Mid-America Speedway in Indy Set to Host Round 10 of AMA Vintage Dirt Track Championship at 'Night After the Indy Mile' Event on Saturday, August 9

Mid-America Speedway, located on Indianapolis' southeast side at the Marion County Fairgrounds, is just over three weeks away from hosting their premier event of the season, the 'Night After the Indy Mile' on Saturday, August 9.

In a schedule change over the course of last years off-season, the big night of racing at Mid-America swapped nights with the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship round at the Indy Mile, which used to run on Saturday, with Mid-America's event formally known as the 'Night Before the Indy Mile.' With Family Events, the promoters of the Indy Mile, requesting a date and night change to better coincide with the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP weekend August 8-10, the changes to the schedule were put in place. The legendary Indy Mile will now run on Friday, August 8 with Mid-America Speedway's 'Night After the Indy Mile' to follow it the next evening on the southeast side of town.

In the shot above, eventual winner and former AMA Grand National rider Steve Morehead #42, Tom Morgan #91F, 2013 AMA Grand National Championship-winning tuner Dave Atherton #15X, Bill Snyder #4 and former AMA Grand National rider Garth Brow #15 line up on the front row for the Bultaco Astro Race in August 2013 at Mid-America Speedway. All are expected to do battle again in round 10 of the 2014 AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship event at the Marion County Fairgrounds-hosted track. Photo by Mike 'Stu' Stuhler/Stu's Shots.

This year's event again will see Mid-America host round 10 of the AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship, which will also feature the Bultaco Astro Race (formerly known as the Bultaco Astro Cup) as well as several classes of vintage racing, set to go along with the track's hosting of the Open Pro Class, which again will draw undefeated track champ and 2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees to come back and protect his winning record at Mid-America.

Check out our full press release below that we helped track president and promoter, Jim Terhcila put together for this year's great night of racing, and be sure to put this on your calendar for those of you that will be in town for all of the other great racing that weekend. You WON'T be disappointed!

Mid-America Speedway in Indy to Host Round 10 of the 2014 AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Along with Open Pro Class in Annual 'Night After the Indy Mile' Event on Saturday, August 9

Night's racing to include Bultaco Astro Race featuring a host of former AMA Grand National Champions and racers

Indianapolis, IN. – July 16, 2014 – Mid-America Speedway in Indianapolis is ready to gear up for another of our premier events in August as the track will feature many returning racers from the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship, some retired AMA Grand National Champions and the 2^nd annual hosting of round 10 of the AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship featuring the Bultaco Astro Race (formerly known as the Bultaco Astro Cup race) over the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP weekend.

'The Night After the Indy Mile' sponsored by Harley-Davidson of Bloomington, IN. will see many returning stars of AMA Pro Flat Track including defending Bultaco Astro Race winner Steve Morehead, 2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp (who for the first time in his career straddled a two-stroke Bultaco at Mid-America last season), former AMA Grand National racer Dave 'Bones' Aldana, Zanotti Racing & Grand National Championship-winning tuner Dave Atherton, Indy west side resident Dan Ingram, and newly announced rider and former 7-Time AMA Grand National Champ Chris Carr.

 

 

 

2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees will be on-hand to defend his unblemished winning record at Mid-America in the Open Pro Class race along with defending AMA Grand National Champion Brad Baker, Rob 'Bugs' Pearson, Henry Wiles and a host of other greats from AMA Grand National Championship racing who will be racing for a share of the $1500 to-win purse in the Open Pro Class.

 

 

 

 

2012 AMA Grand National Champ Jared Mees #1, 2-Time AMA Pro Flat Track Singles Champ and 9-Time Peoria TT winner Henry Wiles #17 and eventual 2013 AMA Grand National Champ Brad Baker line up for the Open Pro Class main event at Mid-America Speedway in August 2013. All will be returning to action on August 9 to try to keep Mees from extending his winning record in the Open Pro race at the Marion County Fairgrounds-hosted track. Photo by Mike 'Stu' Stuhler/Stu's Shots.

 

 

Dave Aldana, among other returning racers, will be returning to do battle in the AMA Vintage Races, which Aldana triumphed over in last year's inaugural event in the Vet 60+ Class. A 500 Speedway class, 80-200cc 2- or 4-stroke class, Open Quad class (entrants already filled), and a 250cc Money class will also accompany the AMA Vintage classes, Open Pro Class race and Bultaco Astro Race for the evening.

Tickets are only $10/each, children aged 5-9 only $5 and under 4 free with a paying adult. Riders meeting starts at 4:00 PM, first practice at 4:30 and the first heat rolls off the line at 7:00 PM EDT. Pit passes are available for $10/each up until 5:00 PM and for $25/each after that time. More info can be found by visiting our schedule page at www.midamspeedway.com.

Mid-America Speedway, located at the Marion County Fairgrounds on Indy's southeast side, will also be hosting the RIDE Academy on Monday, August 11 featuring class instructors and owner Mike Hacker, Johnny Lewis, Brad Baker, Jared and Nichole Mees, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. and a handful of other AMA Pro Flat Track riders. More info on this great day of instruction can be found at www.rideacademy.com.

Press release prepared by:

Mike 'Stu' Stuhler

Stu's Shots

Indianapolis, IN. 46234

http://stusshots.blogspot.com

317-299-2072-H

317-373-0522-C

stuman714@yahoo.com

Jay Springsteen Reflects On His Historical Win at the '82 AMA Pro Flat Track Sacramento Mile

With round 8 of the 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship at the Sacramento Mile just over two weeks off, the folks at SMI, the promoters of the resurrected Sacto Mile have taken some time to talk to one of the 'old horses' of the sport to look back at some of the long-standing history from this great west coast event.

In the early '80s, 3-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen was still having problems on and off with the stomach illness that kept him from possibly winning four or more AMA Grand National Championships, and was back to do battle in round 5 of the Winston Pro Series as the The Rolling Thunder Show hit up the Sacto Mile for the first mile event of the season.

Springer had already tied 2-Time AMA Grand National Champion and 3-Time 500cc World Champion Kenny 'The King' Roberts with 29 AMA Grand National wins earlier in the season at the Houston Astrodome, and was feeling fit to race and possibly take over the helm of the 'all-time wins' leader in the AMA Grand National Championship.

From the shot above, Springer can be seen talking with a few other notables of the sport, during the rider intros portion of the first AMA Pro Flat Track Hall of Fame Race at the Springfield Mile over the Labor Day weekend in 1998, a race that was conjured up by former announcer and all-around motorcycle guy Dave Despain. Seen in the shot are eventual 9-Time AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parker, Springer talking with now AMA Pro Flat Track event manager Steve 'The Findlay Flyer' Morehead, and eventual 7-Time AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr. Despain, who not only acted as the man that put this great event together and helped raise the $100K purse to go along with it, was also the announcer for the event and can be seen 'listening in' in the background as the shutter bugs on hand shoot away at the meeting of the legends to be on the front straight at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval.

Read on below to see what Springer had to do and eventually did to take over the all-time wins list at the Sacto Mile in April '82, and get ready to see some of the best racing ever on the left coast as the stars of the greatest racing show on two wheels in the world get ready to head to Sacramento on July 26 for what will truly be a night under the stars and a track full of stars for round 8 of the AMA Grand National Championship.


Press release courtesy of SMI, the promoters of The Sacramento Mile.

Springsteen Looks Back at Historic ’82 Sacramento Mile Victory

When “Springer” became all-time AMA Grand National Wins Leader

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (July 9, 2014) – The memories of the night at Cal Expo 32 years ago aren’t crystal  clear, but Jay Springsteen does recall one thing in particular. “Ricky Graham, Bubba Shobert, Scotty Parker, I mean there were some fast guys back then,” Springsteen said.  “It was so competitive back then. If you made the main event in those days, you were good enough that you had an opportunity to win.”

On an April night in 1982 Springsteen made history. His victory at that year’s Sacramento Mile was his 30^th-career AMA Grand National win and it was a milestone victory. That evening in Sacramento Springsteen moved past the legendary Kenny Roberts to become the all-time wins leader in AMA Grand National history.

But let’s back up a moment and consider the scope of Springsteen’s achievement.

During his record-setting career in the 1950s and early ‘60s the legendary Joe Leonard established the mark that all other racers aspired to when he won 27-career AMA Nationals.

Leonard’s record held for a decade until Bart Markel finally broke it in Columbus, Ohio, in 1971, by taking his 28^th AMA National victory. Markel scored that win just in the nick of time because it proved to be his final career victory.

Modesto, California’s, Kenny Roberts then roared through the 1970s and at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, in August of 1980, when he was in the middle of winning his first FIM 500cc Grand Prix Championship overseas, Roberts found the time to come back home and score his 29^th-career AMA National victory to establish a new record.

Roberts’ all-time record would prove to be fairly short-lived. Already on the scene was one of the most talented flat trackers the sport ever produced, Jay Springsteen, who emerged, ironically from the same hometown of Markel’s, Flint, Michigan, and starting in 1975 began building his own long list of AMA National wins. In February of 1982, Springsteen tied Roberts’ all-time record by taking his 29^th-career victory in the season-opening AMA Grand National Short Track in the Houston Astrodome.

Anticipation was high for “Springer” finally hitting the 30-win mark, but it would have to wait. Springsteen was going through one of his bouts with a mysterious stomach ailment and missed some following races. Meanwhile Ricky Graham won the TT National in the Astrodome. Then New Zealand’s Graeme Crosby won the Daytona 200 and Stockton, California’s Alex Jorgensen took the TT victory at Ascot Park in Gardena, California.

The Sacramento Mile was round five of what was then known as the Winston Pro Series. It was the first Mile of the ’82 season and it was a tossup as to who would win. In the five AMA Grand National Miles the preceding season there were five different winners. So there was no clear-cut favorite that April evening at Cal Expo.

 

 

 

 

 

Jay Springsteen was all smiles after breaking the 29-race win record set by Kenny Roberts. Springsteen was the first rider in AMA Grand National history to reach the 30-win mark.  Even today Springsteen is ranked third on the all-time wins list behind only Scott Parker and Chris Carr. Photo courtesy of The Sacramento Mile.

 

 

 

 

 

Springsteen came back to race, healthy and ready to go for Sacramento.

Ricky Graham opened the program at the ’82 Sacramento Mile by breaking a lap record in qualifying, clocking a 38.51-second lap on his Tex Peel-tuned Harley-Davidson XR750. Springsteen, Lance Jones and Terry Poovey rounded out the fast qualifiers and would start from pole in their respective Heat races.

Springsteen won his Heat race on his Bill Werner-tuned factory Harley-Davidson, but he would start second in the main event to Graham, who won the fastest of the qualifying races.

At the start of the 25-lap National it was Graham leading the first lap, but Springer drafted past him to take over the lead on lap two. Werner had gotten the set-up on Springsteen’s bike perfect and he was able to actually put some breathing room between himself and the rest of the field. But then Graham rallied. He caught and passed Springer on lap 14 and the two would engage in a bar-to-bar battle the rest of the way.

It came down to the final lap. Springsteen led as the two took the white flag. Then it was Graham taking over coming off the back straight into turn three. Out the final corner Springsteen made the classic last-lap move on the Mile. He got a great drive coming off turn four and slipstreamed past Graham just before the line to finally reach that 30-win mark - and he did it by mere inches.

Graham could only shake his head and smile at being outfoxed by his more experienced rival. “I thought I was doing the right thing,” Graham said on the podium. “Every time I passed Jay going down the back straight he wouldn’t catch my draft until turn one. So I figured if I could do that (on the final lap) he wouldn’t have time to catch the draft until after the start-finish line. I guess I judged it wrong.”

All these years later Springsteen remembers making that last-second pass on Graham. "Sacramento has long straights and the finish line was a long ways down,” he said. “I got sucked into Ricky’s draft and the only thing I was worried about was getting off the blue groove. If I’d gotten off that line when I passed him I would have been in the marbles and probably wouldn’t have held on.”

Looking back on the record-breaking win now Springsteen said he was proud he did it at Sacramento and against a rider of Ricky Graham’s caliber. “Whenever people ask me who the toughest racer I ever went up against Ricky is right there at the top,” Springsteen said. “He was a natural racer, just like me. Ricky was a good rider, he was smart and that’s why he won a lot of races. “

Fast forward 32 years and Springsteen will be back in Sacramento to be honored, along with fellow former factory Harley-Davidson rider Chris Carr, on race day July 26, as two living legends of the sport. Springer and Carr will be on the track together again in a friendly showdown exhibition ride around the historic Cal Expo Mile. “I’m looking forward to coming back to the Sacramento Mile. My leathers have been hanging up all these years and they’ve shrunk a little bit. I don’t know what the deal is,” Springsteen joked. “Chris and are going to have some fun and I just hope he respects his elders, you know what I mean?”

Practice for the Sacramento Mile begins at on Saturday, July 26 at 2:15 p.m. and opening ceremonies for the evening program kicks off at 6:15 p.m.

Visit us at: http://www.sactomile.com/
Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SactoMile
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sactomile
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/sactomile —

*** 2014 Ticket Information: Ticket information is available for the July 26, 2014 Sacramento Mile at www.sactomile.com.

Fans can order tickets online  at https://secure.interactiveticketing.com/a/c84136, by calling 1-844 SAC MILE (1-844- 722-6453) or by visiting the Cal Expo Ticket Box Office in the Administration Building at 1600 Exposition Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday. Tickets can also be purchased at any ticket window during the 2014 California State Fair.

Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are available. Contact the Cal Expo Group Sales Department at boxoffice@calexpo.com for more information.

#

Larry Lawrence
o. (317) 852-2896
c. (317) 332-3899
www.SactoMile.com
lawrencemedia@hotmail.com

Mid-America Speedway's Round 10 of the 2013 AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Sees Steve Morehead Steal the Bultaco Astro Cup Victory, Dave Aldana Runaway Victor in Vintage 60+ Class

Mid-America Speedway's Round 10 of the 2013 AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Sees Steve Morehead Steal the Bultaco Astro Cup Victory, Dave Aldana Runaway Victor in Vintage 60+ Class

Mid-America Speedway, Indianapolis, IN. – August 16, 2013 – Mid-America Speedway's inaugural hosting of the AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Series saw the track's hosting of the first Bultaco Astro Cup, and after the dust and two-stroke smoke had settled former AMA Pro Flat Track veteran and Findlay, OH. resident Steve Morehead topped the victory podium over runner-up Tom Morgan and 3rd-place finisher Dave Atherton.

Over 30 riders had signed up on the pre-entry list to contest the race, a tribute to the popular marque that dictated AMA Pro Flat Track competition in the sport's hey-day in the late '60s throughout the '70s. Riders including Morehead, '00 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp, 3-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen, Garth Brow, David 'Bones' Aldana, 6-Time VDTRA Champion 'Wild Will' Kelley and a host of others all arrived to do battle on Indy's southeast side.

The Marion County Fairgrounds-hosted event, sponsored by Harley-Davidson of Bloomington, was the first of it's kind at the great little facility, and the riders that came from near and far all seemed to love and enjoy their time on the track, and riding some of the Bultaco Astros that many had utilized in short track racing throughout their careers.  

But it was Morehead who stole the show, in spite of the best efforts from many including Springsteen, Aldana, Brow, Atherton and runner-up Morgan. Morehead ran away after the first lap and never looked back to take the checkered flag in front of a big crowd at Mid-America and a big handful of adoring fans who obviously remembered the pressure the Ohio resident used to put on the competition in his days racing in Grand National Championship events.

Aldana, who had made the trip to Indy via the Stockton, KS. fair races the weekend prior, showed up at the track with a rolling race shop in the form of a 20-foot 'v' nose trailer behind his Ford pickup, housing not only his four Honda 350 singles flat trackers but a well-organized shop complete with everything to tear into a motor, hone a cylinder and weld and repair pretty much any damages that could incur while racing. This man has been doing this a long time, and ole 'Bones' had a shop that some present-day young racers would be envious of.

Steve Morehead battles with former AMA Grand National #15 Garth Brow at Mid-America in their Bultaco Astro Cup heat race (above), one of the first of the evening. Brow got the jump off the start, but the 58 year old Morehead kept on his tail and made a daring but excellent move up the inside coming out of turn 2 on lap 2 and was never headed from there.

Little known fact: Morehead still fits into his leathers that he wore in AMA Grand National competition up until his retirement after the 1999 season, and they still look almost-new. The AMA Hall of Famer spent 26 seasons contesting the AMA Grand National Championship Series and when he retired, he was ranked 10^th in the all-time wins list of competition.

 

 

White Pigeon, MI. resident Dave Atherton (the father of former AMA Grand National #23 Kevin 'Cupcake' Atherton and Brad Baker's tuner on the Dodge Brothers Racing team in the AMA GNC Series) ended up in the 3rd-place spot in the BAC main on one of his pristine machines he brought to the track from his home. Atherton is known to have a pole barn full of vintage racers at home and this one was a beauty.

Art 'The Dart' Randall leads Brow #15 coming out of turn 4 during one of the event's early practice sessions. Randall, a long time supporter of flat track racing, made the trip to Indy from his home in St. Louis, along with close to a dozen of his Bultaco Astros in his collection, which he helped to supply some of the riders with for the event. Art owns a restaurant and pub in St. Louis close to Busch Stadium called 'Kilroy's' which houses several of his spotless machines that are on display. If you get the chance to make a Cardinals game (the only time that Kilroy's is open) make sure you stop by to check out part of his museum on display.

One of the all-time crowd favorites gets ready to head out for one of the evening's practices as Mid-America. Former 3-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen had one of the biggest crowds of people hovering around him wherever he went that evening, other than fan-favorite Aldana.

Aldana talks in his rolling transporter and shop with one of his many fans during a break in the on-track action at Mid-America.

Dave 'Bones' Aldana gets ready to head out for practice for the Vintage 60+ class at Mid-America on one of his Honda 350 single machines. Aldana won his heat and main going away, each by just shy of a straightaway, masterfully taking the lead right off the bat in turn one and running away, never bothering to look back.

The crowd enjoyed seeing one of the all-time greats of the sport show up, including this fan, as I had the pleasure of hosting the Fayetteville, GA. resident over the weekend, and man were there some stories to be told and heard. 'Bones' spent time the next evening at the Indy Mile as the race's Grand Marshal, a race he won during the 1970 season while riding for the BSA factory, when the event was a 30-lap mile event.

Aldana's rolling race shop as seen from the rear, with a glimpse of one of two of his machines he raced and practiced on at Mid-America sitting off to the side on the right. Aldana stated he could do everything including rebuilding a bike's engine and honing a cylinder if necessary, complete with a bench vise, extra spares, welder and torches.

Dave Atherton #15x and Dave 'Bones' Aldana #13 mix it up during one of the heat races for the Bultaco Astro Cup event, part of round 10 of the 2013 AMA Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Series held at Mid-America this year for the first time. Atherton was on one of his machines while Aldana was on a borrowed mount from Ken McGuire, who also showed up with a host of Bultacos for the event.

Summerville, SC's Garth Brow gets ready to head out for one of Mid-America's Bultaco Astro Cup practice sessions. Brow made the trip from his home in the southeast and ended up finishing in the 13th-place spot while battling a suspected electrical malady that hurt his finishing position in both his heat, semi and main results.

Riders line up for the Bultaco Astro Cup main event at the Marion County Fairgrounds-hosted event on Indy's southeast side, including former 2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp, Aldana on the #13 Astro and Springer, just behind Aldana, on the #9 mount. Other than the textbook runaway put in by winner Morehead, Springer and Aldana had the crowd roaring over their battle for the 4th-place spot in the main. Springer got the nod, with 'Bone's finishing in the 5th-place position. Although Kopp had never ridden a two-stroke machine fitted with a compression release, the former AMA Grand National Champion had no problem adapting and won his heat right off. Kopp ended up with an 11th-place finish in the BAC main event.

All in all, Mid-America Speedway's hosting of the 2013 'Night Before the Indy Mile' was a big success for team operations head/track president Jim Terchila and his team. With a big crowd on hand for the large racing weekend in town for the 6^th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP event, round 8 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship, the stunt show and Motorcycles on Meridian being held each evening in the downtown area, fans had a lot of choices in which to spend their hard-earned money and time over the weekend.

Those that attended the 'Night Before the Indy Mile' at Mid-America weren't disappointed and saw some of the past, present and future stars of flat track put on a great show that won't soon be forgotten, and many should now be making plans to return for the 2014 version to be held at Mid-America Speedway on Indy's southeast side.

AMA Flat Track: Greg Pearson's 'The Complete Grand National Championship Volume II: 1970-1975' Available Today in Initial Release

Jay Springsteen on the #65X Vista Sheen XR750 leads the late Mark Williams on the #70 XR750 (wearing his Norton factory leathers), Dave Sehl on the #16 XR and Steve Morehead on the #42 Triumph out of turn four during a heat race at the Syracuse Mile round of the Camel Pro Series AMA Grand National Championship in September '75.

Springer would go on to earn Rookie of the Year honors and finish 3rd in the 1975 edition of the Grand National Championship behind '75 Champ Gary Scott and 2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Kenny Roberts, and would take home the #1 plate for the next three seasons in-a-row while riding for legendary H-D factory tuner Bill Werner, who also wrenched Gary Scott to his '75 title, the first of 13 total for the former H-D factory wrench who is now credited with the explosion of the Kawasaki 650R-based parallel twin that is now making headlines in The Rolling Thunder Show.

It was announced this week that Greg Pearson, author of 'The Complete Grand National Championship Volume I,' has now finished Volume II of his book, covering the 1970-1975 seasons and was officially released today.  For anyone that is a long-time fan of the great sport of AMA Grand National Championship racing like myself, both works are a must-have for your personal library.

Filled with photos, race breakdowns and stats galore, the painstaking results of Mr. Pearson are unparalled in the time and efforts he has taken to put these great books together and each will make for hours of great reading and reference material for those wanting to bench race about the golden years of American flat track racing, the greatest sport on wheels in the world.  You can check out Volume I through the Amazon link off of the left side column of the site at the bottom of the page to introduce yourself to the great work that Greg Pearson has put into these works of art and literature.

Check out the press release below thanks to Greg Pearson, and get your copy (or copies) ordered today to add to your library.  You won't be dissapointed!


Press release courtesy of Greg Pearson, author of 'The Complete Grand National Championship: Volume I' and today's release of 'Volume II 1970-1975.'


Hello Race Fans,

I am pleased to announce, The Complete Grand National Championship Volume II 1970-1975 is finally finished!  The new 562 page book details the explosion in popularity of GNC racing in the first half of the 1970’s. This was truly at the peak of the “Golden Era” of American motorcycle racing.  Factory involvement was at it’s highest and the best riders competed on dirt tracks and road courses from coast to coast.

 

Over two years in the making, the book has been painstakingly researched and covers each race and championship.  It is packed with neat trivia and nearly 200 photographs, many never before published. Other highlights include a foreword by two-time Grand National Champion Dick Mann and a tribute to road race legend Cal Rayborn from his close friend, Jim McMurren.

 

Like The Complete GNC Volume I, the detailed account fills in the gaps and tells the whole story of this exciting era for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'The Complete Grand National Championship, Volume II: 1970-1975' by Gregory R. Pearson is now complete and is being officially released today.  Photo courtesy of Greg Pearson.

 

 

The official launch date for the book will be October 24, 2012.  The book will sell for $39.99 plus shipping, $3.99 for Media Mail, (U.S. only), Priority shipping available.

The books will ship out from the publisher, which normally takes 3-5 days.  PayPal, check or money order are fine.  The book will only be available directly from me until late November, when it will also be on eBay.

The book is a must have for anyone interested in one of the greatest eras in American motorcycle racing.  It will also make a perfect Christmas gift for any fan of GNC racing.

A note to international buyers; I now have an arrangement to ship your books directly from the publisher, greatly reducing most overseas shipping costs.  Please contact me with your address for exact cost.

 

I am also announcing a change in my email address. Please contact me at my new email address: gncbook@aol.com

You can still reach me at my old address; Gtammyp89@cs.com for a short time.

 

Thanks,

Greg Pearson

gncbook@aol.com
PO Box 193
Culloden, WV 25510

AMA Flat Track: Take a Spin With Sammy Halbert at The Springfield Mile

Sammy Halbert gets ready to roll out for the first practice at the first Twins Series event of the year at the Springfield Mile round of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series on May 29.  The #7 Kings Kustoms/LZ Racing/KK Supply/Nelson Racing-sponsored and H-D XR-750-mounted Halbert debuted a beautiful new paint job on one of his XRs at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and it served him well, leaving round 6 with a solid 2nd place finish in the main event and winning the Dash for Cash over runner-up Bryan Smith on his Moroney's Fasthog.com XR, and Brad Baker, on his first outing with the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati.
The current overall points leader by 7 points over runner-up and defending AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Champion Jake Johnson (145-138 points) heads to another first for the year in the still-young 2011 season, when The Rolling Thunder Show hits the half-mile at Hartford Motor Speedway this Saturday, June 11, in what is a first-time event at the Michigan venue, and first half-mile track on the schedule for the season, also.
Also seen in this shot just behind Slammin Sammy is AMA Pro Flat Track official Steve 'The Findlay Flyer' Morehead, former National #42 on the AMA Grand National Championship Series circuit.  Morehead now oversees all track activity and preparations at each round of the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sammy Halbert, National #7 on the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series circuit, is a media marketing machine.  Whether it be YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, the man knows how to get his and AMA Pro Flat Track's name out there to the masses.

One of his latest and greatest videos involved him strapping on his video camera during the on-track action to the back of his Kings Kustoms H-D XR-750 while participating in round 6 at the Springfield Mile over the Memorial Day Weekend.  And he got some killer footage!

Check it out here, and thanks to Sammy Halbert and his YouTube.com channel for this great action!  Grab hold tight and lay low to ease the draft as you take a ride around the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval with one of the best in the business in The Rolling Thunder Show:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sammyhalbert#p/a/u/0/om4meZQ2mFk
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations and a Big Thank You to Wayne Hosaka and Flat Track.com!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMA Flat Track Rundown to The Arizona Mile: From Being The Show to Running the Show-Saluting Mike Kidd, Steve Morehead & Team AMA Flat Track

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

Gary Scott #1 works the cushion outside while Mike Kidd #72 runs it low coming out of turn four at Louisville in the fall of 1976 during heat race action for the ABC Race of Champions year end finale. Bringing up the rear is the late Steve Eklund on the #74Z. All are Harley-Davidson XR750 mounted, back when the XR had taken hold and got a grip on being the winningest machine in AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship racing.
These three men all share a couple of major traits among themselves--besides being some of the best former greats of our sport. They all won the AMA Grand National Championship in the days when flat track and road racing were combined, and for the most part they all did it based solely on their results on the dirt. Of course in those days, there were only a handful of road races on the calendar, but nonetheless when your competition is comprised of people like Kenny Roberts, Skip Askland and the late Randy Cleek you needed to score in all disciplines in order to be in contention for the big #1 plate and trophy. If my memory is correct, only Scott scored any useful points in some select events on road race equipment. They are also enshrined in the AMA Hall of Fame, and were also members of the inaugural AMA Flat Track Hall of Fame that was set up by Dave Despain at the Springfield Mile in late summer of 1998.
Gary won his AMA Grand National Championship in 1975 riding for the Harley factory and with Master Tuner Bill Werner turning the wrenches for the #1 plate. After falling out with H-D and dirt track manager Dick O'Brien, he went on to form his own team using XRs, Yamaha two and four stroke singles for his short track and TT program, and then Triumph 650-based TT machines that absolutely ruled the TT tracks for several years straight. And an occasional ride on a Yamaha TZ750 road racer thrown into the mix. Oh, and he won the '72 Rookie of Year title beating out Kenny Roberts and Mike Kidd in the process, a pretty deep rookie class.
Eklund, who would win the '76 AMA Rookie of Year in AMA Flat Track, would go on to win the '79 AMA Grand National Championship with the Zanotti Racing team (Mario, the father put it all together with Eklund in '79 and Dave, the son is the man with the plan this year for #5 Jake Johnson, and the current points leader going into the final round in Arizona this Saturday.) He was also the first privateer to win the GNC since Dick Mann had won his first of two GNCs in 1963. Unfortunately, Steve was seriously injured at the Albuquerque Mile in June of '90 and succumbed to his injuries some 15 months later.
And then there is the current AMA Flat Track Manager, the '81 AMA Grand National Champion, and one of the men in this sport that has raced for several former factory teams back in the day when factory involvement in AMA Flat Track was a must for the major manufacturers. That man is Mike Kidd, who is the man that was the first notable racer to bring major outside the industry sponsorship to the table in AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship competition. Of course, Gene Romero and Gary Scott at one time or another in the mid-late '70s had been sponsored by Evel Knievel, but Mike Kidd brought the U.S. Army to the program in the late '70s, opening a door for sports-related sponsorship for a branch of the U.S. Military that still exists today with big money in NasCrash and NHRA. Kidd also rode for Triumph, H-D and Honda throughout his career and was part of the original program with Team Honda in the early '80s before hanging up his steel shoe at the end of the '83 season. He now mantles the helm of the AMA Pro Flat Track team and has helped turn the sport around in terms of popularity, action and timeliness and helping to promote AMA Flat Track and the entertainment value of the sport to the paying customers.

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



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

AMA Flat Track Manager Mike Kidd takes a break during a break in the practice sessions at the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship round at the Springfield Short Track on Saturday, September 4, 2010. Here MK is seen talking with The Rider Files.com's one and only Larry Lawrence, and another man who has helped to bring AMA Flat Track to the masses when he was covering the scene for the now-defunct print version of Cycle News. Larry was kind enough to let me tag along to some races this year and not only was it a blast hanging with the Sultan of Shots but getting back to more of the AMA Flat Track scene was the best thing that has happened to me in years. I had a blast and can't wait for the 2011 season of The Rolling Thunder Show.
Mike has helped put together a team consisting of Master Track Prep and former AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship competitor, Steve Morehead, Dave and Kathy Hoenig, Scotty Duebler, Rick Dorfmeyer and numerous others who work in the front and back lines at every AMA Flat Track event and make things happen at these super events. The AMA Pro Flat Track Team has worked together to not only speed up the program, milk the entertainment value of the sport, and put on a show that is like NO other in any type of two OR four wheel racing. Bar none!

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

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

Steve Morehead runs the cushion on his #42 XR750 during action at the Louisville Downs Half Mile ABC Race of Champions in the fall of 1975. Having competed mostly on Triumphs during the '74-'75 AMA Grand National Championship seasons, The Findlay Flyer was forced to hop on a H-D XR for the tv show-themed championship and support race (and I don't remember the particulars from then, but the entire ROC field was comprised of XRs.)

Steve competed in the AMA Flat Track Series for 26 seasons, winning 23 Nationals along the way, including his home track in Lima, OH. He also finished his career with 17 top ten finishes in the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship Series and was sponsored throughout his career by F&S Racing and KK Motorcycle Supply, two of the biggest names in AMA Flat Track Racing.

The consumate professional, Morehead is a master at grooming tracks for a great racing surface and now heads up the AMA Flat Track prep crew and associates who get the venues ready for the racers. It's been said that even Mike Kidd will hop on the grader every once in awhile to help get the tracks ready to roll on.

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

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

Steve Morehead, AMA Flat Track Operations Manager, talks with Bryan Smith #42 and Brandan Bergen #26 just after the final qualifying session at Lima back in June of 2010. Bergen was questioning the track surface and Steve was trying to explain to him that the rest of the competitors had to and were dealing with the varying surface around the half mile pea gravel track.

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

With less then 96 hours before the final green flag of the season in the AMA Pro Flat Track Series, Stu's Shots is starting it's rundown to the final checkers on the 2010 season finale at the Yavapai Downs track in Prescott Valley, AZ. The Budweiser Racing Arizona Mile kicks off on Saturday, October 9, and first practice action starts at 1:00 P.M. EDT.

The AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters presented by Motorcycle Superstore.com Grand National Championship season is about to wind down with the 16th round in Prescott Valley, and the racing will obviously be on the track itself (and maybe some in the pits to race against the clock to get ready to roll.) And as the week progresses, we will preview the four men who are still

mathematicallyin the hunt to take it all on Saturday: points leader Jake Johnson, second place man Joe Kopp, third in the standings Jared Mees, and the fourth man in the circle, Henry Wiles.

But to make the wheels roll, literally and figuratively, you have to have a team of people put together that works well together and is efficient. AMA Flat Track has that team now, headed up by former '81 AMA Grand National Champion Mike Kidd, and former AMA Flat Track competitor Steve Morehead. These two men oversee the operations and daily work needed to make The Rolling Thunder Show work, and have both led their team and AMA Flat Track in the Great Turn Around in the sport.

Slowly but surely the AMA Flat Track Team has helped speed up the program, bring the entertainment value into the sport, and make for a more lean and mean program that is starting to put butts back in the seats again. Working with more promoters to help keep those butts in the seat-ala IMDA in the way they run all of the series' races in Illinois. Not to mention putting on the best show on wheels anywhere.

Yes, they still have some issues to work out in terms of dealing with track and promoter cancelations for the series-the schedule did lose four rounds to cancelation this year, and suffered the rain-out cancellation at Knoxville as well. It's hard to deal with Mother Nature....

And many say that with the new rules package, making some 12 different brands and/or models available in the Grand National Championship and putting restrictors on the XR's, even though they are the only purpose-built mounts in the series, is not the way to go. And I am sure there are some afficionados of the sport that see other things that need to be worked out to make it better and more efficient.

But what I saw this year in the only five events I was fortunate to be a part of in person, and also hearing straight from some of the racers and crew about some of the other events, was a much better show overall than what the AMA had been bringing to the table for years, and possibly decades. This has been a gradual swing to bring the greatest sport on wheels back to the top, and in terms of how the show used to drag and delay, what I witnessed was a night and day difference in efficiency and great, close racing. Not to mention the multi-brand racing is like no other year I have seen in the 37 seasons I have been following the series.

That being said, I hope we see Mike Kidd and Steve Morehead running this great show in this great sport of ours for many years to come, and honing the finely tuned machine that is the AMA Pro Flat Track Team. The members of their team have helped to make it work, and work well for what they have attained up to this point.

Like the Oldsmobile television commercial from back in the late '70s/early '80s used to say.....'This isn't your father's AMA Flat Track anymore.' And thank the man upstairs for that. Amen!

Enjoy the links below on the two men in charge of the AMA Pro Flat Track team, and check back throughout the week and look in on the countdown to the Prescott Valley Mile on Saturday. It's almost time to go racing and we're ready to go WFO with AMA Flat Track and The Rolling Thunder Show.

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

Mike Kidd's page at the AMA Hall of Fame:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=100&lpos=0px&letter=K&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

Steve Morehead's page at the AMA Hall of Fame:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=321&lpos=-1640px&letter=M&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0

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

Happy Birthday to 3-Time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen from Stu's Shots!!

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

Jay Springsteen on the #65x Vista Sheen XR-750 leads Gary Scott on the #64 factory XR-750 in the middle of turns 1 and 2 at Terre Haute during the main event in August of '75. Springer went on to finish 3rd in the standings his rookie year behind Scott, who won the championship on a factory Harley tuned by Bill Werner, and Kenny Roberts on the factory Yamaha (and the '73-'74 AMA Grand National Champion). Springer was signed by Harley to fill the seat left by Scott (who bolted to run his own team after differences with former flat track manager Dick O'Brien) and went on to capture the '76-'78 Grand National Championships, and to become the first man in GNC history to win over 30 events in flat track competition. Of course Werner went on to amass 13 Grand National Championships overall with Scott, Springer and Scott Parker as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand National #9 sits on the end of his transporter and talks shop with family, friends and fans in the pit area at the Indy Mile during MotoGP weekend of August 2009. Sitting out front just clean as a whistle was Jay's restored XR-750 that had at one time belonged to and was raced by former Grand National Champion Bart Markel. Jay was overheard to say it was what got him out of the house to be able to go have a beer, and that was how the project started in restoring it. Fine piece of equipment and there was a crowd around it checking it out and very appreciative of the effort put in by Ole No. 9! Great job! One of his own Bartel's XR's sat off to the side as well, but Jay was just spectating this event. Not too mention showing off his restoration abilities. Did I say great job!?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Springsteen #76x leads his brother Jay on the #65x XR-750 in between turns 1 and 2 at Terre Haute during practice in August of 1975. Vista Sheen was an outfit out of the Detroit-Flint, MI. area that manufactured custom t-shirt designs, i.e. racing team shirts and sponsor shirts. Ken and Jay came up through the old 'ladder' system in those days from the Amateur to the Novice class and then on to the Grand National class. I remember seeing them both unload along with Bart Markel and Corky Keener together at an indoor race at the old Market Square Arena here in Indy back in February of 1975, and pitting side-by-side in the pit area that was set up for the racers at the arena. The Michigan Mafia is still steeped in a very long line of hard-core racing talent from that area of the country. Must be in the water or the veggies...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cliff 'Corky' Keener on the #62 factory H-D XR-750 leads the field into turn one for the Expert Main Event in the October 1975 running of the AMA and ABC Race of Champions at Louisville Downs. Following are #31 Rex Beauchamp on another of the factory Harley's, Jay Springsteen on the #65x Vista Sheen XR, Scott Drake on the #91, #42 Steve Morehead, #45 Doug Sehl, #14 Hank Scott and the #92 of H-J Products-sponsored Steve Droste. Back in the mid-70's the AMA ran the 'race of champions' as a way of bringing together all winners of all the races , flat track AND road race, throughout the season into one big race or showdown. This was the expert main race-part of the program that was won by Hank Scott on the #14 XR that was actually Sehl's spare bike. Scott's Shell Thuett Yamaha broke earlier in the day. The main event Race of Champions itself was won by future '81 Grand National Champion and current AMA Flat Track Head Man Mike Kidd. Droste's sponsor H-J Products was based out of South Bend, IN., and used to have one of the regular ads in the classified section of Cycle News East that ran every week for several years back then. All competitors in the ROC and in this shot were on XR's, including '70 GNC Gene Romero who was in the event due to winning the Daytona 200 in March of '75 on a Team Yamaha-factory TZ750. Springer's first GN win came at Louisville in June of '75, and he went on to win two more in '75, including Harrington, DE. the next race weekend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Atherton on the #23 runs it into turn 1 at Springfield with Jay 'Springer' Springsteen alongside on the #9 Bartel's machine. Just behind on the #69 Earls' Racing Team XR is future AMA Superbike and MotoGP Champion Nicky Hayden, with 7-Time Grand National Champion #4 Chris Carr and #67 Ken 'The King of Cool' Coolbeth (and future 3-Time Grand National Champion) just behind. This was the AMA Hall of Fame race weekend Labor Day of 2001. Springer's last win came at Springfield in May of 2000, and I'm proud to say I saw his first and his last as well. The guy has been an ironman throughout his career, and if not for being temporarily derailed in the early 80's due to his stomach illness, he surely would have won many more races and championships. Other then some road racing the last few years, the 'ole gunslinger' is missed on the flat track scene. It never ceases to amaze me that when he does show up at a race, he still gets the loudest ovation of anyone on-hand. The guy is a great and likeable champion and person, and has a smile that would win the devil over with! A close friend of mine was spectating at the first MotoGP round here in Indy back in September of '08 and just happened to look over and see Springer spectating as well. He mentioned he had never met a nicer person and fun guy to talk to and with. Sounds just like Springer doesn't it?! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember showing up at the Louisville Half Mile in June of '75 and seeing this young guy everyone had been talking about for some time that was just flat tearing the track up.
In practice, feet-up slides and powering through the corners, everyone had their eyes on the #65x of Jay Springsteen on his Vista Sheen-sponsored H-D XR-750, and wondered what was to come. The quiet-in-speech but loud-on-the-track 18 year old youngster was making an impression. And the rooster tails he would lay out behind him were just part of it.
To another young 18 year old, myself, who was just starting to get in to the wonderful world of AMA Flat Track, I was amazed and thrilled to see what this young gun could do with the twist of his wrist and throwing the XR sideways into the corners. Little did I know at the time what a chapter in flat track history I was actually witnessing.
After having just seen my first two flat track races the summer before, I was bought and sold on the sport, and with Louisville being my third overall race to spectate at (and from inside the pits to boot!) I was getting a pretty good education. And when the teacher was done, I had witnessed-along with approximately 15K other people that night-the dawn of a new era in AMA Grand National Flat Track racing. The Springer Years were born on that night, as the ole gunslinger won the first of many of his long list of Grand National flat track races. And I was taken to school and loved every minute of it!
Springer will be celebrating his birthday on Thursday April 15th-tax day-and I for one will be sipping a cold glass of something in honor of the 'kid' who could flat hang it out on a flat track motorcycle. And after all these years, I still have the same-or even more, for that matter-level of enthusiasm I do for this great sport, and for the people who have made it what it is.
Jay Springsteen is one of those who made one heck of a dent in this sport in terms of good values, good racing, and good people. And he made quite the impression on another '18 year old kid' in the process. Let alone a life-long fan!
Hats and helmets off to Jay Springsteen, one of the best to ever throw a leg over a flat track bike, twist it sideways and rocket it down the 135mph front straight in a wild mile pack, Happy Birthday My Man! And thanks for all you have done to and for the fans and the sport of flat track, and for making at least one more green kid a little less greener.
Take a bow, Jay, you deserve it. Enjoy your day!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the AMA Hall of Fame page bio on Springer from his induction in 2003:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=307
The Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, MI. has a page on Jay written by ex-Cycle New scribe and flat track series contributor Scott Rousseau:
http://www.mshf.com/hof/springsteen_jay.htm
And Springer's long-time sponsor Bartel's H-D has a tribute page to him as well in the racing section of their website:
http://www.bartelsharley.com/racing/springsteen.shtml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------