AMA Flat Track: Chris Carr Talks About 2011 Retirement Tour and Taking Chris Carr Racing Into the Future

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the most powerful duos in AMA Pro Flat Track Racing are shown at the Springfield Mile on September 5 as legendary tuner Kenny Tolbert gets ready to hand the #4 Lancaster H-D/DFW Honda/Wiseco Pistons/Cometic Gaskets-sponsored XR750 to 7-Time AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Chris Carr for the final qualifying session of the day. After setting the fastest time in combined practice and the 8th fastest time in combined qualifying, Chris went on to finish 2nd on the day, just .048 seconds behind event winner Bryan Smith on the #42 Werner Springsteen Monster Energy Kawasaki and .048 seconds ahead of 3rd place finisher on the day Jared Mees on the #1 Rogers Lake Racing XR750. The duo finished the year ranked in the 7th position in the overall AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship point standings.
With the announcement last Friday of Chris' retirement after the 2011 season, a pro racing career that started in the 1985 season with winning the AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year, the future looks very bright for Chris Carr Racing for the '11 season and beyond. Together these two men have won multiple races and championships, and plans to continue into the future with that winning combination are in place, according to the multi-time champ.
Also some of the most personable people you will ever come acrossed at the track, the duo look to add an up-and-coming rider to help carry the winning ways forward for the team. And with the background and abilities of these two gentlemen heading up the effort, the future looks great for the team, as well as for the great sport of AMA Flat Track and The Rolling Thunder Show. With KT's wrenching abilities, and Chris' noted ability to be one of the greatest ambassadors that the sport has ever seen, the groundwork is already in place to make a major assault on the AMA Grand National Championship for 2011 and beyond. And this is great news for ALL fans of the series, especially long-time fans such as this writer. The best sport on wheels just got a major infusion of adrenaline for the future!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although last Friday's announcement that 7-Time AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Chris Carr would be retiring after the 2011 season was met with some sadness, the best part of this news is that Chris Carr Racing is poised for the future in the great sport of AMA Flat Track. CCR plans to continue into the future, and with Master Tuner Kenny Tolbert, Carr's long-time tuner, to head up the program. In making the announcement, the great news that came out of this for the future is that the long-time duo plans to continue into the future with The Rolling Thunder Show, helping to bring young riders up into the series to showcase their talent, as well as that of Chris Carr Racing.

Most everyone by now has heard the news, but I took the time to put some links/stories together about the announcement and the future for AMA Flat Track and Chris Carr Racing. In spite of the fact that we will be losing one of the greats of the sport on the track, the man's presence will be known, seen and heard in the future of the series. And that in itself is GREAT news for all fans of flat track racing. Chris Carr's abilities to bring outside sponsorship into the sport as well as his teaching abilities in the areas of motorcycle control are legendary, and his role as a spokesperson for the sport should all play major roles in taking Chris Carr Racing and the sport of AMA Flat Track down the road ahead.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the original retirement press release from Chris as it appeared on Larry Lawrence's site, The Rider Files.com. LL also has the audio portion of his interview with Chris, which is WELL worth the almost 14 minutes to listen in on and hear what the 7-Time Champ has to say about the past, present, and future for Chris Carr and Chris Carr Racing. Great stuff for sure:

http://www.theriderfiles.com/?p=7774

And here's Larry's interview with Chris Carr as it appeared on Cycle News.com late last Friday:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/12/11/carr-to-retire-after-2011
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the link to the original story I posted when Chris officially announced his retirement tour last Friday:

http://stusshots.blogspot.com/2010/12/ama-flat-track-chris-carr-announces.html

This was the original story/link as posted over at the Flat Track.com forum. You can tell from the different responses just how popular this man is:

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=46&func=view&id=123415&catid=3#123415

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's Chris' AMA Hall of Fame page:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=331&lpos=0px&letter=C&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a nice video that showcases Chris when Ford Quality was his main sponsor, as well as the sponsor for AMA Flat Track from a few years back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkgQ5KYekhM&feature=related

And here is a short video of Chris setting the land speed record a few years ago on Dennis Manning's Streamliner at Bonneville:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZpJlnQBXgs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------