AMA Flat Track: More On Bryan Smith's Werner/Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki Indy & Springfield Mile Winner

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Bryan Smith's #42 Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasakis sit in the pit area at the Springfield Mile during a break between practice and qualifying on Sunday, September 5th. Smith had just won the Lucas Oil Indy Mile in round 12 on the Indiana State Fairgrounds mile oval some eight days earlier, and within a few hours would win the Labor Day Weekend running of the Springfield Mile, round 14 of the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series.
With the rain-out in Knoxville, and Smith's 6th place finish at Minnesota, coupled with Johnny Lewis' 8th place on the Scott Powersports' Kawasaki, Kawasaki has clinched the manufacturers title in AMA Pro Flat Track for the 2010 season. Henry Wiles' wins on the Monster Energy Kawasaki 450 in the Singles class helped some too! It's the first time since the '90s anyone but Harley has been able to accomplish that. Which in AMA Flat Track is saying a lot!
It's still hard to fathom Bill Werner (or Jay Springsteen, for that matter) NOT being affiliated with Harley-Davidson after all these years-and decades. But as with all of his projects and work in AMA Flat Track, he has developed an extremely high quality package that is also extremely lethal on the mile tracks. Add to that the lesser costs involved to set up a contending machine in the series, and Bill Werner has given back to the sport, again, in spades. As I have been saying all year with the bike and team in general, once they get things figured out on the half-mile tracks, the competition better look out. And I have a feeling, like with all things involving Bill Werner, that that won't be too long to happen. At least by then, the competition won't be looking over their proverbial shoulders any more. They'll be watching the #42 walking away from them. The 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track season can't get here fast enough, and we still have the Budweiser Mile in Arizona on October 9th to finish this season out.
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The 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track season has been one of change and one of diversity, with the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki, ridden by National #42 Bryan Smith being right at the top in both categories. With a Bill Werner-inspired and built machine that has also had help in the development department by 3-Time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, Bryan Smith has topped the podium at two of the series premier events this year with a series-new lethal mile winning machine.

After coming together in the '09 off-season, the Werner Springsteen Kawasaki camp showed some pretty bright shines of light in the early part of the 2010 season, only to fall just short--or out--of the picture due to teething problems incurred with putting a new machine on the track.
And in a series that for the most part, hadn't seen too much in the way of 'new' since the Big H dropped out in the late '80s and went away entirely in the mid-late '90s. Throw into the mix that Joe Kopp took the #3 Latus/Lloyd Bros. Ducati to the win at Arizona in May, and suddenly you are seeing some pretty big changes in AMA Flat Track. Fast forward to Indy at the end of August and Smith puts the Lean Green Mean Machine on the TOP of the podium at one of THE premier stops on the series calendar, and then turns around and does it again eight days later at Springfield, long one of the series (and H-D's) premier stomping grounds. These wins, along with Henry Wiles' wins in the Singles class this year also helped bring Kawasaki the manufacturers championship for the 2010 AMA Flat Track season. Something that no one other than H-D has done since the '90s.

With one round left to go in the season, Prescott Valley's hosting of the Budweiser Mile on October 9th will be the last chance this year for Bryan Smith and the Werner Springsteen
Monster Energy Kawasaki team to put it on top for the season. And then next year can't get here quick enough for this AMA Flat Track fan!

Below is the continuation of links from stories about the WSMEK team and the things they have gone through this year in terms of getting this great set up race- and race-win ready. Check them out along with some videos I have thrown in from Springfield that are worth the watch to get you ready for the Budweiser Mile in ten days. Or maybe to bookmark to hold you over until 2011 rolls around! And take a look inside the Indy and Springfield Mile winner.
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Mark Gardiner writes the great 'Backmarker' column for RoadRacerX.com each week (it usually comes out on Thursdays) and he has his part two from last week on the Bryan Smith #42 Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki that has taken the AMA Flat Track Series by storm this year. Here he talks with Bill Werner about getting the power to the ground on the Ninja 650-based twin. I've included all of the other links below as well from the first part of this perspective on the new winner in the AMA Flat Track Series and as well as his interview with rider Bryan Smith:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/backmarker/backmarker-kawasakis-bill-werner-%e2%80%93-part-2-chassis-tires-and-um-dirt/


Here's Mark's interview with the rider of the #42 machine, Bryan Smith:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/backmarker/backmarker-kawasakis-miles-bryan-smiths-smiles/

And here is part one of Mark's interview with Bill Werner:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/backmarker/backmarker-kawasakis-bill-winner-er-make-that-%E2%80%9Cwerner%E2%80%9D-part-1/
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And here is Stu's Shots first story with links from a couple of weeks ago on the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki:

http://stusshots.blogspot.com/2010/09/ama-flat-track-inside-wernerspringsteen.html
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Tylor over at Fight For Dirt Track.com(http://www.fightfordt.com/runscript.cfm)
put up this great video of the Springfield Mile from over the Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately there is no sound on this (for some reason YouTube removed it for some sort of copyright problems with the soundtrack) but it is a great one to check out nonetheless with the action happening at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval.

FYI--Stu's Shots made the video at the 21 and 39 second markers into the video. I'm in the neon AMA vest walking along the lower and right side of the shot when the camera pans from the AMA tent to over at the Lloyd Brothers set up in the pit area. My 15 minutes are up, by the way......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW_XzT3p8UM&feature=player_embedded
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And an AMA Flat Track fan that goes by the name of 'teachertwig' on YouTube put this short video up of the first two laps of the main at the Springfield Mile. It's short, but it's worth the look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvh9M6ZTaJ8&feature=related
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And last, but definitely not least, Will and Yve take the shots, videos and run the great site over at TheFastandDirty.com and put this video together for their site and for Monster Energy of the Springfield Mile. Great stuff here now:

http://thefastanddirty.com/flat-track-racing/videos/monster-energy-flat-track-video-%e2%80%93-springfield-mile/
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Twin Ring Motegi MotoGP Round This Weekend 1st of 3 In a Row

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The LCR Honda umbrella girl shows off the team's RC212V just outside the MotoGP garages at IMS in August of 2010. Team rider Randy DePuniet broke his left leg back in July at the German Sachsenring round and amazingly was back in action at the Czech Republic round in less than a month. He now sits 8th in the overall MotoGP 2010 World Championship Standings. DePuniet was also one of the more vocal riders in the series that criticized the track during the Red Bull MotoGP Indianapolis round not only because of the different sealers used in the various pavements hemmed together at IMS but also due to the bumpy nature of the course in many areas. And the fact that the track has so many left turns didn't help Randy D much, either.
The team has been with Honda for several years now and has a good record of posting decent results in the premier road racing series in the world thanks to direct involvement and help from HRC in Japan. And they have always sported some of the cleanest looking equipment on the grid as well. Not to mention the grid girls........
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The Twin Ring Motegi stop of the MotoGP World Championship in 2010 is finally going to run this weekend after having to be re-scheduled due to the Icelandic volcano some five months ago. With the series winding down, the next three rounds will be back-to-backs and will be the first of five final events on the 2010 calendar. And now would be the time for Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa to stay on his current run of winning and finishing on the podium if he has any hopes of catching points leader Jorge Lorenzo on the Fiat Yamaha. Of course, with a 56 point lead over Dani in the standings to go along with his 7 wins and 12 podiums in 13 races, the chances of un-seating Jorge with only five rounds to go in the season are pretty slim. Of course anything can happen in racing, but don't look for it and I don't see it happening at this point with as dominant as Jorge has been this year. He's only been off the podium once this season.

The best of the rest to watch this coming weekend would be the improved results both Marlboro Ducati teamsters Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden have had in the last round at Aragon. Stoner winning Aragon for his first win of the season, and The Kentucky Kid getting the big Duc on the podium for the first time since Indy in 2009 should help to ring in more consistency for the pair in the final five of '10. Team Monster Energy's Ben Spies will be looking to improve even more on his spectacular rookie season in the class, and Colin Edwards will be looking to steer the beast that has been the 2010 season around before the end of the year. Pedrosa's team mate Andrea Dovizioso is hoping to keep his place on the mantle in the Repsol Honda garage as well as his 5th place in the overall standings. With Stoner jumping over to the HRC team in 2011, Dovi has been the odd-man out as of late, even though he has had some solid results. No official word has been uttered as to whether he remains with HRC directly for 2011 or goes to one of the direct satellite teams. At one point the top Honda guru's were to have said they would run a three-rider team if necessary. We'll see about that one, too.

Team Rizla Suzuki will be back in full form-for what that is worth-in Japan this weekend with Loris Capirossi and team mate Alvaro Bautista (after having missed the Aragon round due to an injured finger). But talk is all over the net about the problems Suzuki has from within and how or if they will be able to continue fielding machines on the grid in the upcoming season. And their problems aren't just in MotoGP but also in WSBK as well. Seems like the only place they can turn a wheel right as of late is in AMA Superbike.

The San Carlo Gresini Honda team of the two Marco's-Melandri and rookie-of-the-year
contender and Boris Said-look alike Simoncelli-will be looking to finish out the year strong. Both are tied in the standings going into Motegi in the 10th spot. And obviously you can't talk MotoGP without mentioning 7-Time MotoGP Champion Vale Rossi. The Doctor has had a VERY rough year--maybe not as bad as '07--but nonetheless after damaging his shoulder in a motocross training ride early in the season, and then breaking his leg in qualifying in the fourth round at home in Mugello and being out for 40 days has made for talk he may run these three races and then miss the last 1 or 2 rounds to have his shoulder surgery done. And with his move alongside former team mate Nicky Hayden on the Marlboro Ducati sqaud for 2011, he may well sit out the last couple of rounds.
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You can follow the weekend's events here on the official site of MotoGP:

http://www.motogp.com/

And here is the FIM press release, thanks to UltimateMotorcycling.com, on the Twin Ring round at Motegi, Japan:

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2010/motegi-motogp-starts-back-to-back-finale

Here's the official point standings after 13 of 18 rounds in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship:

http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/ARA/MotoGP/RAC/worldstanding.pdf?v1_2882a031
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You can catch SpeedTV's live airing of the Twin Ring Motegi MotoGP round on Sunday 10/3 at 0200 EDT or you can do like I'm going to do and watch the tape-delayed version at 1400 EDT followed by the Moto2 tape-delayed race at 1500 EDT on Sunday. The 125 class gets bumped to a Tuesday 10/5 viewing time of 1200 EDT.
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Eric Bostrom Survives Near-Death Scare at AMA Superbike Barber Round

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Eric Bostrom on the #32 Kawasaki Motors Corp. ZX-7R bends it into turn six at Mid Ohio during qualifying for the Mid Ohio AMA Superbike Doubleheader in July of 2000. EBoz went from riding for Team Honda in '99 to Team Kawasaki in 2000 and beyond. He then signed with the Ducati Austin team for the '04-'06 AMA Superbike Series seasons, and then went to ride for Graves Yamaha in '07-'08 before sitting out the 2009 and early 2010 seasons.
He came back this year to ride some select events on the Cycle World/Attack/Yoshimura Suzuki team for a full-on assault that is expected for the 2011 AMA Superbike Championship. His weekend came to a premature grinding halt-literally-on Saturday afternoon when a crash caused what was suspected to be a broken/jagged footpeg to go through his leathers and cause a near bleed-out on his upper left leg, one that took over 100 stitches to close up. We wish Eric a VERY speedy recovery so he can get back to the mountain and road bike training he is known for and look forward to seeing him on the grid for the full 2011 season.
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Eric Bostrom was involved in a last lap crash on Saturday afternoon during race one of the AMA Superbike Series at Barber Motorsports Park, and thankfully he got to the hospital on time to save him from bleeding out. Apparently during the crash, which occurred on the last lap of the race one final, the footpeg was torn or partially ripped off of his Team Cycle World/Attack Performance/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, and somehow the bike came into contact with his upper-left thigh and pretty much 'fileted him open' according to his brother, '98 AMA Superbike Champion Ben Bostrom. The real scary thing was that the doctors at the hospital, after performing a near-three hour surgery to close him up, said if it had taken five minutes longer he would have bled out.

We're super glad to hear Eric is on the road to recovery, and with the Barber round being the season finale on the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship Series schedule, he will have plenty of time to heal up and get back into racing action before the grid lines up for Daytona in March of 2011.

Stu's Shots wishes EBoz a quick recovery and is glad to hear things ended up working out for the best in the long run.

But it sure sounds like the rescue crew at Barber could stand to take some lessons from the IndyCar rescue squad in terms of getting to the crash victim in a timely manner. You can read it all below from those on the scene at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL.
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Ben Bostrom, Eric's older brother and the '98 AMA Superbike Champion and '08 AMA Supersport Champion, talked with Henny Ray Abrams at Cycle News.com about the last lap crash that also involved Brett McCormick on the #23 Jordan Suzuki. You can read his spin here:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/09/26/eric-bostrom-has-near-death-experience
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And Eric's Cycle World Suzuki team had this to say on their blog about what happened to Eric while he was fighting for 5th place in race one of the AMA Superbike Series on Saturday afternoon when he crashed on the last lap:

http://blog.cycleworld.com/?p=1549
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Josh Hayes: 2010 AMA Superbike Champion

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On a drying track at Road America in June of 2008, Josh Hayes comes into the turn 11 area
during the first practice session for the weekend's AMA Formula Xtreme Series during the AMA Superbike Suzuki Doubleheader in Elkhart Lake, WI. Riding for Erion Racing on the CBR600RR, Hayes won two AMA Formula Xtreme Road Racing titles in '06-'07 to go along with his AMA Superstock title from 2003.
After signing with Graves Yamaha for the '09 season to ride the team's new YZF-R1, it didn't take long for him to catch on to the new crossplane motor as he won nine races en route to finishing second in the 2009 AMA Superbike Championship behind 7-Time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin. Josh got off to a slow start in 2010, but by season's end had won seven races, garnered 14 podiums in 19 races, and yesterday was crowned the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship with a safe ride home in 7th place.
It's good to see one of the nice guys get it after trying so hard for so long in the premier class. Bravo Josh!
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In what was truly fitting yesterday, long-time competitor and one of the nice guys in the AMA Road Racing paddock, Josh Hayes won the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship riding for the Graves Yamaha Motorsports team. In his second year with the team, Hayes added to his win list in the premier class, garnering 7 wins to go with the 9 races he won in '09, and this year managed to stand on the podium 14 times in 19 races. He ended his championship season with 466 points to edge out another long-time competitor in the series, Tommy Hayden on the #22 Yoshimura Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, who finished the season with 452 points and five premier class wins. Jordan Motorsports/National Guard's Jake Zemke ended up 3rd in the championship with 332 points on the #54 Jordan Suzuki after winning both of the Daytona opening rounds, but failing to duplicate those great results throughout the rest of the season.

Hayes is also set to return to Graves Yamaha at least through the 2012 season after announcing last week he had re-upped with the team. Hayes brings the AMA Superbike Championship to Yamaha in only it's second premier class title since the series inception in the mid '70s, and it's first since '91 when Thomas Stevens took it all for Vance and Hines Yamaha. It will be great to see another competitor, let alone another one of the nice guys, come back for the following year's racing and being able to wear and represent the #1 plate, especially after such a stellar year.

To think there were only five races he didn't finish in the top three this season is a phenomenal achievement for any racer in any racing series. And with the AMA Superbike Championship's newer class structure and rules in place, the racing has really tightened up in the class as a whole. With no more fire breathing dragons to rack up mega dollars in development and maintenance costs, the series has been very competitive as a result. Six different riders won races this year, and on three different makes (Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati). And word has had it since the first of the year that the teams and riders are happy with the newer direction that AMA Pro Road Racing has taken in the 2010 season after moving iron-fisted and jawed Roger E. out the door to make way for more reasonable efforts to run a professional racing series. And that's a great thing.

Congrats go out to Josh Hayes for winning the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship and for such a fine year. It's great to see a guy like Josh get this thing after trying so hard for so long to get into the premier class and finally obtaining his dreams. Bravo Dude!

Check out all the results and official write-up of the weekend below.
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Henny Ray Abrams has the story of the weekend's AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park from over the weekend over at Cycle News.com:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/09/26/young-s-race-hayes-title
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Here are the results of race one for the AMA Superbike Series at Barber on Saturday from AMA Road Racing:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2010&eid=2010011050&discipline=RR&class=SB&type=F&rnum=1&class_sort=all

And here are the results from race two, where Josh Hayes clinched the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship with a fine run home into 7th place:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2010&eid=2010011050&discipline=RR&class=SB&type=F&rnum=2&class_sort=all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the link to the complete results for the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park thanks to AMA Pro Road Racing again:

http://results.amaproracing.com/pdfresults/rr/2010/10-barber/default.aspx
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Martin Cardenas Doubles At Barber Motorsports Park and Wins 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship

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Martin Cardenas on the #36 M4/EMGO/Pirelli/Ohlins-backed Suzuki GSX-R600 is shown during a very damp practice session for the AMA Formula Xtreme Series at Road America in June of 2008. This was the Colombian's first full year working with the M4 Suzuki team and he finished the season ranked 7th in the championship standings. 2009 was the first year for the new AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Series, and Cardenas won more races than eventual champ Danny Eslick, but unfortunately also had more DNF's and crashes.
The 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship started off at Daytona, and for the second year in a row, under the Friday Night Lights. Unfortunately, Martin binned it on the first lap of the 200 mile race and started the season with a goose egg in the point standings on the #36 Monster Energy M4 Suzuki. He went on to do a great job this year in winning nine of 18 races to win the 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship by 8 points over title rival and 2009 AMA Daytona SportBike Champion Danny Eslick. And it was also announced this last week he will be back for more with the M4 team for 2011 and 2012.
Great job Martin and congratulations!
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Martin Cardenas fought it out until the end, not only winning both races in the season finale round of the AMA Daytona SportBike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park, but clinching the 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Championship in the process. Cardenas won his 8th and 9th races this weekend in the 18 race season, and took his #36 M4 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R600 to his first United States-based road racing championship in the process. The Columbian won the 2010 championship over '09 AMA DSB Champ Danny Eslick by 8 points, 405-397. Josh Herrin on the Graves Yamaha ended up third in the championship hunt with 377 points.
It was another exciting year of close racing between Cardenas, Eslick and Herrin, who among them won 17 of the 18 races. Bobby Fong on a Ducati won race one at VIR back in August. The class has seen some great racing since it's inception last year, with multi-brand racing and close finishes in virtually all rounds except for the season opener at Daytona, which for the most part is more of an endurance race compared to the other 17 races on the schedule.

You can check out the full results as well as the official write-up's on the races below.

And please join me in congratulating 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Champion Martin Cardenas and the M4 Monster Energy Suzuki team for a damn fine year, and a damn fine year of racing at that! Great job guys!
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Motorcycle-USA.com's Matt Davidson has the story of race two this afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park in the AMA Daytona SportBike Championship:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/748/8034/Motorcycle-Article/2010-Daytona-SportBike-Barber-Race-2.aspx
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Cycle News.com's Henny Ray Abrams has the story on race one at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL. for the season finale of the AMA Daytona
SportBike Championship fight for 2010. Cardenas came into the final round third in the championship with seven wins in 16 races. Saturday's win helped him to grab the lead in the standings with only Sunday's race until the season end, and also gave him eight wins overall. Read about Saturday's day one action here:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/09/25/cardenas-wins-title-fight-tightens
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Here are the results of race one in the AMA Daytona SportBike class at Barber from yesterday afternoon thanks to AMA Pro Road Racing:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2010&eid=2010011050&discipline=RR&class=DS&type=F&rnum=1&class_sort=all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here are the results of race two in the AMA Daytona SportBike class from this afternoon at Barber from the folks at SuperBikePlanet.com:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Sep/sp2/100926a.htm
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Here are the overall results for the AMA Superbike/AMA Daytona SportBike Championship weekend at Barber Motorsports Park from AMA Pro Road Racing:

http://results.amaproracing.com/pdfresults/rr/2010/10-barber/default.aspx
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Happy Birthday to Mert Lawwill: '69 AMA Grand National Champion and AMA Hall of Famer

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Mert Lawwill gets a leg down in practice in between turns 1 and 2 at the Terre Haute Half Mile round of the AMA Grand National Championship Series in August of 1975. Mert captured the '69 AMA Grand National Championship as well as competing in over 160 events as a pro on the AMA Flat Track scene from the early '60s until his retirement in 1977. He also won 17 AMA Grand National Championship Series races throughout his career and went on to be inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1998 as well as being inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1997 for his ground-breaking work in the mountain bike industry. Mert still works in the frame and suspension areas with bicycles and motorcycles and also works with amputees in helping to develop prosthetic limbs. His son Joe is a well-known competitor in downhill mountain bike competition.
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Mert strolls the pits at Terre Haute in '75 while then-National #77 Eddie Wirth walks back to his pits behind him. Sitting in his pits on the right side of the shot is Ken Springsteen #76X with his Vista Sheen-sponsored XR750's sitting just over Mert's right shoulder. Ken and Jay ('76-'78 AMA Grand National Champion) were team mates on the Vista Sheen team during their rookie seasons in the AMA Grand National Championship Flat Track Series and had been sponsored by them for a couple of years coming through the amateur and novice ranks in the AMA's ladder system of AMA Flat Track Racing.
Some of Mert's ventures outside of the flat track motorcycle racing scene involved working with and developing prosthetics for amputees as well as his legendary work in the mountain bike industry. He also teamed with Kenny Roberts in the late '70s/early '80s on the Roberts/Lawwill Racing Team, which included riders Jimmy Filice and former 2-Time Grand National Champion Dick Mann as one of the team's advisors. The bike was based on the Yamaha Virago V-Twin engine that was very popular on the street some 30-odd years ago. It was also one of Yamaha's strongest selling and most popular platforms for street use as well. It never really quite came around in the flat track scene, unfortunately.
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Heat race action at Terre Haute in '75 with a talent pool that was to say the least, pretty deep. Leading on the #3 C&J Frames-backed Yamaha parallel twin is 1970 AMA Grand National Champion Gene Romero, followed by '69 AMA GNC Mert Lawwill on the #7 factory H-D XR, '73-'74 AMA Grand National Champion Kenny Roberts on the #1 Yamaha factory XS650-based parallel twin, and former National #77 Eddie Wirth just coming into the shot on his privateer XR. 1981 AMA Grand National Champion and current AMA Pro Flat Track Manager and overseer Mike Kidd won the main event at the Terre Haute Action Track that day.
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Stu's Shots wants to take the time to wish '69 AMA Grand National Champion Mert Lawwill a VERY happy birthday which he will be celebrating on Friday, September 24th. Having caught on to AMA Flat Track Racing in the summer of 1974, Mert was one of the main men on the scene in those days, and always seemed to have a smile on his face to go along with his will of iron and tenacity on the track.

Besides competing on the pro scene for some 15 years, Mert was one of many riders in the day to come out of the Pacific Northwest area of the United States in the late '50s/early '60s, although by the time he was racing in the pro ranks he was based in California. He is not only a member of the '98 AMA Hall of Fame class, but was an inductee into the '97 Mountain Bike Hall of Fame class as well for his ground-breaking work in the industry with mountain bike frames. He was also inducted into the Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame and was one of the inaugaral inductees into the AMA Flat Track Hall of Fame at the Springfield Mile in late summer of 1998. His work in the area of hand prosthetics goes back to the mid/late '60s when he first worked with a former team mate who had lost his hand in a racing accident, and to this day works to develop limbs through his company Mert's Hands.

You can check out some more info on former National #7 below and help in wishing one of the all-time greats of AMA Flat Track and AMA Grand National Championship Series racing a big happy birthday. Thanks for all of the racing memories, Mert, and thanks for all you have done throughout your life to help people as well. Have a great day!!
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Here is Mert's official site on the net. Check it out, some pretty cool stuff going on here:

http://www.mertlawwill.com/

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This is the site that features Mert's work in the area of prosthetics, a VERY worthy cause for helping racers that have lost a limb (or a portion of) that can sustain a day-to-day 'normal' routine with the use of a replacement attachment. Mert actually started working with prosthetics back in the late '60s after being approached by a former team mate. Read on and check this out as there is some VERY cool stuff here:

http://www.mertshands.org/

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The AMA Hall of Fame inducted Mert into their order in '98 and here is their page on his racing accomplishments:

http://motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=7

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Mert was originally from the Boise, ID. area, but the Northwest area of the U.S. is a hotbed of flat track and especially TT race courses. The Washington State Motorcycle Hall of Fame has a great story and interview with Mert about his career and past accomplishments. Great reading here:

http://www.wsmchof.com/mert-lawwill.html

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Mert went from motorcycles and prosthetics into the world of mountain bike racing, and was one of the genre's earliest real pioneers of the sport. He was inducted into the Moutain Bike Hall of Fame in 1997 for his numerous accomplishments and here is their page devoted to Mert:

http://www.completesite.com/mbhof/page.cfm?pageid=6&year=1997&memberid=43

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And finally, what most people remember Mert for is the legendary movie "On Any Sunday" that was produced by Bruce Brown in the late '60s/early '70s. Mert was one of several people profiled in the epic film along with other big names such as the late Steve McQueen and '70 AMA Grand National Champion Gene Romero. Here Bruce talks about the film and it's place in motorcycling history:

http://www.brucebrownfilms.com/sunday.htm

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Roger Lee Hayden's American Honda/Moriwaki Moto2 Test Ride

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Roger Lee Hayden's #34 American Honda/Moriwaki/DID/Schwantz Schools/Ride For Kids Moto2 ride sits outside the garage area at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 3rd Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend. Even with the sources behind American Honda, Kevin Schwantz and Moriwaki Engineering the team couldn't overcome the one thing that would all but be the team's undoing--a big 2nd turn crash on the start.
But almost from the time the weekend started, the team started experiencing trouble and lost almost 30 minutes of valuable track time in just the first practice session alone, and even by the time the final qualifying session was run on Saturday afternoon, Roger was only able to qualify in the 29th position out of the 39 rider field. After repairing the damage caused in the aforementioned 2nd turn crash in the Moto2 main event, Roger was finally able cleared to go back out, finishing the weekend sans rear brakes in the 17th spot, 31.860 seconds down on eventual winner and points leader Toni Elias.
But neither the team nor the rider have anything to be ashamed of, especially in lieu of going up a 39 rider field where most of the riders had been racing this class for nine other events in the season. Let alone the track time lost. And even to be fair the two days of testing the week before when American Honda rented IMS for $30K for Roger to get used to the track (and the bike) WAS great for learning the track but in no means got them ready for the bomb that would ensue at the start of the race. And all in all what they DID overcome in this experience was pretty darn good. Hopefully American Honda will use it as a launching pad to get back into some sort of action again in racing. And that they keep Schwantz involved to oversee things, get Roger some serious seat time and go for it. Now that would be cool.
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Chris Ulrich does a nice little 'ride up' and write up on the American Honda/Moriwaki Engineering Moto2 effort put together with Kevin Schwantz and Roger Lee Hayden for the Indy MotoGP round last month. While doing some journalistic reviews for RoadRacingWorld he got a chance to take some laps on the #34 at IMS the day after the Moto2 race. Check it out:

http://www.speedtv.com//video/moto-racing/motogp/moto2-honda-indy-gp-pt-4-610212233001/1
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Joe Kopp Talks About the Chain Coming Off at The AMA Flat Track Minnesota Mile

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Joe Kopp talks with some of the fans during the pitwalk at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile on Saturday, August 28th, while team members of the #3 Latus H-D/Lloyd Bros Racing/American Agip/MotoConcepts-backed Ducati 1098-based machine
talk in their pit area. Matt Weidman #20 and his Mom, Rachel, can just be seen in the background to Joe's right.
Smokin Joe has been stating for the most part that this would be his final year in AMA Pro Flat Track Racing, and up until the Canterbury Park round on September 11th had held the points lead in the series championship since the beginning of the summer. And until that time looked like he would or could be going out as a champion again, after winning the 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship. But when he lost his brake pedal on lap 2 and then his chain derailed and wrapped itself around the countershaft sprocket on lap 19 of the final, that hard-earned point lead had turned into a 10 point deficit.
And of course you can't not say that losing points at Indy, Springfield and Minnesota due to not making or being able to run the Dash races didn't help any. At Indy the bike wouldn't fire on the line causing him to miss the Dash, and at Springfield he had to come out of, and win the semi to make the main. And at Minnesota, not qualifying for the Dash again cost him valuable points. And in those three rounds alone, new overall point leader Jake Johnson rode the #5 Zanotti Racing XR into all of the Dash rounds, and scored 8 more valuable points in them as a result.
And now you have Knoxville getting canceled, and a one race shoot-out in Prescott Valley in less than three weeks for the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters Grand National Championship. Not that Joe and the team might not be able to rally, or that something could or would happen to JJ to cause him to finish WAY behind Joe on the day, in both the Dash race and the main. But at this time, after seeing a lot of this season close up again after all these years, if I were a betting man, which I'm not, I would have to place mine on the #5. Of course, anything can happen. I know one thing......it's been a GREAT year for AMA Flat Track fans! And it's going to get better!
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Joe Kopp puts out a nice little newsletter/press release after each of the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship races. He talks about the team, the bike, the track they were at and basically runs down into really nice detail exactly how each round went-or went wrong. His most recent release is pretty interesting in how he lost his brake pedal and then the chain on the Ducati during the Canterbury Park Mile main event.

Having led the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship overall point standings since the beginning of the summer, the 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion had been having a banner year to say the least, especially for someone who has talked retirement. He's led the series for half the season, and has won on two different makes of motorcycles at two different types of tracks (mile and half mile), and he took Ducati to it's first ever AMA Flat Track Series win back in May at the Prescott Valley Mile. With as much as an 18 point lead at one time over then-runner up Jersey Jake Johnson on the #5 Zanotti Racing XR, things were looking pretty good until the series hit the Lucas Oil Indy Mile back at the end of August. And then not only the chain but the wheels were starting to fall off.

Having qualified for the Dash via his heat one 2nd place behind heat and eventual main winner Bryan Smith, Kopp's bike wouldn't fire for the points and money race. Zero-Dash points and Johnson not only scored 2 in the Dash, but finished 2 spots ahead of him in the main. At Springfield Kopp gained a point on JJ in the short track Dash, but finished two spots back in the main. On the mile, Kopp missed the Dash and had to win the semi to qualify for the main, while Jersey Jake failed to score in the Dash when crashing out unhurt. But he finished one spot up on Joe in the main.

In Minnesota, Johnson again gained 4 valuable points via a 2nd place in the Dash race, Kopp missed it due to a 3rd place in heat three. And then the main. Jake brought it home in second behind winner Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. and Joe was credited with 16th after only completing 19 laps when the chain finally came off and wrapped around his countershaft sprocket, prematurely ending his night, and possibly his run at the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship. And now losing Knoxville in what was all but a must-have race in order for Smokin Joe to mount a charge to gain points back on new series leader Jake Johnson.

With one round left to go in the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series in Arizona in 18 days, there are still four men with a chance at the title mathematically. Johnson leads with 265 to Kopp's 255. Jared Mees on the #1 machine lies in 3rd with 246 points, and newly crowned 2-Time Singles Champ Henry Wiles has the #17 machine in the 4th spot with 239 markers. But at this point, if you're betting on anyone other then Johnson, the way he's been running and finishing solid all season long, I think you are fighting a losing battle. One, that unfortunately Joe Kopp may have lost much sooner then when the chain came off in Minnesota.

You can read Joe's great report here from over at Joe Kopp Racing.com. I can only imagine what the hell it would feel like to first, lose your brakes on a 130 MPH mile track for one, but then to have the chain wrap itself around the sprocket as well at those speeds. It sure makes for an exciting read!

http://www.joekoppracing.com/CommentDetails.aspx?NewsletterID=110
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Stu's Shots wants to thank the competitors in the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series for what has been a great year of racing and a great turn around for flat track racing in general. The Mike Kidd-led AMA Pro Flat Track team with Steve Morehead and Company has really done a fine job of re-working the show for not only timeliness, but for entertainment value as well, so without a doubt, thank you all as well! And now that the crowds are starting to come back the series that has been the best show on wheels for decades can actually showcase the show the way it should be--top notch and fun as all get-out! Great job by one and all and the greatest racing anywhere!
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Jeffrey Carver Clinches 2010 AMA Flat Track Pro Singles Championship

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Jeffrey Carver, Jr. #24P waits to be introduced to the Springfield Mile crowd right before the running of the AMA Flat Track Pro Singles Motorcycle Superstore.com final event on Sunday September 5th. The Van's Yamaha/Woody Kyle Racing/Yamaha Motor Corp/Moose Racing-backed rider went into the now-canceled Knoxville round over the weekend with a 27 point lead over title-contender and '09 Pro Singles Champ Brad Baker on the #1 Rod Lake Honda. With the round now being canceled and the only event left being the Arizona round on October 9th, Carver sowed-up the championship without even turning a wheel (there is only 23 points max available per round.)
Carver has had a stellar year in winning (so far) 5 rounds, four second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in the 15 rounds run so far this year. That works out to 11 podiums in 15 races, quite an accomplishment in any sport, let alone the closeness of the AMA Flat Track Pro Singles Series.
By far one of his best performances of the year (and there were many!) was at the Indy Mile just over three weeks ago. Having to start on the back row in his heat 2 race, he used the high, wide line to work his way to the front and to the win in just six laps. It was one of, if not THE most exciting races at Indy this year. After suffering a rough start in the main, he still brought it home in 3rd on the podium behind winner J.D. Beach on the #95C Red Bull Honda (and in his Pro Singles swan song before turning expert at Springfield the next weekend) and 2nd place finisher Michael Toon on the #22L Price Truck Line Honda. Great year overall and congrats to the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion! Bravo!
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Jeffrey Carver, Jr. took home the laurels this weekend and didn't even have to turn a wheel as the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series was washed out at Knoxville. After postponing the event to Sunday, the AMA Pro Flat Track team--and riders and fans--were hoping to be able to get the races in, but Mother Nature was cruel to the series and just after 1000 CDT the whistle was blown to pull the plug. And apparently that wasn't that bad of an idea as several hours later it was reported that the fog was still heavy enough at the famous Knoxville Raceway that you couldn't see parts of the half mile track. The series resumes in Prescott Valley, AZ. on Saturday, October 9th for the season ending mile event.

But the great news from the weekend was Jeff Carver locking up the AMA Pro Flat Track Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Championship as a result of his now-insurmountable 27 point lead in the championship standings. As a result, the Alton, IL. resident takes his #24P Van's Yamaha/Woody Kyle Racing/Yamaha Motor Corp/Moose Racing-sponsored Yamaha 450 on to the Arizona round as the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Champion. And quite an accomplishment at that with his record of 5 wins and 11 podiums this year in the 15 rounds that have been run thus far.

Congrats to Jeff and we'll be keeping an eye and ear out for his plans for the last race AND especially for the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Series season. Great job man, great job!
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AMA Pro Flat Track has the official story of the cancelation at Knoxville, and has a word on Jeffrey Carver winning the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Motorcycle Superstore.com Pro Singles Championship. I'm sure much more will come when he is officially crowned in Arizona. It's unfortunate that the round got canceled out to where he could have been awarded the #1 plate yesterday instead of having to wait for the three weeks until the AZ round. But I'm sure the party will be going on in their camp after the Arizona mile round is over late afternoon on October 9th!

http://amaproracing.com/ft/news/index.cfm?cid=39793
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Here's a nice little interview with Jeffrey over at Fight For Dirt Track that was posted after the Canterbury Park round and getting ready to go to the now-canceled round in Knoxville. Thanks to Tyler for the great work and this great interview over at FFDT:

http://www.fightfordt.com/runscript.cfm?page=jeffreycarverminnesota.cfm
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AMA Pro Flat Track--Knoxville Round Canceled Due to Rain

The 16th round of the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series at Knoxville, Iowa has been canceled due to the inundation of rain that the area has received since early yesterday morning.

No rain date has been set, and the event has been scrubbed. The link below from Knoxvilles tells all ticket holders to return their tickets to the track for a refund.

This will surely mix up the series now with only the Arizona mile event left for October 9th, with Jake Johnson leading Joe Kopp 265-255, and Jared Mees in the 3rd spot in the overall standings with 246 points. With this single round left, 4th place in the overall championship standings has Henry Wiles with 239 points and the only man left standing with a mathematical chance to grab the title should something serious happen to any of the top 3.

Stay tuned. This is a very serious shake-up to the season's outcome without this round being able to be run and the loss of four other rounds throughout the season that were canceled due to promoter and track issues.


http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/Article.aspx?ID=1282
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AMA Flat Track Knoxville Half Mile Race 16: ReScheduled for Sunday 9/19

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Poised for battle at Lima back in June, the #3 Latus H-D/Lloyd Bros/American Agip/MotoConcepts Ducati 1098 of 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National

Champion Smokin Joe Kopp sits next to the #5 Zanotti Racing/Leo Vince/

Arai/Tucker Rocky XR750 of 2-Time AMA Singles Champion Jersey Jake Johnson. With the first half mile race to be run today (barring any weather delays, see below) since Hagerstown in August, Knoxville will be only one of two chances for anyone else in the ranks to make an attack at the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship.

With Kopp's misfortunes of a broken chain in Minnesota last weekend and 3 points on the day for a 16th place finish, Johnson capitalized by coming home 2nd to winner Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. and also 2nd to Dash winner Chris Carr to score all but maximum points for the event. Kopp left Canterbury Park in second place, 10 points in arrears to Jersey Jake, 265-255, in what was at the beginning of the day a 10 point lead in the championship, stating after the race that having done this as long as he has, anything can happen even with only two events left in the season. It's sure to be a great battle to the end when the checkered flag flies in Arizona on October 9th.

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With rain in the area well before and as this is being written and posted, round 16 in the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Series at the world famous Knoxville Raceway is scheduled for today, but official word to come well before early afternoon on Saturday 9/18. With the track being inundated with heavy and steady rains in the last few hours, the chances are looking good at this point that tomorrow's rain date will have to be utilized in order to get the event in.

Saturday 9/18/10 1455 EDT UDPATE:

The race has now been postponed until tomorrow. Rider sign-ups scheduled for 1000 CDT at the track, so I imagine practice and qualifications should start around 1200 CDT/1300 EDT.

We will post updates as they become available.

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The story of the 2010 AMA Grand National Flat Track Series Season has been one of diversity and experience. On the diversity side, as many as seven brands have attempted to gain a berth in several rounds this year, with last weekend's event at the horse track at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. seeing six different makes in the final event. On the experience side of things, throw in long-time competitor and 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Joe Kopp, along with 2-Time AMA Singles Champion Jake Johnson, and you have JJ leading Smokin Joe with the two rounds remaining in the series, 265-255. And there is a good possibility that Kopp will be on his #3 Latus XR for this half mile event as he has been at several other runs on the shorter ovals this season.

With six riders still in the hunt mathematically, you have a championship run going on this year in the series that has seen multi-brand winners (H-D, Ducati, Kawasaki in the Twins events) for the first time in literally decades. The last time anything but a H-D XR750 won on an oval was at Joliet in August of '98 when Rich King won on a Corbin-sponsored Honda RS750. And I couldn't tell you the last time there was multiple-brand winners in the series. It surely must be the early '70s. At least on an oval!

The other main contenders for the title that are still in the hunt, and that could help mix-up the overall standings in the end, are far from inexperienced as well. You have Jammin Jared Mees sitting in the 3rd spot with 246 points, the defending Twins Champ riding his #1 Rogers Lake Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Rockysonline/Lucas Oil-sponsored XR. The Jammer hasn't won an event yet this season, but that's NO reason to count him out. He's been there all year with his veteran experience, great machines and being Mr. Consistent, just as he has done overall in his almost-decade in the sport now.

Hammerin Hank Wiles has made a career the last few years of dominating on the Singles event bikes, and also has some half mile wins under his belt. The now-2 Time AMA Singles Champ won at Lima in June and ended the '09 season with a win at Pomona as well. He rolls into Knoxville with the #17 KK Motorcycle Supply/Mike & Eddie Atkins/Don Kissinger Racing/Saddlemen-backed XR in the 4th spot in the overall championship with 239 points. Missing the main at Indy three weeks ago really put a big hole in where he COULD have been today. But he's got four Singles wins this year to go along with his Twins win at Lima to back him up and make for what has been a great year overall for this young charger.

Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. comes into the Knoxville Half Mile as the defending series winner, having bagged his first event of the year last weekend on the Minnesota Mile. Riding his #2 Harley Davidson Motor Comp/Screamin Eagle/Arai/Fox-sponsored Harley Factory XR, The King of Cool now sits in the 5th spot in the points with 231 markers. And one thing to remember ALWAYS in AMA Flat Track racing......you NEVER count out experience, nor factory horsepower.

And rounding out the top 6 in the points, Sammy Halbert comes back to the series after having been suspended by AMA Flat Track for the Minnesota round after a rough riding incident at the Springfield Short Track round from two weeks ago. Slammin Sammy is still in the hunt on his #7 Kings Kustoms/KK Motorcycle Supply/Nelson Racing/AGV-backed XR with 228 points, and the Daytona Short Track winner will no doubt be ready to mix it up again.

Several other riders to keep an eye on for this event are #42 Bryan Smith on the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki, former 7-Time Grand National Champ #4 Chris Carr on his Lancaster H-D XR, and Matt Weidman on his #20 White's H-D XR who put on a magnificent show at Minnesota last week, and got his first-ever GNC podium at Lima's half mile earlier in the season. If the Knoxville track ends up a cushion, look for Matt to mix it up at the front.

So strap in and hold on as the greatest show in racing rolls off this weekend at the world capital of sprint car racing in Knoxville, Iowa, and the men and women of the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series put on a show that will make you wanting to come back for more---and that's a guarantee!

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AMA Pro Flat Track Knoxville Half Mile Event Live Timing and Scoring:

http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010021080

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AMA Pro Flat Track Knoxville Half Mile Event page with event schedule:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?eid=2010021080

AMA Pro Flat Track Knoxville Half Mile ALL results PDF--updated as the event goes on and withing minutes of each event:

http://results.amaproracing.com/pdfresults/ft/2010/17-knoxville/

AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship Overall Point Standings:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/standings.cfm?class=gn&c=gc

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You can also follow some of the action via THE place for all things flat track at Wayne Hosaka's FlatTrack.com forum:

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=46

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Weather in Knoxville thanks to The Weather Underground:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=50138

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Knoxville Raceway's official site on the net:

http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/

....and you can check out the Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum while in Knoxville as well:

http://www.sprintcarhof.com/Pages/Home

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Google Maps of Knoxville, Iowa and the surrounding area:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=knoxville,+ia&sll=39.823346,-86.33043&sspn=0.007894,0.019205&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Knoxville,+Marion,+Iowa&t=h&ll=41.316368,-93.101406&spn=0.061758,0.153637&z=13

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Lake Red Rock just north of Knoxville is a beautiful recreation area that first came to fruition back in the mid-late '60s. My Grandfather talked about this and what it would do for the local area when we were kids (my grandparents lived in Pella, Iowa, the home of the official hotel for the Knoxville event, and Knoxville is actually the county seat for Marion County, Iowa).

Here is the map of the area in PDF form:

http://www.redrockarea.com/userdocs/maps/Marion_County_Map_461.pdf

.....and this is a great overhead shot of the beautiful Lake Red Rock area and dam just a few miles up the road from the track:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Red_Rock_Lake_and_Dam_Iowa.jpg

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And here is some general info on the Knoxville area as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_County,_Iowa#Localities

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Moto2 Quals at Aragon: 20 Bikes Within 1 Second!

In what has to be one of THE most exciting classes to be watching in road racing around the world this year is the new Moto2 class brought in by Dorna/MotoGP to replace the 250CC two-stroke class at the beginning of the 2010 season.
With grids of AT LEAST 38-39 riders, and many events having 40, the time differentials in practice and qualifying at these events has been extremely close. And the racing has been superb in a class that when you factor in control Dunlop tires and spec fuel, Honda-provided 600CC-based production motors that are sealed by Dorna for 'no touch' purposes, the teams are forced to rely on chassis and suspension development, electronics, and ultimately a good rider.

The Fimmco Speed Up Team of Andrea Iannone on the #29 machine put it on the pole today at Aragon, Spain with a time of 1:55.148, leading a group of 19 other riders that all qualified within one second of the pole speed. 20th place in qualifying was the #12 Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2-mounted Thomas Luthi at 1:56.124, just .976 seconds behind Iannone. Amazing! And Iannone's team mate Gabor Talmacsi also qualified in the top 10 with a fine run to 7th with a time of 1:55.627 on the #2 bike.

Here are the official results of qualifying earlier today in Spain for the Moto2 bikes. Check it out, now this is going to be one heck of a race tomorrow!
You can catch the same-day delayed broadcast on SpeedTV at 1700 EDT on Sunday, September 19th.

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2010/ARA/Moto2/QP

Motorland Aragon the Scene for MotoGP Round 13

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Some of the Moto2 teams have their wares lined up outside the garage areas mixed in with some of the 125CC machines at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 3rd Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round of the MotoGP World Championship. The Moto2 class is in it's freshman year, and has proved to be a very exciting class after replacing the 250CC two-strokes at the beginning of the year. With a control Honda 600-spec motor, endless chassis choices, and add in individual team electronics, control Dunlop tires and control fuel, and you get 12-16 bikes on any given day running within a second of one another. It sure beats watching the processional 800's in the big class.
2012 can't get here fast enough with the 1000's and hopefully if the powers that be listen to the riders, teams and fans, they ease up on some of the electronics to keep these things from looking like a parade. We'll see.
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MotoGP is in Spain this weekend, the third of four rounds scheduled to run there this year on the 18 round calendar. The Motorland Aragon is a new track that is actually replacing the Hungarian round that was originally on the calendar for the 2010 season.

David Emmett runs the MotoMatters.com site that is second to none when it comes to on the spot news from the European racing scene, but most especially MotoGP, Moto2 and the 125CC circus. He's at Aragon this weekend and shot some pictures of the track, and it looks like a pretty neat and racy lay-out. I'm looking forward to seeing this one on the tube from the chopper cams.
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Here is the link to David Emmett's photos of this neat-looking new track on the MotoGP schedule. Tip of the hat to David and his most excellent MotoMatters.com site, where he is on the scene this weekend at Motorland Aragon in Spain and shot these pics of the track:

http://motomatters.com/blog/2010/09/16/editor_s_blog_a_photo_lap_of_motorland_a.html

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You can read more about the new Aragon round over at the official site of MotoGP:

http://www.motogp.com/

....and here......

http://www.motogp.com/en/circuits/Motorland+Aragon/2010

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AMA Flat Track: Inside the Werner/Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki and Bryan Smith's Mile Wins

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13-Time AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion tuner Bill Werner fits a new rear CD-8 tire to Bryan Smith's #42 Werner Springsteen MonsterEnergy/Wossner
Pistons/SuperTrapp/Millenium Technologies-sponsored Kawasaki EX650
Ninja-based machine at the Springfield Mile during a break in the day's events on Sunday, September 5th. Team co-owner, test rider and team consultant 3-Time AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, can be seen overlooking and assisting Werner in the pits.
Something new to flat track fans (like myself) who have been following this great sport for as long as I have (37 seasons this year) that you can see from this shot is the presence of a Dell laptop computer sitting on the seat of the WSME machine.
For decades the flat track scene has been strictly a 'seat of your pants' and 'rider feel'-based series, not relying on any type of technology, whether it be for suspension tuning or for fuel delivery (all flat trackers I have EVER encountered up until the last couple of years have been carburated whereas the Kawasaki and the Lloyd Brothers Ducati, for example, are fuel injected.)
Machines have been built on a simple, but effective platform that took master tuners such as Bill Werner or Kenny Tolbert (Chris Carr's championship-winning tuner) to sort out the mechanics, while the riders helped and usually sorted out what the suspension, gearing or tire needs were, based of course on the type of track and/or the make-up of a particular track and weather at the time the event is being run. You might even throw in sea level in determining how rich or lean you might have to jet the carbs or getting the proper airflow as well. So to see a man with Mr. Werner's expertise now have the use and ability TO use a laptop in sorting out the running of the machine SURELY has to scare off some of the competition. It scares me. Think what this man has done with a flat tracker in the almost-40 years he has been doing it, and give him an added advantage of modern technology in the form of a laptop to help sort things out, well, you have to think to yourself before you even get off the line you are screwed. And especially so now that they have found the right combination (twice in a row on the mile now) to put this low-priced package at the front and on top of the box in the main, let alone against the high-dollar XR's.
And something that I also found to be somewhat interesting in posting these first two wins for the team is that just as what Bryan had done some 8 days earlier at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile, he went out and won his heat, got third in the Dash for Cash, and led Chris Carr home to the team's second win on the mile (and second in a row) at Springfield. And I've been saying since early summer that once they got this thing figured out there would be no looking back.
With two events left in the schedule-the Knoxville Half Mile and the Arizona Mile-for the 2010 season, the team has brought a parallel twin back to the forefront of AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series racing. The last time a parallel twin was still competitive was in the mid '70s BEFORE Kenny Roberts was well known in European racing circles as The King. The sun may be setting on the 2010 season but the dawn is just coming upon us in the new age of AMA Flat Track racing. And Werner Springsteen Kawasaki Racing is on top, if not ahead, of the pack with this great package. And more power to them, literally and figuratively!
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Bill Werner, Bryan Smith and Jay Springsteen are all smiles while celebrating after the regular podium celebrations after Bryan brought the #42 machine home first for the team's second mile win, and second win in a row in the Twins Series on the Springfield Mile. While working with the basis for this existing machine, Werner had worked with other riders and other combinations until coming up with this set-up and with Bryan Smith in the seat, and of course Springer doing some testing along with them.
They were knocking on the door earlier in the season before discovering the 'cut-off' switch that the stock machine had built into it to kill the motor in case of a tip-over or crash. You can read about that below, as well. The thing is, once they got that little glitch worked out, the rest entailed getting the power to the ground on a low-torque, but high HP parallel twin engine motorcycle. And harnessing it correctly. And to think that Master Tuner Werner was able to do it for around $6K U.S. dollars is in itself amazing. Let alone something an up-and-coming young racer can look to in the future with something that is cost-effective and competitive in the circle of the AMA Flat Track Series.
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You can read and hear more on this great team below in an interview with Mr. Werner and Larry Lawrence from The Rider Files.com. There's also a few other good articles and interviews with the team and how this all came together to help
put AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Racing back on the map again and how Werner was approached by the AMA to help usher this project in to help out the great sport of flat track racing. Great stuff. Read on.........


Larry Lawrence talked with Bill Werner and Jay Springsteen at the Gas City Short Track round of the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship series. Here's Larry's story over at his super site TheRiderFiles.com that also includes several of the sound bites from that interview. Werner talks about ordering his engine off of eBay.com and only paying $700 for it. Amazing stuff out of the Super Tuner of AMA Flat Track:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=5827
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Cycle World's racing blog talks about how the Kawasaki has a 'limiter' switch built into it that, when the bike is laid too far over (as for instance, in a crash-situation) it cuts the motor off. The Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki Team found out the hard way in Arizona back at the beginning of May when the engine went dead on Bryan Smith while on the #42 machine when in contention for the main event. Read how that was handled here:

http://blog.cycleworld.com/?p=1186#more-1186
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RoadRacerX.com contributor Mark Gardiner got a chance to talk with Bryan Smith over the Labor Day Weekend running of the Springfield Mile-Smith and the team's second win and second in a row in the Twins Series. Here's what Bryan had to say to Mark about the evolution of the Kawasaki EX650-based machine:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/backmarker/backmarker-kawasakis-miles-bryan-smiths-smiles/
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Henny Ray Abrams filed these reports with CycleNews.com about the Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki AMA Flat Track effort that shines more light on how this great project came together and how the team has gone about preparing a parallel twin to run against the long-standing and machine-of-choice for decades H-D XR750.

Here's part one:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/09/08/how-kawasaki-conquered-dirt-track

And here is part two:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/09/09/how-kawasaki-conquered-dirt-track-part-2
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And here is the story of the team's second win at Springfield as posted by AMA Pro Flat Track:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/news/index.cfm?cid=39560

Here is the AMA Pro Flat Track article about the team's first win at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/news/index.cfm?cid=39429
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