AMA Pro Flat Track Releases 2011 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series Schedule

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The racing is hot and heavy in heat race action back in September of '75 in the Camel Pro Series AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series annual stop at the Syracuse Mile, located at the New York State Fairgrounds. One of the regular stops for The Rolling Thunder Show up until just a few years ago, the race seemed to be plagued with rain-outs in the last few years of it's running in the early '00s and hasn't been seen on the schedule for some time now.
Leading this pack of riders on the #82 is Ricky Campbell, followed by the #76X of Ken Springsteen on his Vista Sheen-sponsored machine, '81 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion and current Flat Track Manager Mike Kidd on his Kruger Racing #72, the late Jay Ridgeway on the #9C, the late Randy Cleek on the Bel Ray/K&N-sponsored #29 (and the '76 AMA Road Racing Champion), Keith Ulicki on the #8K, Mike Caves on the #28, and bringing up the rear the #92 of HJ Products-sponsored Steve Droste. All riders are Harley-Davidson XR750 mounted in this shot.
Back in '75, the AMA Grand National Championship consisted of 20 total events broken into 17 flat track events and 3 road racing events. In '76, the Camel Pro Series AMA Grand National Championship Series ballooned into 28 total events, 24 flat track and 4 road racing events. After the AMA split the series in the mid-80s, each respective championship stood on it's own and to this day continues that way. Furthermore, the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series in itself has run anywhere from 15-22 events each year on it's calendar.
Good news hit the airwaves today as the current regime of AMA Pro Flat Track, headed up by previously mentioned Mike Kidd, his brother Gary, former GNC contender Steve Morehead and a team of great people too lengthy to name here, released the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series schedule. The upcoming season has 22 current events on the calendar, including (among others) the regular mix of great returning venues (Indy, Springfield, Yavapai Downs, Lake Odessa and Lima), a nice mix of new venues (Hartford, MI. and Billings, MT.) and some great venues not seen for awhile on the regular schedule (Sacramento and Castle Rock.)
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From a press release from AMA Pro Flat Track:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 17, 2010) – AMA Pro Racing announced today the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship schedule that features an increased number of races, plus new and former events back on the schedule.
The 2011 schedule features 22 dates in 17 markets across the country with a mixture of Short Track, TT, Half-Mile and Mile dirt tracks.
Once again the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship will consist of three series; Expert Singles, Expert Twins and the highly successful Pro Singles.
The season will open during Daytona Bike Week at the DAYTONA® Flat Track moved from the traditional mid-week double national, with a Short Track on Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th.
Next on the schedule will be the only indoor National of the Series in Du Quoin, Ill. at the Southern Illinois Complex April 16th. The series will then move west to the Salinas Sports Complex for the first Tourist Trophy “TT” National of the season, then returns to Yavapai Downs in Prescott, Ariz. for the Mile May 1st.
Inaugural events will be held at the Southern Illinois Complex in Du Quoin, Ill.; The Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas, Calif.; Hartford Motor Speedway in Hartford, MI.; and after a long hiatus, the return of the Sacramento Mile in Sacramento, Calif.; Castle Rock TT in Castle Rock, Wash.; Metra Park Raceway Half-mile in Billings, Mont.
Annual events will continue at Yavapai Downs in Prescott Valley, Ariz.; Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill.; Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio; Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Md.; I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Minn.; Peoria Race Park in Peoria, Ill.; Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Ind.; Canterbury Park in Minneapolis, Minn.; Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif.; and the highly anticipated rained-out event in 2010 at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
“The expansion of the series is exciting news for our fans, riders and sponsors,” said Gary Kidd, Flat Track Manager of AMA Pro Racing. “We continue to work hard to showcase America’s traditional form of motorcycle racing in various parts of the country. Our goal is to continue to work with our existing promoters while going out to find aggressive promoters near key markets that will further benefit the series.”
2011 Confirmed Events
March 10 DAYTONA® Flat Track (Daytona Beach, Florida) Short Track
March 11 DAYTONA® Flat Track (Daytona Beach, Florida) Short Track
April 16 Southern Illinois Center (Du Quoin, Illinois) Short Track (Note Updated 1/19/11)April 23 Salinas Sports Complex (Salinas, California) TT
May 1 Yavapai Downs (Prescott Valley, Arizona) Mile
May 28 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) TT
May 29 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Mile
June 11 Hartford Motor Speedway (Hartford, Michigan) Half-mile
June 25 Allen County Fairgrounds (Lima, Ohio) Half-mile
July 9 Hagerstown Speedway (Hagerstown, Maryland) Half-mile
July 16 I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, Michigan) Half-mile
July 23 Metra Park Raceway (Billings, Montana) Half-mile
July 30 Cal Expo Fair (Sacramento, California) Mile
August 6 Castle Rock Race Park (Castle Rock, Washington) TT
August 21 Peoria Race Park (Peoria, Illinois) TT
August 27 Indiana State Fairgrounds (Indianapolis, Indiana) Mile
September 3 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Short Track
September 4 Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, Illinois) Mile
September 10 Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa) Half-mile
September 24 Canterbury Park (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Mile
October 1 Calistoga Speedway (Calistoga, California) Half-mile
October 9 Yavapai Downs (Prescott Valley, Arizona) Mile
*Additional Dates TBD/TBA
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Great news from AMA Pro Flat Track today in the announcing of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Series schedule. With numerous returning as well as long-standing events, and a great mix of west and east coast and midwest events, new venues and a return to venues not seen in some time, AMA Pro Flat Track has outdone itself again in providing the very best in entertainment, racing and the big wow that is always present in The Rolling Thunder Show. Hats off to AMA Flat Track Manager Mike Kidd and Team AMA Flat Track for putting this great calendar together for the upcoming season.
WOW! Stu's Shots thought this season was super, but 2011 is shaping up to be a barn burner of a year! Is it March yet?!
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Updated Wed. 1/19/11 1800 EST:
The original date for the DuQuoin Short Track has been updated from April 9 to reflect the new date of April 16.
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Congratulations and a Big Thank You to Wayne Hosaka and Flat Track.com!

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Heat race action at the AMA Flat Track Toledo Half Mile in late summer of 1975 shows #42 Steve Morehead on his Triumph out front early leading the late Jay Ridgeway on the #9C H-D XR750, Gene Romero on the #3 C & J Yamaha, Ricky Campbell on the #82 XR750 and Hank Scott on the #14 Shell Thuett Yamaha, among others not easily identified. Toledo was a limestone-based horse track, very similar in layout and look to Louisville Downs.
I actually had to do some close looking at some shots to make sure what track was what, and found that Louisville didn't have the white 'solid-looking' outside walls behind the pack coming out of turn four, and the inside guard rails at Louisville were supported by an inverted 'J' or 'L' post that attached to the rail itself for support. This was one of nine or ten races I hit in the summer of '75 after having found AMA Flat Track in the summer of '74. Needless to say, I was completely hooked and have been an avid fan ever since.
AMA Flat Track came back with a bang in 2010 spear headed by Mike & Gary Kidd and Steve Morehead and the AMA Pro Flat Track Team, and I am thrilled to say that it is the best I have ever seen it in the 37 years I have been following it. With multiple brands, big rider turn outs at the races, a good television package, paying butts in the seats, and sponsorship dollars starting to work their way back into The Rolling Thunder Show, AMA Flat Track Racing made a great turn-around this year and is poised to head into the next decade in the best shape overall it has been in years...and maybe decades.
People like Wayne Hosaka, who heads up THE place for ALL THINGS flat track at his bitchin' site Flat Track.com are what have made flat track and flat track fans the best there is in any form of 2-wheeled racing. Wayne will be presented with one of AMA Pro Racing's AMA Media Awards in Las Vegas on November 20 for what he has done for the world of flat track, and AMA Pro Flat Track Racing. Bravo man, bravo!
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One of the sites I like to link to during race coverage, as well as posting some of my bits and pieces about the world of flat track racing here on Stu's Shots, is the Flat Track.com page that is helmed by Wayne 'Hos' Hosaka, a former West Coast hot shoe who was tragically paralyzed during a flat track race at Ascot back in 1971. Being a former flat tracker and wanting to be kept abreast of all things flat track, as well as wanting to help keep folks like you and me-fans and/or fanatics of all things flat track-abreast of the world of flat track racing, Hos started his website back in the mid '90s just as the World Wide Web was really kicking into gear, at least from a 'use-at-home' application.

In doing so, Hos brought together thousands of hard-core fans that wanted to be kept up on the great world of flat track racing. Some 15 years later, Flat Track.com is THE place to go to find out anything having to do with flat track racing and is the preeminent stop each day for flat track fans and participants to go and share what is going on in the world of flat track motorcycle racing. Besides the average Joe like myself that have found the site to not only be a great source of news, as well as getting the news out, there are racers, former racers, promoters and sponsors that turn to Flat Track.com before going anywhere else to get the update on what is really happening in the world of flat track racing. You'll be surprised at the people that go there to pass the word or get the word on flat track!

And in keeping with the theme of 'keeping up with flat track,' AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Racing have nominated Wayne and Flat Track.com for one of the distinguished AMA Racing Media Awards for the 2010 season in helping to keep AMA Pro Flat Track front and center and 'helping to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling.' The award will be presented in Las Vegas at the year-end awards banquet at the Red Rock Casino on November 20 along with all of the AMA year-end awards. Very cool indeed. Congrats Hos for a job well done!

So the next time you are surfing the web and looking for info on flat track racing, remember to check out Flat Track.com (and Stu's Shots, of course!) and in all likelihood you will find it at Hos' site. And I guarantee you'll be back once you've been there!
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Here's the post that Wayne put up last night on his Flat Track.com news page of the story I did from yesterday on Joe Kopp's retirement from full time competition in AMA Flat Track racing.

Thanks Hos, you da man! You've put together something really great here that people like me can go to to check out what is happening in flat track, as well as a place to go to help spread the word on flat track and get the news and info to the masses. Thanks so much!

http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1009&Itemid=9
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Here is some info on Wayne 'Hos' Hosaka, who back in the mid '90s had the vision to put together Flat Track.com and it's forums for all things flat track and the people that follow it to have a meeting place on the web, a place for news, info and just a general place to go to share the great sport of flat track racing.

This tells you a little about Wayne and some of his other work that he does when he's not taking care of people like me and all the other great folks that are not only flat track fans, but forum members over at his Flat Track.com website. He is a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists. Hos spends his time painting, and not just flat track paintings, either. He has a very nice collection of stuff he has done that is on exhibit on the following site of his beautiful work. You can read about Wayne and then you can check out his art as well. After you read about Hos, you can go to the top and click on the 'Galleries' tab that will take you to his wonderful art at this link:

http://www.zhibit.org/waynehosaka/about

Here are some shots of Hos when he was racing flat track on the west coast in the mid-late '60s and early '70s before his accident at Ascot in '71:

http://picasaweb.google.com/hos55x/MyMotorcycleRacingCollection?authkey=Gv1sRgCMev-NW4uOnKrwE
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AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Racing announced today the nominees for the year-end awards for the 2010 season. One award in particular that the AMA is making note of is for the AMA Racing Media Award, and one of the nominees for this year's award is Wayne Hosaka and his Flat Track.com website.
The AMA states in the press release that "in their own ways" the nominees have helped advance AMA Pro Racing and motorcycle racing into the future. A very worthy award for someone like Hos who has done so much for the sport, and for the people who follow the sport. Congrats Hos!

http://www.ama-cycle.org/news/story.asp?id=2325
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