Man! It would be neat to go to Indy and Peoria at least once! Santa Rosa is coming up though,only a couple of fun hours of curvy street riding to get there. I hope they run Calistoga again someday,it was good. (and sold out each time)
regarding the "Safety" or racing with the Kawi's Jared Mees: "In my Heat race I was stuck with all the Kawasakis. I ended up 4th in the Heat, not where I wanted to be. I dislike racing against the Kawasakis as they are so fast down the straight-a-ways and slower than all the other makes in the corners. In my opinion it makes it tougher to race each other safely when that is going on. Also when you get more than one Kawasaki rider to deal with, it is very difficult to get around them." Halbert is saying the same.....hmm use your corner speed to pass them... I know it is easy to be the expert from my cushy couch....but it just seems people do not want diversity in flat track.
There's a tunnel under the front straight, you can cross anytime. I found an open gate in turn 4 and spent most of the heats shooting them diving into 3. Spent the main with Eddie Lawson in turn 1.
Of course no one wants diversity when the "diverse" motorcycle you're NOT riding is beating you on the track! If a rider has half a brain ( and Jared Mees has at least that...) they know what one brand racing has done to this sport...more brands means more interest and more money in the sport...work harder to make the bike you're riding competitive with the Kawasaki...it CAN be done! Springfield in less than 2 weeks.......You ain't SEEN A MILE until you've seen Springfield!
Agree .. I say no restrictors on any bikes (harley included) keep a cc limit and minimum weight..done and done
Santa Rosa Mile next Sunday.Sportsman short track Friday,and Pro-Am Saturday night at Chris Beck Arena.... http://www.santarosamile.com/
Just saw reports we've lost Skip Eaken. A real shame. He was a hell of a tuner, and support of dirt track racing.
Sammy Halbert wins in Santa Rosa! Had to work so I couldn't attend but followed on Facebook and AMA Live Timing. Bummed to have missed seeing the races and a chance to cheer for the NorCal riders in both mains. Reports and photos showed a very large crowd. Congratulations to promoter Bob Bellino on bringing flat track back to NorCal with successful events at Calistoga in 2010-11, the Sacramento Mile for the last two years and now the return of the mile at Santa Rosa. Good stuff.
Bob Bellino is a great guy! The event was surely a sell out. Huge enthusiastic crowd were treated to amazing deep sand racing on a long straightaway tight corners mile. It was an epic event! Barry
ya, the show comes to my neck o the woods this week...tucson, az. well, i have to travel about 4 hrs but did it before back in 07' and it's worth it. slightly shorter than 1/2 mile. you can get up close. it's smelly, noisy & dirty, the way a dirt track should be... it's neat to be at the exit of turn 4 of the 1st lap of the main. the ground shakes, your chest pounds and you yell at the top of your lungs and can't hear it, heaven !! not to mention the klods of dirt those bitches throw at ya...
It was a great event indeed! I rode over and camped out by the coast for 3 days,the Mile was a rough cushion track with guys roosting sand/dirt way over the fence. Smith had a big lead in the main but kept running high,while more rubber got laid down on the low side. Halbert and company finally caught him but what a cool race to watch! I asked Smith afterwards if it was scary broadlsiding nearly backwards right out to the haybales coming off turn 4. He said,Yes it was extremely hairball or something to that effect. He was grinning like a fool though as were the other top finishers,all soaked in sweat,looked like a lot of work getting around the track. S.Halbert said the roost hitting him would slow his bike down a good amount,I saw him disappear from view just due to roost! Brad Baker had a decent lead in a 750 semi,then the cushion got him and he and his bike and a whole bunch of haybales got to rolling along like a wave for about 50feet. I hope hes OK. Overall a great race in both classes. I also checked out the sat night shortrack,it was a tight corner version of a shorttrack,450's were hitting the rev limiter right off the corners mostly. They had kids on 80's,super senior classes,vintage classes,all 2 stroke good old fashioned screaming compression release classes. All racing their brains out,it was old school at it's best! Then the Pros came out,Mees and Bonsey being the biggest names,but some hot shoes from Lodi and various other tracks didnt make it at all easy,lots of major stuffing coming into turns and really just a brawl even at the back of the pack. A kid from Lodi Cycle Bowl put it on all of them easily,got all his starts perfect and kept it pinned and sideways all the way around,cut one perfect line after the other. It looked like he was running a framer 450 but still,he put on a hell of a show! Im going back. The shorttrack was as fun as the Mile,or very nearly so.
..why ya know, jay leno's garage of course.. what a race you fellows are lucky enuff to watch. just hope the guys don't get overly aggresive. you can just imagine the a·dren·a·line pumpin' going into turn 1 in the final.. going to throw my money on #7 halbert. kk#38k kansas.