AMA Pro Flat Track: Dan Ingram & Brush/Eaken Racing Head to Stockton Half-Mile & Beyond With the Help of Dollar Bill Racing

Dan Ingram has been around AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series racing as a competitor since the early '80s and as a result could be considered one of the 'old horses' of The Rolling Thunder Show, but after near-career ending injuries at the Springfield Mile in 1993 was forced out of the sport that he dearly loved and relished racing in, and much earlier then he was ready for.

Fast forward some 20 years, and the Clermont, Indiana resident is healed up and ready for more, more then proving in his return in the 2012 season that he had something left on the table after being forced to retire due to his head injuries suffered at the Illinois State Fairgrounds some two decades earlier. Testing the waters while doing some testing during the 2011 season for several teams, Dapper Dan was finally back in his element when slinging a leg over a flat track motorcycle and ended up back in the saddle at the onset of the 2012 season.

After accumulating enough points to satisfy the powers that be in charge of AMA Pro Flat Track while racing in several 'outlaw' and indoor series events, he was given his Expert license after competing in the Pro Singles Series at Daytona at the start of the season and was set to head to the Memorial Day Weekend round at Springfield to ride a Twins Series mount against the best-of-the-best in the greatest racing series on two wheels in the world.  And in his first Twins Series event, Ingram showed the crowded house he was back where he belonged when he qualified for his first major event by virtue of his 3rd-place finish in this semi, and going on to card a solid 11th-place finish in the 25-lap National main.

Racing for the Tom Cummings Racing team (TCR) with the help of long-time sponsor Zanna Racing and Indy Southside H-D, Ingram raced a partial schedule riding for TCR and also a one-off ride at one of the west coast rounds with the Dodge Brothers Racing XR750 team. 

It was at his hometown race at the Indy Mile in August 2012 where he finally made his way back to the elusive podium via winning his semi race to qualify for one of the biggest races of the series' schedule, in front of a wild and roaring hometown crowd and a host of European fans in town for the weekend's Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP (pictured above being interviewed by AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone and Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour camera crew of Kenny Sargent and team, aboard the #31J TCR/Zanna Racing/Indy Southside H-D-sponsored XR750.)

Unbeknownst to all-including Dan-he suffered a broken wrist during his heat race-before his semi win-that would eventually force him out for the remainder of the season after the Indy round.  But the itch was still there, and be damned if he wasn't going to at least try to continue for the 2013 season.

With the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season in the foreground, Dan worked feverishly to hook-up with a team that was capable of fielding a rider of his aged, yet still young-at-heart-and-abilities talent in order to compete in all 11 of the Twins Series events for the year.  And in the newly renamed Brush/Eaken Racing team, Ingram found the team that could help him, again, return to the track and the sport he truly loved.

With the tragic passing of long-time tuner to the stars, Skip Eaken late last summer, team members and cohorts Dave Brush and Bart Addis were looking for the right set of skills and riding abilities to put on the team's Brush/Eaken Kawasaki and their fleet of Dick Ford-owned and George Roeder-maintained Harley-Davidson XR750s.  The team was without former rider, Australian Luke Gough, after his terrible crash at the Peoria TT back in early August '12, and had campaigned top riders Rob Pearson and Cory Texter for the remainder of the 2012 season.  The new season ahead would prove to be a fresh start for all, again, and that's where Ingram was able to bring his talents to the team to go along with it's stellar mounts ready for action for the new year.

Speaking with Dan on Saturday, May 4, he was really excited and looking forward to heading to round 3 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season at the Stockton Half-Mile on May 11.  At first, the lack of funds was looking to keep them away from the first west coast round of the year.  "We just weren't going to be able to make it happen, but my long-time friend Dan Laxen started a new Facebook page called 'Dollar Bill Racing' and after just a few weeks time, we've collected enough money, thanks to the generous donations of a bunch of fans that we got the money to contest the Stockton round,"  stated Ingram.

"In just our first month or so of donations, we had enough to rent a van to haul us and the two Dick Ford-owned XRs and the team out to Stockton and also purchase a couple of tires for some of the upcoming rounds," continued the elated Ingram, " so we're planning on rolling out on Tuesday (May 7) and heading west for Saturday's race.

"I couldn't be happier and I've been working hard at getting into racing shape, working on my endurance so this 48 year old man can keep up with the young guns.  With Dave Brush (the main man behind the team, and nephew to the late Skip Eaken) taking care of building the Kawasaki and getting it ready for Springfield, and Dick Ford owns the team's XRs and takes care of the costs of maintaining the H-Ds which are built and wrenched by George Roeder. 

"We also have help in the pits and on the team from Rick Roberts, all of which has helped to be possible thanks to my buddy Dan and Dollar Bill Racing.  I've got a new set of leathers that D's Leathers put together for me that we're going to have shipped to Sacramento by Debbie Johnson from D's that we'll pick up on Friday, " Dan stated.  "We've got all of our new sponsors and patches on for the new season, and I've only worn the leathers three times, actually."

The team will be coordinating in Sacramento the day before round 3 after spending this past weekend getting things readied and packed.  "We're setting up a mock-pit area just to make sure we have everything laid out and ready for next weekend," continued Ingram, "as I sure don't want to drive all the way to the west coast to find out we missed something while packing up.  Dave's based in Columbus, Indiana so I'll be going down there to set-up, which is convenient since it's only about 45 minutes from me here in Clermont. 

"Then we'll load it all up and hit the road around Noon on Tuesday.  We wanted to give it enough time to where we weren't rushing to get there and be able to get some sleep along the way.  I've got to thank Dan Laxen for getting Dollar Bill Racing started on Facebook or none of this would be possible," stated Dan, "otherwise Springfield would have been our first event.  We haven't had the time or money to do any testing yet, so this will be a true test when we roll out on Saturday.  I also have to thank another of my main contributors, Josh Chisum, for all of his help and support.  He's going to meet us in Sacramento on Friday and also help out at the track on Saturday."

The #65 Dick Ford/Eaken Racing Kawasaki 650R mount of Cory Texter sits in the pit area at the Indy Mile during round 10 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season on August 18 alongside the #27 Dick Ford/Roeder Racing/Eaken Racing H-D XR750 of rider Rob Pearson. 

Texter missed the field at Indy, and Pearson ended up with a 7th-place finish on the bike after switching-off from the XR after making his was into the main earlier in the evening on the XR.

Dave Brush, the late Skip Eaken's nephew, who is based out of the Columbus, Indiana area, has been building the Kawi since the start of 2012 when Eaken's health started to fail.  Dick Ford owns the two XRs as campaigned by the team, and they are maintained by George Roeder in Ohio.  Thusly, the team has been rebranded as Brush/Eaken Racing for the 2013 season.

According to Ingram, the Kawi will be ready for action at the Springfield Mile I, round 4 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season on May 26.

Dave Brush and Bart Addis watch over the team's #27 Dick Ford/Eaken Racing Kawasaki prior to the start of the Springfield Mile II on September 16, 2012, where Rob Pearson rode to a 14th-place finish. 

Dave and Bart will have the help of Rick Roberts throughout the season at the races, and Ingram's long-time friend and contributor Josh Chisum will be helping out this coming weekend in Stockton.

Ingram gets suited-up for his first return to a Twins Series event in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series at the Springfield Mile I on May 27 on the #31J TCR/Zanna Racing/Indy Southside H-D-backed XR750.  Ingram qualified for the 18-rider main in his first time back in The Rolling Thunder Show after taking a 3rd-place finish in his semi behind Henry Wiles and Shawn Baer.  He ended the day in the 11th-place spot after the 25-lap National main was over.

Dave Woods is getting ready to hand-off the #31J (which in 2013 will just be the #31 with Dan getting to drop the letter thanks to his 11th-place finish at Springfield) to Dan prior to the first practice session of the day.  "I rode Dave's XR750 earlier to a win at the Circleville, Ohio Half-Mile," according to the Clermont, Indiana resident.

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Ingram went on to say, "I've really got to thank all of my sponsors and all of the fans who have contributed to the cause on our Facebook page, Dollar Bill Racing, otherwise none of this would be possible.

"Everyone that contributes to Dollar Bill Racing will be entered into a special drawing we are going to have for the winning fan to help roll the bike out to the grid at the Indy Mile on August 17, 2013 (providing we make the main, ha-ha!) 

"Whomever wins will get a special wrist band to come down to the pits and help us roll it out to the starting line for the National main the weekend of the 6th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP and Indy Mile race.

"We've been talking with AMA Pro Flat Track director Dan Johnsen, who is going to help us make this happen for that lucky and special fan.  We're going to have the drawing the day of the race, so make sure you let everyone know that if they contributed, to be sure and be there in case they win the draw and the opportunity to roll the bike out on the line that night."

You can find out more about Dan Ingram's Facebook Dollar Bill Racing here and get yourself a chance to get in on the drawing. 

Anyone who contributes $5.00 or more gets their name in the hat for a chance to help Dan return to the Indy Mile grid at round 11 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season on August 17.

You can also donate by going to PayPal & enter dicornerstone@sbcglobal.net.  Any donation $5 or more gets you entered in the "Push the Bike Out" drawing at Indy or you can send a donation to:

Dan Ingram
10920 E US Hwy 136
Clermont, IN 46234

"I also want to thank all of my sponsors from the past and for this year for all of their help.  We couldn't do any of this without you!" Dan stated in closing.

Dan's sponsors are:


Brush/Eaken Racing, Dick Ford, Josh Chisum Racing, Zanna Racing, H-D of Bloomington, IN, Indianapolis Southside H-D, Tucker-Rocky, Dollar Bill Racing, Stay Racing, & Bill Allen Racing.
 

With less then four days until round 3 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship season rolls off for first practice, Dan Ingram and the Brush/Eaken Racing team are now headed down that long, lonesome highway towards Stockton, California.

 

With a stout start to their season in terms of fan and friends' help, the man from Clermont has a good start to the season, that with any luck and a lot of skill on his part, will put him towards the front when it comes time for the checkers to fly late Saturday night.

 

Good luck and go get 'em Danno, ride fast and safe and keep your head down and your eyes wide open!

Flat Track & Road Racing Loses Another Icon of the Sport: RIP Skip Eaken, the Brains & Brawn Behind Eaken Racing & The Man Behind the Motors for the Bryan Smith/Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports Rocket Kawasaki

The sport of AMA Pro Flat Track (and motorcycle road racing, too) was dealt another blow within the last 24 hours when it was learned that long-time tuner/wrench to the stars and master motor builder, Skip Eaken, had passed away late yesterday due to complications due with a congestive heart failure illness that had just most recently flaredup at the Knoxville Half-Mile a few weeks ago.

Eaken, who was the man behind the Honda flat track effort in AMA Pro Flat Track in the early-late '80s that saw Honda come into the sport long-dominated even in those days by the Harley-Davidson factory and it's omni-potent XR750 purpose-built mount, had most recently been campaigning his own version of a hot rod Kawasaki with help from his nephew Dave and several other close friends and family, as well as being the motor magician behind the new-for-2012 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing Kawasaki rocket that has taken Bryan Smith #42 to two wins in four events this year at the Sacto Mile and most recently at the Springfield Mile II.

Having just gotten off the phone with Rick Howerton, the man behind the building of the machine that has taken AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins Series racing to new heights of competition and excitement, posed some insightfull comments about the big man's passing yesterday. 

"Having grown up around Skip, he was a little intimidating back in those days with Honda when I started hanging around at their shop down the road here.  But if he liked you, he'd talk to you and let you know what was going on.  And he always treated me great and was somewhat of not only an authorative figure to me but also almost like a father," stated Howerton.  "I left him a message a couple of days ago (Howerton mentioned that after Skip's collapse at Knoxville on September 8 that they had just flown him back to the Cleveland area early last week after he had been bed-ridden and held at a Des Moines hospital just 40 or so miles out of Knoxville.)  I had wanted to try and get him fired up about not only our thing, but his with Rob Pearson and even before with Luke Gough in the seat, and kind of press him for some info on the engine work." 

Eaken had done all of the motor work in both of Howerton's rockets, and had most recently just before the Sacto Mile taken down the motor in the #1 bike while he was rebuilding one of the #62 motors just to check it out.  According to Howerton and team stooge/best friend and team member, Jeff Gordon (Speedway Engine Developments), Gordon had just flown over to pick the motor back up just before leaving for Sacramento, and after the Springfield Mile I in late May where the new wonder made it's debut to a fine 3rd-place finish and the win in the Dash for Cash event with rider Smith in the seat, the motor didn't have a mark on it after running the weekend's events.  That is a testament to the durability of the Kawi 650R-based parallel twin as much as it is to Eaken's ability to build a solid mount.

"He really made me feel good after that first race," continued Rocket Ricky.  "A couple of days after I was kind of down on myself (like Howerton too-often gets after not ending an event at the top of the box, taking the load of responsibility onto his shoulders like any team owner and builder would), and Skip called me and told me we really did a great job, and that he was really proud of me.  That really made me feel good hearing it from him after having looked up to him for so long.  Now we're just going to have to go out to Santa Rosa and win this one for Skip and Linda (Eaken's wife)."

In the shot above, Eaken can be seen conversing with team owner Howerton and Jeff Gordon in the Howerton Motorsports pit area at round 10 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile.  This was the event just prior to Knoxville, that was held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on August 18. 

The first-year variation of the rocket Kawasaki that Rick Howerton started as his dream racer project in late 2010 poses along with it's rider, motor man and builder at the Springfield Mile I round on May 29, 2011.

Australian Luke Gough #62 was tasked with breaking in the new machine during the 2011 season, and was starting to get some solid top-10 results and even scored a 4th-place finish on the bike last year as well.  Motor master to the stars Skip Eaken (center) can be seen smiling over another one of his fine-tuned pieces, and master builder Rick Howerton also glows over the scene the machine started to create last season, and the scene stealing it would lead to in the 2012 season.

Of note, Eaken could and would come off at times as a little gruff, but bottom line the man was focused on his art, that of building the best, most solid and fastest machines around.  So to get a picture of him smiling, in itself, is golden.  I hope Rick, Luke and Skip upstairs will appreciate this one.

And to that I say, RIP Skip Eaken, one of the best in the business, those upstairs with you like the late Ricky Graham will surely have some fun and fast times with you again and now, and are surely blessed to have you up there with them.

God Bless big man, and thanks for all the memories that I will cherish always, and forever!

AMA Flat Track: From a Dream, to the Desktop to the Dirt-The Eaken Racing/Luke Gough & Rick Howerton-Built Kawasaki Twins Series Machine, Part 3

Eaken Racing's Luke Gough rolls out for practice at the rain delayed Springfield Mile I round of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series on May 29 on the team's new #62 Kawasaki 650R-based mount, built by Rick Howerton of Howerton Products in Indianapolis, IN.  The Digger/Dick Ford/KK Cycle/Eaken Racing/Sakaida Trucking/Howerton-sponsored machine was making it's debut in the Twins Series after Howerton had started the build back in late summer 2010.  Gough just did miss the revamped program, coming up just .110 seconds out of the 6th and final qualifying spot on the day in the bike's first real test under real racing conditions.  By the end of the 2011 season, things were starting to look almost as bright for the new Kawasaki and rider as it's dayglo paint job.
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Former AMA Grand National Championship Series competitor and National #31 Dan Ingram, talks with Cycle News.com's Larry Lawrence at round 6 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series on May 29 at the Springfield Mile I.  The Clermont, IN. resident and former AMA Grand National Championship race winner did some testing with the team in preparing the Eaken Racing Kawasaki, along with current National #13 Dan Gedeon when they tested at the Circleville, OH. half-mile in early May.  Lloyd Brothers Motorsports was also on hand for the test, and then-rider and eventual 2011 Saddlemen AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year Brad Baker also did some laps on the parallel twin for the team.

Ingram was within reach of the track record almost immediately after having not ridden in Expert competition since the early '90s accident he suffered racing.  Originally hoping to make his comeback at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile in August, Ingram is now racing some of the Steve Nace Racing indoor events at DuQuoin on an AMA Pro Singles license, and once he has amassed 100 points can move back to an Expert license per AMA Flat Track.  He's already gotten over 40 of those and could be back on a Twin by late spring 2012 according to Howerton Products' Rick Howerton.
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As rider Luke Gough and team owner Skip Eaken discuss strategy the rest of the team gets the #62 Eaken Racing XR750 and Kawasaki 650R ready for the former Australian flat track champ at round 11 of the series at Lake Odessa, MI. on July 23, 2011.  Unfortunately, Gough missed the cut at I-96, but by the next weekend things had turned around for them at the renewed Sacramento Mile.  Gough won his heat to nab a front row start for round 12 at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds, and went on to bring the new machine home in the 9th spot.  Things were really starting to look up.  Expert rider Dan Gedeon from Ohio also tried to qualify the machine for the Lima race between Springfield I and Lake Odessa, but finishes of 7th in his heat and 6th in his semi kept him and the Kawasaki on the sidelines again.
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At the next Twins Series round at the Springfield Mile II on September 4, Gough put the Rick Howerton-built machine into it's second-straight final.  Practicing in the top 17, he went on to qualify 9th on the Kaw, just .306 seconds adrift of fast man Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. on the #2 Harley-Davidson Motor Co. factory XR.  He then went on to finish 3rd in his heat behind winner Sammy Halbert and runner-up Bryan Smith, just .247 seconds behind what was virtually a dead heat between the top 2 for what was a very strong run.

On the warm up lap, eventual event winner Willie McCoy rolls off the line as Gough, Matt Weidman #20, Rob Pearson #27 and Jake Johnson #1 get the signal to roll from AMA Pro Flat Track official Kelly Bell.

Getting a rough start in the National main, Gough worked his way to the rear of the lead pack and was running in the lead draft of seven other riders when........
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........the crank let go on the Kawasaki 650R-based mount with just 5 laps to go.  The season ended on a very bright note, however, when Gough took the bike home to a career-best 4th-place finish at the season's penultimate round at the Calistoga Half-Mile.
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Rider Luke Gough, team owner and long time tuner to the stars Skip Eaken, and Rick Howerton, the builder extraordinaire of the Eaken Racing Kawasaki, pose for a team shot for Cycle News.com's Larry Lawrence during the debut of the machine at round 6 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at the Springfield Mile on May 29. 

After over 1700 hours of thought, work and sweat in getting the machine ready to race at Springfield, the team rolled out what is one of the finest specimens of current flat track technology out there.  With the advent of the Werner/Springsteen Kawasaki and the Scott Powersports Kawasaki of Johnny Lewis during the 2010 season, the Eaken Racing team also dipped their toe into the rule book to come up with a dry weight of around 285 lbs. for the parallel twin machine.  With vinyl graphics that reach out a grab you, the machine is a work of art, and is steadily gathering steam to be regularly competitive in the AMA Flat Track Twins Series for the upcoming new season. 

Rick Howerton told me on my visit to his shop last week that the team is working strongly to try and be a top-5 competitor with the Kawasaki.  And when talking with Gough at the Springfield Mile II just before he made the main, he was slowly but surely coming to grips with the power and handling of the bike.  It seems the high-spinning bike has plenty of power ('well over 85-90 HP' per builder Howerton), it's just harnessing that power to the ground that they are working on now.

With the release of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series schedule the other day, we all will now have to wait until the first Twins Series event at the Springfield Mile round in May '12 to see if that work has paid off.  With this great team of people involved it should be fun to see the results, and if and when it happens, it couldn't happen to a nicer and hard-working group of folks!
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Merry Christmas to everyone from Stu's Shots, and we thank you for making us a part of your virtual visits throughout the season!
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AMA Flat Track: From a Dream, to the Desktop to the Dirt-The Eaken Racing/Luke Gough & Rick Howerton-Built Kawasaki Twins Series Machine, Part 2

Luke Gough's #62 Digger/Dick Ford/KK Cycle/Eaken Racing/Sakaida Trucking/Howerton-sponsored Kawasaki 650R-based mount sits ready to make it's debut at the Springfield Mile I round of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series on May 29.  Team members are pretty laid back discussing the machine with fellow racers during the rain delayed event over the Memorial Day Weekend.  After testing the machine earlier in the month at the Circleville, OH. half-mile, the bike was ready for it's first true racing test.
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During the street tracker's build, the seat, tail section and rear suspension details can be enjoyed.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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The rolling chassis for the street tracker sits outside the Howerton facility in Indy.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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Three sets of exhausts sit ready to roll out the door to one of Howerton Products customers just less than 10 miles west of the shop.  John Force Racing in Brownsburg will no doubt be happy with these finished pieces.

Underneath the tarp is one of Rick's pride and joys-a former Team Honda bike ridden at one time by none other than.......
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.....former National #3 Ricky Graham to a win at the Houston Astrodome TT event in the mid '80s.  The bike is a Honda RS600, which Rick hopes to completely restore sometime in the future.
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One of the frequent visitors to the westside Indy shop is former motocross champion Roger DeCoster, who was in town last spring for the AMA Supercross event at the Lucas Oil Stadium.  Here he checks out the race version of Rick's Eaken Racing/Howerton Kawasaki.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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The left side of the street tracker sits on stands in the shop awaiting the return of the front end.
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One of the signs in the shop shows some of the handiwork that Howerton Products can put together for you.  Their list of clients and series in which they supply parts for is diversified.
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This was one of the exhaust manifolds that Rick and his team were working on when I visited the shop on Gasoline Alley in Indy.  This sweet unit is for one of the new IndyCar motors for the 2012 season.
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Looking down the Kawasaki 650R's exhaust pipes.
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During my visit to the shop, the front forks for the street tracker had been sent out for revalving.  Rick got his first motor off of eBay for about $1K (and probably one of the least expensive items purchased for the bike at that!)
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The completed street tracker sits outside the Howerton Products race shop along Gasoline Alley on the westside of Indy.  Rick mentioned that him and the team discussed riding the tracker version over to Springfield for it's May 2011 debut and removing the lights and front brake and going racing, just like a lot of the Class C flat trackers would do back in the old days.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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Builder Rick Howerton, team owner and legendary AMA Grand National Championship tuner Skip Eaken, and 5-Time Australian Flat Track Champ and AMA Grand National Championship Series #62 Luke Gough pose for a shot before the bike heads out for it's first test in spring 2010.  Alongside sits the rolling chassis for the street tracker version.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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We'll have more on the Eaken Racing/Luke Gough and Rick Howerton-built Eaken Racing Kawasaki 650R, so check back to see what else is coming up!

Merry Christmas to everyone the world over from Stu's Shots!
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AMA Flat Track: From a Dream, to the Desktop to the Dirt-The Eaken Racing/Luke Gough & Rick Howerton-Built Kawasaki Twins Series Machine

Rick Howerton and Luke Gough talk during the rain delay at the Springfield Mile I round of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series on May 29, with the #62 Digger/Dick Ford/KK Cycle/Eaken Racing/Sakaida Trucking/Howerton-sponsored Kawasaki 650R-based mount at the ready.  The 5-Time Australian Flat Track Champion was tasked with debuting the team's new Twins machine at the first round of the season in round 6 of the series and just missed making the National main in the bike's first true racing tryout by just .110 seconds.

Howerton, a long time fan of the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series, decided he wanted to give back to the sport he loved and built the 650R-based Twins Series machine starting in late summer 2010.  Working from his original dream, Rick started putting everything together for the build on his work pc, and came up with a splendid design and working concept that in it's original outing on the track at Circleville, OH. was lapping within reach of the track record. 

The pictures and stories that follow are about Rick Howerton's vision in bringing a challenge to the track in today's AMA Pro Flat Track Series.
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The man behind the Eaken Racing Kawasaki, as ridden by Luke Gough in the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Twins Series.  Rick Howerton has been around racing all of his life (his father Jackie is a former USAC Silver Crown driver/owner) and has been a major flat track racing fan since the early-mid '80s when Team Honda had their shop just two doors down from the Howerton facility. 

Rick told me when he was 14 years old back in those days he used to ride his BMX bike around the shop and down the street to the Team Honda facilities and became good friends with Skip Eaken, Sparky Edmondson, Gene Romero, Doug Chandler, Bubba Shobert and Ricky Graham from the Team Honda superteam. 

That relationship with Skip Eaken has stood since and his pairing with the man that took Bubba Shobert to three straight AMA Grand National Championships in the mid-late '80s is now hoping to put a dent in the H-D XR750-dominated world of AMA Flat Track.
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This is the computer model of the Eaken Racing/Howerton Products Kawasaki 650R-based machine as put together by Rick Howerton at Howerton Products in Indianapolis.  Starting from what he had working in his head, Rick took to the task of generating a computer model to actually do the build off of, and from there the build got into full swing.

Rick has what to many would be the IMAX of computer screens in his office in a 31" unit with wonderful graphics.  The shop is located just 8 blocks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Gasoline Alley, amongst a plethora of other racing shops set-up in the area on the westside of Indy.
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Everything  built in the Howerton Products shop starts as raw product in the form of sheeting, in various sizes and dimensions.  Some of Howerton's many clients include John Force Racing in NHRA and Michael Waltrip Racing in NASCAR, along with many of the IndyCar teams located close to the shop on the westside of Indy.
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Various frame and swingarm pieces in mid-build sit on the shop bench ready for the next step in the building process.  Most of the pieces in the build are 1/1000th of an inch thick.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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Completed swingarm assemblies sit on the shop bench after final prep.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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The roughly 2.5 gallon gas tank has over 30 hours of labor alone in it between the stamping and rolling, from what started as flat sheet metal.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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The frame assembly awaits further pieces to become a true rolling chassis.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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Axles, swingarm pivot and head neck assembly are ready for installation.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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Triple clamp assemblies are ready to be put together.  All of the aluminum parts are made from 7075 aluminum, while all of the stainless pieces are made from 17-4 stainless.  Very light, very strong and VERY expensive.  Photo courtesy of Rick Howerton/Howerton Products.
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The seat and tail section on the street build are the same as found on the AMA Grand National Twins Series version.  The wire assembly hanging from the rear of the tail section is for the LED brake and tail light assembly.  The dzus fasteners alone cost around $100 apiece, as shown in front of the 'HRP' logo.
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Tune in tomorrow for part 2 of our look at the Eaken Racing/Luke Gough/Rick Howerton Kawasaki 650R-based AMA Flat Track Twins Series machine, and we'll also look more at the street tracker version of this great build project, which is a mirror copy of the full-race version.
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