Former WSBK Champ Neil Hodgson Appears to be Heading Home....

Well, it seems that the fall-out is really beginning to happen now that Honda has

officially withdrawn from the 2010 AMA Road Racing Series. Former '03 World

Superbike Champion and '00 British Superbike Champ Neil Hodgson, who has

been riding for Honda here in the States since the beginning of the '07 AMA season

and who has blessed us in America by first coming to the States and riding for Ducati

originally in '05, appears to be headed home. And by home, I mean as in across the pond,

back to the Isle of Man, and what at least now appears to be looking very strongly to be

another run in the British Superbike Series for 2010. With Honda having officially pulled

the plug for racing in the AMA/DMG series here in the States as of last Friday, Neil spoke

with the folks at SpeedTV.com and stated that things just looked much better back home

for the future. But even more so, stated how bad things really are here with the Damaged

Motorcycle Guys running the AMA series into the ground.

Check out the link from SpeedTV.com and form your own opinion, but it sure doesn't bode

well for racing in the States and how (un) professionally the AMA is and has been running

the show:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-hodgson-headed-home/

The way I read it is what it has been looking like all year. It sure is hard to polish a turd...

And to lose a great personality, let alone a great champion and competitor like Neil Hodgson, well, it pretty much shows you whose head is where and it sure isn't Neil's that mis-placed

and looks even more dark for what has been a very dark year in AMA Road Racing.

That's my opinion, but it seems to be shared by more then a few. Here is another look at the mess from the pen of Dean Adams from SuperBikePlanet.com as to how dark it really is:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090922tensein10.htm

And just added on Sat. 9/26/09 @ 0900 EDT, this week's version of Honda Road Racerhead from the great folks at http://www.roadracerx.com/, this is a look at the Honda pull-out as well as a

look at the overall picture in the AMA/DMG scenario for the past, present, and future as

we have seen it and know it and how it could be for the future and beyond. Interesting read so

please take the time to read it as well:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/road-racerhead/honda-road-racerhead-39/

The pics above were taken when things were much grander in the scheme of things as far

as racing in the States is concerned. They are all of Mr. Hodgson and were taken in race 1

of the AMA weekend at Road America in June '08. This was on the official Team Honda

entry #100 as opposed to the Team Corona Honda that Neil rode in the series this year.

Very sorry to hear all this and all I can say is we are losing a great talent and a great guy!

Having had the chance to speak with Neil a couple of times in the AMA paddock over the

course of the last 4-5 years, the man was not only very congenial, approachable, and

wonderful to talk to. Let alone his talent on the track! Here's to hoping for great things

for Neil in the future and to blessing us with his talents while he was here riding in the States.

It was great havin ya mate! Take care and God Bless in whatever you do and where ever you

land on 2 wheels......

A BIG Domino Takes a Fall at the Hands of DMG/AMA Road Racing...

The following articles were posted yesterday by Dean Adams and his fine people from the SuperBikePlanet.com site as well as from the fine folks at CycleNews.com. It appears that after

putting up with the Damaged Motorcycle Guys running the AMA Road Racing series (into the ground) that Honda will no longer be supporting any of the classes beginning with the 2010 series--which now is still way off in the distance as no race schedules, tv schedules, and only a

small handful of rider contracts having been signed for the future.

The future for our beloved AMA Road Racing series is now officially looking even more bleak then what it did during this year. Read on, and you can make your own evaluations and form your own opinions based on what you see and/or read here and elsewhere over the course of

the last year or so:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090918hondaout.htm

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090918hondaout2.htm

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/09/18/honda-won-t-renew-corona-deal

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090919a.htm

And also from John Ulrich and his hard working people at RoadRacingWorld.com:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38148

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38149

The attached shots were taken during the AMA round at Road America in Elkhart

Lake, WI., during the w/e events of June '06. They were taken in the paddock area

during the w/e events and feature the AMA Superbikes and FX bikes of Miguel

Duhamel's #17 and Jake Zemke's #98. Both bikes and riders claimed multiple

championships in the former AMA Road Racing series before the DMG-run take over

of late '07 and all of '08.

Looks like the only thing red now is the bleeding from the added fallout of people leaving

the series.......such a shame.

This is also starting to catch on to the followers--like myself--of the AMA Flat Track series--also run by the Damaged Motorcycle Guys--on the great site FlatTrack.com forum. Take a look see for yourself and add to your opinions and thoughts of the fallout beginning to ensue:

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=46&func=view&id=63372&catid=3

And just to show that I DO believe in showing both sides of a story, this was the 'official' release

from the AMA/DMG folks on their outlook and vision for the 2010 season:

http://www.amaproracing.com/rr/news/index.cfm?cid=23688

I gotta say at least they are taking away the pace bike/car/moving obstacle and also

doing away with the rolling starts. They do seem to have a wee bit of sense when it comes

to safety.....at least THAT is a partial relief!

A Big Thanks to Steve at 2 Stroke Biker Blog!

While taking the time to make another shameless plug for some of my old stuff, I first must take
the time to thank Steve at 2StrokeBiker.blogspot.com for putting up with me and putting some
of my stuff up on his site.
Steve has amassed a suberb collection of largely 2 stroke bikes on his site, while throwing in an
occassional nod to the 4 stroke crowd as well. He very kindly posted a few of my shots with some background info I had sent him, and I owe him a BIG thank you for the post and the head-swelling session he chose to talk about it. It's nice to know there are a lot more people out there that dig this stuff as much as I do. I know I can add Steve to that list! Thanks man, you rock!

Read on--and right on!


http://2strokebiker.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-pics-from-mike-stuhler.html

Steve also posted this link on his Motorcycle Picture of the Day blog. Thanks again my man!

http://motorcyclepictureoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/09/carry-over-post-from-my-2-stroke-sitte.html

Another GREAT Website to Rob Your Boss of Time While Perusing the Internet at Work....

I was surfing some new territory the other night and came across this SUPER site on 2 stroke bikes called 2 Stroke Biker. Steve over there has done a fantastic job of putting together some radical stuff for us followers of the ring ding bikes. Check it out:

http://2strokebiker.blogspot.com/


And while I am at it, a tip of the hat to Steve for mentioning Stu's Shots, so here is another shameless plug for some of my work thanks to a fine man with one heck of a bad-a.. site. Thanks again Steve, you Rock! And I am sure Larry feels the same!

http://2strokebiker.blogspot.com/2009/09/couple-of-great-new-blogs.html

A Tip of the Hat and a Hi Yo Silver to Triumph Flat Track!

A big thanks and a tip of the hat to Brett for all his work and for taking the time to post a few of my shots today. If you're an old time flat track fan or especially a Triumph fan take the time to check out his work---super stuff here!

http://www.triumphflattrack.com/2009/09/billy-eves-and-steve-morehead-on.html

Great Story About Some Damaged Motorcycle Guys....

If you want to read a GREAT perspective on how messed up road racing is in the
U.S. since the Damaged Motorcycle Guys took over AMA Road Racing-and Flat Track--
this year, take the time to read the following article posted today by the one and only
journalist to be considered officially dead in the media room to these folks, Mr. Dean
Adams.
Dean has been running his website and writing for the print mags since dirt was born,
and has provided truth and cutting edge journalism to the people of the motorcycle racing
community for quite a damned while now. Probably longer then when I saw my first
AMA Road Race at Road America in May of '82, but that is another topic for another time.
Today he posted an article on his website, http://www.superbikeplanet.com/, that pretty much sums
up the mess that is road racing in the U.S. today thanks to the fine people who also bring you
NASCrash. Not that I'm not a fan of that, but compared to the bike racing, okay, come on,
what's your point?! But this one is as close to the gut as a shot of buckshot in telling it like it
is and how messed up their organization is and has become and as a result the mess and trail
of bodies--so to speak--that they have left behind in their trail while making U.S. road racing
look like Romper Room get togethers to the rest of the world.
Read it and make your own opinions.....I sure have! Go Dean! One thing about those mirrors
people hold up in front of others--they may not like the reflection but it sure does bring out those dimples!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090915expdelfool.htm

More discussions of this article can also be found on the FlatTrack.com reader forum here:

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=46&func=view&id=63370&catid=3&limit=12&limitstart=12

Two Milestones Reached in WSBK and AMA Superbike Racing Today....

....and it's just your luck that you are going to find out about them here, that is, if you
should choose to keep reading.

Ben Spies, the former 3-Time AMA Superbike Champion from '06-'08, took a 1-2 tally
at the German Nurburgring round of the World Superbike Championship to take the
points lead over from Nori Haga. In doing so, he has positioned himself for the final 3
rounds and 6 races to put himself as the odds-on guy to win the WSBK World Championship
for 2009. It could get interesting in 3 weeks at the next round in Imola, as Spies has
shown that his 'rookie' status across the pond is just a mere formality. He is no rookie.
You can read more about his accomplishments this w/e on SuperbikePlanet.com
and WorldSbk.com by following the links on the left side column.

And by now you are asking yourself, okay, so that's 1, what the he.. is the other milestone?

Mat Mladin, the reigning '09 AMA Superbike Champion, and NOW 7-time AMA Superbike
Champion, rode his last race today and his last event this weekend at New Jersey, carding
a 2nd this afternoon and 24th---yes, 24th!---yesterday afternoon. After crashing out in
defense of the lead from eventual double event winner Josh Hayes on Saturday afternoon,
Mladin still had sealed the deal on the #1 spot at the last event at VIR three weeks ago, but
still managing to win the championhip by a 47 point margin. He retires from U.S. Superbike
Racing after 82-official wins, some 62 pole positions, and again that little thing of 7 premier
class championships since 1999. Can you say burn the record books........

You can read the updates of this season ending event off of the links on the left column to
SuperBikePlanet.com and RoadRacingWorld.com. Those fine folks did a super job of supplying
us with updates over the w/e and we should bow to their feet for their efforts and
professionalism that they put out such fine material and journalism to keep us informed and
up to date. Bravo to you folks for sure and thank you for your wonderful work!

And to close since by now you are going 'so what is the photo now he's got to tell us.........'

At Mid Ohio in July '08 during race #2 for the w/e, Ben Spies #1 is leading Mat Mladin #6 and
Jamie Hacking--#2 hidden--as well as #100 Neil Hodgson, #17 Miguel Duhamel, and #20
Aaron Yates, coming into, and out of the carousel at the end of the first lap. Mat eventually passed Ben and took the win over Ben, Jamie and Neil.

As we go into the 'labor' part of the Labor Day W/E tomorrow, give thanks to these two--
not too mention all of the other racers--for doing what they do and laboring on the race
track for us to get our adrenaline going.

Thanks to Mat Mladin for giving us 14 years of great competition, of always being on the
forefront of safety, and for never leaving anyone questioning how you feel about something.
It has been your standing up for the right thing, whether it be safety, rules, racing competition,
or event promotion that has raised the level of those things in U.S. racing. And this in spite
of what some of the bumbling types who have taken turns in running this series have tried
or aimed to do.

And thanks to Ben for giving the race fans in the United States who have followed him and his
career for some time now, a hope of a World Championship again. It has been since '02 when
Colin Edwards won his 2nd WSBK title that an American has won the title. We now have hope
again, and it may come in a BIG way. Keep your fingers crossed....

They Had a Little Road Race in Indy Last W/E.....

...and you might have already heard a little something about it.

For the second year, the great folks at the Indianapolis Motor

Speedway hosted the circus from MotoGP and put on one heck

of a show.

I could get into all the details--Nicky Hayden's #69 Ducati, without the

special paint he ran in the finals, Marco Simoncelli the reigning 250 GP

World Champion--think Boris Said for the hairdo--the Playboy-sponsored

Honda of Randy DuPuniet, and the KTM 125's sponsored by RedBull, or Colin

Edwards' Monster Energy sponsored Tech III Yamaha--but I won't. You can read all that good, technically inspired and professionally written

stuff in the links on the left side of the column or by going to http://www.motogp.com/ or http://www.motogpmatters.com/ or any number of other great sites.

I thought it would be nice to just sit back and enjoy the view.......so enjoy the view!

And thanks for stopping by. Love to have ya!

All The King's Men...or At Least His TZ750 Indy Miler..

As many of you already know, and have seen, Kenny Roberts made an

appearance at the Indy Mile on Saturday 8/29/09 aboard his infamous

Yamaha TZ-750 flat tracker that he used to win the event back in August of 1975.

With a great crowd on hand, the folks at Yamaha brought out a VERY nice

replica of the bike that now stands in infamy as one of the premier motorcycles to ever win an AMA Grand National Flat Track event. The bike was displayed during the w/e at the Indy round of the MotoGP race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and did it ever draw the drools from young and old--myself included.

After having been there on that fateful evening back in August of 1975, seeing, let alone hearing it again after all these years, brought the same chill to my body as it did over 34 years ago. Not only did Yamaha not dissapoint, but neither did 'The King' when he rolled out of the pits to take a few 'hot' laps on the old beast!

All along, figuring that The King would just run a few straight blasts and take it easy in the corners, the crowd, let alone myself, was awe-struck when he blasted down the straights and threw it into the corners almost as blazingly fast and furiously as he did all those years ago! The crowd was absolutely thrilled, and

I myself jumped for joy as he managed to wrangle the old beast through the turns as if it was yesteryear all over again. To put in into the words of Larry Lawrence from http://www.theriderfiles.com/, it 'was a magical evening' to say the least, one that everyone that witnessed will remember forever. The King has

NOT lost his touch, and he not only wowwed the crowd with his skill at throwing the old beast into the corners and jamming it down the straights, but he even talked for awhile afterwards about what it was like that night, as well as

THE night from almost 3 1/2 decades ago!

I shot the above shots in the vendors area at IMS on Friday afternoon 8/28/09 while Yamaha had it on display at their tent during the GP. They truly represent what a fine replica this particular one is. And the fine folks at Sideburn mag posted these short videos and story about that night as well:

http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2009/08/indy-mile-update.html

Long live The King, and long live one of the greatest stories, motorcycles, and

races that ever were.

And thanks to the great folks at Yamaha, and Sideburn for the link, for making this all possible!

Here is another link of that great nite posted from YouTube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSupEffWQtU

And here is a link to a smattering of videos leading up to, and including, this great event:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kenny+roberts+indy&search_type=&aq=f

A Tip of the Hat to TriumphFlatTrack.com!

http://www.triumphflattrack.com/2009/08/1983-peoria-tt-final-gnc-main-for.html

Thanks go out to the super TriumphFlatTrack.com website for the nod and picture post theyput on their site the other day.

They had e-mailed me about a week and a half ago about some shots I had of 1975 Grand National Champion Gary Scott's Triumph that I had taken at Springfield during the inaugaral HOF race. The bike was in the vendor display area, as they had some displays that w/e ofpast flat track bikes. Gary's always interested me in that he won the Castle Rock TT five years in a row on a bike that was very similar, if not the bike itself. Sweet looking piece in the middle of the above link and I have added another here of it as well.

Take the time to check out their website--it's way cool!!

http://www.triumphflattrack.com/

Thanks to The Speed Junkies Folks!!!

http://ioannisdesign.com/speedjunkies/?p=1067

A tip of the hat and a very grateful thank you to the fine people at Speed Junkies for giving a nod to Stu's Shots here recently. This is the link to their
home page. Check it out, you WON'T be dissapointed! Great stuff here:

http://ioannisdesign.com/speedjunkies/

Now sit back and drool..................

SuperbikePlanet.com on Twitter Gives a Nod to Stu's Shots...

http://twitter.com/superbikeplanet

Thanks to Dean and Co for the nod on Twitter from yesterday! Always great to
see and hear from the REAL good guys on the journalistic ends of the racing scene.

The Mat Who Would Be King.....

.....IS King again for the 7th time!

Mat Mladin, who has managed to dazzle, ruffle, and keep our interests alive for the better

part of the last 13 years in the AMA Superbike Series, managed a 9th/2nd place finish over

the weekend at Virginia International Raceway, and took his 7th Superbike title in the

premier class of American roadracing. Not that winning his 7th--and unfortunately what

looks to be his last as he announced his retirement a couple of weeks ago--was going to be a

stretch. Through and including the Laguna Seca round over the 4th of July w/e, Mat had won

a total of 10 races, while managing to build a lead in the series standings that he would not relinquish. The formalities were all but done by race time yesterday, as in the Sunday race he

only needed 2 points to take the title from his team mate, Tommy Hayden, no matter where

Tommy Gun finished.

After having started the year on a tear in not only claiming pole wins, Mat amassed win after

win in what seemed from the start of the season a cakewalk. However, after having to deal with

a new '09 motorcycle several race events into the season, it took some time for Mat to come to

grips with the handling and performance of the new machine. Never failing to take it to the edge,

he showed everyone why he is the all time champion by protecting his point lead while

developing the bike, and coming to grips with the nature of the new beast at hand. Not too

mention the new beasts involved with the Damaged Motorcycle Guys people who have

attempted to re-work the series ala NASCrash and their rule making/changing ways to re-

formulate the series. That's another story for another time. This is about Mat.

For the man who stepped up and has taken the U.S. series by storm since he emerged on

the FBF Ducati in 1997, yesterday was the final crown and the final exclamation point to

a very storied career. Not that a chance of another win or two might not be possible in 2

weeks at the season-ending event in New Jersey, but yesterday was the culmination of all the

dedication, effort, training and focus that Mat Mladin has shown all of us here, let alone the

world, for all of these years, and shown how/why he is now a 7-time champ after having won

his 7th crown in the last 11 seasons. I've said it from the start, the man is a machine, and he has

rolled over all of us in showing what kind of champion and competitor he is. And unfortunately,

after the end of this year, Mat Mladin will go back to being a mere mortal. He will walk away from the sport and series he has decimated virtually since the start, and we will all be

worse off without him as a result. Not seeing Mat Mladin on the grid in 2010 in the AMA
Superbike Series is going to leave a hole the size of Texas in the series and we all will suffer

as a result. However, we can say we have been treated over the last decade plus to one of the

finest performances by one of the premier athletes at his job, and boy, were WE wowwed by it!

For Mat Mladin, we all bow at your feet for what you have done and shown us, and we are all

better for what you have done and shown us over the years. You will be surely missed, and

we will appreciate even more, when you are gone, how much you have truly done for us.

Thanks for the memories, Mat, and congrats on Number 7! We never doubted it would come!

The shots above are all of Mat at Road America in 2004, in various stages of practice, qualifying,

and generally kicking everyone's a.. over the w/e while winning both races that year.

Their may be some people out there that won't miss him when he's gone, but I can tell you I WON'T be one of them.....Thanks again Mat!!

Mat's 1st Year On The Team Yosh Suzuki

For you nostalgic types--such as myself--here is a shot I took of Mat Mladin,
who yesterday announced his retirement at the end of the '09 AMA Superbike
season after having withdrawn from the Topeka Tornado Superbike Races after
concerns of lack of proper safety areas on parts of the track.
Take a look back at the first year of what was to become an over decade run of race wins,
race poles, and the other little thing in that he won 6 titles in the supreme class of motorcycle
road racing on the North American continent. Now, keep in mind Mat had already had 2 years
of racing, and also winning, here in America, but was riding a Ferraci Ducati for those years.
The story of the day was Mat wasn't satisfied with the level of--or lack of for better words--testing with the team. And as a result that was what led to him being signed by the winningest
team in AMA Superbike history, Yoshimura Suzuki. And to say what was to come in the next
12-13 years was going to change the course of modern racing as we know it, well let's just
say that would be a gross understatement.
Mat Mladin--and of course Team Yosh--not only re-wrote the record books, they took over
the publishing--at least in the sense of totally dominating in every and all aspects of the sport for
6 of 7 years in winning titles and races, but continuing to decimate the competition even as
Ben Spies came along as his team mate and ALSO managing to bag 3 more championships.
But Mat needs to be given credit for MUCH more then all the wins, the poles, the podiums,
and that other little thing again of 6--and it very well could end up being 7 as he does have a
126 point lead going into this w/e's event/clusterf... at Topeka--he needs to be given credit for
the safety aspect of the series. He has been the most active, vocal and outspoken lead man to
help lead to widespread and house-cleaning changes in areas of track run-off, safety and SOLID
barriers, track surfaces that seep, bleed, or GUSH rivers of water, all of the areas of concern when you are a racer--not to mention a hard core fan and afficianado of the sport--that come into question when you are racing an over 200hp, 350 +/- lb. crotch rocket at speeds at over 180 mph. And if you've ever seen in person--or even on tv--a motorcycle, or worse yet a motorcycle racer, come into contact with something that should never have been there in the first place and the ensuing damage and chaos it causes, then you can begin to appreciate safety
and the measures you MUST take when competing at this level to ensure it DOESN'T happen!
And for THAT, more then all the big and other little things Mat has done for us, this wonderful sport, and the rider who may avoid those problems thanks to him being so vocal, so sure, and so
correct in standing up for those beliefs, we should ALL take a knee to the master!

Bravo Mat!!! It HAS been a great run, and the sport is already lonelier and at a loss without you.....

The shot above I snapped of Mat at Road America in June of '98. This was just out of turn 8
during qualifying for that w/e's event. I was able to get him to sign it for me a little over 2 months later at another event that raised MANY major safety concerns after the teams, riders,
and we fans, had showed up to see a race and it had been CANCELED due to safety concerns.
That event was the August '98 scheduled event in Joliet, IL., at the then-new Route 66 Raceway. They DID run the flat track races that w/e on the 1/2 mile dirt track--Rich King won
on a Corbin-sponsored RS750 Honda--and under the bleachers during a break Mat took the time to not only sign this shot but look at some of my others--and comment on safety issues at
race tracks.

Jamie Hacking Withdraws from Topeka-Also Due to Safety Concerns...

Due to safety concerns with the track, Jamie Hacking, current rider of the
Attack Kawasaki 600 in the AMA Daytona Sportbike Series, and former
600 Supersport and SuperStock Champion, has also withdrawn from competition from the Heartland Park Topeka Tornado Nationals.
Read the press release here, and thanks to the fine folks at www.roadracingworld.com/ for the link:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=37551

The shot above is of Jamie on the Team Monster Kawasaki ZX-10 at Road America in June 2008.

Mat Mladin Announces He Will Retire at The End of The '09 Season...

It is with great sadness that news comes to us from the folks at
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ that 6-Time AMA Superbike Champion--
and still possibly 7 after this year--Mat Mladin will retire at the end
of the 2009 season.
Having obviously been on the end of a what he has surely felt like a
losing game with the takeover of the AMA Road Racing Series by the Daytona Motorcycle Group and the difference of opinions on how a professional motorcycle series should be run, and coupled with the fact that he withdrew from this w/e's competition at Topeka's Heartland Park event due to some overlooked safety issues on the part of said AMA/DMG people, it is not surprising to see him ride off into the sunset on top of his game. The hush you
hear now is the air being let out of the bag as the motorcycle racing community mourns the loss--on track--of one of the all-time true champions.
You can read the official announcement here as you catch your breath and pinch yourself to make sure you aren't dreaming:



http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jul/e/n090731e.htm

It's been a GREAT ride Mat! We will definitely miss your spirit, enthusiasm, direction, and most assuredly your zeal to whip ass! Thanks for all you have done for the true road racing fans in America--and all over the world!

Mat Mladin Will NOT Ride at Topeka This W/E...

....and you can read about the safety issues here thanks to the super people at

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/

Here is the release from Mat:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jul/090731e.htm

And here is more on this issue thanks to the great people at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ :

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37546

...and this link from the fine people at www.SpeedTV.com that if you take the time to read
the comments from other readers, pretty much mirrors the overall disgust being waged by
not only Mat, but the fans as well:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-mladin-comments-on-hpt-withdrawal/


Take note people--the way things have gone this year with the AMA/DMG (Damaged Motorcycle Guys) in our beloved AMA/US Superbike Series, the chances of seeing Mad Mat
race in the US after this year are getting VERY slim..........

Shortly after I made this post, Mat Mladin announced his retirement from racing at the end
of the 2009 season. That cloud that just popped up over your head is the darkness being felt
but anyone and everyone that has seen Mat race over the years.......

Check out Pipeburn.com for Some Classic Cafe Racers..

http://www.pipeburn.com/

Thanks to my buddy Larry Lawrence for posting the link to the above website on his
own website www.theriderfiles.com the other day.

Pipeburn is a wonderful collection of classic and modern day cafe racers that guys like
Larry and I grew up with--and yearned and drooled for at the same time. The folks at Pipeburn have collected and posted some wonderful links and pics that pretty much showcase the classics as well as the 'one-offs' that so many of today's bike builders are coming out and up with.

You seem to hear more of the 'chopper' craze across the general mainstream media, since shows like 'American Chopper' and the such have showered the masses--and cable/satellite tv--with. But to the hard-core motorcyclist, builder, racefan, and true afficianado of the overall aspect of the motorcycle custom and racing scene, as well as the growth of the industry as a whole in how it relates to the many ways you CAN customize scooters, well, then www.pipeburn.com is a MUST see and read!!

Check it out, I promise you won't be dissapointed, and I will do my best to post some pics in the next few days from the Barber Museum that I shot in '07 that will help to spruce up the moment. Enjoy! And thanks again Larry for finding such a jewel! You ARE the man!!

New Website From a Great Old Pro!! Check it out....

While you are checking out the various racing going on around the
world this w/e, please take the time to visit the following link:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/

...and the official shameless plug for Stu's Shots R Us:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=232


Larry Lawrence, who at one time took care of media relations with and for the AMA racing series, and whose fine work you can now also find in Cycle News, amongst other publications, has started his own website featuring some shots and stories he has done over the years.
Currently covering the AMA Flat Track Series on a regular basis as well as penning his column 'Archives' for Cycle News, Larry has been around the
motorcycle racing world almost as long as dirt, and myself have been. His weekly column is reason enough to buy and read CN, but his coverage of the
flat track series the last several years has been stellar, to say the least.
After all of the time he has wrapped up in doing this, 'LL' started his website earlier this month featuring a BOAT load of great archival shots and writings
that go back in to the 70s. Being an ole hoss like myself, he has been around some of the finest and fastest and his work more then speaks for itself. And I
can't remember when I ever heard anyone speak a harsh word about the man, so his jovial attitude and endearing smile and laugh almost immediately make you gravitate towards anything bike-related, or otherwise, he is involved with. The man is an expert and has fun, obviously, doing it!
Please take the time to check him out--I guarantee you won't be dissapointed!

The shot above is actually one of 3-Time AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler, that I took at Road America in June of '90, the w/e he won and continued on a tear for the rest of the year to capture his first AMA title. As
you look at the shot of Doug looking over his tuner's shoulder at the bike, in the
background you can see the constant-smiling face of Mr. Larry Lawrence walking past. He is the gentleman in the center-rear of the shot in blue jeans and light blue shirt. Okay, if you didn't know him well you might not recognize him, but nonetheless his 'Cheshire Cat' grin is one that never seems to disappear as you can tell.

Take care and enjoy the races and the w/e!

Ducati Wins It's 1st U.S. Superbike Race in 4 Years at Road America...

...and winning it for Ducati was none other then Mr. Larry Pegram, who had last

won a U.S. Superbike round back in '99 at Willow Springs Raceway in the sunny

state of California.

Larry, who also won his last--and his first--Superbike race on a Ducati, did so

while riding a Fast By Ferraci-prepped Duc at the time. According to reports today

from the beautiful Road America circuit, Larry mananged to best not only a VERY solid

field of competitors in Aaron Yates, Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson--just to name a few--

but also BESTED the King of U.S./AMA Superbikes, yes, ladies and gentleman, Mr. Mat

Mladin, the 6-Time Superbike Champ. And per those reports, did so in a heads up race that

went to the wire with Larry pulling out the win over Mad Mat by just over .3 seconds!

Now, to win a Superbike race in itself is quite the accomplishment, but to do so in a heads

up assault against one Mat Mladin, well, is pretty darn rare! (For more proof of that you will have to read my previous posts and brush up on your history via some of the other websites

that have more time and can do a much better job of documenting that then I can. But to say

this was a major accomplishment by itself is understating the feat dramatically!)

Congrats to Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance/Leo Vince Exhausts Duc for putting it

on the top of the box again, and for giving Ducati that elusive win they haven't seen on U.S.

soil in quite some time! And bravo to you, as well, Mr. Pegram for being able to best the best

that U.S. soil has seen and probably will never see again in one Mr. Mladin! I'm sure your respect level in the paddock, let alone with fans such as myself, has gone up exponentially.

While we celebrate Mr. Pegram's feat--who by the way has raced a variety of road race AND

dirt track races since the early '90s--you can check out the following links from the wonderful

folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ and http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ who have supplied us with the results links, and also to the great people at http://www.speedtv.com/ for the nice read on

the race itself:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=36851

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Jun/e/n090607g.htm

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-pegram/

The shots you view as you are relishing the great win by Larry and Ducati are of Mr.

Pegram at the sprawling Road America track last year during the June AMA round. These

were taken back in the turn 10 area of RA while practice was being run for the then-FX class.

Larry had run that class during the '07 and '08 campaigns on his own team with Foremost and

Leo Vince as his main sponsors while riding a Ducati 848 against the onslaught of the mainly

600, 4 cylinder, inline-based Japanese bikes. This practice session, as you look closely, was

being run as the track was drying after a fairly heavy rain mid-morning on Saturday of the

event. Hence the grooved tires, as they ran race slicks during the dry events and race rain tires

during the wet events. This was NOT a DOT tire class. This was a MINI-Superbike class, ala the name 'FX'--for Formula Extreme, as it were, as the class was named at one time. Larry ran

against the best of the best and was always in the hunt and if my fading memory recalls ended

up ranked 4th overall in class at the end of the '08 campaign. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Again, a major tip o' the hat to Larry and Ducati. And of course, to Mad Mat, as he does retain

the points lead after winning SuperPole and race 1 of the w/e yesterday. Even though he isn't

worried about points. But that is another post for another time.....

God Bless all and have a great week!

Ben Spies On Top of The World at MMP WSBK While Winning SuperPole #7

For a guy that is supposed to be a 'rookie' in a new series for him, that in
most cases other then this w/e he hasn't even seen the majority of the tracks
he is riding on, Ben Spies is setting the world, let alone the World Superbike Series,
on fire.
Having broken a 17 year old record yesterday in winning 7 SuperPoles in a row, a previous
record held by another Texan and former AMA Superbike Champion as well, Ben stole the
record that was held by Doug Polen when he contested the World Superbike Series in the early
'90s, while winning the championship in '91 and '92 on the Fast by Ferracci Ducati. Yes, for a man that came into a new series this year, on a new team, and on a new and advanced Yamaha R1 motorcycle, Ben is doing his best to show everyone that he is no rookie, and be damned the
hype that you can't win or compete in WSBK on tracks you haven't seen or ridden on previously.
And just to add insult to injury to anyone else who had any doubts, he took this new record yesterday on a track that for once, he had ridden on, let alone seen. And did it while the clouds
were getting ready to open up and shower the track at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
And to have broken a record that had stood for 17 years in the now 22 year old series is in itself
quite an accomplishment. Not bad for a 'rookie.'
Both races today at the beautiful MMP in Utah will be a challenge for all entered, and Ben will still have to come out ahead of rival Nitro Nori Haga in order to get back into the championship hunt after a couple of crashes and DNF's due to lack of fuel load and shifter-related problems--both of which occurred as he was either about to win or in the process of leading races. Nitro Nori did suffer a massive get-off yesterday during practice, so he is likely to be a rightfully-so sore today after pounding the MMP pavement from this big highside as made available by the wonderful folks at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2009/wsbk/miller/haga/

Can you say 'ouch'?

Nonetheless, Nitro may be sore but Ben 'Elbowz' Spies, or The Texas Terror should you have it, will still have his hands full with a field of major stars. Both races will be run today @ 2 P.M. and 5:30 P.M. EDT, and both will be shown tape-delayed on SpeedTV today at 5-7 P.M. EDT as well. And if you are like me, you can follow them both on the net courtesy of the fine folks at the Official World Superbike site here via this link. The live timing is on the right side of the page and pretty easy to spot about 1/3 of the way down:

http://www.worldsbk.com/en/home.html

You can also check out Miller Motorsports Park's website here:

http://www.millermotorsportspark.com/

Finally, the shots above were taken at Road America of Ben leading a various cast of U.S.-based stars from the AMA Superbike Series in June '06 in what was race 2 on Sunday afternoon of the 'old' REAL Superbike Series. On the Team Honda CBR1000RR mounted #17 Miguel Duhamel and #98 Jake Zemke, #22 Tommy Hayden on the ZX-based Team Kawasaki, team mates on the Ducati-factory efforts #100 Neil Hodgson--also a former World Superbike Champion--as well as Ben Bostrom on the #155 and also not only a former multi-time winner on the WSBK scene, but the winner of the '98 AMA Superbike Series, the '08 AMA SuperSport Champion, and this years winner of the AMA Daytona 200. Also to be seen in pic #2 is perennial crowd/fan favorite Aaron 'Yikes' Yates on the Team Yoshimura GSXR-1000, at the time Ben Spies' team mate along with multi-time champ Mat Mladin.

Enjoy the races this weekend, and have a good week. Thanks for coming by to share in the fun
and the speed and the rush that is Stu's Shots R Us! God Bless!

AMA Flat Track at Springfield Starts Today: The Best Show On Dirt On Two Wheels

This afternoon The Illinois State Fairgrounds will host what

is and has been for decades the finest two wheel show on dirt. Starting

with the Springfield TT today at the rodeo/multi-purpose stadium, the 450-class bikes will take on the hand-made TT track, and move tomorrow to the mile fairgrounds track several hundred yards away for the big twins class and The Infamous Springfield Mile Memorial Day W/E Classic.

Riders such as 7-time Grand National Flat Track Champ #1 Chris Carr, #23 Kevin Atherton, winner of over 15 GN races in his over 20 year career, #3 and former GN Champ Joe Kopp, #14 and former Singles Grand National Champ Jake Johnson, and a host of others will thrill the crowds--and some of the other riders--with their prowess not only on the TT course today, but especially with their skill to handle a 320 Lb. flat track motorcycle at close to 140

mph on the straightaways on the mile dirt track.

What has become not only an institution, but a must-see race in any bike racing fans' eyes, the w/e should prove to be very exciting especially if Mother Nature cooperates. And if you can't make it to the races which are located some 195 miles west/southwest of Indianapolis, then you can follow the action via the links below thanks to the wonderful folks at http://www.amaproracing.com/ . The 3rd link will have the live timing as provided by the AMA so you can keep up, and in case you aren't sure where to go, I have provided a link to the Illinois State Fairgrounds as well:

http://www.amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?eid=2009020920

http://www.amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?eid=2009020921

http://wire.ama-cycle.org/

http://www.agr.state.il.us/spacerental/map.html

Thanks to not only AMA Pro Racing, but to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the

super links to all of the w/e action. Guaranteed fun and if you have never seen

a mile flat track motorcycle race, then your time is now. But if you already have

plans as most of us do by now, you can set your calendar for the Labor Day W/E races, as well, to see the short track as well as the mile race.

The shots above you are viewing are a smattering of pics I took at the '04 Labor Day W/E Classic. Riders such as aforementioned 7-time Champ, #1 Chris Carr, #23 Kevin Atherton, #14 Jake Johnson, #3 Joe Kopp, as well as #9, 3-Time Grand National Champion and perenial crowd and fan favorite Jay Springsteen, can be seen ready to go and in action on the mile during the main event.

Also in these shots you will see #89 Kevin Varnes, #18 Terry Poovey, #80 Rich King, #31 and NOW #1 and 3-Time Grand National Champ Kenny Coolbeth, and former and now semi-retired as last I heard #20 Johnny Murphree all doing battle at 140 on the straights and close to 95 mph diving into the turns.

Springfield is always a magical time, I myself went there my first year in '86 when The King, Kenny Roberts, came back to the dirt tracks after a 7 or 8 year abscense while winning 3 World Championships in 500 GP from 78-80 to try and put a Harley in the field for what at the time seem like a dream after all of his years aboard Yamahas. Unfortunately, he didn't make the field but it wasn't for lack of trying as the field was 'littered' with now retired greats Bubba Shobert, Jimmy Filice and even Wayne Rainey. Not too mention the dearly departed Ricky Graham, former 3-Time Grand National Champion. I've only missed 5 or 6 of the Labor Day Classics since that time after returning nearly every year since '91, and always leave shaking my head and thinking for hours---WOW---WHAT A SHOW!!

Believe me, an old pro at following GREAT motorcycle racing for over 3 1/2 decades, it DOESN'T get any better then this and you better forget that you bought a ticket for a seat because you will be on your feet for 3/4 of the time anyway.

Just a nod to Mike Kidd, the former '81 AMA Grand National Flat Track Champion, who when I started following the sport in the summer of '74 was laid up with injuries that he suffered earlier that year while riding for the Triumph Factory Team, and who also won races and helped Team Honda develop the RS750's that came along in the early '80s to defeat the long-running stand of Harley dominance. Mr. Kidd, who I saw win the Terre Haute, IN. Half Mile Race in '76, is now the man on the point for the new DMG-led AMA Pro Racing Flat Track series. With this w/e being the 3rd and 4th events of the '09 calendar, we could also be seeing history made as he tries to help turn around the declining attendance, the slow decline of new riders into the sport, and the

general problems of what tracks are proper tracks to race at. He will have his hands full this year trying to find a course of action and hope for the series, and with the help of the IMDA---the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Assoc., who also run the Peoria TT in August, and by following their lead in putting on a class show, he would be the man to do it. I and many others wish him luck and realize the future of Grand National Flat Track Motorcycle Racing is in his hands!

Go enjoy your weekend, and mark Sun., June 14, 2009 on your caledar as well because at 4 P.M. ET, SpeedTV will be showing tape-delayed coverage of the weekend.

And last but definitely not least, remember to honor and pray for the men and women of our armed forces that gave their lives in battle for this wonderful country so we would still be allowed to do what we have always been able to do as a free country and to be able to attend the many, many different types of events that we do over the years, decades, and eras. God Bless Our U.S. Forces for what they have done and will do to protect us!!

Hell is Beginning to Thaw & All is Well in The World Again...

...unless you are one of the fine folks from the DMG Group. And then
you are bummin' again as Mat Mladin pulled off his 8th of 9 event wins this
afternoon in the AMA American Superbike Series race at Infineon Raceway in
Sonoma, CA. After having suffered defeat yesterday for the first time this season,
Mat stormed back to the win by an unofficial margin of 1.8 seconds over
Yamaha R1-mounted Ben Bostrom, the former '98 AMA Superbike Champ having his
best outing of the season as of yet in the 'new' AMA American Superbike Series.

Thanks to the fine folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ for the link to the top 10 results:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=36593

The shots above were taken of Mat during practice and qualifying during the race w/e
at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL., for the 'old' AMA Superbike Series in April of '07.

Hope everyone had a fine w/e. Now it's back to work to look forward to the 3-day w/e coming
up and celebrating Memorial Day, first and foremost, to honor all of the fine men and women that have served, fought, and died for this wonderful country. And to get pumped up for all of the fine racing to see and view for the upcoming 3-day w/e. Should be fun as one of the series
that kicks into gear next w/e is the AMA Flat Track Championship. returning after a 2 1/2 month break after Daytona, to the beautiful Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Il. Up first
for Saturday night are the 450 class bikes in the TT shoot out at the rodeo stadium, and then
the Infamous Springfield Mile on the fairgrounds dirt track for Sunday afternoon. It's going
to be a fun and fast w/e and nothing is better then seeing the flat track bikes on The Mile.
Stay tuned for the action and have a safe week!

A Hush Just Fell Over The AMA Superbike Paddock....

....and a roar could probably be heard from the folks at DMG as news comes

to us that Josh Hayes, on the Graves Motorsports Team Yamaha R1 has beat

Mat Mladin in race 1 of the AMA American Superbike Series Final at Infineon Raceway

in Sonoma, CA.

Having not heard the details at the time of posting, I can only post the final results as

Mr. Hayes beat Tommy Hayden, Larry Pegram, Aaron Yates as well as Mat Mladin to

win his very first AMA American Superbike race under the existing, as well as former,

series rules and engine criteria. Not taking anything away from Smilin' Josh, as he has worked

extremely hard this year with a new team, a new motorcycle and virtually a new slate in

running the Superbike series for the first time in several years. Congrats to Mr. Hayes in

his very well deserved win and for getting the proverbial monkey off his back in the Superbike

series. Having been a multiple winner of races in the 'old' Supersport series, as well as a 2-Time

FX Series Champ and race winner under the 'old' series formulas, the guy is for sure no slouch,

and to be congratulated for his accomplishments today. Bravo to you sir!

The unofficial results as of this posting can be found here at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/May/090516raceone.htm (thank you to Dean Adams & Co.!)

UPDATE--7:45 P.M. Sat. 5/16/09

Here is the story of the race from race 1 at Infineon thanks to the fine folks at www.SpeedTV.com. Apparently Mat was having some front end problems with his

Team Yoshimura Suzuki that kept him from mounting any type of charge to keep his, and

Suzuki's long-time win streak intact. Again, nothing against Mr. Hayes and his efforts today:

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-superbike-shocker-hayes-scores-first-win/

The shots accompanying the bombshell mentioned in this post are of one Mr. Joshua Hayes at

Road America in June of '06 on the Erion Racing CBR1000RR Super Stock bike. These shots

were taken of Smilin' Josh as he was in various modes of practice and qualifying for the weekend.

Again, congrats to Josh Hayes for a breakthrough win at Infineon. And they can call it whatever

they want it will always be Sears Point......guess you gotta pay the bills....

Straight From The 'Guess Who Won Their 5th & 6th SuperPole' Dept.--Mat Mladin Wins AMA 5th SuperPole and Ben Spies Wins 6th WSBK SuperPole

As we begin to get into the thick of the motorcycle road racing seasons
in the AMA American Superbike Series as well as the World Superbike Series,
two names keep coming to the top in both.
Having fought one another tooth and nail for the previous three years in America
in the AMA Superbike Series, Mat Mladin and Ben Spies are both setting and maintaining
new records in their quests to win a 7th AMA title and 1st WSBK title, respectively.
Yesterday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA., Mad Mat took his series-leading title
venture to another, and not surprising, level in winning the 5th SuperPole session of the year
in the new AMA American SuperBike Series. This morning, Ben 'Elbowz' Spies took his
World Superbike-leading 6th SuperPole win at the South African round of the WSBK Series.

Both riders, besting a field of multi-talented and race-winning riders, managed to pull off
another milestone in each of their series to lead their fields off the line in each of their w/e's
upcoming races.
You can follow Mat's ventures via the link below in the AMA series at Infineon this w/e. This
afternoon's race starts at 3 P.M. west coast time and tomorrow's race at 4 P.M. west coast time:

http://www.amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?eid=2009010925

....and you can get the live timing link here as well:

http://wire.ama-cycle.org/

As for following Mr. Spies venture at Kyalami in South Africa, tomorrow's races are at 6 A.M. and 9:30 A.M. east coast time. The link is below and the live timing is located on the right side
of the Official WSBK website:

http://www.worldsbk.com/en/home.html

The shots we view as we keep up on their exploits were taken at the beautiful Barber
Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL., just outside of Birmingham, at the AMA round in April
of '07. In both we see Elbowz chasing Mad Mat in both shots, as he did in both races that
particular w/e, while defending and ultimately winning his 2nd of 3 AMA Superbike Championships.

Good luck to both Mr. Spies and Mr. Mladin in their quests to show the U.S. and the World as
to really who is top man in each of their indicidual series they are competing in this year.
It just doesn't get any better than on 2 wheels!

Ben Spies Runs Out of Fuel and Wins

Although, just not in the same race outing.

After winning his 5th SuperPole of the season in WSBK competition at Monza,
Mr. Elbowz suited up for the racing end of things at the Italian circuit. After leading
the majority of the race, his Yamaha R-1 ran out of fuel in the last set of turns onto the
final run relagating him to a 15th placing, and 1-point outing for the day in the championship
hunt. Later in the 2nd race of the day, Ben pulled off another win, while his main competition
for the title, Nitro Nori Haga, binned it early in the race to card ZERO points for the race. While
taking home a 2nd place in race 1, Nitro managed to give up a few points to Ben to make the
championship a now 54 point differential going in to next weekend's race at the South African
round of the World SuperBike Series.

You can view all results straight from the official site here:

http://www.worldsbk.com/en/season.html

The shot above is Mr. Spies in SuperStock-class qualifying mode at Barber Motorsports Park
in Alabama during the April '07 round of the good OLD AMA Superbike Series.

Ben Spies Takes 5th SuperPole of the Year at Monza WSBK

While we see Ben Spies bend it into turn 11 at Barber Motorsports Park
during qualifying for the old AMA SuperStock class in April of '07, word comes
from across the pond that young Mr. Spies has claimed his 5th SuperPole of the year
in the World Superbike Series in Monza, Italy.
Being a 'rookie' racing in Europe this year, Elbowz Spies has now amassed 5 Superpole wins, 4 wins, 1 second, and also, unfortunately, 3 crashes. The 3 crashes, with ZERO points each for those three races, mean that Mr. Spies comes into the 5th round of the year 60 points in arears
of one Nori Haga on the Team Xerox Ducati in the fight for the '09 World Superbike Series
Championship. However, with the 2 races for tomorrow, and the other 9 events and 18 races
to go in the season, anything can happen. And Nitro Nori in this young season has made ZERO
mistakes so far, having captured 2nd place to Mr. Spies 4 wins.
You can keep your fingers crossed and watch the tape-delayed races tomorrow on Speed TV, or
even catch the live timing during the races 'live' on your computer. The races roll off at 0600 and 0930 ET in the morning, and will be shown 16-1800 ET on Speed, or the night owl times of
0300-0500 on Wed. 5/13 on the same. You can also follow along with the
updates from the website on the left side column, or click here:

http://www.worldsbk.com/en/home.html

It should be a great round to see.
Go get 'em Ben!!!

Follow Mat Mladin on Blogspot

As Mat waves to the crowd after having won the 2nd of both w/e races
at Barber Motorsports Park back April of '07 in the REAL AMA Superbike
Series, news this week is that he has started his own blog here on Blogspot.
After having announced several weeks back that he is now on Twitter--see post
below--Mat this week announced his intentions to keep us up to date on his new
blog, as well. If you would like to follow Mad Mat this year, check out the link and
hang on for a fast and furious ride as he rips through the ranks of the NOW AMA
American Superbike Series--think Superbike-Lite compared to what we have been
used to here in the good ole U.S. of A. Nonetheless, Mr. Mladin is spanking the competition
on the DE-tuned bikes just as he has done so for the better part of the last 12 or 13 years,
now having amassed a total of 7 wins this year aboard the '08 and now '09 model GSXR-1000
Suzuki. The competition has a long year ahead of it. Read on and right on!

http://matmladin.blogspot.com/

From The 'So, What's New' Dept. Mat Mladin Doubles at Barber

As we also see of the shot above from Mid Ohio in 2008 after winning
both Superbike events of that w/e, Mat Mladin, now on the #7 Team Yoshimura
Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSXR-1000 (my now that is a mouthful!), Mat won
both events this w/e at Barber Motorsports Park just outside of Birmingham, AL.,
in the wonderful town of Leeds.
Being at the top all w/e for when it counted--winning Superpole and both main events,
and for the first time this year now mounted on the new 2009 K9 models, Mat showed
the competition--not to mention the suits at DMG--that you don't make him mad by
changing the rules to try and beat him. Mad Mat simply delivered on the same goods
he has been delivering to us for over 13 years of competition now--by showing everyone
that may or may not have doubted, that Mat is NOT going away. And just making him even
madder by criticizing, putting him on probation, stripping him of real wins by means of petty
rule interpratations---did I spell that right??!!---and by thinking for any iota of a moment
that you are going to keep or kick him down, well, ya all have a new thing coming then. Cuz
Mat Mladin will not break, and he will not be allowed to be beat down by overzealous suits
or rules that were intent in many ways to alter his domination. And if it really came down to
it, don't you think he could do it on a scooter, too?! Come on! Wake up people. Or at least
a few of those suits......
Go get 'em Mat! I only wish we could see this live!