I don't know many of you, but wanted to tell those of you who didn't know Chris about the guy that I knew - the guy I always considered a lifelong friend. I met Chris during our first season together riding for NESBA. Like many of us just starting out, we gravitated to fellow rookies sharing the same learning experiences and deep camaraderie that comes with our brothers at the track. The "Slow Poke R1" was as fiery as they came and damned you loved having him in your pit. He was as selfless as he was just as green in the early days. As the years went by and Chris become a better rider than I ever could have been, he never lost the humility he started with.
We became CR's in different orgs and he went the route of YCRS while I went CSS and we maintained very different opinions. This was however, Mr. Thunderbolt and no matter how opinionated, I never met anyone who had a bad thing to say about #994.
Chris was the first the to help, the last to leave you stranded and a guy we didn't get to spend enough time with. He is now gone and I deeply regret I won't get to see him again.
So, young gentle reader new to the track. Please, enjoy the moments you have with your brothers and sisters on the tarmac. Life is full of years that mean nothing and moments that mean everything. I have many of those moments with Chris and I wish you the same. Forever 994. We will miss you.
