Weekend at the Races

I have very few photos of myself racing, even though I did it for quite a few years. Not having many souvenirs to preserve my racing memories was a motivating factor in my current endeavor.

I recently found these photos from the 1995 China Hat (142) and Lone Squirrel (118) ISDE-type races in Oregon, where I rode a Honda XR250. These are timed endurance events, not all-out races. You have to maintain a specific speed average over an 80-100 mile course. There are strict limits on when you can work on the bike if it's damaged, and you may not receive any outside assistance. Periodically, you will do a flat-out speed run over about five miles of trail, and the result of that is figured into your day's score.

You are assigned a new race number at each event, which corresponds to the minute you're set free from an impound area. They only send out three or four guys each minute to keep the whole thing flowing smoothly. AT China Hat I started on the 42nd minute. At the Lone Squirrel I started on the 18th minute. I don't recall my results in these two races, but I took second overall in the season championship for riders on similar machines. It was great fun.







 
I have very few photos of myself racing, even though I did it for quite a few years. Not having many souvenirs to preserve my racing memories was a motivating factor in my current endeavor.

I recently found these photos from the 1995 China Hat (142) and Lone Squirrel (118) ISDE-type races in Oregon, where I rode a Honda XR250. These are timed endurance events, not all-out races. You have to maintain a specific speed average over an 80-100 mile course. There are strict limits on when you can work on the bike if it's damaged, and you may not receive any outside assistance. Periodically, you will do a flat-out speed run over about five miles of trail, and the result of that is figured into your day's score.

You are assigned a new race number at each event, which corresponds to the minute you're set free from an impound area. They only send out three or four guys each minute to keep the whole thing flowing smoothly. AT China Hat I started on the 42nd minute. At the Lone Squirrel I started on the 18th minute. I don't recall my results in these two races, but I took second overall in the season championship for riders on similar machines. It was great fun.







Tom,

I'm with you on the lack of documentation on personal racing experiences. I know when I was younger racing MX no one in our group had a camera let alone knew how to use it or was willing to pay for the photo development. Digital cameras sure have made it easier to save memories.

One of the few I have is one of my last short track races about 4 years ago.



O.J.
 
...I know when I was younger racing MX no one in our group had a camera let alone knew how to use it or was willing to pay for the photo development...
I love your short track photo, @O.J.Didit .

When I was racing flat track and MX, there were always one or two photographers around who would sell pictures. I bought a couple, but for the most part my limited budget was dedicated to racing expenses. Photographers would show up at off-road events less often. Imagine sitting in the bushes all day taking pictures- on film -in the hope that people would buy them later. And that was before internet days when it was much harder for the photog and racer to connect after the event. The organizers would mention on the race flyer and at the riders meeting that a photog would be present. The guy who took the #142 pics above came all the way from Denver to the Oregon desert to take photos, and he mailed them out weeks later after the race.

The photographer would place a sign on the trail to let you know of the upcoming photo op. He would position himself in a spot where he could catch you jumping over a dirt pile or stack of logs, etc. I imagine that they still do that. I hope that they do.
 
The final weekend in August was a busy one a the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield. The American Flat Track series has meets at Springfield on the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. It's the only venue the series visits twice in the season. This year, however, the Memorial Day Springfield Mile rained out, so a doubleheader was scheduled for the second visit. Twin cylinder bikes were scheduled to run on the site's mile-long rack on Saturday and Sunday.

Single cylinder machines had been able to complete their race here in May, so they were scheduled only to run on Friday, on a smaller short track in an arena at the fairgrounds. A few years ago the organizers decided that the single cylinder engines are too fragile to handle this bigger-than-normal mile track. The whole thing kicked off on Thursday, with a race for amateurs on the arena short track. There were riders from all over the USA, and foreign countries including England, Spain, Japan, and Australia.

The arena at Springfield is one of my favorite places to photograph racers. The soil and backdrops have interesting colors and texture. And because the temporary circuit is built up on top of the arena floor, I can stand off to the side and have a lower view than usual.

Pennsylvania racer Dalton Gauthier (122) won Friday's Singles race over another rider from his home state, current champ Dan Bromley (1). Both are on European machines - Gauthier on a Husqvarna an Bromley on a KTM. The two are locked in a close battle for season points. Third place went to Dallas Daniels, a sixteen-year-old rookie who rides a Yamaha.

The Springfield Mile is the oldest track and the oldest event on the series, dating to just after the start of the last century. Because of its broad turns, the riders never back off the throttle very much as they circulate, and speeds are higher than at other mile tracks. Top speeds are reported to hit 130mph or more. The infield is so big that I usually will borrow a bicycle from one of the racers to get around the place.

Current Twins champ Jared Mees (1) beat Jeffrey Carver (23) for the win on Saturday with a last lap, last turn pass to take the led with just yards left to go after twenty-five miles. It was the type of thrilling finish for which this place is famous. By the finish, these two had pulled away from the rest of the field. Both were on Indians.

Heavy rain overnight meant that Sunday's Twins race on the mile was called a rainout before the track gates even opened. The race was delayed for a day and run on Monday, after the rain stopped and the track dried out. Mees was again the winner, but it was a much closer race, with something like ten riders dicing for the lead. I had to miss that one, as my travel plans were locked and I had to fly out first thing Monday morning.

Here are some shots from the short track races on Thursday and Friday, and from Saturday's Springfield Mile.



















 
Thursday's amateur event at Springfield included a round of the AMA national vintage dirt track series. There were lots of cool old bikes, including a Champion-framed Yamaha and some brakeless hardtail machines. There were also some old Yamahas just trolling around the pits.

One of the course workers at the short track races had a mini-cycle that was powered by a huge engine that appeared to be from a generator or similar piece of equipment. The dad of one of the amateur racers was cooking up beef rib-eye sandwiches right in the pits. That really made my day!

Here are some more Springfield photos.





















 
The final races of the season are scheduled tightly together. Because of the rain delay at Springfield on Labor Day weekend, teams had only five days to service their kits and make the 800 mile trip to Pennsylvania for the next race on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Williams Grove Speedway is located in the aptly-named town of Mechanicsburg, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capitol. The red clay half-mile oval track opened in 1939 and it has a rich history. One of the course workers said to me with pride that "this is racing country." Two large grandstands were nearly sold out, and when the pits were opened briefly to spectators at mid-day, the packed crowed almost became stuck between the rows of team tents as fans sought a chance to speak with riders and get their autographs.

The race organizers arranged for all of the riders with Pennsylvania roots to gather on he track's front straight for a group photo. Nineteen riders lined up, including four former and one current class champion, and another who is on pace to win his first championship his season. This group accounts for more than 30% of all the riders entered in the three classes that would race here on Saturday night, and nearly all are contesting the full national series.

Current premier Twins class champion and title contender Jared Mees was fresh off of a double win in Illinois the prior weekend. He struggled in the Williams Grove main event and could only muster a fourth place finish. His factory Indian teammate and title rival, Briar Bauman, took the win and strengthened his series points lead. Second and third places went to Brandon Price (192) and Davis Fisher. It was Price's first podium finish in his rookie season in this class. Price's second place finish was especially remarkable because just a year ago he was recovering from a brain injury following a big crash. Docs even removed a part of his skull for awhile to relieve pressure. Fisher's third place was his second podium this season. Fisher's team is small. It's just he and his dad in the pits and some other supporters back home in Oregon. Davis could no stop smiling after the race. All of these riders were on Indians.

Victory in the mid-level Production Twins class went to Ryan Varnes (68) on a Kawasaki. It was his second win this season.

Dalton Gauthier (122), won the Singles class on a Husqvarna, and also finished second to Varnes in Production Twins riding a Harley-Davidson. Rules allow riders to race in either or both of those classes. Riders entered in he premier AFT Twins class are limited to that group only. The AFT Twins class also allows bikes with purpose-built race engines, such as the Indians, whereas the Production Twins class requires engines available in street legal models.

After a weekend off, the show moves to the Canterbury Park horse track in Minneapolis this weekend, Sept 21. The final race of the season will play out at the Meadowlands horse track in New Jersey one week later. The season championships for each of the three classes could come down to that final race.





















 
Williams Grove Speedway is a car track. Because of this, there are more fences, walls, and other barriers than are seen at the horse tacks the series also visits. All of the barriers make my job as a photographer a bit more difficult because it's harder to move around, and because sight lines are sometimes blocked by the structures. Those same barriers generally make car tracks a little safer, because the hard flat walls and rails are positioned to provide a glancing blow if impacted. Horse tracks can have solid, unprotected fence posts that are very dangerous. Event organizers carry a semi-truck full of inflatable "air fence" barriers to deploy at every track, and straw bales are sourced locally for additional protection.

And because it's a car track, the facility operators are experienced preparing a track for rubber tires instead of hooves. On this race weekend, they carefully watered the surface and applied granular calcium chloride to help the soil retain that moisture. A number of old beater cars fitted with fat racing tires went round and round before the races to pack the surface smooth.

In the first photo below, you can see a truck spreading calcium chloride. Beyond the truck, straw bales and air fence line the outside of the corner.

At these events you will alway see at least one little kid playing on the ground with toy cars or motorcycles. We all love going in circles in the dirt, it's just a matter of scale.

On my walk around he place, It was also interesting to see 3rd place finisher Davis Fisher (67) adjusting the engine tuning on his Indian using only a laptop computer. No hand tools needed for that job these days.

The last photo is of a racer's van with one of my photos used for a wrap on the back doors. It made me quite happy to see this.













 
On my trip to Pennsylvania I allowed extra time to see other stuff besides racing.

In Philadelphia, I visited Independence National Historical Park, where I saw Independence Hall. I stood inside the very rooms where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were prepared and signed. In another building on the site I saw the Liberty Bell.

The next day I went to Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, a facility operated by the U.S. National Park Service. The restored railroad yard has an operating turntable and a roundhouse that dates in part to just after the start of the last century.

There are multiple museums that tell about the Scranton family, for whom the city is named, and describe the importance of coal, iron, and railroads in the Lackawanna Valley. The museums also touch heavily on the technologies of railroads and mining. One sobering display describes the use of child labor in the coal mines.

There are working shops where the engines and cars are restored and serviced. I watched as one steam engine was driven into the roundhouse and workers set about to service it.

I got to take a ride around the yard in a 1924 passenger car pulled by a steam-powered switch engine (26) while a park ranger described the sights. Later, I watched as that engine was driven into the roundhouse for service. They also had an identical engine on display, cut open to show the inner workings.

The park ranger said that I was free to wander about the yard and take photos. He said just be careful not to get run over, as modern trains were also moving through the place. With vacation season over and school back in session the yard was nearly deserted and I had it all to myself.

Besides the restored vehicles, there were perhaps an equal number of derelict machines, including a Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive (X4012). I learned that 25 of these 4-8-8-4 behemoths were built between 1941-1944 to haul freight between Utah and Wyoming. Eight survive, and UP restored one of them to running condition in May of his year. My buddy went to Utah to watch the running example. The combined length of the engine and tender is 132', and together they weigh 1,250,000 pounds. Top peed is 80mph. Yeah!

There was more here than I could see in the five hours I spent looking around. I missed the guided shop tour and the separate trolley museum, among with other things.



















 
As always Tom great pictures , I raced in 1968 -1970 scrambles in the 100cc class on a Bultaco and a Hodaka in Michigan . I wish I had more racing pictures , only have maybe 8 or 10 . A few from the track photographer and a few my dad took with a kodak Instamatic. You can never have to many pictures.
 
Last weekend the show was in Minneapolis, Minn., at the mile-long Canterbury Park horse track. Indian factory team rider Jared Mees (1) won the race, but his teammate Briar Bauman (14) came in third and added just enough season points to his tally to clinch the championship in the sport's top class with one race remaining on the schedule.

Bauman accomplished this after his bike was smashed in a big wreck early in the 25 lap main event. The race was stopped while riders and bikes were gathered up, and officials worked to restore the racing surface that had been watered too heavily right before the start of the race. In the brief downtime, Bauman's two mechanics were able to replace his bike's complete front end, the radiator, and misc. hardware. He then had to go to the back of the grid for the restart.

In a great display of good sportsmanship, Mees took Bauman along on his victory lap after winning the race. It was a very emotional scene around the podium as Bauman couldn't hold back his tears of joy. In one photo below you can see him being comforted by his girlfriend, Shayna Tester. Shayna is also a championship-winning racer. Another photo shows Bauman's smashed cycle. You can clearly see the bent fork tubes.

The sandy surface at this track does not stay firm, despite the application of water and calcium chloride and packing with heavy equipment. Holes and ruts developed during the daylong event, despite frequent breaks for prep work. Two of the riders (22 & 24) who were caught out by the conditions are still in the hospital as I write this. There is an ongoing debate about whether this type of track has a place on the schedule, especially as this event came on the anniversary of a race in California three years ago where two riders were killed in separate incidents attributed to very similar conditions at a very similar track. That track no longer hosts this type of racing.

This weekend we head to The Meadowlands horse track in New Jersey for the final race of the year.

















 
The first two photos below show the deep ruts that developed on the starting line at Canterbury Park. Some riders prefer to line up for their start with the bikess wheels inside of an established rut, while others line up alongside the rut. I don't know which is better. These ruts in the middle of the front straightaway are mostly off of the racing line and are not a factor once the race is underway.

The last pic shows how Production Twins winner Kolby Carlile (136) was able to find a smooth line on his Yamaha during practice and pull some huge feet-up broadies through the turns. It was really something to see. I think I've mentioned before that the Production twins class is the middle level of three classes that run at these events. The bikes are powered by 750cc twin cylinder engines that come from street bikes. Race-only engines are not allowed.





 
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The 2019 American Flat Track series concluded last weekend, Sept. 28, with the Meadowlands Mile, held at the large sports and entertainment complex located directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, NYC. It was the series' second visit to this mile long horse track.

Factory Indian rider Briar Bauman had already clinched the the AFT Twins premier class championship the weekend prior in Minnesota, but top honors were still up for grabs in the lower level AFT Production Twins and AFT Singles classes.

The Meadowlands track is one of the few so-called cushion tracks in the series. Most tracks have a clay surface that is hard and that develops a dark line of tire rubber laid down on the preferred racing line. Stay on this "blue groove" and you have traction. Step off the line at your own risk. Cushion tracks have a soft and loose surface that allows multiple lines, but it also can require more prep to avoid formation of ruts and holes.

On this day, the surface in the track's first two turns was very unstable and would not stay packed. Ruts and holes developed that made it difficult for riders to find a consistent line. This condition was deemed to be too dangerous for racing and a break of more than three hours was taken at mid-day to scrape several inches of soil off the track in an effort to expose the hard base material below. The result of this was only minimally successful, and the event was left well off schedule.

To keep the event moving, some practice and qualifying sessions were cancelled. After a tense meeting between teams and white-shirted race organizers, main events in the two lower classes were reduced from 15 to 12 laps, and the AFT Twins main event that was originally scheduled for 25 laps was run as an 8 lap sprint. The announcement of the very short AFT Twins race was met with loud booing from an audience estimated at 7,000 people.

Honda-mounted Mikey Rush (15) won the AFT Singles class and Chad Cose (49) picked up the win in AFT Production Twins. Former champ Jared Mees (1) won AFT Twins on his factory Indian. Class championships went to Dalton Gauthier (122) in AFT Singles and Cory Texter (65) in Production Twins.

Beyond the unpleasantness caused by the delays for track prep, deep sadness also spread over the event when Singles rider Oliver Brindley (24) was seriously injured in a crash during his qualifying race. Sixteen-year-old Rookie of the Year Dallas Daniels (163) was reported to have crashed his Yamaha when he hit a bump in turn two. This collected former class champion Shayna Texter (52) on her Red Bull KTM and then British rider Brindley crashed into the pair. Brindley was catapulted into the air and the impact caused him to receive a serious head injury. He was transported to a local hospital and remains there in an induced coma to allow swelling to subside before doctors can fully evaluate his injuries and plan a course of treatment.























 
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On Sunday afternoon following the prior day's final race at Meadowlands, American Flat Track held their annual awards ceremony on a large party boat that sailed up and down the Hudson River between New York City and Newark, New Jersey.

A cocktail hour with an open bar and and light dinner started the event. The people that you see most often wearing riding gear or work clothes were all dressed up for the occasion. Two guys arrived separately wearing checkered flag outfits and enjoyed it when I asked them to pose together for photo. Though there were smiles and laughter, the mood was still somewhat subdued because of concern for a number of riders who were seriously injured recently, one of them just the day before.

Guests were seated in an auditorium deep within the Cornucopia Majesty and the awards program began while the craft was still docked on the New Jersey side of the river. A short film was screened, recapping the eighteen races during the season. Briar Bauman, Dalton Gauthier, and Cory Texter were presented trophies for their respective AFT Twins, AFT Production Twins, and AFT Singles class championships. Others were recognized with trophies for rookie of the year, best tuner, best event promoter, and so on.

As the the program continued the ship lurched slightly, and through small windows you could see that it was pulling away from the dock.

Officials from American FlatTrack spoke about the year's successes and challenges, and of their vision for the future of the sport. Work continues, they said, to develop live television coverage of these events with NBCSN, and to bring in new sponsors from outside the motorcycle industry. Executives from NBC and other companies had attended the race the day before. There was some talk about track prep and safety improvements and of concern for riders who were injured during the season.

About sixty minutes into the roughly two hour program, a break was announced and people were invited topside, where there was another open bar and a DJ playing records. The mood lightened considerably as people rushed up a stairwell and onto the open deck to find that the ship was now in the middle of New York harbor and doing slow circles in front of the Statue of Liberty.

People ran around the deck admiring the views of passing landmarks and snapping selfies of broad smiles with friends and family. Some couples danced as the DJ played Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and other tunes. This was perhaps the easiest and most relaxed time of the entire season. After about an hour, everyone returned to the auditorium for a few more awards and closing comments from the organizers.

The party adjourned as the ship returned to dock and falling darkness brought out the bright lights of the Manhattan skyline across the river.



















 
My wife joined me for week's stay in New York City after the race weekend. Although she has been a great supporter of my work she does not usually come along on my trips to the races.

From our hotel in Hell's Kitchen we explored the city by foot and subway, as we did last year. There is so much to see and do and this year we were a little bit better prepared.

After moving into the city from New Jersey on Monday morning, we walked a short distance to the Hudson River and toured the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. It was a great afternoon. You cannot go wrong with boats, planes, and spacecraft.

The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid was launched in 1943. Well preserved, it houses a number of vintage military aircraft including a rare Lockheed A-12, predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. There is a Concorde supersonic airliner parked on the sidewalk next to the ship. An ungainly structure on the ship's aft end houses the space shuttle Enterprise. This is the first orbiter built. It was launched in 1977. The Enterprise was used for atmospheric flight tests and never traveled into outer space.

Over the next three days we visited two sites of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and we saw Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, the United Nations building, and more.

On one morning we walked along High Line, an elevated railway that runs through the city as a rails-to-trails project. The path starts at Hudson Yards, a rail yard that is being redeveloped. At Hudson Yards we climbed Vessel, a piece of public art that looks like a huge vase and has stairs and landings up and down its sides. There were people all over the thing. That evening we saw the Broadway show "Dear Evan Hansen". This Tony-winning musical addresses issues of low self esteem and teen suicide through catchy tunes and energetic dance numbers.

The food adventure took us from fabulous pizza to an Ethiopian restaurant and Halal items from carts. We had nice sandwiches from a bakery at the Chelsea Market food court. Chelsea Market is housed in an old Nabisco factory building where Oreo cookies were first produced in 1912. We were slightly disappointed not to hit any Jewish delis on this trip. Jewish businesses were closed on Monday and Tuesday of our visit for the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Workers tore up West 47th Street, exposing the magic below.

A long subway ride took us ten miles north to Met Cloisters, a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in Washington Heights.

The Cloisters museum building looks like a very old church, but it was actually constructed in the 1930s specifically as a museum. The structure contains some ancient pieces of medieval architecture, such as doorways, that were brought from across the ocean, and the displays of art pieces date to the Middle Ages.

By nature of the times during which they were created, nearly all of the art works are religious themed. Peaceful images of Mother and Child are juxtaposed against gruesome scenes of violence. Beheadings and dismemberment, hangings, blindings, and of course crucifixion are all depicted in graphic detail in paintings, statues, and stained glass.

It was a wonderful time. I enjoy getting deep into a big city as much as I enjoy being deep in the woods on my dirt bike. On the trip back to Oregon we were already making plans for our next urban adventure.

























 
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