One of the longest running events in the history of the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship will be celebrating it's 50th running this year on May 30 as the fabulous Sacramento Mile will once again see The Rolling Thunder Show hit the track in anger in round 4 of the 2015 season on May 30.
One of the most popular events on the series calendar, as well as one of the largest-attended races on the West Coast, the Sacto Mile has a long list of famous winners over the course of it's run. Carr, Springsteen, Parker, Graham, Shobert and Smith are but a few of the names that have graced the victory podium at the Cal Expo-hosted event in the race's running over the years, and the big question that remains to be answered this season is 'can Bryan Smith make it a five-peat' this year by making it five wins in-a-row on the big mile oval located in the California capitol?
Smith, who won the 2011 event on his own and his father's Moroney's H-D-backed Harley-Davidson XR750, has won this event the last three year's running while riding a somewhat different variation of the Crosley Radios/Howerton Motorsports-Products ultra-sleek Kawasaki rocket. Smith's first win for then-team owner Rick Howerton was at the Sacto Mile in late July of 2012 and hasn't relinquished that top spot on the box with what has been a close cousin to the original rocket that Howerton created starting late in the 2010 season, seeing it first hit the track during the 2011 season and then putting Flyin' Bryan in the seat for the 2012 season and beyond.
In the shot above, Bryan Smith stands on the top of the box after taking the #42 Villa-Esparza/Crosley Radios/Howerton Products-sponsored Kawasaki EX650 to the win at the Springfield Mile I in round 3 of the 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on May 25. 3rd-place finisher Jared Mees and runner-up Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. flank Flyin' Bryan while AMA Pro Flat Track official announcer Barry Boone gets the crowd ready for the victory celebrations ahead during the Memorial Day weekend running of the classic flat track event.
With the racing season almost upon us and the Daytona short track events set to kick off the 2015 season in just six days running, it will just be a matter of time before the Twins Series fires up in Springfield over the Memorial Day weekend, and just after the Sacto Mile hits the West Coast scene just shy of a week later at the end of May. West Coast fans will again relish in the high speeds and action-packed racing that the racing at Cal Expo affords and will again be given the chance to see the best two wheeled racing program in the world bang handlebars at over 125mph in another draft-inducing celebration of speed on one of the series finest venues.
Check out the full press release below thanks to the fine folks out of the State Capitol of California who again will be bringing the best of the best together for all of you West Coast racing fans as the Sacramento Mile rolls into town on May 30. You better get your tickets now as this program is coming on fast and furious and will be upon you before you know it and you don't want to miss a moment of the great action coming your way!
Press release courtesy of the Sacramento Mile, round 4 of the 2015 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season.
2015 Marks the 50th Running of the Sacramento Mile AMA Pro Grand National
New Race Date of May 30, 2015 for Historic Event
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 6, 2015) – The Sacramento Mile AMA Pro Grand National will reach a historic landmark on May 30th, as the race runs for the 50th time. The race boasts one of the richest traditions in Grand National Championship racing. Leading riders and teams from across the country will converge on Cal Expo, all in hopes of coming away winner of the 2015 Sacramento Mile.
Michigan’s Bryan Smith returns to Cal Expo this May to try to add to his record fourth consecutive Sacramento Mile victory. Last year’s race was one of the most exciting in the event’s long history. Smith battled with as many as five other riders in the lead pack throughout last year’s 25-lap main. In the end the race came down to a drafting war with Smith just holding off a surging Jake Johnson by 3-100ths of a second. Jared Mees and Brandon Robinson were in the hunt as well, the top four separated by just 4-10ths of a second.
Smith said he felt the pressure of trying to make history at Sacramento.
“I was loose and the groove wasn’t as well defined as it has been in past years,” Smith said. “Definitely for whatever reason, maybe it was the added pressure of being four in a row I’m not sure, but Jake and Jared didn’t let me have it easy that’s for sure.”
Opening ceremonies commence during round 8 of the 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship at the Sacramento Mile on July 26. The 2015 event will be held almost two months earlier on May 30 and will see the 50th running of the hugely popular West Coast event. Photo courtesy of the Sacramento Mile by Larry Lawrence.
Smith was thrilled with putting his name in the history books with last year’s victory.
“It’s awesome,” Smith said of being the first to win four in a row. “Especially considering the guys I beat out. Scotty Parker is one of my best friends and an all-time hero of flat track. So to beat anything he’s accomplished is pretty awesome. It’s a proud day for me for sure.”
The past Sacramento Mile winners list reads like a Who’s Who of American motorcycle racing. The legendary Carroll Resweber was the first to taste victory at Sacramento, when he rode his factory Harley-Davidson to victory in the AMA Grand National held in California’s capital city on July 19, 1959. Since then Motorcycle Hall of Famers such as Joe Leonard, Gary Nixon, Hank Scott, Jay Springsteen, Ricky Graham, Bubba Shobert, Scott Parker and Chris Carr have all stood atop the Sacramento Mile podium.
The Sacramento Mile has roots even farther back in motorcycling history. The old fairground track first hosted a national motorcycle race in 1914, when Bob Perry rode an Excelsior to victory in the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM) 5-Mile National Championship.
For a list of past winners click on this link: http://www.sactomile.com/history/sacramento-mile-winners/
You can be a part of this year’s historic race by attending in person. Tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis. Seats have not been reserved from prior years’ attendance. Advance Adult Tickets start at $29. Space is limited, so buy early and secure your ideal seat to cheer on your favorite rider!
The race, now being held on Saturday, May 30th, has moved up two months on the AMA Pro Flat Track schedule. We continue to offer FREE Motorcycle Parking to our fans who ride to the Miller Lite Grandstands at Cal Expo in Sacramento. All Children and Youth Standing Room Only admission will be FREE again this year with a properly ticketed Adult.
Our hugely favored Turf Club, Legends Club, and Box Seats continue to be the premiere sought-after seat. These sections will fill up early. Don’t delay as these seats may not be available closer to the event date.
Click http://www.sactomile.com/tickets/ for the Sacramento Mile Ticket Page.
Call our knowledgeable Sacramento Mile staff to personalize your event experience. The phone line remains a Toll Free call at 1-844-SAC MILE (722-6453). Phone lines will be busy early in the sale. Leave a message and you will receive a return call within 24 hours.
The AMA Pro Grand National Championship series is one of the longest running motorcycle racing championships in the world. Known by its fans as flat track racing, many consider this form of motorcycle racing the most exciting on the planet. On the long straights of the Sacramento Mile top speeds can reach 130 miles per hour and, running just inches apart, riders then broadslide their machines into the turns at triple-digit speed, controlling their arc through by throttling up and spinning their bike’s rear wheel, all of this on a racing surface made of dirt! Flat track racing has produced many of America’s Motorcycle Grand Prix Champions such as Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, Jr. and Nicky Hayden.
Practice for the 50th Sacramento Mile begins at on Saturday, May 30 at 2:00 p.m. and opening ceremonies for the evening program kick off at 6:00 p.m.
Visit us at: http://www.sactomile.com/
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*** 2015 Ticket Information: Ticket information is available for the May 30, 2015 Sacramento Mile at www.sactomile.com.
Fans can order tickets online at https://secure.interactiveticketing.com/b/ae283e, by calling 1-844 SAC MILE (1-844- 722-6453).
Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are available. Contact the Cal Expo Group Sales Department at boxoffice@calexpo.com for more information.
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