PORTLAND, OR

Alan Schmidt just missed the double hat trick at the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association's fifth round at Portland International Raceway. Schmidt was entered in six races: 600 Supersport and 600 Superbike, 750 Supersport and Superbike, and Open Supersport and Formula Ultra.

It was hot at PIR, in the high 90s, and at the noon break, after he had won four of four races, Schmidt was asked about the possibility of going six for six.

"So far, so good," Schmidt replied. "I don't count my chickens before they hatch."

Prophetically, one of those chickens didn't hatch - Schmidt's 750 went sour in the 750 Superbike contest.

"The bike started to slow in the top two gears," he recounted. "Last time I tried to nurse it home and fried the engine, which didn't make Ron [Hopkins, tuner extraordinaire] very happy. Once I'd confirmed it wasn't going to just 'clear up,' I pulled it in."

If Schmidt was disappointed in "only" going five for six, he had some consolation in setting a new PIR motorcycle track record of 1:06.362, eclipsing the previous mark set by - you guessed it - Schmidt himself, at the previous meet.

"I tried a harder-tire-compound Pirelli than I'd ever tried before and wasn't sure what it was going to have for traction," he admitted. "I was easing into it in expectation of the big slide that never came. I just kept screwing the gas to it more and more every lap. I kind of expected to go even faster in the afternoon with a softer tire, but it wouldn't take the heat and got a little slimy."

Mackenzie Ancien and Brian Pinkstaff both achieved a breakthrough for 2009. Ancien earned her first spot on the podium with a third in Formula Three, and Pinkstaff made his first podium visit of the year in 600 Superbike. Neither got there because the competition is getting slower - Ancien is just a little better every race, and Pinkstaff is getting his GSX-R figured out after cutting his teeth on an SV650. A confidence-building top-10 finish against the fastest young guys around the country at a Laguna Seca National didn't hurt.

Kevin, the other racing Pinkstaff, who's still in the market for a GSX-R750 frame after wadding his new ride early in the season, abused his dad's poor old SV650 yet again. He made it worthwhile, with a first in Middleweight Supersport, a second in 450 Superbike, and a third in Middleweight Superbike, after dicing with the usual suspects, all SV-mounted except for Cedric Smith, who was on a real Superbike that was once a 1995 Honda RSF450.

Results

250 VINT: 1. Jeff Lavallee (Hon); 2. Cody Wood (Hon); 3. Dean Willoughby (Hon).

500 VINT: 1. Dan Weir (Hon); 2. Mike Daniel (Suz); 3. Cody Wood (Hon).

450 CLUBMAN: 1. Brett Prindle; 2. Tyson Silva (Hon); 3. Al Chirinian (Yam).

450 S/BK: 1. Cedric Smith (Hon); 2. Kevin Pinkstaff (Suz); 3. Dave Salmi (Suz).

600 S/BK: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 2. Oliver Jervis (Kaw); 3. Brian Pinkstaff (Kaw).

600 S/SPT: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 2. Mike Sullivan (Kaw); 3. Christopher Ancien (Yam).

600 S/SPT SR: 1. Travis Ohge (Yam); 2. Urban Moore (Yam); 3. Brett Selsie (Yam).

650 TW S/BK: 1. Oliver Jervis (Suz); 2. Ken Botham (Suz); 3. Darren Carpenter (Suz).

750 S/BK: 1. Jason Valley (Duc); 2. Justin Lowitz (Yam); 3. Steve Suitor (Suz).

750 S/SPT: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 2. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 3. Sam Verderico (Suz).

F-2: 1. Graham Buck (Hon); 2. Devon McDonough (Hon); 3. Andy Moore (Yam).

F-3: 1. Dave Heinricks (Hon); 2. Devon McDonough (Hon); 3. Mackenzie Ancien (Hon).

F-ULTRA: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 2. Dan Wilson (Suz); 3. Dan Lippis (Suz).

L/W S/BK: 1. Tyson Silva (Hon); 2. Mark Leslie (Kaw); 3. Frank Berthold (MZ).

M/W S/SPT: 1. Kevin Pinkstaff (Suz); 2. Dave Salmi (Suz); 3. Dustin Ranck (Suz).

M/W S/BK: 1. Oliver Jervis (Suz); 2. Cedric Smith (Hon); 3. Kevin Pinkstaff (Suz).

OPEN CLSC S/BK: 1. James Moody (Hon); 2. Daniel Wagner (Suz); 3. Jon Leonard (Hon).

OPEN S/SPT: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suz); 2. Mike Sullivan (Kaw); 3. Dan Lippis (Suz).

OPEN TW S/SPT: 1. Drat Diestler (Duc); 2. Howard Crow (Duc); 3. Brian Schilt (Duc).