AMA Flat Track: Jon Goodwin & Kevin Anderson Announce New National Numbers for 2013 Season

Jon Goodwin on the #26P JH2 Performance/Hart Racing/Goodwin Racing/Shoei-sponsored Honda CRF450R takes the high line around Luke Gough on the #62 Nicely Motorsport/Skip Eaken Racing/Johnson Cams/G2-backed Yamaha YZ450F during one of the qualifying rounds at the Peoria TT on August 12, 2012.

Round 9 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season saw Goodwin qualify for his first-ever National main at the Peoria Motorcycle Club-hosted event after finishing 3rd in his semi behind riders Justin Hittle and Dustin Crow.  The Illinois resident went on to finish 17th in the 25-lap final out of the 18 riders who made the main at Peoria and as a result earned his first two points in the combined standings in the 2012 AMA Grand National Championship.

As a result, Goodwin will be wearing National #38 for the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track season, a number probably made most famous by former AMA Grand National Championship competitor Chuck Palmgren in the early-mid '70s when he was riding for Dan Gurney's All American Racers.

Congrats to Jon Goodwin for this big move up for next season in earning your National number.  Bravo!

Round 12 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season saw the series roll back into the Illinois State Fairgrounds after a two-week delay due to being washed out over the traditional Labor Day Weekend event due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.

One of the riders on-hand after the series resumed it's assault on the Multipurpose Arena at the Springfield Short Track was Minnesota resident Kevin Anderson, shown during one of the practice sessions of the afternoon on his #11K Anderson Brothers Motorsports/Diesel MN/Goodwin Racing/Moose Racing-sponsored Honda CRF450R.  Anderson missed the cut at Springfield after qualifying a very respectable 21st out of the 48 riders on-hand who took a qualifying lap on the day, going on to post finishes of 12th in each of his heat and semi races. 

Anderson did, however make the cut in the season's penultimate round at the Tucson International Raceway event after finishing 16th in the 18-rider National main, which wass good enought for him to also earn his National number for the 2013 season.  Anderson will wear National #25 proudly in the upcoming season, a number also worn in the past by former 3-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen in his sophomore season in the series.  Springsteen only carried the #25 for that single year as he went on to win the championship during the '76-'78 seasons.

Another congrats goes out to Kevin Anderson, 2013's National #25.  Great job man! 


Kevin Anderson announced over Twitter last week that he would be carrying National #25 during the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season.  Check out this pic he posted of his new National #:

http://instagram.com/p/SNr-f8vvjj/

And also a big thanks goes out to Tyler Porter and his bitchin' Fight For Dirt Track.com for mentioning the aforementioned new signees to the National number department in his Inslide Line column this week.  You can catch up with some of the other goings-on about the sport by following TP and his weekly reports here:

http://www.fightfordt.com/new_site/index.php

2012 Flat Track Season Starts Tomorrow as Steve Nace Racing's AMA All Star National Flat Track Series Kicks Off in Savannah on March 9

When round 6 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com was finally ready to go at the running of the Springfield Mile I on May 30, former Grand National Championship competitor (and former National #23) Kevin Atherton and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports co-owner Dave Lloyd were ready to go at the legendary Illinois State Fairground oval.  Getting the bikes through AMA Pro Flat Track's tech check process was just the first step in ensuring that their new rider, Brad Baker, and his Ducati 1098-based mounts were also ready to go.

As it ended up, they all were indeed ready as Baker went on to not only nail down fast time in his first full-time ride on a Twins Series machine, but by also winning the fastest heat of the day on the LBM/TeamHurtByAccident.com/Foremost Insurance/ENI USA-sponsored mounts.  Unfortunately a front end wobble forced him to "settle" for 5th in the 18 rider National main event, but at day's end the future 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Rookie of the Year and the Lloyd Brothers team knew that they had a great year ahead of them.

Fast forward to the fast-approaching 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track season.  Baker has gone off to ride Kawasakis for Kenny Tolbert and Bill Werner, and the LBM team is forced to look for their third new rider in the last three seasons.

Not so fast.........

Turning to a man who has worked with the team in the past, and who before Joe Kopp had won the Arizona Mile I in May 2010, had gotten the team their best finish in an AMA Grand National race (at Lima several years before on their Aprilia-based mount), co-owners Mike and Dave Lloyd signed on 2-Time AMA Grand National Singles Champion Henry Wiles to fill the seat of the Ducati-based V-twins.  The machine proudly displayed Wiles' National #17 at Indy several weeks ago while it was on display in the Lloyd Brothers and ENI USA booth.

In what is surely a win-win situation for the Lloyd Brothers team AND for star rider Wiles, their season officially starts tomorrow as the 2012 Steve Nace Racing AMA All Star National Flat Track Series drops the first green flag on the new season at Oglethorpe Speedway Park outside of Savannah, GA.  And this team, along with a BIG handful of AMA Grand National Championship regulars, will be on-hand to kick the flat track season into full gear for the new year.

Talking with team co-owner Dave Lloyd last night, the team is "very excited to get going for the new year.  We've been down here for the last couple of days, used Wednesday for a test day for us and Henry to get a baseline going, and are planning on running the practice session on Thursday (today, March 8) to help us further dial in the bikes."

According to Lloyd, five of the team members are on-hand in Savannah.  "Yeah, between the five of us we are sharing one motel room.  Henry and I were up until 2:30 AM the night before, talking the night away about the new year.  I'm getting ready to go blow up my air mattress to sleep in the motor home tonight.  We're all real pumped about the new year and ready to go racing.  I've only got a few loose ends to tie up with our sponsorship, but everything looks pretty good for us in that respect."

When I got a chance to talk with Dave's brother, Mike at the 2012 Indy Dealer Expo back on February 17-18, he also was looking forward to having Henry in the seat and getting the year going.  "We really tried to put things together with Hank for last year, and things fell apart at the last minute.  He's a great young man and knows bike control, and we all know one another well from our past relationship."

Another big change for the team this year is that the 'Ducati' name has been removed (unfortunately) from the tank.  And since the Springfield Mile II round in September 2011, has been adorned with 'NickyHayden.com.'  Per Mike Lloyd, the team took Ducati's name off of the bike.  "The best help they would give us was dealer cost on parts.  After all of the exposure we have gotten them in this sport, we took it off.  I can get that kind of break at any Ducati dealer in the nation."  As a result, the LBM name and Nicky Hayden's name are central to the tank now of the 2012 versions of the bike.

The bike in front in the tech line shot, above, is the original 1098-based mount that the team started with a few years ago.  "Yeah, that's the first motor we worked with when we switched to Ducati that Larry Pegram had in his garage.  It's also one of the four we have ready to go now, two for the half-miles and two for the mile races," stated Mike.  It's also one of the two that Nicky Hayden kicked in some money and sponsorship for to help them rebuild after it let go at the Sacramento Mile late last July.  "I can't say enough about Nicky, he's just an all-around great guy."  And according to both brothers, once The Kentucky Kid returns to flat track after his MotoGP career is over "he'll always have a ride with us!"

As it turned out, that plan falling apart  for '11 actually worked better for everyone, except Henry of course.  After suffering a leg injury at round 3 in DuQuoin, Hammerin' Hank pulled off what only someone of his style and caliber of rider could, and went out to Salinas and won the short track the next weekend.  But when the weekend was over, Hank was under the knife to repair his injuries and his season looked dim, at best, at the end of April.

Little did anyone know-except Hank!-that less then three months later he would be back on a Twins machine (at Lake Odessa riding for Greg Crow Racing) and finishing 12th on the night.  Less then 30 days later, Hammerin' Hank returned to the track he all but owns and won his 7th consecutive Peoria TT.  And 15 days later backed it up with his 5th win-in-a-row at the Springfield Short Track.

"Our testing went real well today," continued Dave in our conversation from last night, "and we are really excited to be working with Henry again this year.  Kevin (Atherton) is working again with us this year and is down here with us, too.  We got a lot done today, and tomorrow we'll run the practice session and be ready to race come Friday night."

With that practice session set to start in a matter of minutes (as of this writing), the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team and a large contingent of AMA Pro Flat Track regulars look to converge on the first flat track race of the 2012 season.  Riders like Jared Mees, Jake Johnson, Sammy Halbert, Brad Baker and a LARGE handful of others will be on-track tonight to iron out what kinks may need ironing before the first green flag drops on the new season of racing.

But the Lloyd Brothers team will have one big thing going for them which they haven't had in several years.  A great rider that has worked with the team in the past.  And that in itself should help put them at least a step-or two-ahead of the start of their last couple of seasons.  Should that step make the difference, then one of the hardest working teams (and most likeable) in flat track racing will be ready to jump on it.  It's sure going to be fun to watch as it all unfolds this year!

Good luck to the LBM team, as well as all of the other competitors in the Steve Nace and AMA Pro Flat Track series for the 2012 season.  I'm ready to get this motor running!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oglethorpe Speedway Park and Volusia Speedway Park event flyer courtesy of Steve Nace Racing Promotions, for rounds 1 & 2 of the 2012 AMA All Star National Flat Track Series.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sheer determination of a champion is shown in the face of Henry Wiles as he gets ready to lead the 18-rider field away for the start of round 14 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com at the Peoria TT on August 21.  25 laps and just less than 11 minutes later, Hammerin' Hank would make a return to winning as he would win his 7th consecutive National main event at the track he has all but owned since the '04 season (the '07 race was rained out) on his #17 Monster Energy Kawasaki/Jones Bros/Don's Kawasaki/Shift Racing-sponsored KX450F.

Wiles will again be riding the Don's/Jones Brothers Kawis in the 2012 Single Series events, and will be returning to a team in the Twins Series in which he is very familiar, again riding for the Lloyd Brothers team he last rode for during the '09 season.

With this great pairing for the 2012 season, fans of AMA Pro Flat Track have alot to look forward to for the new year!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can follow the action tomorrow and on Sunday, March 11 as Steve Nace Racing Promotions presents rounds 1 and 2 of the 2012 AMA All Star National Flat Track Series at Oglethorpe Speedway Park in Pooler, GA. (Friday, March 9) and Volusia Speedway Park in De Leon Springs, FL. (Sunday, March 11) kicks off the roar to the new season.

The hardest working lady in flat track, Miriam Deitcher, will be on-hand at both rounds of the season-opening events at Savannah and Volusia, and will be providing updates on her Flat Track Live on Facebook.  You can follow those updates here:

https://www.facebook.com/FlatTrackLive

Oglethorpe Speedway Park info can be found here:

http://www.ospracing.net/

And Pooler, GA. (just west of Savannah) weather info can be found here:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:31322.1.99999

Volusia Speedway Park info can be found here:

http://volusiaspeedwaypark.com/

And De Leon Springs, FL. (north-northwest of Deland) weather can be found here:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:32130.1.99999

You can also get info on the rest of the 2012 Steve Nace Racing AMA All Star National Flat Track Series here, thanks to SNR's official site (note-full results are usually posted within 2-3 business days after each event):

http://www.stevenaceracing.com/allstar.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared Mees Goes 4-For-4 in Winning 2012 ICE Speedway Series Round at Bloomington, IL on January 21

Jared Mees talks with the ICE Speedway Series announcer after winning his fourth main event of the 2012 season at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, IL. on Saturday, January 21.  The 3-Time and defending ICE Series Champ took his #1 Honda to the win in front of an enthusiastic crowd at round 4 of the ICE Speedway Series season in the Manufacturers Cup Bike class ahead of runner-up Kevin Anderson #11 on his Honda and 3rd place finisher Jake Mataya #29 on his Kawasaki. 

The Jammer won both of his heat races to go along with his main event win in a field filled with several AMA Pro Flat Track regulars, including Rob Pearson, Justin Hittle and Brandon Robinson, to further his grip on the 2012 Manufacturers Cup Championship.  Anderson, the '09 ICE Series Champion, had a good night as well in winning his first heat and coming in second to fellow-Minnesota resident Mataya in his other heat.  Mataya also won both of his heats on the evening.

Eighteen riders showed up at the downtown Bloomington arena to take in the action on the ice in front of a crowd estimated at 3500 in attendance.  In a tightly run program and an exciting show, ICE President Brent Densford and his wife Tiffany helped to put together a great night for everyone to enjoy, and few delays were seen throughout the evening.  This is one show that doesn't give you much time to lounge around or take a break, as other then an occassional Zamboni break to work on the ice, would see racing run back-to-back throughout the evening's event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the heat races on the evening shows eventual main event runner-up Kevin Anderson #11 leading Kirk Cheney #15, with AMA Flat Track regular Justin Hittle #81 and former AMA Grand National competitor and Clermont, IN.'s Dan Ingram #22 trying to keep them honest.  Ingram made the trip over with his father, Sam, also a former flat track competitor from back in the '70s.

Ingram is in the process of trying to gain enough points in the AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Series and also in Steve Nace's DuQuoin indoor series to get his Expert license again.  He's hoping to be able to hit the track at the first Expert Twins Series event of the season at the Memorial Day Weekend Springfield Mile. 

Dan had a rough go of it in Bloomington, though.  Finishing 4th in his first heat, he was forced to borrow a competitor's bike to run his second heat when his mount wouldn't fire.  He ended up 4th in that second heat and failed to make the main event.

Believe it or not tidbit for the night--Ingram is still wearing the same leathers he wore when competing in the AMA Grand National Championship Series in the early '90s when he was injured at the Springfield Mile.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another one of the evening's exciting heat races has Brandon Robinson #44 battling with Tom McGrane #99, Jay Maloney #21 and Austin Greenland #31.  BRobb44 had a night he would just as soon forget, falling behind to 4th in this and his other heat, failing to make the main.  Hopefully luck will turn around for the personable Pennsylvania resident and '08 AMA Pro Expert Twins Champ when the series hits his home state on February 4 for the final round of the season at Johnstown, PA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bryan McKenna #19 leads Jake Mataya #29, Mark Cheza #16 and another AMA Pro Flat Track regular, Brandan Bergen #26 during this heat race.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morton, IL. resident Rob 'Bugs' Pearson #27 made the short jaunt from his home to take in some of the night's racing at Bloomington.  Here he tried to get the jump on eventual winner Mees #1 in their heat race, with Derek Hersh #18 keeping them in sight.  The new Memphis Shades-signee for the 2012 GN season carded a 3rd and a 2nd place in his heat races, and went on to make the main with a 3rd place finish in the LCQ race.  He eventually finished 5th in the main event for the Manufacturers Cup Bikes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The atmosphere is much more casual in the pit area of the ICE Series races then what you would see at an AMA Grand National race.  Here Mark Cheza, Jared Mees and Tom McGrane wait for their next race to get some more sliding in on the ice.  The #15 machine of Kirk Cheney sits on the far left side of the shot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The eight-man LCQ race looked pretty wild as the riders entered turn one for their last chance to make the final.  Rob Pearson #27 takes the outside line around a field that included Austin Greenland #31 (LCQ winner), Jay Maloney #21 (LCQ runner-up), Tom McGrane #99, Bryan McKenna #19, Sammy Wiggins #56, Derek Hersh #18 and Jason Mott #75.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 1/21/12

Results compiled by: Dustin Speed

US Cellular Coliseum – Bloomington, IL

Round 4 - 36^th Annual World Championship ICE Racing Series Results

Manufacturers Cup Bikes:

Heat 1:

1-Tom McGrane #99

2-Austin Greenland #31

3-Jay Maloney #21

4-Brandon Robinson #44

Heat 2:

1-Kevin Anderson #11

2-Kirk Cheney #15

3-Justin Hittle #81

4-Dan Ingram #22

Heat 3:

1-Jake Mataya #29

2-Bryan McKenna #19

3-Mark Cheza #16

4-Brandon Bergen #44

Heat 4:

1-Sammy Wiggins #56

2-Jason Mott #75

3-Ben Knight #85

Heat 5:

1-Jared Mees #1

2-Derek Hersh #18

3-Rob Pearson #27

Heat 6:

1-Jay Maloney #21

2-Jason Mott #75

3-Justin Hittle #81

4-Mark Cheza #16

Heat 7:

1-Austin Greenland #31

2-Sammy Wiggins #56

3-Tom McGrane #99

4-Ben Knight #85

Heat 8:

1-Jake Mataya #29

2-Kevin Anderson #11

3-Bryan McKenna #19

4-Brandon Robinson #44

Heat 9:

1-Kirk Cheney #15

2-Rob Pearson #27

3-Derek Hersh #18

Heat 10:

1-Jared Mees #1

2-Brandon Bergen #44

3-Dan Ingram #22 (ran #16 due to bike non-start)

LCQ:

1-Austin Greenland #31

2-Jay Maloney #21

3-Rob Pearson #27

4-Tom McGrane #99

5-Bryan McKenna #19

6-Sammy Wiggins #56

7-Derek Hersh #18

8-Jason Mott #75

Main Event:

1-Jared Mees #1

2-Kevin Anderson #11

3-Jake Mataya #29

4-Tom McGrane #99

5-Rob Pearson #27

6-Jay Maloney #21

7-Kirk Cheney #15

8-Austin Greenland #31

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------















In the final event of the evening, eight riders jet off  the line at the drop of the flag in the Manufacturers Cup Bike main event.  Austin Greenland #31, Jake Mataya #29 and Kirk Cheney #15 get the jump on eventual winner Jared Mees #1 as Rob Pearson #27, Tom McGrane #99, Jay Maloney #21 and Kevin Anderson #11 launch off of the second row.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared Mees #1 gets the inside line going into turn one with Kirk Cheney #15 and Austin Greenland #31 spreading out and leading the rest of the pack in the Manufacturers Cup Bike final.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time the pack is coming out of turn two, Mees has the edge on the rest of the field and went on to sail to the victory.  Racing is much tighter on the indoor track then what it appears from the shot and the adrenaline level is high with not only the racers, but the crowd on hand as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later this week we will be doing another story on our trip over to Bloomington that will include some of the action in the Outlaw Quads class featured in the ICE Series.  Stay tuned, but in the meantime you can check out some other info on the ICE Speedway Series.  I highly recommend putting one of these events on your calendar, you will NOT be disappointed!

And a tip of the helmet and a big thanks go out to Brent and Tiffany Densford for putting on a super show in Bloomington and for letting Stu's Shots be a part of a great night!


You can keep up with ICE Speedway events here via their official site below.  Round 5 of the season wraps up the shortened 2012 schedule on February 4 at the Cambria War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. at 7:30 P.M. EST. 

http://icespeedway.com/cgi-bin/newsv/eventsv.cgi

Follow ICE Speedway via Twitter:

http://twitter.com/icespeedway

And check out some past video action from ICE Speedway at the U.S. Cellular Arena in Bloomington, IL. here thanks to MXPTV.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQY4yW7Zl20
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------