“I’m just really happy to be here. This is like a little reward for me.”

Those words are from Geoff May and, when last we talked with the Georgian, he had retired from racing at his home track of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

You can take the rider out of the racing, but you can’t take the racing out of the rider.

After Jones Honda rider Ashton Yates crashed at his home track of Road Atlanta last month at round one of the Quad Lock Superbike Championship, the left leg injury Yates sustained in the get-off conspired to prevent him, under doctor’s orders, from being able to race this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.

Team owner Darrell Jones knew who to call. Geoff May not only has a lot of laps aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, but he also has a lot of laps around Barber Motorsports Park. Race-winning laps, in fact.

Jones barely got the question out of his mouth before May gave an enthusiastic “yes.”

American Honda wholeheartedly supported Jones’s choice for a rider, too. Everything came together almost perfectly.

Well, almost everything.

Competition numbers mean a lot to racers of every discipline, and the number 99 was May’s trademark number throughout his AMA and World Superbike career. Put, per AMA rules, if you’ve been out of the sport for a year or more, you forfeit your old number. And, despite conversations between MotoAmerica, the AMA, and May, he wasn’t allowed to run “the ol’ 99.”

May hasn’t run a three-digit number since the very earliest days of his pro racing career. Back then, another rider had “99,” so May went with “199.”

That’s Travis Pastrana’s number right? Well, yes, but it was once May’s number, too, and “199” will be his number this weekend as he competes aboard a Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in MotoAmerica’s premier class.

“I’m even wearing my old leathers from when I last rode in MotoAmerica on a Honda, so everything worked out great,” May commented.

Well, everything except for the number. But, that didn’t take the smile off May’s face at all.