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June 13, 2010 I am noticing a very disturbing trend in the world of flat track motorcycle racing (not at the Professional level, mind you). Earlier this week, a very high profile event scheduled for today in Lancaster, California was cancelled due to lower-than-expected pre-entries. Last weekend a mid-level event scheduled for Circleville, Ohio was cancelled ON RACE DAY due to low rider turnout, and last night the long-running Charity Newsies in Dayton, Ohio was cancelled due to low anticipated spectator turnout, but only after an attempt to cut the rider purse in half was rejected.
This is a very disturbing trend and I wan to assure our supporters that we will never cancel an event without legitimate cause. Low rider or spectator turnout is not a legitimate reason.
Anyone who has followed us knows our lack of luck in the weather department:
Despite the odds, we continue to try and put our best foot forward, and I believe - now more than ever - that this explains why the riders support us and in turn, provide our fans a great show
Luckily, at the Grand National level, quite the opposite is being seen. The Gas City, Indiana Grand National event that rained out June 6 has been rescheduled for June 19.
June 12, 2010 Well, I'm just now coming up for air.
Despite the steady rain from 5am until noon, we everything cleaned up in time to start practice on-time at 5pm, and the racing on-time at 7:30pm. My sincere gratitude to those of you who came out and enjoyed the show. It was, by far, the most star-studded event I have ever presented. To wit:
From a prestige standpoint, in terms of the CURRENT 2010 AMA Grand National Championship, Kopp is tied for 1st, Coolbeth is 3rd, Halbert is 4th, Mees is 5th, Wiles is 6th, Carr is 9th. And remember, the Dairyland Classic is NOT part of the National Championship!
I am extremely grateful that the stars of the AMA Grand National Championship continue to support our event, and I am pleased that these riders come to Plymouth every year to entertain our fans!
I should also mention that the sole "red plate" rider in the Pro Main Event - #24P Jefferey Carver - is currently leading the 2010 AMA Pro Singles National Championship!
June 5, 2010 Great night of racing last night. Stellar Pro turnout (quality-wise), and the support divisions were very solid as well. The 250 Amateur Division was the largest EVER, and the Vintage division was one rider shy of tying our previous best turnout!
Did you notice the two gals in the victory celebration for the 250cc Amateur division? The runner-up, #23 Nikki Spore, is dating Jefferey Carver (#24P in the Pro division), while #38 is Lexi Hoffmann, who won the 85cc division just a few years ago!
I'm most glad that the rain avoided us and we were able to put on a show!
Best interview of the night that I heard was Chris Carr (did you know that he holds the world land speed record for a motorycle at 367.382 mph?) after winning the semi. When asked what he changed after his heat race, he replied "I sat my rider down and told him to get his head on straight" (or something to that effect).
May 29, 2010 Update: in the past WEEK, DMG has made three major announcements for the Grand National Championship:
May 28, 2010 Since the Dairyland Classic is not part of the AMA Grand National Championship series, we are never really sure which professional racers will be participating and who will not. That's why it is especially rewarding when the defending National Champions give us the heads-up that they intend to be here.
We've known for a while that Jared Mees - the defending AMA Grand National Champion in the Twin Cylinder division - is coming back to defend his 2009 win on his #21 Honda. But I just got word today that Henry Wiles - the defending AMA Grand National Champion in the Single Cylinder division - is coming back as well, along with his #1 plate on his Kawasaki. It is only the third time that the AMA #1 plate will be on display at The Dairyland Classic!
Consider also that Kenny Coolbeth, the 2006-2007-2008 AMA Grand National Champion, is also coming our way, as well as Joe Kopp and Sammy Halbert, and we've already got one of the most star-studded entry lists ever!
May 18, 2010 We just found out that SpeedTV has decided to come to the Dairyland Classic on June 4, 2010 to film the event for an upcoming episode of Lucas Oil On The Edge! Needless to say we are pretty excited, and are currently working through the logistics to get the film crew everything they need. Now we just need YOU to help fill those seats!
May 15, 2010 For those who were curious about the single digit riders' number of choice:
May 2, 2010 The AMA Grand National Championship hit a new venue in Prescott, Arizona this weekend and Joe Kopp took a Ducati Hypermotard to the win. It was Joe's first-ever National race on the Ducati, and he caught early leader Sammy Halbert on the last lap as they came to the flag.
Everyone knows that the Harley-Davidson XR750 has been (and continues to be) the weapon of choice on the half miles and miles. How long has it been since an XR750 DID NOT win a half mile or mile national?
Thirteen races, actually. Kenny Coolbeth won a Half Mile National in Billings, Montana on 8/2/2008 on a Honda CRF450R. But that was a Grand National SINGLES event, not a Grand National TWINS event, so we'll scratch that. We'll do the same for Jake Johnson's Half Mile National win on 9/28/2007 in Tuscon on a Suzuki RM-Z450, for the same reason.
For AMA Grand National events in which TWINS competed, Harley-Davidson XR750s had won 76 consecutive mile Nationals, dating back to the late Ricky Graham's 9/5/1993 Springfield, IL mile win on a Honda RS750. That's every mile National for 16 years, 7 months, and 26 days, an unprecedented streak in history (which I can trace back to 1933).
Even including half mile Nationals, Harley-Davidson XR750s have won every half-mile and mile National (in which twins were competing) since Rich King's 8/8/1998 Joliet, IL half mile win on a Honda RS750. That's an unbroken streak of 11 years, 8 months, and 23 days.
In addition EIGHT different twin-cylinder brands competed in Prescott - Harley-Davidson, Ducati, Suzuki, Triumph, Kawasaki, BMW, KTM, and Aprilia. SIX of them made the National Main event (only Triumph and KTM did not). This bested the previous "recent" best of five brands making the main event at the Lima, OH half mile National on 6/30/2007 and the Greenville, OH half mile National on 7/21/07. Incidentally, those two events were very nearly won by non-XR pilots, with Henry Wiles leading Lima on his Aprilia for 24 laps before being passed in the last corner, and JR Schnabel challenging for the Greenville win on his Suzuki for the entire race. In both cases, Joe Kopp took the win. Coincidence?
Do I expect XR750s to be relegated to the dusty backrooms of garages and museums? Of course not. It is still the only valid powerplant that was built specifically for dirt track racing. But it is great to see that competition! Although it will be interesting to see how well the Ducati, Kawasaki, etc fare at Springfield - a track that everyone has piles of data on, as well as the half miles that come up later in the season.
April 7, 2010 DMG recently kicked off its sophomore season at the helm of the dirt track branch of AMA Pro Racing. How are they doing so far?
Halbert won the first night at Daytona in his first National as #7 - marking the first GNC win for that number since Mert Lawwill on 5/26/1974. Johnson won the second night at Daytona in his second National as #5 - marking the first GNC win for that number since Gary Scott on 9/4/1982. The series heads out went to Yavapai Downs in Arizona - we'll see if Coolbeth can notch his first win as #2.
June 16, 2009 Bill Mischler, Sr., passed away last week. He was 80 years old, and the patriarch of what I would call the "first family" of dirt track racing in Wisconsin. My very first dirt track racing event was in Bill Mischler's backyard - commonly known as 'Atwater' - which featured a paperclip short track (with a curious rise at the start/finish line that permitting wheelies) and a winding 'scrambles' track (what we would know call a 'TT'). It was the only track I have ever been to that did not have any rocks. Back in 1979, when I first visited, the tracks were oiled down to keep dust to a minimum.
Bill founded the Beaver Cycle Club, running bi-annual double-headers on the family homestead (Saturday night short tracks and Sunday afternoon TT's). I have fond, cherished memories of those weekends. Not the racing so much - I never got the hang of the short track (got my first concussion in turn 2 in 1985) and I was never a good TT rider - but the post-racing comaraderie, bench racing, and bonfires into the wee hours were good times. Saturday night racing would be done by 10pm and that's when the partying would start. It was not uncommon for folks to get to bed just before the sun rose on Sunday morning, if at all. Like camping with 100 of your buddies. The Beavers also ran the annual pro half mile events at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, back when it was a deep cushion half mile (it has since been replaced with a clay track that I am convinced is slightly smaller than the original).
I did not know it until after his passing, but Bill was a pro racer 'back in the day'. There was one racing photo of Bill Sr. at the visitation - Novice #69G plates in a photo dated 1963, I think. My dad reports that Bill was an Expert rider in the late 60s when he had just started racing. By the time I started racing in 1979, he was the guy with the commanding voice bellowing commands from the concession stand at the top of the hill along the front straightaway of the short track. Not to say he was a boisterous fellow, he merely carried himself with confidence and bravado. To a ten-year-old kid, he was clearly not someone to mess with. He meant business.
Bill had several children, but those in the pro racing community of the 1970s will recognize Art and Larry as those carrying on the "Mischler" name. Art was Novice #222K and later Junior #52K. Larry was Novice 162K, took a year off, and came back as Novice 160K (or maybe the other way around). Larry stopped racing Pro shortly thereafter and stopped racing altogether in the early 80s after a bad wreck going into turn one during a 3-wheeler race on the family short track. Art stopped running Pro in the early 80s, although he continues riding amateur stuff on his trusty Triumph. A third son, Billy, rode amateur in the 1970s until a riding accident ended his racing career before he could enter the pro ranks.
Currently a third generation of Mischlers are escalating up the ranks. Art's two sons, Eric and Dan, currently hold Expert pro racing licenses (as 82K and 77K, respectively), while Billy's sons Morgen and Quinn are chasing up the amateur ranks. Art limits his racing to a select few a year, and I am honored that the Dairyland Classic is one of those events (he won a Vintage heat race this year on his Triumph).
You can always tell a Mischler in a crowd of people by their laugh. Not so much the third generation, but Art, Larry and Billy all have the exact same laugh - a unique, contagious laugh. And they laugh often. They laugh hard. I don't think I've ever seen any of them in a foul mood. "Happy-go-lucky" does not begin to describe their family disposition.
Just thinking of how many racers crested the hill at the Atwater clubgrounds over the years boggles the mind. I had no clue it dated back into 1959 - ten years after Bill Sr. opened his Harley dealership. Most names are unknown except to those who frequent the events. To the pro racing community, I don't think there would be any National Numbers from wisconsin over the past 50 years if not for racing events at the old Mischler place.
So here's to you, Bill Mischler. Wisconsin flat track racing wouldn't be the same without you.
June 15, 2009 Our heart-felt thanks to those who supported our efforts last Friday night to run a wicked-good program. Obviously without the 2,800 fans in attendance, it would NOT have been a resounding success, so we thank you. Big thanks to David Narens for filming most of the event. I never get to "watch" the racing, and even while announcing, I merely "react" to what I see, so it is a rare treat to be able to watch the races and actually enjoy them.
Special thanks go out to my staff this year, who really stepped up and made this the least stressful event I've had yet. To the unsung guys and gals who make it happen:
And of course a huge thank you to our sponsors, especially the Wisconsin Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, who stepped in to take the headline sponsorship this year.
May 29, 2009. Twenty-five years ago, in 1985, a young Californian from Stockton named Chris Carr first hit the Grand National Championship trail. Over the next twenty-four years - 1985-2008 - he finished in the top 7 of the yearly GNC standings in EVERY YEAR he followed the tour, and finished in the top FOUR an unprecedented TWENTY times. Never before has someone been a week-in/week-out threat in his 25th season on the GNC trail.
In addition to all of his accomplishments, he is quietly going into year #25 with absolutely minimal fanfare.
April 20, 2009. On September 13, 2008, I blogged about the Grand Slam/Hit For The Cycle club, listing the thirteen riders who have scored at least one win in each AMA Grand National dirt track discipline - short track, TT, half mile, and mile. On March 5, 2009, the HFC club grew by one member, when Joe Kopp scored his first GNC short track win. (Joe's only orevious short track National was came in the 2002 Dairyland Classic, then part of the Formula USA National Dirt Track series, which doesn't count towards the AMA history books). So here is the new, updated membership of the Hit for The Cycle Club:
Dcember 31, 2008 AMA Pro Racing plans for all 2009 Grand National Championship events to run two classes - Pro (formerly Novice/Pro-Am/Pro-Sport) and Pro Expert. The Pro Experts will compete, as always, on 750cc twin-cylinder bikes on half mile and mile events but compete on stock-framed 450cc single-cylinder bikes on short track and TT courses. The Pro (formerly Novice/Pro-Am/Pro-Sport) division will run on stock-framed 450cc single-cylinder bikes at all events. At first glance, this looks like a good plan. After all, there is a minimum amount of time that must be taken between the last Expert heat and the first Expert semi to enable the riders to make set-up changes. As such, running a wholly different division during that down-time will give the fans something to watch during the break. I believe the Expert division will be limited to 48 entries while the Pro divison will be limited to 36. Previously at Expert-only events, the 48 entries would be split into 4 heat races and 3 semis. With the new format, AMA Pro Racing plans to run each division through run three heats and three semis. Previously a "day at the races" would be 8 events - 4 heats, 3 semis, one main event. Under the new format, it will be 14 races - 3 Expert heats, 3 Pro (Novice) heats, 3 Expert semis, 3 Pro (Novice) semis, one Expert Main, one Pro (Novice) main.
I'd take it one step further. Limit the Pro (Novice) division to 24 entries, running them through two 12-rider heats, and no semis. And introduce (re-introduce?) an intermediate level between Pro (Novice) and Expert. Whereas in the past these riders would be on lower horsepower versions of their Expert counterparts, I would leave them with the same engine specs as Expert. They will be slower due to their lack of experience, but at least allowing them to comete on the same tracks on (essentially) the same equipment, an Intermediate rider would have the means to compare his progress to the Expert elite. An Intermediate rider who is consistently slower than a mid-pack Expert rider should think twice before jumping up to the Expert division. Similarly, an Intermediate rider who is consistently qualifying at speeds consistent with the top 10 Expert riders will have additional enthusiasm about going Expert the following year, and be able to potentially draw additional sponsorship. With the current program, a rider jumps from a 450cc Single into the Expert division and has little chance of success.
By introducing an intermediate class, I would limit it as well to a 24-rider field, split into two 12-rider heat races and a 12-rider main event. As such, in my scheme, a "day at the races" would be 13 events instead of 14, with less redundancy. Also, this would beter reflect the sport in its heyday, when 3 divisions competed in a fast-paced program that didn't take all day and all night to complete.
The 2009 GNC structure will hold a Dash For Cash for the 5 fastest Expert qualifiers. I would open that up to the Intermediate class as well. If an Intermediate rider qualifies 3rd fastest overall, throw him in with the Experts for the Dash For Cash. Cheer for the underdog!
Concerning the stock-frame rule, I go back and forth on this one. For entry-level professional racing (Pro Novice), surely the stock-frame rule, as well as other performance modification limiting rules, is the way to go. No sense forcing an entry level rider to spend thousands on engine and frame modifications. The Expert division...there I'm undecided. Due to the lack of an intermediate division between entry-level (Pro Novice) and the top level (Expert), currently it's difficult to have such a dramatic change from one divison to the next. With the old system (pre-2009), virtually anyone who took our a Pro license would obtain his/her Expert license in a year's time, even with minimal success, due to lack of entries. By introducing an intermediate level, you could better control the entry-level rules while enabling more freedom at the Expert level. Although if the OEM's start supporting flat track they way they used to, it will all be worth it.
We shall see. For 2009, the Dairyland Classic is unaffected by the stock-frame rules.
October 26, 2008 AMA Pro Racing has announced a list of anticipated rules for the upcoming 2009 season. As you can imagine, the uproar of how the proposed rules are "ruining" the sport are rampant. Personally I'm in favor of change, and the Pro Dirt Track scene has been in dire need of it for a long while now. The only change that might affect the Dairyland Classic is that for 2009, all 450cc Single-cylinder engines (used on short tracks and TT courses) must use the OEM frame. In other words, no more aftermarket or "trick" frames. This move is to stimulate interest and support from the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers, as in Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and KTM). If you remember the 2003 Dairyland Classic, we had similar rules then - only OEM frames on the 450s. The most common objection to this rule is that "aftermarket frames work better than OEM frames". This is a true statement - "framers" are designed to work better on flat tracks. However, what those people fail to recognize is that when everyone is using OEM frames, it won't matter if a "framer" is better, since it won't be legal. And really, the fast guys go fast no anything, so the Kenny Coolbeths and Jared Mees' of the sport will continue to dominate. This rule prevents the need for an up-and-coming rider to build an OEM bike as well as a "framer". And honestly, the AMA has been far too worried about alienating the existing elite and not worried enough about how to keep the up-and-coming riders interested enough in the sport to tackle the Grand National Championship.
The major changes involve the Twins division, which compete on half miles and mile events. For 2009, the focus will be on 650cc twins like the Kawasaki Ninja and the Suzuki SV650, although larger engines (including the Harley-Davidson XR750) will be allowed to compete, albeit with smaller restrictors on the intake ports. Based on test results so far, I'm predicting the XR750 will still be "the bike" to beat, although it may be challenged - something that hasn't happened in over a decade when the last Honda RS750 was put out to pasture. And competition is good. Already folks are citing this rule change as "the one" that will "kill dirt track forever". I disagree. I predict the XR750 will still be "the bike" (it still has 38 years of development knowledge), but slowly, the other brands will improve. Maybe in a couple years we will see some true multi-brand racing. Sure, this year the GNC Twins division technically had Harley-Davidson vs Suzuki vs Aprilia vs Triumph vs BMW vs KTM vs Honda, but was it a true "battle of the brands"? Heck no. After thirteen GNC Twins races, Harley-Davidson claimed 37 of the possible 39 podium spots. Suzuki scored one runner-up finish at Greenville while Aprilia scored a single runner-up finish at Lima. Triumph only scored one point this year, while none of the others even sniffed a main event all year long. Yet it is those "also-rans" who are raising the biggest gripe about how the new rules make them "uncompetitive". Based on the 2009 data, those bikes weren't competitive before, so I don't see how the 2009 will make that much difference from 2008. Not that I have anything against these guys trying to develop a successful alternative for a GNC Twins motorcycle, but sometimes I think they get carried away.
If nothing else, the winds of change are making people talk about the sport again. I can't wait to see where this leads.
Wouldn't it be GREAT if we could recapture the magic of the late 70s/early 80s? Remember when the AMA crowned five different Grand National Champions in five years, 1978-1982? Back when winning three titles in a career was a major accomplishment? Now we yawn when Chris Carr claimed his seventh title in 2005 like it was a foregone conclusion. Maybe 2009 will bring some surprises.
October 19, 2008. Harley-Davidson was the undisputed king of flat track racing from 1975 through 1983, with the XR750 engine powering riders to the Grand National Championship each year. Honda took the mantle from 1984-1988, with RS750-powered factory riders taking the title each of those years. Harley's XR750 again became dominant after Honda's retreat following the 1988 season, powering riders to the title every year through 2008. The question is, did Honda's involvement (and subsequent dominance) have a greater impact than simply on the titles won?
From 1980-1983, the 4 years prior to the "Honda Years", Harley-Davidson XR750s won 61 of the 63 HM/M GNC events (96.8%), with the factory riders (Randy Goss, Jay Springsteen, Scott Parker) winning only 17 of the 61 events (27.9%). From 1984-1988, the "Honda Years", Harley-Davidson XR750s won 37 of the 80 HM/M GNC events (46.2%), with the factory riders (Goss, Parker, Springsteen, Carr) accounting for 23 of those 37 wins (62.2%).
Rumors have it that prior to Honda's arrival in GNC competition, the Harley-Davidson racing department had an "open door" policy, whereby privateers using the XR750 powerplant could contact the factory racing department to find out how the factory guys were setting up their bikes for a given race track. By the data above, this would appear to be true, as the privateer riders scored more GNC wins than the factory team members. Once Honda got involved, it seems the "open door" got slammed in the privateer's faces.
October 18, 2008. While Honda dominated the 1984 Grand National Championship - their three factory riders finished 1st, 2nd, and 5th in the Championship, claimed 11 of the 24 events, and won 7 of the 10 Mile events on the circuit - they failed to win a single Half Mile National that year.
October 17, 2008. Once Harley-Davidson released it's "alloy" XR750 engine in 1972 (to replace the "iron" XR750 which proved itself unreliable in the 1970-71 seasons), the AMA Grand National Championship was fought between Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Yamaha, with Harley taking the 1972 crown (under Mark Brelsford), and Yamaha taking the 1973 & 1974 titles (with Kenny Roberts). Triumph went bankrupt after the 1974 season, leaving just Harley-Davidson and Yamaha. The Yamaha XS750 was a modified street bike (the XS650) while the Harley XR750 was a fully bred race bike, sharing few ties with its Sportster bretheren, the XL883. Yamaha's last Mile win came in 1975, and its last Half Mile win in 1976, the same year Goodyear came out with the DTII race tire. The Harley was able to use the new rubber to slam the door on Yamaha, and for all intents and purposes, from that point on you needed an XR750 to be competitive. Roberts left flat track for World domination in the 500cc Grand Prix after the 1977 season.
Honda's first foray into flat track racing was in 1974, when it built an XL350 for Mike Gerald to race at the Houston Astrodome. Gerald won, and Honda promptly disappeared for several years. In 1979, Honda returned, using a CX500 V-twin engine (which had the "V" facing left-right as opposed to the traditional "front-back"). This evolved into the NS750, which situated the two cylinders in the traditional "front-and-rear" V-twin configuration, which was developed through the 1982 season, scoring its first Half Mile win at Louisville Downs in 1982. The following year, Honda replaced the NS750 with the new RS750, which is rumored to have begun life by purchasing a Harley-Davidson XR750, analyzing the pieces, and "building a better mousetrap". In its debut season, 1983, the RS750 won Honda's first Mile at DuQuoin, Illinois. Yet from 1979 through 1983, no Honda rider had finished in the Top 10 in the AMA Grand National Championship.
For 1984, Honda replaced its racing team with Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert (who finished 2nd and 4th in the 1983 GNC standings) and 1983's rookie standout Doug Chandler. Graham claimed the 1984 title, Shobert won the 1985, 1986, and 1987 titles. From 1984 through 1988, Honda RS750 pilots won 10 of the 34 Half Mile Nationals (29.4%) and 33 of the 46 Mile Nationals (71.7%) on the GNC schedule. Following a dispute over a disqualification of a Honda rider in 1988, Honda pulled out of GNC racing following that season. A few privateers continued using the RS750 engine, but lack of contingency money and the lack of spare parts led to its eventual obsolescence. The RS750's 79th and last GNC win was recorded on August 8, 1998. Every GNC Half Mile & Mile National win since (through the 2008 season) has been on a Harley-Davidson XR750.
October 15, 2008. From 1954 until 1969, AMA Grand National Championship competition limited overhead valve engines (British bikes) to 500cc displacement while side-valve engines (U.S. bikes) were allowed to displace 750cc. From 1954 through 1969, 165 GNC HM/M/TT events were held, with Harley-Davidson winning 104, BSA winning 34, Triumph winning 26, and Matchless winning 1.
From 1970 through 1974 (when Triumph went bankrupt), 74 GNC HM/M/TT events were held, with Harley-Davidson winning 29, Triumph 18, and BSA 14. Norton, another British twin, claimed a single win between 1970 and 1974. It should be noted that in 1970-1971, Harley-Davidson was experiencing tremendous teething problems on its brand new XR750 powerplant. Mert Lawwill, Harley-Davidson's 1969 Grand National Champion, has been quoted saying that the efforts to develop the XR750 cost him the 1970 Championship.
In the two years prior to the "equal displacement rule" (1968-1969), there were 35 combined HM/M/TT GNC events with Harley-Davidson winning 21, Triumph winning 9 and BSA winning 5. In the first two years of the "equal displacement" rule (1970-1971), there were 31 combined HM/M/TT GNC events, with Harley-Davidson winning 10, Triumph winning 9, and BSA winning 10. The aforementioned problems with Harley-Davidson's XR750 are evident in these stats. Once Harley-Davidson replaced the "iron" cylinders with "alloy" cylinders for the 1972 season, the rest, as they say is history, as the XR750 went on to become - and continue to be - the most dominant flat track racing vehicle in history, powering 31 of the 37 Grand National Champions from 1972-2008.
The Brit OEMs asked for equal displacement, and they got it, although one could argue that the equal displacement rule directly led to Harley-Davidson developing the overhead valve XR750, which replaced the side-valve KR750 and went on to dominate Grand National competition over the next 38 years.
September 24, 2008. I just got a chance to watch the show. Wow. Let me re-phrase that. Wow. Kevin McNiff and the crew at We Are Dirt did a great job. There's racing, racing, then more racing. The entire Pro program (except the Consolation Main), plus the entire 85cc Youth main event. Multiple camera angles, slow motion replays, a helmet cam. Very well done. I've had TV programs shoot my event in the past and it's usually a 30-minute collage of interviews with random people in the pit area. Not this time. Kevin and crew focus on the racing and did a great job.
As you all know, I never get a chance to watch the races, since I'm always chasing down fires and trying to keep things moving along. And even though I announce the Pro program, I have to go into "auto pilot" and simply report what I'm seeing at that moment, without really digesting what's going on. So having a chance to watch the races, from several camera angles, was very, very special for me. And it allowed me to really appreciate what a GREAT night of racing it was.
Some tidbits I really enjoyed - the slow-motion replay of Rob Pearson nearly taking out Bryan Bigelow in turn one during their heat race. How Bugs got that bike slowed down without touching Bryan is beyond me. Another was the neat helmet-cam on JR Schnabel. Another was the move Jared Mees made going into turn three on the first lap of the Jim Dash - fifth to second in one move! Next was the close finish to the Jim Dash - I remember it was close, but I didn't remember it being THAT close. And on the video, Jared made up SO much ground going into turn 3 on the last lap is was UNREAL. The Pro Main event was just spectacular. That "little slip" that cost Halbert the win? Uh, wrong, he darn near threw it down the road. Tremendous save, made even better with slow motion. The interview with Bill Werner was very, very well-done. Kevin asked Bill about the difference between custom-framed bakes and the OEM/DTX frames, and he gave a very thorough explanation. Well done.
September 17, 2008. Thanks to Kevin McNiff of "We Are Dirt", the 2008 Dairyland Classic can be seen on TV this year. It debuted in the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Time Warner Cable on Channel 4 at 7:30pm this evening. By Friday, it will be available on the Time Warner Cable "On Demand" service (channel 1111). By the middle of next week if will be available in the Milwaukee Market, also via the Time Warner Cable "On Demand" service (channel 1111).
September 13, 2008. I was reading a recent article which linked to an older article (Click here) which referred to the 'Grand Slam Club'. For those who don't know, the Grand National Championship, which dates to 1954, originally consisted of 4 different types of events - half miles, miles, TT's, and road races, with the person earning the most points in a single season crowned the Grand National Champion. In 1961, the series expanded to include short tracks, which were shorter than 3/8-mile in length. To win one of each type of event in a career was rare, and thusly dubbed a 'Grand Slam'. Through 1985, championship events in all 5 disciplines counted towards the AMA Grand National Championship. By 1986, however, most riders focused either on dirt, or pavement, but not both, so the AMA split the road racing into a separate AMA Superbike Championship. Since then, no one has come close to scoring a career 'Grand Slam'.
Only four riders in history have claimed a 'Grand Slam', and only one since the road racing split of 1986. Those riders are:
While the Grand Slam faded into history after 1986, in 2001, I personally coined the phrase 'Hit For The Cycle' to recognize those dirt track racers who had won at least one of each form of dirt track discipline. Since 1954, 117 racers have claimed at least one AMA Grand National dirt track wins, but only 13 have 'hit for the cycle'. Obviously the 'Hit For The Cycle' group includes those who have claimed a 'Grand Slam', yet the former group is not really recognized for accomplishing a very impressive feat nonetheless. So here, for the first time ever, is the list of AMA racers who have 'Hit For The Cycle':
Interestingly, 21 riders won GNC events in 3 of the 4 necessary disciplines; eight riders (Ricky Graham, Gary Scott, Joe Leonard, Joe Jopp, Jim Rice, Mike Kidd, Gene Romero, Dave Aldana) lacked a short track win; eight riders (Will Davis, Gary Nixon, Ted Boody, Rich King, Hank Scott, Carroll Resweber, Terry Poovey, Fred Nix) missed a TT win; five riders (Jake Johnson, Ronnie Jones, JR Schnabel, Nicky Hayden, Ronnie Rall) missed a mile victory. Of them, Kopp, Johnson and Schnabel are still active dirt trackers, while Hayden is an active road racer.
September 6, 2008. Congratulations to Kenny Coolbeth for claiming this third consecutive AMA Grand National Championship! He joins a very select group of men to have claimed three consecutive AMA Grand National Championships - Carroll Resweber (1958-1961), Jay Springsteen (1976-1978), Bubba Shobert (1985-1987), Scott Parker (1988-1991 & 1994-1999), and Chris Carr (2001-2005).
August 23, 2008. Wow, what a show last night. Watching those pro riders reminded me what a horrible racer I used to be. I spent plenty of time in my brief racing career getting passed, but almost always it could be traced to some major blunder I'd made. Watching those pros go at it, I never even saw any mistakes, yet suddenly guys would get passed. That pro main left me stupified. The pass on lap 14 when Mees dropped from first to third...I didn't see a bobble, a missed line, nothing. But zip-zip, he dropped like a stone back to third.
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