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View Full Version : FlatTrack - And the Next Dani Pedrosa

ArturoC
10-02-2006, 02:02 AM
Saturday night I went out to Huffman Motorsports Park (http://www.hmpracing.com/) which is less than 10 miles from me. Just across the bridge from Atascocita! w00t! I got to watch some kick ass flattrack racing (http://jarrellracing.com/) It totally rawked! I used to watch the pro races on ESPN waaay back in the day, but this was my first time ever watching it live.


Lots of action.. great racing, a few wrecks (some serious :( ) and just an overall good time.

I mostly hung out and chatted with Jack Gieske #17
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13588-2/IMG_0721.jpg

He was running in the Maddog class.. up to 150cc I believe.


Andy Marcer from Metric Motorcycles (http://www.metricmotorcycles.com/) was out there kicking some butt!
He jumped the start in one of the heat races which put him at rear for the re-start. :keke:
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13561-2/IMG_0710.jpg

He also crashed (a few times) and was put at the rear for each re-start. :laughing6
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13567-2/IMG_0712.jpg


But he got a great launch and was quickly up into 3rd by the 2nd turn and ended up winning. Much to the chagrin of some of the riders who wanted to send him home for crashing so much. :keke:
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13585-2/IMG_0720.jpg



The open-pro class was awesome. Mostly Soup'd up 4-stroke 450 dirt bikes.
But check out #3.
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13594-2/IMG_072deleted

Jack said they call him 'Shrimp' :laughing6


Note how far off the ground his right leg is, and his left toe is just baaaarely touching the ground.
http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13591-2/IMG_0722.jpg

I think they said he is only 12! :eek3: And he isn't scared at all. He was very aggressive on the start and throwing into the turns. Too bad I couldn't figure out how to take good pics at night because that kid was absolutely AMAZING!

Ya'll should have seen that kid coming out of the turns waaay sideways, wheel spinning, and then backing it into the next turn. slipping sliding all over but completely in control. Pics wouldn't do it justice anyway. He ended up in 3rd in the PRO class. He probably could have gotten 2nd if there were a couple more laps.


For his size and ability, I think he could easily be a Dani Pedrosa. :nod:
BigComfy
10-02-2006, 02:06 AM
Now that looks like some serious fun!
ArturoC
10-02-2006, 02:08 AM
About the only racing action shot I got. :crying: :BangHead:

http://gratch.no-ip.org/gallery/d/13573-2/IMG_0714.jpg
jrock
10-02-2006, 05:59 AM
nice..
arturo3rd
10-02-2006, 12:59 PM
nobody posted any event info =(
SBK Pilot
10-02-2006, 01:04 PM
nobody posted any event info =(

i've asked aaron to post up over here... but i'm guessing he was busy... :eh:
nutmegchoi
10-02-2006, 01:10 PM
Wish I could touch the ground to do that...
:hs:
ArturoC
10-02-2006, 06:51 PM
Wish I could touch the ground to do that...
:hs:


You are 5'2", that kid is only 4' What's your excuse now? :keke:
nutmegchoi
10-03-2006, 09:11 AM
You are 5'2", that kid is only 4' What's your excuse now? :keke:
Oh!!
:icon_thum

Now, my excuse is I don't have parents who pay for it.
:hs:
wd40oz
10-03-2006, 09:14 AM
Hi all!
Henry asked me to post up here about the Flattrack races we've got going on. A brief history about me: I raced FT when I was 11-12 until we ran out of money. The next 25 years were spent doing the 'right' thing (school, job, wife, house). I owned many streetbikes during that time GSXR750, Superchicken and did some trackdays but nothing compared to the fun/thrill I remembered having racing FT. So, last year I sold all my street stuff and bought 2 race bikes. Our first local race we had about 7 bikes (LAME) but it has grown so fast that we had over 60 entries last Saturday and lots of spectators. It's at the point now where I feel confident inviting folks out who have never seen a FT race because I know they'll enjoy it.

It's only $8 (kids under 12 are FREE). You can park in the pits and check out all the cool machinery and talk to the riders. Everyone is super cool and the racing is fantastic. You can see the whole track and the bikes come flying by less than 15 feet away. The battles are literally handlebar to handlebar. In the vintage main, I was battling for third and Dave Valden was on my outside. We were actually leaning on each other down the entire backstraight refusing to be the first to shutoff. Absolutely SICK!

Anyhow, thanks to Arturo and Pete Richard for coming out. We'd love to see more of you make it to our last race of the season Saturday night Oct 21. Practice 6-ish, races 7:30-ish. I'll post more info next week with directions, etc...

Thanks for the space...
RIP11
10-04-2006, 08:37 AM
i work in the crosby/huffman/highlands area and was dispatched out there for a motorcycle vs car accident, but to my surprise it was all motorcycles. i have worked out there for over a year and never knew that track was there, i sat and watched for almost an hour. it was awesome and i'd love to try something like that. and the 12 year old was amazing!
SBK Pilot
10-04-2006, 08:43 AM
Henry asked me to post up here about the Flattrack races we've got going on.

thanks Aaron!... :icon_thum

when does the season wrap up?

i think i'm gonna do what you did and just lace up some 17's on the 1fiddy... :nod:

then bring it to the maddog class... :headbang:
ArturoC
10-04-2006, 08:47 AM
thanks Aaron!... :icon_thum

when does the season wrap up?

i think i'm gonna do what you did and just lace up some 17's on the 1fiddy... :nod:

then bring it to the maddog class... :headbang:


That was my first thought, but then Jack mentioned that a crf150 is actually 156cc's. D'oh!
SBK Pilot
10-04-2006, 08:55 AM
That was my first thought, but then Jack mentioned that a crf150 is actually 156cc's. D'oh!

d'oh... :confused1

eh... i guess i'll just run it with a longer spark plug?... :eek3:
ArturoC
10-04-2006, 09:09 AM
Yeah.. Gotta find me a cheap one-hunnert now. :nod:
wd40oz
10-04-2006, 05:47 PM
The season ends Saturday, Oct 21. We're making some really cool changes for next year, especially the MadDawg class. Right now, there isn't a stock hunnerd' out there. The TTR's are punched out to 170 and the XR's are Takegawa/bigbore/stroked, etc.. So, we're going to have 2 classes of Maddawgs. ONe for the modified bikes that will run for money and another class for box stockers with the only allowable mods being tires and springs (if you want). You can't even lace up 17's. Just stock rims, stock motor, etc. This will be the perfect class for guys like yourselves to come out and give it a go without dropping big $$$ on engine mods or jumping right on a 450 :eek3: .

A used stock 100 can be had for less than the cost of an Ohlins shock! We've all been go-cart racing and know how much fun it is bumping and banging with your buds. That's just what a stock MD class will be like on two wheels. So start looking for one now. We'll have a few practice days (track days) during the off-season to give guys time to get used to it.

I'm a firm believer that playing in the dirt can only improve your ability on the street. :icon_thum
arturo3rd
10-04-2006, 11:44 PM
please post a reminder when the last race draws near. i would love to see this and get involved in a later date.
Capafool
10-05-2006, 09:12 AM
This sounds fun... I might just have to give it a try on my 125. :icon_bigg