A Wave of the Checkers to Brett at Triumph Flat Track Dot Com

A big thanks and a wave of the checkered flag goes out today to Brett Noble and for
his tireless work over at www.triumphflattrack.com for taking the time to post a few
of my shots from the '75 Peoria TT. You can check out the shots and the post as I sent
it to Brett and he posted it yesterday via the link below. And remember to tell your friends
about Brett's super work at www.triumphflattrack.com so they can check out his great work
as well.
Thanks again Brett and to all, enjoy, and thanks again for dropping by. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday and be careful out there!

http://www.triumphflattrack.com/2009/11/1975-peoria-tt-by-mike-stu-stuhler.html

Hot Diggitty Dog! Folks, We Now Have an AMA Flat Track Schedule for the 2010 Season...

Thanks to a posting from the great folks at http://www.flattrack.com/ we have learned in the last

couple of days that the AMA has released a schedule for the '10 season for the flat track

series. Below is a cut and paste from that schedule as was obtained from that post.

Tracks returning are Peoria, Lima, Indy, Springfield-spring and end of summer events-and

of course kicking off the season at Daytona. This of course comes as great news for fans

and competitors alike, as the flat track series is some of, if not THE BEST racing going bar

none, and showcases some of the most exciting racing, let alone personalities in the sport.

For a sport that has been around in more or less it's current form for over 55 years is a

testament to the level of competition, thrills, and down right adrenaline that will encompass

you when you take it all in. And not too mention what the riders go through.....

While you are planning your calendar for the coming season, and doing some bench racing

to get you through the long winter--especially here in the midwest--you can also check out the

shots I have thrown in for this post tonight to celebrate the upcoming year of competition for

the greatest racing on two wheels--or any, for that matter. And for the record, I'll see you at

Peoria, Springfield, Lima, Indy--that's a no brainer since it's less then 10 miles--and Gas City.

It's gonna be a fun year! Can't wait to go racin' again!

Starting off at the top is a shot of one of Ricky Graham's old RS750 Honda mounts that he ran

for Johnny Goad and USC Racing in the mid '90s. I didn't find out who, but someone had this on

display in the vendor's area of the Inaugaral Springfield Hall of Fame Race back in '98 over the Labor Day weekend. Sweet piece, and I have been a BIG Ricky Graham fan since I saw him win

his first national at Indy back in the summer of '80. RIP RG! You are missed....

I then tossed in a shot of various riders during practice for the June 2006 Lima, Ohio half mile.

This shot says it all for the different and varying lines available at the great pee gravel-based

track. And the folks that run this race do it right. As I have mentioned before, if you can get to

Lima the last w/e in June, you won't be dissapointed. Super racing and great little facility.

Next we have Chris 'Air' Carr flying off the jump at Peoria on his #1 Wood Rotax in August of 2000 during one of his many marathon run-from-the-field romps he put in at the home of the

natural amphi-theater track. Another great place to see some action, and the IMDA is the best

at putting on great events.

We then have a shot of Carr, again, but this time on the #4 Kenny Tolbert-tuned H-D XR750

leading a pack of riders into turn 1 at Springfield during the Labor Day running of this great

race in '01. Keeping in touch are #23 Kevin 'Cupcake' Atherton, #26 Steve Beattie, the great

Jay Springsteen, former 3-Time Grand National Champion on the Bartels #9, and #67 Mike

Hacker. I'm a big fan of mile racing, at it doesn't get any better then Springfield. You can

almost always get a seat, but you won't get to use it much as the 140mph action will keep you

on your toes all afternoon.

Last but not least we have a shot that has been a favorite of mine for quite a few years now.

I took this one at Louisville--back in the good ole days when you didn't have to put up with

the b.s. antics of the too-rowdy crowds. This was in June of '75 during the practice sessions

for that night's half mile national. This is coming off the back stretch and into turn 3 with

Corky Keener #62, Randy Scott #50, and '75 Grand National Champ Gary Scott on the

Bill Werner-tuned XR-750 #64. This shot pretty much says it all for style and grace for

running a half mile, and these guys had it nailed on this one. I just felt lucky to be there to

get it and see it. Stuff like this drew me in on flat track and I have been craving it ever

since. Great stuff!

Thanks again for coming by and checking us out, thanks to Wayne Hosaka and his folks

over at http://www.flattrack.com/ for the post and their tireless efforts to seek and keep the truth

and faith in flat track, and thanks to the Good Lord above for allowing us to be able to take in

this great sport of flat track racing. Take care and please come back and see us again!

2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Schedule

-- Confirmed Events --

1)March 3 DAYTONA® Flat Track (Daytona Beach, Florida) TT

2)March 4 DAYTONA® Flat Track (Daytona Beach, Florida) Short Track

3)May 1 Yavapai Downs (Prescott, Arizona) Mile

4)May 29 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) TT

5)May 30 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Mile

6)June 5 Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, Indiana) Short Track

7)June 19 The Red Mile (Lexington, Kentucky) Mile

8)June 26 Allen County Fairgrounds (Lima, Ohio) Half-Mile

9)July 10 I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, Michigan) Half-Mile

10)July 31 Calistoga Fairgrounds (Calistoga, California) Half-Mile

11)August 7 Hagerstown Speedway (Hagerstown, Maryland) Half-Mile

12)August 14 Beulah Park (Grove City, Ohio) Mile

13)August 22 Peoria Race Park (Peoria, Illinois) TT

14)August 28 Indiana State Fairgrounds (Indianapolis, Indiana) Mile

15)September 4 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Short Track

16)September 5 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Mile

17)September 11 Canterbury Park (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Mile

18)October 9 Yavapai Downs (Prescott, Arizona) Short Track

19)October 10 Yavapai Downs (Prescott, Arizona) Mile

Additional dates are expected to be added.

3-TT's4-Short Track's

4-Half-Mile's

8-Mile's

'09 AMA/DMG Daytona SportBike Champ Danny Eslick Set to Ride Suzuki for 2010....

As was reported over the weekend from the wonderful folks at http://www.cyclenews.com/ and http://www.roadracingworld.com/, Danny Eslick, the 2009 AMA Daytona Sportbike Champ, will
be riding a Suzuki GSXR600 in 2010 for the Richie Morris Racing team that he won the
championship with this year while riding the Buell 1125R. With Buell going the way of the
Edsel--other then strictly full race machines and support--RMR was looking to come up
with a program that would help them to sustain their championship run this year into the
2010 season. With Daytona now less then 3 1/2 months out, the time was now to get
their program in line for the upcoming season. This should make things quite exciting again
for 2010, as the Suzuki GSXR600 actually won more races then the Buell did in the '09
season, it just didn't get the overall job done to nail the championship from Mr. Eslick and
the Geico-sponsored team. Stay tuned for 2010 as it should be another barn burner in the
Daytona Sportbike class.

I added the official links below that you can get the full story as released to the racing press
the other day. While you are doing so you can check out Danny in action back in the '05 season
when he was also riding a GSXR600 in the 'old' 600 Super Sport class. Running the #69
back then as he did up until the '09 season, he was riding a Suzuki that year for MPTracing.com
with additional sponsorship from Teknic and Millenium Technologies.

In the top shot Danny leads #6 Damon Buckmaster on the Graves Motorsports R6 at Mid Ohio during the 600 Super Sport final in 2005. Following in the middle is Danny leading a pack of
riders consisting of #12 Ben Attard, #99 Geoff May, #8 Chris Peris and #152 Robert Jensen
into turn 14 at Road America during the 600 final in '05 as well. And bringing up the rear is Danny running down #59 Blake Young during qualifying for the Mid Ohio round, also in '05.


http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/11/21/eslick-to-suzuki

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38753


Enjoy and thanks again for dropping in!

Daytona SportBike Champ Danny Eslick to Ride a Suzuki in 2010....

A Tip of the Helmet to Florida Steve at 2 Stroke Biker Blog and Motorcycle Picture of the Day....

I want to take the time to thank my good man and fellow motorcycle addict Florida Steve Ducharme for taking the time to post a few of my shots again on his sites http://2strokebiker.blogspot.com/ and http://motorcyclepictureoftheday.blogspot.com/
yesterday.
Steve runs two super-sano sites that offer the ultimate in motorcycle goodies
for those of us that like to check a wide spectrum of stuff out and I guarantee when you
look at his stuff, you WILL want to come back. Steve you are the man, and again my hat
is off to you for your work and efforts in taking the time to show off not only my stuff, but
a boat load of other great shit, as well. Thanks dude! And here are the links that Steve posted
of the rad scooter above:

http://motorcyclepictureoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/11/garry-mccoys-honda-nsr500v-form-mike.html

http://2strokebiker.blogspot.com/2009/11/honda-racing-porn-from-mike-stu-stuhler.html


Just so you have a little background on the bike in the shot here today, Garry McCoy is an
Australian road racer that blasted onto the big 500GP World Championship scene in the mid
to late '90s. If you follow road racing at all, you have probably heard or seen him race. He's
usually the guy doing the massive power slides that include spinning up the rear tire until
smoke is rolling off of it as he powers out of a turn. During the '98 season he was riding
a Honda NSR500V HRC bike that at the time was quite the shit. Honda released two
seperate platforms in the 500 class that year, the standard 4 cylinder as well as this 2 cylinder
bike as shown. Both were obviously 2 stroke-based, as was the entire class at that time, and
both had good and varying results. The several 2 cylinder bikes as I remember were considered
'customer' or satellite team bikes.
Here's a little info on Mr. McCoy as a general overview, a link I found from Rockwall Honda who had the bike for sale, and some results as he posted while running for the Australian-based
Shell Advance team that year. You can also read what I sent Steve on the links above.

http://www.garrymccoy.tv/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_McCoy

http://www.rscycles.com/Bikes/customersbikes/rockwall/nsr500v_1998b.jpg

http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/1998/500cc/AUS/RAC/classification.pdf

http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/1998/500cc/ARG/world+standing.pdf


Enjoy, thanks again for coming by, and another big tip of the hat to Steve!

Chris Ulrich Wins WSMC Formula 1 Race.....

As with some things in life, I'm a little slow on the go on getting this posted this week, but

nonetheless, here we go.

Chris Ulrich, riding the Team RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki GSXR1000, won the Formula 1

race at Willow Springs Motorcycle Club in California over the weekend. The track, located in

the desert of California, has hosted a large bevy of various racing events over the last half

decade or so. Famous for their different types of classes in the motorcycle racing arena, the

track bills itself as 'the fastest road in the west.'

Mr. Ulrich, son of RoadRacingWorld.com founder/owner John Ulrich, has been racing in the

AMA Super Stock and Superbike classes now for at least the last 4-5 years. With top notch

and ultra sano equipment, Chris is and has been involved with racing probably pretty close to

out of the womb since his Dad has been involved with racing almost as long as dirt has been

around.

I've included a couple of links thanks to the great folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ for the

write up on the race, an official team release as well from those folks on Chris and info about

his team and sponsors, and I threw in the official link to WSMC and all of their results as

shown on their site as well as the track lay out. Personally, I've followed this place on/off

from my perch in the midwest via the rags and of course the last dozen or so years via the

internet, and it has always had a great rep for running some bad ass fast races. For bad ass

fast racers like Chris.

The shots thrown in today are of Chris in various forms of practice and qualifying at Road

America, in Elkhart Lake, WI., and at the flowing Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL.

From the top is Chris in action coming out of turn 8 at RA in '06, just before going under what is

now known as the Snap On bridge. Okay--get your head out of the gutter--that would be

Snap On Tools. This was in what I considered the good old AMA Super Stock class.

The other shots are all of Chris in action at Barber in qualifying and practice for the same

class, only these were in '07.

Enjoy and thanks again for coming by!

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38715

http://team.roadracingworld.com/chrisulrich.html

http://my.wsmcracing.com/ti/wsmc/wsmc.html

Starting Today You Can Get Your Tickets for the Indy Round of MotoGP 2010

Mark your calendars and get that wallet out, as IMS today announced that tickets

are now available for the Indy round of the MotoGP circus for the last weekend of

August of 2010. With a new pricing structure being announced, the track is obviously

aware of the drop in attendance this year due to the economy, and is hoping to garner

more numbers with a drop in prices as well as a different ticket structure to appeal

to those of you who don't need the permanent seats for all three days of the event.

You can read the official releases below and take the time to thank the great folks

at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ and http://www.redbullindianapolisgp.com/ for making this

official news available to us. It should be fun!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Nov/091116ims.htm

http://www.redbullindianapolisgp.com/news/15448/2010_Red_Bull_Indianapolis_GP_Tickets_On_Sale__New_Pricing_Structure

It's Official--Neil Hodgson Headed Back Home Across the Pond to BSB Series...

As was reported a little over 5 days ago by various entities, Neil Hodgson, who captured

the 2000 British Superbike Championship as well as the 2003 World Superbike Championship,

and had been riding for the better part of the last 5 seasons in America, will be jumping back

across the pond to contest the British Superbike Championship again for the 2010 season while

riding for ex-racer Rob McElnea's Motorpoint Yamaha team.

Having ridden in the U.S. in '05 and '06 for the Parts Unlimited Ducati team, sitting out the better part of the '07 season without a ride albeit his one-off appearance at Laguna, and then having ridden for Team Honda the last 2 years, Neil was left rideless after Honda pulled out

of the AMA series for the 2010 season. And with other major factories and teams also doing so,

Neil was reported to be over checking the landscape for the 2010 season some weeks ago.

The official releases below are thanks to the great people at http://www.motorcyclenews.com/,

http://www.speedtv.com/, http://www.crash.net/ and the Official site of the British Superbike Series,

http://www.britishsuperbike.com/. The deserve a major thanks for their efforts for making this news available to all of us.

While you are checking out the official news from those sources, the shots above were taken

at Mid Ohio and Road America during the '05, '06 and '08 seasons. From the top at Road America in '08 inside the paddock and a look at Honda's stable of CBR1000RR superbikes

for Neil's use that year. Just below is the set up as maintained for Neil by the Part Unlimited

Ducati at Road America in 2006. This was their last official year in AMA Superbike until they

came back with Larry Pegram to win some races this year in the newly formed American

Superbike series. The third shot is Neil in action during qualifying at Road America going into

turn 14 in '05, followed by Neil just out of turn 10 at Road America during Superbike race 1

in 2008. Lastly is Neil leading his team mate, Eric Bostrom, during Superbike race 2 of the

2005 race weekend at Mid Ohio.

We definitely wish Mr. Hodgson the very best. We got to talk with him a couple of short times

over these years and the man was not only very approachable, but a deep pleasure to talk to.

Very personable, congenial, and that sharp British wit. Not to mention being able to do a hell

of a job on a modern day superbike. Neil, you will be missed, but not forgotten. Get back home

and kick some ass. God Bless ya mate! And thanks for all the memories.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/British-Superbikes/2009/November/nov1109-Neil-Hodgson-signs-for-Motorpoint-Yamaha/

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/British-Superbikes/2009/November/nov1109-Motorpoint-Yamaha-back-from-the-brink/

http://www.crash.net/british+superbikes/news/154592/1/neil_hodgson_back_in_british_superbike.html

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-hodgson-talks-bsb-return

http://www.britishsuperbike.com/news/hodgson-talks-ama,-testing-and-bsb-fans.aspx

The World Is a Sadder Place As The King Announces He Will Not Return in 2010 As Planned....

Earlier this year when plans started falling into place on the world racing scene pertaining

to the end of the 250GP 2-stroke era, and the new 600cc Honda-based Moto2 class to come

for 2010, many well known people started to get involved. One of those names mentioned

and talked about was none other then The King himself, Kenny Roberts.

What was going to be deemed as his return to the world scene after a two year break, King

Kenny expressed a deep interest in firing up the Danbury, England race shop they had all

but closed down after the '07 season, and also maybe to return to the engineering end of things

in the way of designing their own chassis, as well, for the Honda 600-based engines that

will be used in the new series. However, with the economy being what it has been globally-

speaking, of all people involved in the motorcycle racing business, The King was not able

to secure sponsorship to be able to float the effort. At least for 2010. Maybe with things

starting to show the light of day as far as general economics are concerned, the trickle down

effect may actually hit or start to hit more towards the end of next year for a run at the

2011 season. We will see. It is the world's loss, and it also shows how rough things really are

out there when a man like Kenny Roberts isn't able to put together a sponsorship program

to run a motorcycle team on a global effort. And the man DOES know a few things about

how to run a motorcycle team.

While we mourn the fact that we will have to await the return of a Team Roberts bike to

a race track for awhile, we can at least take some solace in checking out The King in years

gone by, and highlighting what the man did best some three and a half decades ago. And

that was making a motorcycle go pretty darn fast on a dirt track. At least in these shots.

This is a mixture of shots taken at Terre Haute, IN., and Syracuse, NY., back in the '74-

'76 AMA Flat Track campaigns. By the time some of these were taken in '75, the

crown was all but out of hand to his long-time rival Gary Scott, and KR was for the first

time in several years wearing and finishing in the #2 spot on the Grand National Championship

trail. The Yamaha parallel XS-650-based motors were getting a little long in the tooth-at least

for the mile tracks-and over a third of the races were on miles, The juggernaut we know as

the Harley XR-750 was settling in mighty fine after years of the big H-D searching for that

'perfect' 750-based platform. Last I checked that plan worked pretty well for them.......

In no particular order, the shots above are of Kenny and Kel Carruthers walking a section of the

track at Syracuse discussing strategy in Sept. of '75. The shot of Kenny doing what I still say to

this day looks like him either doing a broom impression or explaining a pretty far out of control

slide on a 1/2 mile like Terre Haute I shot in August of '74. That was my very first flat track race and I was hooked from there on out. Especially after the race they handed KR his 2nd Grand National Championship and the #1 plate to be worn again by him in '75. Pretty friggin' cool!

The color shot is Kenny and Bud Askland and another of the team members at the time working

on his twin in the pits at Terre Haute in August of '75. Then #72y Skip Askland is sitting in a

chair just behind them and Mike Kidd---yes, THAT '81 Grand National Champ and ex #72

and retired #7 Mike Kidd--in the white Bel Ray shirt with the hat on the left side of the shot.

The shot I called 'Caught Ya' is Kenny in practice at Terre Haute in '75, and last but not

least the Terre Haute race in August '76, and The King leading another Yamaha parallel

ridden by Hank Scott. The Shell Thuett Racing Yamaha #14 was prepped and owned by

Kenny's former tuner from '74, Mr. Shell Thuett When Yamaha down sized at the end of '74 Kenny took over running the team and his mechanics, and Yamaha cut Shell loose. The guy

could build some motors and Hank and Shell went on to win several races together over the

next few years. Just not this day. Kenny took the checkers ahead of then #25 Jay Springsteen

in what would be Jay's run of '76-'78 championship winning years and Hank that day.

Enjoy the shots and the little trip down memory lane and thanks to the fine folks at

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/ and http://www.crash.net/ for the official links to the breaking news.

And besides, they had it posted on time.....I'm a little slow on the go in getting this out.

But deal with it.......Later! And thanks for stopping in. Ya All Come Back Now, Ya Hear!?

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/MotoGP/2009/November/nov0909-roberts-abandons-moto2-plan/?R=EPI-119910

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/154478/1/updated_moto2_entry_list_-_pramac_roberts_gone.html

Team Scot Forced to Withdraw from MotoGP Due to Lack of Sponsorship for '10....

Due to financial reasons--like we all haven't heard that line a LOT lately--Team Scot will

be forced to withdraw from the MotoGP class for next season. According to the link below

from the fine folks at www.crash.net, they had been very close to signing Alex de Angelis-

as announced in a previous post here-but due to sponsorships and the like NOT coming

together, they will now concentrate their efforts on the new Moto2 class that is

replacing the mid-size ring ding, 250GP class.

While Team Scot waves goodbye along with their lovely umbrella lady at the Indy round

of the MotoGP Championship this year, you can read the official release here. And thanks

again to the great folks at www.crash.net (VERY cool site, people.....) for their work and

efforts for making this news available to us! And thanks for coming by and checking us

out here at Stu's Shots R Us! We dig company!

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/154567/1/scot_out_of_motogp_de_angelis_deal_sunk.html

HOT DOG!! Ladies and Gentlemen We Have a 2010 AMA Road Racing Schedule!!

After over a month of being in limbo, the folks at AMA/DMG Racing today finally

announced the 2010 AMA Road Racing schedule, AND.....drum rolls, please.......

a TV contract as well, and again, with Speed TV! Although somewhat slimmed down

in that only nine venues are listed, all but the season opening race at Daytona in

March will be double header weekends. The big questions now are will the people show

up again after all of the atrocities that were created through out the 2009 season,

and what teams and factory support will be left after all of this year's fall out, not to

mention the global economic crisis reverberating through out the land...and sea.

Time will tell....

You can read the official releases via the links below. We have to take the time to thank

John Ulrich and his folks at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ as well as the folks at

http://www.speedtv.com/ for their work and efforts in making these available for us!

While you are checking out the schedules, the pics you are checking out were taken

at both Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI., as well as Mid Ohio in Lexington, OH.

Both venues are on the schedule for next year as well, so that is a big plus for us

folks who have been going to those tracks for years....and decades!

The top shot has Ben Spies leading his team mate Mat Mladin on their Team Yoshimura

Suzuki GSXR1000s into turn 3 on the second lap of race 2 final at Road America in '08.

Trying to keep in touch are Jamie Hacking on the Team Monster Kawasaki ZX10 #2, Neil

Hodgson on the #100 Team Honda CBR1000RR, Eric Bostrom on the #32 Team Yamaha

R1, Aaron Yates on the Team Jordan Suzuki GSXR1000 #20 and Miguel Duhamel #17

on the other Team Honda ride.

The middle shot takes us back to Road America in 2006 looking into turn 7 on the first lap

of race 1 of the Superbike class. Miguel Duhamel leads the field on the #17 Honda, followed by

Ben Spies on the Team Yosh Suzuki #11, Jake Zemke #98 on another Team Honda CBR1000RR, Ben Bostrom #155 and Neil Hodgson #100 on the Ducati team bikes, and Mat

Mladin getting ready to go on a tear on the #1 Team Yosh Suzuki while the rest of the field

tries to keep eye contact on the front.

And last but not least on to the 2008 Mid Ohio round, as we see Mat Mladin showing some

air under the front as he crosses the start/finish line on lap 3 of the second Superbike race

of the w/e. Tucked in behind is his team mate Ben Spies, with Jamie Hacking on the

Kawasaki just bending it onto the straight, Neil Hodgson and Miguel Duhamel on the Hondas

just coming to the final turn followed by Aaron Yates on the Team Jordan bike.

Enjoy the shots, and let's all hope for a great 2010 AMA racing season. We could use it....

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=38629

 

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ama-sbk-2010-schedule-released-to-be-aired-on-speed/

Ben Spies to Run Sterilgarda Colors in Spain This W/E....

While we're checking out some shots of Ben Spies '08 Superbike at Road America, and of him running away with race 1 at Elkhart Lake in June 0f 2008 during the AMA Road Racing w/e, word comes from the net today that he will be running the same color scheme on his Yamaha M1 at Valencia, Spain during the final round of the MotoGP season, as what he had run and won the the championship with during the WSBK season.

Having the opportunity to run as a 'wild card' entry this w/e, this will give Ben a leg up on testing the M1 and being able to get started on a baseline for what is and will be his 'rookie' season in MotoGP for the 2010 season. With testing at a premium now with all of the economic cut backs, this will undoubtedly be a big plus for Ben and his crew to get a jump start on next season.
Thanks to the fine folks at http://www.cyclenews.com/, http://www.roadracingworld.com/ ,
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ and http://www.roadracerx.com/ for the posts and the super sweet pics of what Ben's ride will look like in Valencia this coming w/e.

Check it out and remember to watch for Ben and cheer him on! Go get 'em Ben and good luck!!

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/11/04/spies-news-ride
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=38610
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Nov/091104-11.htm

http://www.roadracerx.com/news/spies-valencia-livery/

Ben Spies to Join Tech III Yamaha for Season Ending Round at Valencia...

With one round to go, not to mention one major motorcycle race left in the world

before the long and cold winter break, one of the big things to look forward to with

this weekend's race event in Spain is that recently crowned '09 WSBK Champion Ben

Spies will be joining the Tech III Yamaha M1 team on one of the team's Monster

Energy Drink bikes.

This will be the team that Elbowz Spies will ride for next year in the MotoGP ranks,

and will essentially be taking over as team mate to Colin Edwards next year and moving

current team mate James Toseland off of the #52 bike and back over to World Superbike.

Ironically, he will be riding the bike Ben just clinched the championship on, and actually

tested in Portugal with it last week.

One Mr. Spies will be riding this w/e as a tune-up to the 2010 season, and with all of the

current restrictions in place as to testing, this will be great for Ben to get some serious

track time. Having ridden for the Team Rizla Suzuki squad last year in three events, one

of those being the Indy round where he got a very respectable 6th place finish in the winds

of the remains of Hurricane Ike. With this added track time, it will be essential to gain as

much info as possible to carry over into the 2010 season when testing officially starts back

up towards the beginning of spring.

The races will be televised via tape delay on Speed TV this w/e, with the 250GP race, the

very last race of the quarter liter ring dings before they go the way of the Edsel, to be televised

at 1700 EST with the MotoGP round following at 1800 EST. Again this is on Sunday 11/8.

You can follow all the action via the feeds from the left side column. MotoGP.com will have their

live timing up during all on-track sessions, and all the other sites will be just right behind with

any and all updates. It should be a great weekend for all!

The shots above are of #5 Colin Edwards and #52 James Toseland's Tech III Yamaha M1's

on display outside their respective garages at Indy back at the end of August. Enjoy and thanks

again for coming on down!

Slow News Sunday So We Profile Fast Man John Kocinski....

One of the interesting things about motorcycle racers is that during their 'off time'

they have a tendency to gravitate towards the same type of adrenaline pumping, fast

paced type of extra-curricular activity. Case in point today is Mr. John Kocinski, the

'87-89 AMA 250GP Champion, '90 250GP World Champion, and among other things

the '97 World Superbike Champion.

John hadn't, per any internet or news-related items, done any type of motorcycle racing

since late 2000 or early 2001 for the most part. Nothing that I had heard about mind you.

So at least suffice to say that it has been a little while. Last weekend, he showed up with a

self-built Wood Rotax motor packed into an IMMACULATE rolling chassis--NO idea what the

frame is but check it out--SWEET--and won his heat race to qualify for the main in one

of the classes to come home in 11th overall. Which was apparently met with some VERY

talented racers. So it wasn't like he was cherry picking. The man digs flat track, still after

all these years on the raw edge of a 200mph, 350 lb. +/- rocket that produces close to or

a tad over 200hp, well, you get my drift, and shows up at a flat track national just to have

some fun and get a chance to race what he likes and develop a design that he has nutured in

the process. And does pretty damn well if you ask me.....and even if you don't......

We all have to take the time here to thank several sites and the work of their people for

compiling the info and pics from the event last weekend in Pomona, CA. The pictures on

all of the sites were MOST excellent of Johnny K's equipment and the info provided is

class A plus! So that being said while you are reading the following links take time to thank

http://www.cyclenews.com/, http://www.superbikeplanet.com/, http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/, and

last but certainly not least http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/ for their help and efforts.

They are VERY appreciated, especially those of us that weren't there to marvel in such a

great competitor, guy, racer and spirited enthusiast in John Kocinski. Cool stuff.

And thanks to John Kocinski for being a great racer over the years and putting something

like this together. I commend you and salute you and your efforts and wisdom! Friggin

sweet!

And while you are checking out the info provided by the aforementioned great folks above,

you can also check out the stuff I put up of some shots of some great racing action involving

the ALSO aforementioned Mr. John Kocinski during the 2000 AMA Road Racing season.

We were able to hit Road America in June that year and Mid Ohio about 6 weeks later towards

the end of July and I was able to put together a few shots of Johnny K. Being as how he has

been one of my personal fav racers over the years, and finally getting to see him race that

year back in America again, and not to mention being on a Vance and Hines Ducati to boot,

while, I was livin' life and took a few extra of him that w/e which you are checking out.

In no particular order, the shot of John looking over his shoulder was taken as they come

out of the carosel at RA during practice, and the shot of him bringing up the rear at the end

of the first lap in Superbike Race 2 on Sunday is as well from RA. Leading in that shot

on the #69 Team Honda RC-51 is Nicky Hayden, with the #1 Suzuki GSXR-750 Team

Yoshimura's Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates his team mate on the #20.

The other shots were later that summer at Mid O of John in various sessions of

practice and qualifying that w/e, and the other shot of John leading Steve Rapp

on another Vance and Hines Ducati during the action of Superbike Race 2 that

w/e.

Enjoy and we still have the season ending MotoGP race next w/e to get us

through the winter break. Thanks again for coming by and have a great week!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091030blankstare.htm

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2009/10/28/kocinski-rides-again

http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2009/10/john-kocinskis-wood-rotax.html

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html#2653547087756888966

UPDATED Tues. 11/3/09 1805 EST:

This just posted today from Dean Adams over at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/

are some bitchin' shots of John K's Rotax flat tracker. Check it out and thanks

as always and again to Dean and company for their tireless efforts!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/archive/jkrotax09/