neutrals. It took me awhile to get into any kind of groove because it was my first time out on SRP this season…. in fact on any track this season. The false neutrals where really dragging me down and it made things uncomfortable after happening repeatedly. If I had to count them all together I would guess between 10 and twelve during my session. I did my session, came in, fueled, passed on my concerns to Joan about the back tire sliding out a bit and the problem with the false neutrals. She was on her way, doing good, and tearing it up. Jeff had said that he had a few problems with the false neutrals also but only a couple. We discussed whether we needed to make another adjustment on the shifter but decided not to. After about 20 minutes into Joan’s session Les had noticed her lap times going up and he said it looked like she really had to work the bike. A couple laps later he said she was coming in. Her knees were really giving her problems out there with the bike and were getting too painful to ride. She came in and Francie was there to start icing her knee down. Jim was ready to jump on and after fuel…away he went. I think Jim had the smoothest session as far as being in a groove, (except for his 1st session) than any of us all day. I went up to the other pits where Francie gave me a rub down and worked some of the magic she possesses…Thanks Francie!!! I felt like a new man after that!!! Next, she took Joan under her wing and started working her knees along with Jeff’s thumb. (We kept her pretty busy that day, HaHa!!!)

While Jim was out on the track tearing it up, Joan said that she really wanted to go back out on the track again and that her knee was 100% better. Jeff and I had no problem with that so we split up our times to be able to accommodate. Jeff went out next and ran strong for his session then came in, fueled then handed off to me. I ran the best I could but it still felt like crap and the times reflected it. Some day’s your right on, and others you just aren’t and that’s how I felt. To top MY day off, I was heading down the straights and just about the time you turn into Turn 1, the bike goes Phoof…nothing. Crap… I through a hand up and tried to make my way over out of the racing line which meant going across the line into Turn 2 and up on the high bank. I about gave Princess Di a heart attack when she saw me. I came to a stop at the top of Turn 2 and looked down at the bike and almost immediately saw the problem. My knee had hit the fuel knob and shut it off…so I turned on the gas, pulled the choke, and fired the bike back up. I waited for an opening in the traffic and headed back on the track. The team was glad to see me finally come back around and they could breath again. I came into the pits a bit hot and almost took out Les, who was waiting to catch the bike and Joan was ready to jump on. She finished the race for us and did a superb job to boot…she was really excited when she came in for the final time. The race was over and even though we suffered some setbacks, we persevered through it all. There are a few conclusions I have come up with after running my second Endurance race with this team…

1. Nobody named “Jim” will be called “Jim” on race day…we’ll think up some sort of cute nickname for him or her instead.
2. Broglio will cease to give his famous “NO CRASHING” speech prior to the race…it’s not working for us.
3. These are the best people to run with…whether things are all going our way or the chips are down…we have some really creative, competitive people on our team and I hope to race with them all next year.

Thanks to all our family that supported us in every way, the sponsors who generously donated so much in order for us to even be here, and all the racers that lent support, time, and effort to see that we made it up and running to finish the race…my hats off to all of you.

Back to Top

Jeff Wieand
Being the FNG on the team, I had no idea what to expect. After last year campaigning a Buell XB9R in the sprint and endurance races, I knew that this CBR600F2 we were riding would be a whole new ball-game for me. I thought I'd better show up as early as possible and scope things out.

Upon arriving at the track at 6 am, I found our pit location ( I spotted duct tape in the shape of our bike #82 on the pit wall) and proceeded to drop off the teams' helmets that I had picked-up at The Roadhouse in Post Falls, Idaho. They were sent to us three day air by none other than Arthur Fulmer III. Arthur Fulmer Helmets has been my sponsor for two years now and we have a growing field of racers that proudly wear the Fulmer brand. We are the only racers that are sponsored by Fulmer. Thanks to Mike Hall, Scott Holbrooks, Arthur Fulmer III and all the folks at Fulmer for making this happen!!

After dropping off the helmets and spotting JD, I inquired as to the whereabouts of Jim, the bike,etc. JD said he should have brought the bike 'cause Jim is sometimes late. This caused a slight rise in my blood pressure, but all fears were for naught as Jim appeared a few minutes later with all the necessary requirements.

After our morning hello's we all gathered to discuss who needed how much time on the bike before the race. We had 45 minutes of practice time and Joan, JD and myself all used this time to get accustomed to the bike.

My practice time was spent getting used to the difference in changing from an American V-twin (Buell)to a Japanese (Honda)four-cylinder race bike. All reference points and braking markers were totally different and my shift points were all new to me. It was like starting all over again. I only rode the CBR twice before and that was only four laps each time for the "taste of racing" that I manage for WMRRA. And that was at Pacific Raceways not Spokane! What did I get myself into?

I was just getting used to how I needed to adapt to the CBR when the Checkered flag came out ending the practice session. Actually I missed the flag when it first came out (at least that's my story) and made one more lap before coming in so we all could start the race. Sorry to my fellow competitors for making you wait for me to start the race but I had to do something for our team to get noticed.(or so I thought!)

We had a team meeting prior to the race and determined the riding order for the day and discussed our strategy. Jim would lead off followed by Joan, then JD, then myself as anchorman. The #1 rule was DON'T CRASH!!! This was beat into us repeatedly by Jim.(Question: why didn't he beat himself?)

I looked forward to an uneventful start of the race and plenty of time to get worked over by Francie, one of sponsors. She is a CMT and has hands of steel (gold?) I was one wadded-up, out-of-alignment puppy until she got ahold of me and literally straightened me out. The hardest thing I did all week-end was getting up off of her table! Man, did I feel like riding...I felt like I could've done the whole 6 hrs. by myself! Thanks again, Francie...you rock!

Within minutes of walking back to the pits, we found out that Jim had gone down exiting turn 2. He was up and OK and him and the bike would be returning to the pits via the crash truck. This means it was not rideable and we all prepared for the up-coming task of repairing all necessary damage and try our best to re-join the race.

Upon arriving at the pits, the bike looked pretty bad. Jim looked a little dazed and was wearing a face full of dirt due to his get-off. He stated he was fine but would be needing another new helmet as he did a real good number on his blue Dragon. We then turned our attention to the bike.

The fairing and windscreen were damaged and the radiator was leaking. The front fender was destroyed and left handlebar was bent. We tried to get a local welder to repair the radiator, but his shop was closed. We then used two of the greatest inventions ever...JB Weld and Duct Tape!!

After about an hour for disassembling, cure-time and re-assembling of what was left of the bike (thanks, Les) we all looked at one another and asked "who's gonna take it out for a few shakedown laps?" Being the FNG and the team member with the least to lose (or so I was told) I stepped up and offered to do it for the team. (Wadda Schmuck!)

I entered the track and began to accelerate down the front straight wondering if all that needed to be done had been done. After getting over the bent left handlebar and the lack of windscreen, I was starting to have a little fun when lo' and behold it was time to pit and inspect the bike.

I missed the entrance to the "hot pits" and came flying in through the cones instead of around them. After a quick once over, it was deemed ready to go back out and out I went.

During my first session I noticed that the bike had a pronounced wallow going down the front straight at about 120 and would stay there until about 155 on the speedo. I raised my fat butt off the seat and sat on the tail section to stop the wallowing. It worked, but every bump went noticed!

About 30 minutes into my session I started to feel the effects of a crash I had last year that badly damaged my right thumb. I was losing feeling of the front brake and throttle. This is not a good thing, and I started using more and more of the rear brake to counter the fact I couldn't feel the front one. This has many effects on the handling and speed at which one can ride and I felt old and slow.

My session ended(not a minute to soon) and I handed off the bike to JD(or was it Joan?) and immediately found Francie to see if she could help with my aching thumb and forearm. She is a miracle worker! I was ready to go again in no time.

After our third fuel stop we noticed that we didn't have enough fuel on hand to complete the race and we sent Keri to the nearest gas station. She was back in a flash with gas and we never missed a beat. Thanks you!

My next session was nearing and I was wondering if the attention I got from Francie would do the trick. My fears were for nothing as my thumb never became a problem for the remainder of my stint. I actually was enjoying myself and started to get used to the "customization" afforded by Jim.

I saw a SV650 ahead of me and decided to put my head down and see if I could reel him in and guess what? I did. Then another, and finally I managed to catch-up to Tom Marx riding a FZR or GSXR and we had a blast dicing and passing each other all around the track until I managed to pull away from him and get in some laps alone when, wouldn't you know it, Les signaled me that it was time to come in a give someone else a go. DAMN! And I was just starting to have fun, too!

Joan rode the bike to the finish and we were all proud that we never gave up and had the bike running and somewhat competitive at the finish. Upon bringing the bike into the pits, I noticed that Joan had baked the front tire. it's edges were toast! What an animal! (nice red panties, too!! Although, I thought team colors were yellow!)

After the race we were listed in 4th in class and 13th overall. We completed 122 laps. We did it all on one set of tires, but had Joan ridden one more time I'm sure we'd had needed a new front! Our lap times were unimportant but I'm sure Joan had the fastest lap times. At least the tires appeared that way!

Thanks to everyone that helped, from the cornerworkers that sat there and watched over us for 6 hrs., to Rich Hill and the staff of WMRRA for putting this on, to our families and friends that make this all possible, to Fulmer Helmets for providing the helmets for the team, to our trackside support Keri and our CMT Francie, to our resident mechanical guru, Les for getting us back out there. And a special thanks to Jim, JD and Joan for making the FNG feel like a friend and part of your endurance family. (Bastard step-child?)

I just wonder if they'd all have me back again seeing how my orange leathers clashed with the yellow bike?! At least my leathers were a distraction to keep everyone from looking at the bike! Can I do it again with a different set of leathers? Please? Maybe something yellow...with red panties!

Portland anyone?

Back to Top

Francie Stark
For my second year as the official massage therapist for imBroglio Racing's Endurance team, I accompanied the team to Spokane. After working on Jim last year, and hearing the stories of fatigue and injuries, I was determined to not only help them survive the race, but to come out of it feeling human! With a 10 year background in sports massage and treating injuries, I knew this would be an exciting and challenging task. I took my massage table, various unguents and supplies and set up shop in the pits.

The hot pit assembly was the most efficient chaos I have ever witnessed. (Jeff may claim to be the FNG, but this was the first time I had ever been to a track.) I know I wasn't much help yet, though, I am sure staying out of the way was good enough to start. I pulled Jeff aside as my first victim, I mean patient, and worked to get him loosened up enough so that previous injuries wouldn't keep him from starting his ride stiff. It a took a few tune-ups, but we finally got him in top shape for his first stint on the bike. It was decided that everyone else would wait until after each turn riding to get their massages, with tune-ups as necessary.

It would end up being quite a while before I got to work on anyone else, as it turned out. Jim took the first session on the bike and crashed before he was able to finish. He was ok but the bike wasn't. Since every rider was also a mechanic, they helped Les get it going as fast as they could. The camaraderie between all the teams was amazing! People were offering up parts and information left and right! Somewhere during all the repairs, I was able to give Jim some first aid for his bumps and scrapes.

The next two sessions went off without a hitch, or rather, any major ones worth mentioning. While giving JD his post-ride massage, I noticed Joan come into the hot pits before scheduled. Turned out she had an old knee injury that had rapidly stiffened up, making it very difficult to shift. Ice was applied and I assessed her knee to make sure that I could work on her safely. As soon as Joan could tolerate putting any weight on her knee, we headed up to the pits to get her on the table. Fortunately, it only took an additional 15 minutes to get her straightened out and able to put her full weight on the injured knee.

While I was kept busy fixing Joan, the line up for riding had been changed to reflect the possibility that Joan would be unable to ride. With her new found flexibility and dramatic decrease in pain, JD and Jeff juggled the remaining session times to ensure that Joan got another session in. She finished the race.

The courage, determination and humour Jim, JD, Joan & Jeff displayed throughout the race was amazing. There is something special about these adventurous people. I am honoured that they would include me in their racing family. This day was the most satisfying and exciting day in my career as a massage therapist, thus far. I have a feeling Portland with rank up there as well.

Back to Top