Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Jamie Hacking's Name Mentioned in Rumor Mill to Fill the #23 Michael Jordan Motorsports Superbike in Aaron Yates' Absence--UPDATED


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Kurtis Roberts on the #80 Erion Honda Racing RC-51 leads '95 AMA Superbike Champion Miguel Duhamel on the #17 Team Honda RC-51 through the carousel section at Mid Ohio during superbike race 2 in July of 2001. Jamie Hacking on the #92 Team Yoshimura GSX-R750 holds off the challenges of 3-Time AMA Superbike Champ Doug Chandler on the #10 Team Kawasaki ZX750 while Pascal Picotte on the #21 Team Harley VR1000 makes way behind them. With the injury to Aaron Yates leg from his practice crash at Fontana most likely to keep him out of action for at least the Road Atlanta round beginning on April 16th, Hacking's name came up in the rumor mill as being the most likely to be given some seat time to fill Aaron's ride while he recuperates. Just as with all bad news, sometimes good news comes with it and being a Hacker fan this could be a great chance for him to show more of his stuff. Let's hope the rumors are true!
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While congratulations are in order to The Hacking Family on their new edition, the rumor mill churned out Jamie Hacking's name this week to fill-in for Aaron Yates on the #23 Michael Jordan Motorsports superbike while Aaron recuperates from his practice crash at Fontana from Sunday morning. With the Road Atlanta round ready to rumble on April 16th, Team Jordan knows it is in a position to have to fill the seat while Aaron gets well. And with The Hacker being out of work due to the downturn in the economy and the racing cutbacks, what better man to fill the seat of those that would and could be available. Even though Jamie last rode a Suzuki back in '01 for Team Yoshimura, the demographics of the class have changed some, and he is more then capable of jumping on an open ride and performing well. Being a multi-time AMA Champ, Jamie would be more than up to the task and would give it all it's worth and then some!
We wish The Hacking Family safe and healthy journey, congratulations on the new edition to the family, and we hope as well that the rumor mill has churned out a good one and The Hacker gets to ride the #23 Michael Jordan GSX-R1000 superbike in Aaron's place while he recovers from his injuries.
Here's the article thanks to the great people over at CycleNews.com that announced the birth of Chloe Annabell Hacking and mentions Jamie's name being up for the fill-in ride:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/30/jamie-and-rachel-and-chloe
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Updated Wed 3/31/10 2130 EDT---

Just found this update over at CycleNews.com.

Aaron Yates' surgery went well and he has hard bones.

And now Brett McCormick's name is in the mix for a try-out with Team Jordan at the Infineon Raceway test at the end of the week. He is the rider that Pascal Picotte has been helping out in the Canadian Superbike Series as well as at Daytona a few weeks ago. Read it here:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/31/yates-surgery-a-success
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Monday, March 29, 2010

'Tommy Gun' Hayden Breaks His AMA Superbike Cherry at Fontana Race 2


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Tommy Hayden on the #22 Team Yamaha YZF-750 is sandwiched by the Team Harley VR1000's of #21 Pascal Picotte and #4 Scott Russell as they traverse the carousel part of the track at Mid Ohio during race two of the AMA Superbike Honda Supercycle Weekend in Lexington, OH., in July of 2000. After all these years Hayden put it on the top of the box in the premier class yesterday in race 2 at Fontana's Auto Club Speedway.
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'Tommy Gun' Hayden practices the #22 Team Yoshimura GSX-R1000 Superbike at Barber Motorsports Park outside of Birmingham, AL., for the April '07 running of the AMA Pro Road Races at the pristine facility. After having raced in the Superbike class for the better part of 13 years, Tommy Gun got it done yesterday in race 2 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. and got his first premier class win. He dedicated the win to father Earl.
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After having won races and championships in just about every other AMA Road Racing class he has raced in, Tommy Hayden finally got it done in the premier class yesterday to break his cherry in AMA Superbike racing by winning race two at Fontana to beat Josh Hayes to the line by less then a half a second. Tommy took the win aboard his Team Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Having suffered from the classic 'bride's maid' runner up for so many times and after 13 years of on/off running in the Superbike class, Hayden was able to hold off the charges of Hayes on the Graves Yamaha and of his own team mate, Blake Young on another Team Yosh GSX-R1000. Tommy dedicated the win to his Dad, Earl Hayden, who has been the man behind the three brothers-Tommy, Nicky and Roger Lee-that have raced and triumphed on the track since they barely able to swing a leg over a race bike.

The race was marred by a crash involving Aaron Yates on the #23 Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki during the morning warm-up. After setting fast time in the only qualifying session-due to the intense winds on Saturday causing cancelation of session two-and putting it on the box in race one, Aaron again set face pace for the second race warm up, only to crash and get hit by Chris Ulrich when he went down-to no fault of Ulrich's as all in hand said it was a case of 'no where to go.' Here is a clip from the folks at On The Throttle TV from another link over at RoadRacingWorld.com that has Yates' crew chief Richie Alexander talking about what happened and what directions the team may have to go if Aaron isn't able to return by the next round at Road Atlanta April 16th. That part doesn't sound too good as he apparently suffered two breaks in the fibula and tibia parts of the leg. More on that here as well:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39899

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=39911

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Congrats to Tommy and Team Yoshimura for the break out win, and for finally getting the monkey off the back. We've been watching him race for a long time now and to see him get that big class win is monumental. Many years of hard work and dedication does pay off. And it doesn't hurt that he's a great guy! Great job Tommy Gun!

You can read the official race review and results below, and check out the video of official press conference.

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Thanks to the folks at RoadRacingWorld.com for the link to the video as well as the link to the provisional results from yesterday afternoon's great race:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39907
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Results from AMA Superbike race 2 from Fontana:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39903
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Thanks as well to Paul Carruthers from CycleNews.com for this link to the story of the race and Tommy commenting on his first premier class win:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/28/hayden-gets-his-first
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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Larry Pegram Wins Fontana AMA SBK Race 1



Larry Pegram, on the Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R, won race one this
afternoon in Fontana, CA., at the Auto Club Speedway. Pegram beat Jake Zemke to the line by .094 seconds to win his first AMA American Superbike race of the year after a stellar 2009
season.
Activities for the day were delayed almost from the start due to high wind gusts up to 45 mph in the area the flipped an awning over a tractor trailer in the paddock and loosened a large section of airfence on the outside of the track. The AMA was able to revamp the schedule late in the afternoon, qualifying stood in all classes after yesterday's first day results, and Aaron Yates started his second round of 2010 racing from the pole due to setting fast time on Friday afternoon.
You can check out the top ten here thanks to John Ulrich's folks over at RoadRacingWorld.com and they have a couple of shots at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ that show the wind damage earlier in the day as well:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39889
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The Daytona SportBike class was running as this was being posted at 1945 EDT and you can follow it and the rest of the action here from the AMA Live Timing and Scoring Link:
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010011010
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The shot above is of Larry at Road America in June of '01 on the Competition Accessories Ducati as he drives out of the carousel during practice for the weekend's events.
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Aprilia Mille Flat Tracker For Sale by Lloyd Brothers





I found an interesting post over at the FlatTrack.com forum that has the Lloyd Brothers Aprilia flat track bike up for sale. This is the bike as shown at the Indy Mile in August of 2009 as ridden for that race by Aaron King, the talented son of now-retired flat track great Rich King. This bike has also been ridden in the past by Larry Pegram, Dan Stanley and Scott Stump.
The Lloyd Brothers will be putting together the Ducati effort this year as to be ridden again by Larry Pegram, when he's not busy with his AMA Road Racing schedule, and new for 2010 Joe Kopp, the 2000 AMA Grand National Flat Track Champion.
For a little less then $20K, you can be ready to hit the track this year with this bike, and with the change up in the rules as to restricting the alloy XR's, could put you right up at the top of the practice charts with some practice. One thing for certain, if it involves Lloyd Brothers, it's solid. Good long history of flat track competition and road racing from these Ohio-based gents. They've been developing the Ducati's and Aprilia's now in the flat track scene since '05. Pegram put the first one in a mile main at the season ender at DuQuoin that year in a great run. The posts below will take you to the low down and to the official site of Lloyd Brothers Racing.
Check them out and hit up your loan officer at your neighborhood bank.......
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Here's the link as found over at Flat Track.com that advertises the bike for sale:
http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=46&func=view&id=91250&catid=11#91250
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Here's the official link to the Lloyd Brothers Racing site:
http://www.lloydbrothersmotorsports.com/
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Monday, March 22, 2010

Stu's Shots Previews Michael Jordan Motorsports Going Into Fontana This Weekend


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Jason Pridmore's #43 Team Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbikes and superstock bikes get
some attention from the Michael Jordan Motorsports techs in the paddock area during the AMA Road Racing round at Road America in June of 2006. For the 2006 season the team also featured riders Steve Rapp #15 and Jake Holden #59 in the Superbike and Super Stock classes.
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Michael Jordan's maiden voyage into the world of AMA Superbike racing saw the team come into the series with Yamaha YZF-R1 Super Stock-spec bikes like the one above ridden in the Superbike event by multi-time Canadian Champ #21 Pascal Picotte at Road America in June of '04. The team also featured rider #123 Montez Stewart, who was MJ's initial hire and stalwart in getting the team started. The story goes they met on the streets of Chicago and decided racing belonged on the track and thusly Michael Jordan Motorsports was born into the AMA Pro Road Racing series. This will be the team's seventh season, and with the double wins at Daytona by Jake Zemke and the Daytona pole going to team mate Aaron Yates, the team is off to a great start to say the least.
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Montez Stewart's Team Jordan/Joe Rocket Suzuki GSX-R1000 #123 Super Stock bike sits in the paddock area during the Honda SuperCycle Weekend at Mid Ohio in July of 2005. The team also featured riders Steve Rapp #15 and Jason Pridmore #43 in the Superbike and Super Stock classes for the 2005 season. Rapp finished 3rd for the year in the Super Stock class and 8th in the Superbike class for the team's best overall showing.
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Jake Holden on the Team Jordan #59 GSX-R1000 Super Stock entry during qualifying for the Barber round in April of 2007. Holden finished the season ranked 8th in points while team mate Aaron Yates in the #20 entry placed 3rd behind the two Ben's in the class--Spies and Bostrom. Yates also placed 4th overall in the Superbike class for the '07 season.
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One of the Michael Jordan Motorsports team members works on one of Aaron Yates' #20 GSX-R1000 Superbike's in the paddock at Road America in June of 2008. His back-up bike sits idly on display as Aaron can be seen working at the desk in the background checking out telemetry from the previous practice sessions. Aaron garnered a 6th and 8th place finish for the two Superbike races for the weekend and got 2nd to Blake Young in the Super Stock class race. Yates ended the season ranked 9th in the Superbike class and was the '08 AMA Super Stock Champion garnering MJM their first championship in the AMA series while team mate Geoff May on the #99 entry won two races and placed 2nd behind Aaron in the Super Stock class.
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The view above is the many changing faces of Michael Jordan's Team Jumpman23 AMA Road Racing team over the course of the years since they originally came to play in the 2004 season.
After a great showing in Daytona three weeks ago, the Michael Jordan Motorsports team of #54 Jake Zemke and #23 Aaron Yates heads into the Fontana round this weekend in full steam ahead-mode. Joining the MJM team in the off season was obviously a great move for Zemke as he garnered both wins in the Superbike class in his initial voyage on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the world center of racing. And with Aaron Yates winning the Daytona pole and getting two 4th place finishes, the team has great motivation and reason to feel very positive for the next round, let alone the season ahead.
After campaigning the AMA Road Racing series for what is their seventh season now, Team
Jumpman23 is finally feeling and gaining the laurels of their hard work. Add to it their initial championship won by Yates in the '08 AMA Super Stock class the team is starting to look like it has been around for some time now. And with superior backing by the Jordan Brand, National Guard and Hanes, the team, bikes and riders are sponsored by some of the series most high profile names. You can check out the offical team links below as well.
Jason Pridmore, former Team Jordan pilot on the #43 machines, and former AMA 750 SuperSport Champion, and owner of the Star Motorcycle Schools, is still with the team as a rider mentor and team liaison, and will also be providing rides on the two-up spec Michael Jordan Motorsports GSX-R1000 throughout the season at each of the AMA rounds. You can check out a video below of Jason breaking in the new machine earlier in the year at Fontana.

Also of note, while in Daytona, the ESPN film crew led by Hannah Storm was in town to do an interview with Michael Jordan about life after playing basketball, his new role of team owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, and most importantly his ownership role and putting together a top-flight team in the world of AMA Road Racing. Currently there is no set airtime for it but the official story as written by the good people at RoadRacerX.com is below to check it out. Anytime you can get big network news to do a story on AMA Road Racing is not only great, but big time for the sport!
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We wish Team Jordan riders Jake Zemke and Aaron Yates the best for the next round, as well as the rest of the season. If the racing is half as exciting the rest of the year as what we saw at Daytona, the 2010 season is going to be a barn burner of excitement, and you can bet these boys will be right in the thick of it.

Below is the official AMA link the for the upcoming round at Fontana this weekend. It has all the weekend schedules on it as well. As of this writing their are 23 entries in the Superbike class and 27 for the Daytona SportBike class. TV times are Saturday 3/27 at 10 P.M. EDT and Sunday 3/28 at 11 P.M. EDT on SpeedTV. You can also check the TV times on the left side column to be safe in case there are any changes between now and this weekend (there shouldn't be as those times have been posted/set for weeks now, but you never know.... )
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It looks like the Jordan team will be providing 'ride alongs' at each round of the AMA Road Racing series for 2010, and championing those rides will be team liaison, Jason Pridmore. Having been around racing since all but dropping out of the womb, and nabbing a few championships on his own, the two-ups should be well received by the press and the paying public. And I'm sure they will be in for a great ride as this short but sweet video shows compliments of the great people of 2WheelTuesday.com who put this up some time ago:
http://2wheeltuesday.com/2010/03/ama-sbk-ride-on-board-with-jason-pridmore-as-he-breaks-in-the-jordan-experience-gsx-r1000-at-fontana/
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Here's the interview with Hannah Storm of ESPN talking about covering the team at Daytona, what she learned about AMA Road Racing, and what Michael Jordan brings to the table in his endeavors with the series. Thanks to RoadRacerX.com for the link to this great news event that hopefully will air at a time when stick and ball people will be watching to see what they are missing in the world of 180mph+ AMA Superbikes:
http://www.roadracerx.com/features/between-the-races/between-the-races-hannah-storm/

Updated Thurs 4/1/10 1825 EDT---
Here is the updated and current tentative time for the above mentioned show to be aired on ESPN:
http://www.roadracerx.com/breaking-news/tentative-air-date-set-for-espn-piece-on-jordan-motorsports/
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Here's the official link to MJ's road racing team:
http://www.23race.com/michael-jordan-motorsports.html
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And here's the link to the event info for the AMA Road Racing round at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana coming up March 26th-28th:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?eid=2010011010
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Saturday, March 20, 2010

AMA Pro Racing Hires Jeff Ward as Rider and Team Liaison


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Jeff Ward sits in his pit area and scopes out the practice action on track during the AMA Supermoto Road America round in June of 2005. The supermoto series ran in conjunction with the Super Cycle Weekend at the scenic Elkhart Lake, WI. track for the first time this year. 'Wardy' tallied two fourth place finishes for the weekend.
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Jeff Ward, the 2004 AMA Supermoto Champion, can be seen in his pit at Road America again in 2005 talking with his crewman and overlooking his Honda CRF450R supermoto machine. His sponsor Troy Lee's Honda CRF250R #25 can be seen in the shot as well. Ward ran the bigger Supermoto class while Troy Lee ran the Supermoto Lites class in the series.
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The Troy Lee Designs-sponsored #1 Honda CRF450R of '04 AMA Supermoto Champ Jeff Ward sits in the pits as it gets worked over and set up by a crew member for the weekend. 'Wardy' finished second in the championship for the 2005 season behind rider Jurgen Kunzell of Germany who rode for the Red Bull KTM team.
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In more great news coming out of the home offices of AMA/DMG Pro Racing is the hiring yesterday of former multi-time AMA Motocross and '04 AMA Supermoto Champion Jeff Ward to the position of rider and team liaison and advisor beginning with the upcoming Fontana round of AMA Pro Road Racing scheduled for next weekend.
'Wardy' is a former racer who's personality and knowledge of the sport, demographics and fans will surely pay big dividends as the DMG-run series tries to turn the ship around from the pitiful season of 2009. With the improvements that were seen and heard at Daytona this is another big sign from the series bosses that they want to make nice and they want to make road racing and flat track work here in the States like it should without all the dumbing down that was experienced last year. Having that inside line will no doubt serve Jeff AND the teams, riders, and fans well.
Good luck to Jeff in this new venture, and we applaud and tip the helmet to the AMA and DMG folks for trying to get things straightened out after what all had to suffer through from last year. This should be most excellent and the buzz it has already created is humming right along!
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Click here to read the official release as supplied to the always 'kick a..' Larry Lawrence over at his great site The Rider Files.com:
http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=3578
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Here's a great snapshot of Jeff's career from the AMA Hall of Fame:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=291
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Aaron Gobert-The Middle Brother of the Racing Gobert Brothers-Is Racing in Australian Supersport Championship for 2010 Season


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Aaron Gobert on the #96 Rockwall Honda CBR600RR getting light in the rear end and crossed-up in the front end during the wet practice session at Road America for the AMA Formula Xtreme class. The 'middle' Gobert brother used this cool move as shown from the turn 10 area of the track to nail the win in the FX final on Sunday of June of 2008 for his only win of the class for the year, but a thrilling one it was! Gobert is the middle brother of the Gobert clan that consists of oldest brother Anthony 'The Go Show' Gobert and Alex Gobert, the 'youngster.' There was some good water and a lot of vitamins in that family as all of them have or have had some immense racing talent that has seperated them from us mere mortals.
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Josh Hayes on the Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R leads Tommy Hayden on the #22 Team Kawasaki ZX-10R and Aaron Gobert on the #96 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 coming out of turn 8 at Road America during the SuperStock finale of June 2004. Tommy Gun took the win over Josh by .018 seconds with Aaron 1.496 seconds back of winner Hayden. Hayes was the reigning champ from '03 in this class and Gobert won it for the 2004 season, while Hayden was the '04 and '05 AMA SuperSport Champion.
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Gobert on the #96 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 while qualifying for the AMA SuperStock race at Road America in June of 2004. Aaron was also the 2000 Australian 250 Production Champion and started racing in the States in 2001. This will be his first year back home racing in the Land of Oz since that time. We wish him the very best of luck and hope to see him back in the States very soon slinging it into the corners! After nine years here in the States he will be missed on and off the track.
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Aaron Gobert can be seen rifling through traffic on the back part of the course at Mid Ohio on the #1 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 during the July 2005 running of the AMA SuperStock final. Just coming into the photo leftside is Brent George on the Corona Suzuki GSX-R1000, just exiting shot on rightside is one of the Team Jordan Suzuki's (not enough rider/bike to positive ID but it should be either #15 Steve Rapp or #43 Jason Pridmore since they all were running in a group at this venture of the race). Just behind Aaron is #149 Blake Young on the Millenium Technologies Suzuki GSX-R1000.
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What appears to be another hit in racing due to the downside of the economy, Aaron Gobert, the 'middle' of the three Australian Gobert clan, has headed back 'home' to the Land Down Under to contest the Australian Supersport Championship for the 2010 season. Having come to the States in 2001 to race in the AMA Pro Road Racing series, and winning the 2004 AMA SuperStock Championship while riding for Team Graves Yamaha along the way, Aaron has been one of the 'staples' of riders that have contested the series regularly for the last 8-10 years. Gobert has ridden for Graves Yamaha, Erion Honda Racing and Rockwall Honda in the AMA SuperSport, AMA SuperStock and AMA Formula Xtreme classes, and last year took on the venture of racing the new Aprilia Factory RSV1000R in the Daytona SportBike class. With his experience on the middleweight class machines and hooking up with a Graves-prepped Yamaha R6 for the Australian series, this could be a very strong move for Aaron.
We wish Aaron the very best and hope his season goes well, and hope sometime soon down the road we will see him back here in the States on competitive equipment! Good luck to ya mate and be safe!
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Here's the link to the article about Aaron's venture racing back home in the Land Down Under in the Australian Supersport Championship thanks to the great pen-or laptop-of David Swarts at RoadRacingWorld.com:
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Monday, March 15, 2010

If The AMA, Harley and Now Vance and Hines Build It, Will They Come?


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Scott Zampach rests up in his garage at Mid Ohio in '94 after a practice session. One of Zampach's Don Tilley-sponsored Harley Davidson 883's sits outside his garage on display. Zampach was the winningest rider in the Twin Sports/883 classes over the years, amassing a handful of AMA 883 Championships in '91,'92,'93 and '95. He also finished 2nd in class to Matt Wait in '94. Don't let the friendly smile warm you over-Zampach was ferocious on the track.
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Roy Nicholson leads on his #55 H-D 883 over #1 Scott Zampach, #2 Shawn Higbee and #80 (unknown) during the AMA Twin Sports Race at Mid Ohio in '94. Competition in the class was fierce although, as per most H-D pavement races, speeds were nominal at best. So were the 'extra' crowds on hand that came running to see their beloved twins race, and even win for a change on the pavement. But the class and the racing didn't draw any more paying customers then a road race would have anyway, even at Road America, some 50 miles up the road from the H-D factory. The class was eventually dropped for others more technologically advanced then a bilge pump on steroids.
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Nigel Gale on his #1 H-D 883 machine in the paddock area at Road America in 1990. Gale was sponsored by Bartel's H-D at the time, even though his leathers say 'Mockbee Racing' on the leg. This was the first year for the U.S. Twin Sports , Harley Davidson Twin Sports or Super Twins class in AMA Pro Road Racing as it was called in it's different 883-based variations.
Gale won the inaugaral championship in '90.
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Scott Zampach--The 'Z- Man'--on his #1 Tilley Harley Davidson-sponsored championship winning 883 at Road America in 1992. Zampach also won the '89 AMA 600 SuperSport Championship and won a slew of races and championships in WERA throughout his racing career. With his skill and personality, he is still missed on and at the track after all these years. Last I heard he was selling Harley's for Fletcher's H-D in Clearwater, Fl. He did some announcing for several years at Road America as well during Super Cycle Weekend.
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The Z-man leads Nicholson and Higbee onto the main straight at Mid Ohio during the Twin Sports race in 1994. Even though the technology on these bikes wasn't exactly state of the art as in the Superbike and other classes, the racing was close and the oil spills were few. Higbee won the '95 AMA Twin Sports Championship with Bartel's as his sponsor. Matt Wait winning the title in '96 and Eric Bostrom in '97 were the other class champs in the series run.
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It was announced at Daytona the week before last, that the AMA, Harley Davidson, and Vance and Hines would be putting on a new class for select rounds this year of AMA Road Racing based on the new for the U.S. H-D XR1200. In what could surely be looked at as taking a step back in time to the old Twin Sports 883-based classes of '89-'97, someone is looking to try and fill the stands at AMA events, especially the way the fans ran away from the running of the 2009 season. But the big question is and still remains--if they build it, will they come?
This sport we all love and cherish so much isn't baseball and this isn't 'Field of Dreams' so putting people in the seats at any motorcycle racing event, or especially an AMA Road Racing event, is going to take more then just advertising to the Harley crowd, because we already know that they won't come based on the fact that it didn't happen from 1989 through 1997 when the 883-based class ran.
And this surely doesn't take away from the fact that, albeit much slower then the superbike or sportbike classes, the racing WAS extremely close and and the competition was fierce. Add to that the talent that came out of the series. Riders such as Ben Bostrom ('98 AMA Superbike Champ and '08 AMA SuperSport Champ) and Eric Bostrom ('97 Twin Sports Champ), Aaron Yates, Matt Wait ('96 Champ), Shawn Higbee ('94 Champ) and Scott 'The Z-Man' Zampach ('91-'93 and '95 Champ) not only raced and won championships, but most went on to the big bike classes, having been groomed on the art of tight, close low horsepower racing. Learning in the class was at a premium, as the draft was not kind if it was lost. High torque and low horsepower meant learning to learn and love the draft.
We applaud the AMA, H-D and V&H for trying to drum up more interest in the races, as we all know the need of having to draw paying customers. And I fully expect to see that these races will be great for competition and closeness. But drawing paying customers with a shaker class will not work, just as was proven in the past. And part of the problem, we all have to face, is the fact that unless a person is into bikes already, even being a race fan, doesn't automatically mean they will 'get it.' There are an awful lot of ways to draw a full house, but to keep them drawn and quartered, they DO have to get it. And I'm sure, as you are reading this and thinking the same, if someone doesn't get the motorcycle racing thing, it doesn't matter what type of race you put on. They might come initially for curiosity sake, but they won't return, because they don't get it. And that is something that I have seen for over three and a half decades of going to these races. Some people just don't get motorcycle racing like they do other types of motorsports events, whatever they may be. It's just that simple and I don't think that will ever change to the point where all of a sudden the crowds just show up in droves. Otherwise, why, after all these years, people don't rush the gate to see one of these things. And that applies to the flat track scene, as well. You can put on the best show on wheels, but if the crowd doesn't have a clue, you are lost.
I hope I'm wrong, as time will only tell. I think it still gets down to the fact that if you dig motorcycle racing-unless it's supercross or motocross-the numbers are what they are and you have to appreciate it and deal with it at the levels that have been sustained attendance-wise for decades. And that is a sad reality in the world of motorcycle racing from my eyes, as nothing equals a good high speed two wheel race. Nothing!
I found a couple of articles to go along with today's rant on the scene of AMA Road Racing. The first one below was written by Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com and dwells in a much better way then I can about the numbers, or lack thereof, over the former Twin Sports and future XR1200 series. And below that is Paul Carruthers at CycleNews.com official release from Daytona talking about the new series.
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Dean Adams over at SuperBikePlanet.com ponders the age-old question--If the AMA and Harley (and now Vance and Hines as well) build it, will they come:
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The official release as posted by Paul Carruthers over at CycleNews.com talks about the Vance and Hines involvement in the new XR1200 class, where the five race series will compete at, as well as the purse money up for grabs in the new class:
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Thanks again for stopping by. As always, if you have a spin on this or anything else, leave me a comment for discussion. I wish I knew how to put more people in the stands at road race and flat track events. Hell, if I did, they would have been overflowing decades ago.....

Friday, March 12, 2010

Rizla Suzuki Rolls Out the New Troy Lee-Designed Goods for the 2010 MotoGP Season









The Rizla-Sponsored Suzuki MotoGP Team rolled out their line of new equipment today for the upcoming 2010 MotoGP season. Riders Loris Capirossi and Rookie Alvaro Bautista and Team Manager Paul Denning unveiled and spoke about the team's new line of GSV-R bikes over at http://www.motogp.com/ and the fine folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ have a copy of the team release as well as a good pic of the new bike below in the official news links.
The shots above were taken during the pitlane walk at the inaugaral round at Indy in September of 2008 while the team was showing off the bikes and the sounds.
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/Rizla+Suzuki+unveil+2010+livery
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Another great site I like to check out on a regular basis is http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/. They do a great cross-section of stuff in the general, racing and technical side of things when it comes to scooters and going WFO. They have an interesting line on the Troy Lee Designed new look Suzuki MotoGP goods and some more pics of the new designed as released today. See what you think after checking it out here:
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Colin Edwards Talks About Poop and the MotoGP Engine Limit Rules for 2010


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Colin Edwards on the Vance and Hines Yamaha at Mid Ohio in 1993 while rolling down the pitlane during qualifying. Edwards talks about poop, the new engine rule and what it takes to ride one of the MotoGP beasts in a great link to a story from the people at Crash.net.
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During qualifying for the '94 round of the AMA Superbike race at Mid Ohio, Colin Edwards drives his Vance and Hines Yamaha out of the final turn onto the main straight. Edwards went on to win the Superbike final that weekend to bag his first premier class win in the series.
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While perusing the race web sites yesterday, I came acrossed this interesting article from the guys acrosssed the pond on www.crash.net that has Colin Edwards, the Tech 3 Yamaha rider and 2010 team mate to Ben Spies, talking about the new MotoGP engine rules, testing, and of all things, turds.
Let's face it, if you can come acrossed a good story about riders discussing poop, you have to check it out. Read on:
http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/157528/1/edwards_dude_im_not_this_slow.html
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The AMA Road Racing Paddock Won't Be the Same Without Dunlop's Jim Allen


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Jim Allen, The Dunlop Tire Guy, is shown taking lap times in Scott Russell's Team Muzzy Kawasaki pit during the AMA Road Racing Weekend of 1991. Gary Medley, tuner to the stars, can be seen talking with Russell who is seated on the armco barrier. Another unidentified
Team Muzzy member can be seen partially obscuring Russell as he goes about his duties.

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Jim Allen can be seen walking along the left side of Doug Chandler's Team Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-6-based 600 SuperSport bike on pitlane at Road America for the 1998 running of the classic AMA road race as the rest of the Team Muzzy crew goes about their weekend business. Larry Maiers with the news crew can be seen in the very center of the shot along the outside armco barrier. Allen, who has been a long-time fixture with Dunlop and at the AMA races, will be officially retiring on April 1st. His last race as the 'official' Dunlop Tire Guy was at Daytona last week.

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Jim Allen can be seen in this shot coddling his favorite adult beverage of choice as he chats with some friends at Siebkin's of Elkhart Lake in June of 2005. Every year I have been to Road America in the last two decades I have seen Jim at Siebkin's at the end of the race day hanging with the crowd, blending in like another race fan shooting the breeze over the days races. Allen's last official race as the Dunlop Tire Guy was last week at Daytona and will be calling it a career on April 1st. We wish him well!

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One of the truly nice guys in the AMA Road Racing paddock is calling it a career on April 1st. Jim Allen, who has been THE Dunlop Tire Guy for as long as I can remember, will be hanging up his clipboard and stopwatches on April 1st.
This news might have made it under the radar for the average race fan, but Jim Allen has been an icon and a constant presence in the AMA paddock for at least the last two decades or so. The former racer will be missed as much for his being THE go-to guy for Dunlop riders in the States, but for his pleasant demeanor and almost-constant smile in the paddock and out and about the race towns that the AMA Road Racing series frequents. Not having known the man personally, but only having a couple of brief conversations with him at Siebkin's and at the tracks over the course of the last 20 years, the man was always approachable, congenial, and very pleasant to talk to and with. Having heard the 'chatter' over the years from both sides, I can only say how he was in passing and race conversation--a true gentleman and a pleasure to talk to, let alone a wealth of knowledge. And a smile that lasts forever!
They hosted a retirement party for him and his associate, Dave Watkins, who is also retiring, at Daytona and Dean Adams over at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ wrote a very fitting story about the man. Check it out here:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100305jimallen.htm
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We here at Stu's Shots give a tip of the helmet and Dunlop cap to Jim and wish him the very best in his future retirement endeavors, and we can say for sure that the AMA paddock won't be the same without him. And neither will Siebkin's........
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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Josh Herrin Takes R6 and Team Graves Yamaha to Daytona 200 Victory



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Josh Herrin #46-now running #8 for 2010-in action during the AMA SuperSport race at Barber Motorsports Park in April of 2007. Running for the same Team Graves Motorsports Yamaha team, the youngster spanked the competition last night in winning the 69th edition of the Daytona 200. Nearly flawless pit stops by his great team helped to seal the deal.

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Josh Herrin on the #8 Team Graves Motorsports Yamaha R6 won the Daytona 200 endurance race last night by using nearly flawless pit stops and good traffic strategy to take the top spot on the podium for the 69th running of what was once the classic North American motorcycle race.
Dane Westby on the #2 Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha R6 finished second a little over 7.9 seconds back, and perennial iron man Steve Rapp on the #15 Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848 finished a solid third a little over 24.4 seconds back of Herrin. Rapp won this event in '07 while running for the Attack Kawasaki Squad, and has been riding in AMA competition for over 14 seasons now and did a fine job of bringing it home.
You can check out the official results and the official press conference below to get the full meal deal on this eventful race.

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Provisional results of the Daytona 200 courtesy of John Ulrich's group of hard working pro's over at http://www.roadracingworld.com/. Their coverage and updates over the course of the week have been outstanding:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39653


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Daytona 200 press conference thanks to Dean's crew at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ who according to their Facebook.com page were 'asked to leave the pitlane' the other day. In spite of the DMG's outlook on these great folks, they tell it like it is:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100306b.htm

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Congratulations are in order not only for Josh for such a fine ride last night, but especially to all the riders and participants, and a special tip of the hat goes out to the DMG folks for starting off the season on a very high note and making it known that they are willing to help, learn and listen to everyone to ensure the series has a good year and no problems to follow such as the 2009 debacle in running the show. Bravo!
I also added the link in yesterday's post for the second superbike race press conference. The general feeling was good in Daytona after the way the series was handled last year. Ben Bostrom had a very nice comment about it all so if you get the chance to check it out, do so. Bravo again!
Thanks for following along with us for the road racing and flat track running of the races from Daytona this week. It's been a blast and although I plan to revert back to my normal writing and posting intervals, I wanted to try and follow the new year as quickly and as closely for all that I could. It's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to a new year, let alone a new outlook from the offices and managers of the AMA and DMG people. Other then the AMA Flat Track Live Timing and Scoring clusterf..k that we are confident they will have worked out by the next round, it has been a great week. Thanks again for taking your time to come by, see my old stuff and put up with me on a rant....or an occasional non-rant, even. God Bless to all and take care!
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Friday, March 5, 2010

Zemke Does the Double at Daytona and Nips Tommy Hayden at the Line by .009 Seconds!


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Jake Zemke on the Team Honda CBR1000RR Superbike during qualifying for the AMA round at Barber Motorsports Park in April of 2007. Jake won the second superbike race today at Daytona to make it 2-0 on the competition and for Team Jordan Motorsports for a fine start to the 2010 AMA Superbike season. Today was Jake's second win as well on a Suzuki after having ridden Honda's for the better part of the last decade. Looks like a pretty good career move....

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Tommy Hayden on his Team Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 during superbike race one action at Barber Motorsports Park in April of 2007. Hayden came up .002 seconds short of his initial win again today after garnering second in yesterday's race one. Still, a good start for Tommy Gun.

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Ben 'B-Boz' Bostrom on his Team Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1-based SuperStock bike during qualifying for the Barber AMA round in April of 2007. The '98 Superbike Champ and 2009 Daytona 200 Champ came from 1.2 seconds behind setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 9 to nab third place today .081 seconds behind Jake Zemke and Tommy Hayden. It looks like Ben and Pat Clark Motorsports may have something to bring to the table this year and bringing in outside-the-industry sponsors in the Palms Resort and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Jake Zemke made the career switch of his life this year and he more then proved it today by winning his second Daytona SuperBike race in as many days and giving Team Jordan Suzuki it's second premier class victory in as many days as well. Zemke made a run at the end on Tommy Hayden and beat him to the line by .009 seconds. Ben Bostrom was third .081 back on Zemke.
Here's the official report by the great people of http://www.cyclenews.com/ and the top 10 results:
http://cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/05/zemke-again-in-daytona-superbike
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Both yesterday's and today's races will be shown on Speed TV on Saturday, Mar. 6th at 10:30 EST-providing the earlier delayed coverage of the supercross event doesn't run over.
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----Friday, Mar. 5th 6:30 P.M. EST Update-----
Here's a super article that reaks of the enthusiasm of and in the race today by the great bunch of people over at www.roadracerx.com. This is a MUST read!
http://www.roadracerx.com/breaking-news/ama-pro-american-superbike-report-spoiler-pics/
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Congrats to Jake, Jordan Motorsports/National Guard Suzuki, Tommy Hayden and the Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki team, and Ben Bostrom and the Pat Clark Yamaha team on a fine show today. We're looking forward to the rest of the year with finishes like this!
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Saturday March 6, 1:4o P.M.
I wanted to add the press conference from the second superbike race as was put together for us fans by Susan Haas over at Dean Adam's super site www.superbikeplanet.com. If you can't read the whole thing, take the time to scroll down to the bottom and the comment that Ben Bostrom makes about the great week it was for all at Daytona, and how the feeling in the paddock was MUCH better to start the year off from the DMG-run series then the stain it left on everyone's shirts from the 2009 version. Very good sounding news for the fans and the competitors after what everyone had to endure last year. Bravo to the AMA and the DMG folks! Keep up the great work!
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100306a.htm

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Jake Zemke Talks About His 1st Daytona Superbike Win


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Jake Zemke #98-now #54 for 2o1o-whips by on his Team Honda CBR1000RR Superbike in race 2 action at Mid Ohio in 2005. Zemke won his first superbike race in over 45 months yesterday at Daytona on a Suzuki after being on Honda's for the better part of the last decade in the AMA Road Racing series. Round 2 rolls off this afternoon at 4:00 P.M. EST from the world center of racing and Jake will have another chance to make Team Jordan proud.
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One of Dean Adam's long-time scribes, Susan Haas, has the superbike press conference from yesterday's first round event at Daytona over at www.superbikeplanet.com.
Jake Zemke talks about what it's like to win at Daytona, to have won a superbike race after over 3 1/2 years, and what it was like to do so on a Suzuki after having fought tooth and nail on Honda's for so long in the class. Check it out here for a great read:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/e/n100305a.htm
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Danny Eslick Wins the Pole and Rolex Watch for Daytona 200, Jake Johnson Wins Daytona Short Track R2


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Danny Eslick #69-Now #1 in Daytona SportBike-while qualifying for the Mid Ohio round of AMA Formula Xtreme on his MPTracing.com GSX-R600 for the 2005 event. Eslick won the pole and the Rolex watch for the Daytona 200 late yesterday for tonight's running of the classic road race.
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'Jersey' Jake Johnson's #1-now #5 for 2010-American Suzuki/Parts Unlimited RMZ450 sits under the pit awning at Springfield for the Labor Day weekend running of the short track race in Sept. 2007. Johnson ran away and hid in last night's 2nd round short track at the new Daytona Short Track stadium while riding a Honda for this year's short track & TT campaign.
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Danny Eslick added further credibility to his '09 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship by winning the pole for tonight's Daytona 200. Qualifying ran last night for tonight's classic and Eslick qualified only .002 seconds ahead of Martin Cardenas, his last year'r rival for the championship. Both riders were GSX-R600-mounted for the DSB class pole session, Eslick being sponsored on the Richie Morris Racing machine by Geico Powersports and Cardenas by Monster Energy on his M4 Suzuki team.
Congrats to Danny and we look forward to tonight's race which will be shown tape delayed on Speed TV at 9:00 P.M. EST. You can read the official story here thanks to http://www.cyclenews.com/:
http://cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/04/eslick-wins-a-rolexd
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And just outside the legendary tri-oval, Jake Johnson, riding the #5 Zanotti Racing Honda CRF450 ran away and hid to win by 1.7 seconds-a half a lifetime in short track racing-to take his fifth Daytona Short Track win over Kenny Coolbeth and Jared Mees, both Honda mounted.
Although the AMA Live Timing and Scoring was still suffering the same sad, not available problems from the previous night's race, the Twitter feed as shown from Wednesday night's post was most effective in keeping up with the lap action for us land locked fans here in Indy. Several mentions of this over at the forum on http://www.flattrack.com/ brought the same type of reaction as would be expected, especially after it was stated from Wednesday at Daytona by Mike Kidd that they were working on the software issues. I guess that didn't pan out as planned, unfortunately.
We here at Stu's Shots hope that Mike and team AMA Flat Track now have plenty of time to get this issue dealt with before the next round in Arizona in May. One thing about the former National #7 (and before winning the '81 GNC title #72), Mr. Kidd will get it straightened around as he knows the importance of running a first class series and program, and he knows without a doubt what the fans need and want as well, whether you are at the track or not.
Congrats to Jake and the Zanotti Racing crew! This could be a great year for them as this is the team that took 1979 AMA Grand National Champion Steve Eklund to the title, and they have a good program lined up for this year.
You can read the official story here, again thanks to http://www.cyclenews.com/.
This event will be shown on Speed TV, as well, on Sunday, Mar. 7th at 6:00 P.M. EST and is supposed to be comprised of highlights from both events with some final action thrown in as well: http://cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/03/04/johnson-takes-fifth-daytona-win

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Thanks for dropping in, and if you can't catch tonight's tape delayed action of the Daytona 200 on Speed TV you can follow it 'Live' via the live timing and scoring link on the left side column from the AMA. The road race side DID get their software problems worked out as it worked great for all racing yesterday and was a great tool for those of us not in cold, but sunny Daytona.
Also, AMA Superbike race two is this afternoon at 4:00 P.M. EST and you can follow live on the timing link for it as well, and it will be shown with yesterday's first round action tomorrow on Speed TV beginning at 10:30 P.M. EST, providing the supercross race doesn't run over. I'm pretty sure it's delayed as well so shouldn't be a problem, but to be safe you might want to add in for overrun time in case you are tivoing the show.
Take care, and we'll have more on this afternoon's Superbike race and tonight's 200 before the weekend is done!
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Thursday, March 4, 2010

Daytona Superbike Race 1 to Team Jordan's Jake Zemke


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Jake Zemke #98 (this year now #54), Erion Racing/Parts Unlimited Honda CBR600RR in rain practice for the AMA FX class at Road America's turn 10 in 2008. Zemke went on to clinch the '08 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship and won his first AMA Superbike Race in 45 months today at Daytona.
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On his maiden voyage aboard the Jordan Motorsports/National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000, Jake Zemke pulled off his first win in AMA Superbike competition in over 3 1/2 years by beating Tommy Hayden on the Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 by a mere .238 seconds. Pegram Racing/Foremost Insurance-sponsored Larry Pegram finished third a scant .021 seconds back. The top five were covered by .307 seconds at the end. And Zemke also was able to celebrate even more as he was able to give Michael Jordan's team it's VERY FIRST win in AMA Superbike competition in the seven years they have been contesting the series. Bravo and take a bow Jumpman Folks. You deserve it!
In what is shaping up to be a good year of racing thanks to off-season changes by the AMA/DMG folks in terms of leadership, rules making and atonement, and a variety of safety maladies that made the U.S. series a laughingstock, the first round of superbike competition was very intense. And with the rules packages in place now, this is looking to be a barn-burner of a year competition-wise.
You can read the full results and race re-caps here thanks to all the fine folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/, http://www.cyclenews.com/ and http://www.speedtv.com/ who are on site at the legendary racetrack and doing a great job of keeping us land-locked race fans up to date and in the know. Round two of superbike action hit's the track at 4:00 P.M. EST tomorrow afternoon.
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Road Racing World's results:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39639
Great article by Paul Carruthers at Cycle News on the first superbike race at Daytona today:
http://cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/04/on-guard-zemke-wins-daytona-opener
Chris Martin pens a super read here over at Speed TV's site that says it all about today's race:
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/spoiler-warning-ama-sbk-results-race-1-daytona/
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A big tip of the Dunlop Tire hat to Team Jordan, National Guard and Jake Zemke for breaking their AMA Superbike cherry and getting it done at the world center of speed in Daytona. Great job guys!

Sammy Halbert Wins R1 Daytona Short Track, Aaron Yates on Daytona Superbike Pole, AMA Live RR Timing Back Online and FT Live Timing Still Out


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Sammy Halbert's #43 Memphis Shades YZ450 Springfield ST Sept. '07

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Team Honda's Miguel Duhamel #17 leads Jordan Suzuki's Aaron Yates #20 at Road America Superbike Race 1 in 2008--Yates took the pole at Daytona today for today's and tomorrow's Superbike Doubleheader finals.

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In what was a major show of authority, Woody Kyle Racing's Sammy Halbert, National #7 by his virtue of being the overall champ in the GNC series in '09, ran away with round one of the AMA Flat Track Doubleheader last night. Riding a Yamaha YZ450 that was obviously dialed-in, Halbert-former National #43 as shown in the first shot above-ran away and hid from the field to win by two seconds over Henry 'Hammerin' Hank' Wiles on a Kawasaki and 'Jersey' Jake Johnson on a Suzuki. Halbert will go down in history as the inaugaral winner at the new short track facility outside turns one and two at the world famous raceplex.
Thanks to the great folks at http://www.cyclenews.com/ and http://www.roadracingworld.com/ for the official news links as shown here:
http://cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/03/03/halbert-dominates-daytona-short-track-1
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39629
Congrats to Sammy for this opening round win and we'll be looking forward to this evening's races to see how things go for him and the rest of the field as they do it all again!
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On the road racing side of things, Jordan Suzuki's Double A-ron Yates won the Superbike pole position today beating out early fast man Larry Pegram by a little over .25 seconds. Yates, a long time competitor in the series, also took the honors of garnering the very first superbike pole for the Jordan Brand-sponsored team in it's seventh year of competition in the class. Congrats to Aaron and to the Michael Jordan team for this great result.
Here is the rest of the lineup thanks to Dean Adams and his troupe at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100304b19.htm
Congrats to Aaron and Team Jordan Suzuki for this great achievement!
The first superbike race is scheduled to roll off the line this afternoon at 3:30 P.M. EST, and as of late this morning, the AMA Live Timing on the road racing side was back up and running. You should be able to follow the race here:
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010011005
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Yesterday's software problems for the AMA Flat Track Live Timing are still up in the air, and we are hoping they do get this issue resolved for this evening's second round at the new Daytona Short Track. As of this writing no live timing is available for the flat track and I have been getting updates from the forum at http://www.flattrack.com/ in order to keep up with what is going on on the track.
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Here is the link to last night's post about the problems that they were having with the live timing all day yesterday:
http://stusshots.blogspot.com/2010/03/pegram-fastest-in-both-superbike.html
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Thanks for coming by, now let's check out that first Superbike race!