IMS Friday Night Sept 25, 2009

Last week I missed the Friday night slip and slide as we were in Salt Lake City for the Mountain Dew and Gatorade Free Flow. My son Dylan rode the BMX Park Nationals in the Flow and did some extreme tricks but rode with a sore wrist from the previous weeks win and didn't finish on the podium but he did ride well. The great part about it was that Gatorade paid for everything.

Tuesday night there was a practice session at IMS and the track was really in good shape. Between then and tonight the track fairies worked overtime. The track was really wet at the start and the first few races had several riders down in turn one.

On Tuesday night my daughter Frances rode my JAWA for her first time on a speedway track. She has been on bikes before and with a borrowed helmet and boots she did great. Now she needs her own shoe as doubling up on socks just doesn't cut it.

The track usually stays flat but after a while turn three started to look like the TT jump at old Ascot and then there was the grand canyon right after that. I hit the canyon once and it hurt. The gang in red shirts were busy all night rebuilding the crash wall, ouch...

There are some before and after pictures of Kyle Hicks here, that is before and after the wall. My usual procedure is to take pictures before the races start, during the rider parade, and then try to get some shots of the first division main.

There wasn't any riders parade as no one thought to bring their waders and I turned my camera over to my daughter for her to try and figure out what all those knobs on it are for. To get to the track I have to use the infamous toll road. It is supposed to save time and money as it eliminates the 5 and 55 parking lots. Yesterday afternoon the Riverside Freeway stopped moving and this forces the drivers on the toll road to sit an extra twenty minutes coasting down the grade to the mess below.

My son headed to Las Vegas for the giant bike show there and I gave him my transponder for the toll road. The charges are debited from my bank account automatically and after having to pay with cash at each toll booth and seeing the actual cost on the booth display meter I was more than steamed to have sit and wait on the toll road.

There were several riders new to the track in attendance: Tuff McBride, Steve Lewotsky, Nate Perkins and maybe more. McBride prevented Buck Blair was winning both mains as Tuff took the handicap with Buck second. Buck won the scratch main after winning the last chance to get the last slot. Buck just started surfing last week and you should see what happens to you when you don't wear a rash guard. The picture was too ugly to print.

Several note worthy riders surf, Fast Eddy, Shawn McConnell and myself to mention a few. I am not sure if Beach Ball Brown can surf but I know I couldn't lift his board if he did. Beach Ball and I faced off in the consolation and I thought I was running away with it, then I hit the canyon and that hurt so I backed off before I hit the jump again then I heard Brown engine right behind me so I turned the gas back on.

I didn't make the main as I still am recovering from the last time Beach Ball ran over me and I am not ready to fight for the first corner against a kid yet. Steve Murray who helps me in the pits and pushes me off knows the race is won in the first corner the majority of the time as that is how he got so many wins.

Barr Lumber Company of San Bernardino is a sponsor and I hope IMS get a good discount on plywood and posts (I hope Kyle Hicks get a hell of discount on his next wheel).

In second division there were Philip Harmatiuk #149 and his dad Phil #100 while Shawn helped both of them. If my daughter Frances tried racing, my sons overcomes his aversion to speedway (he used to race) we could field three Starks one night.

But since we only have one speedway bike in the garage (we had four once) we would have to double team like that famous team of Fishback and Huspek that thrilled the crowd on last Tuesday night.

IMS September 11

Typical Friday night afternoon traffic special so I left a few minutes early and somehow missed most of the delays on the toll road.










There was no shortage of CHP on the side ticketing trucks and autos in the middle of rush hour. The temperature sign at the 10 in San Berdoo read 98 degrees but with the high cloud cover it didn't seem that warm.













There is lots of equipment that needs to keep running to put on a show. Putting on a race program is a lot of hard work that requires a lot of cooperation that may not be appreciated.


























Tonight was September 11Th and the Denny Pyeatt Memorial Race.

























The track surface tonight lacked the heavy outside dirt and was fast. Tyson Burmeister didn't ride as he was still recovering from Wednesday night get off. Buck Blair touched the tape in the semi and had to start from the ten and I think he came in third which put him in the Last Chance with Jason Ramirez. Jason won the Last Chance but if you look at slot four in the picture above Jason is missing as he touched the tape at the start of the main and was sent behind the fence.












Faria got the gate and Fishback was never able to get around him. I made the main and started outside against the fence (that is not an excuse) and was never able to catch Chris Jones.


























There isn't any racing next Wednesday night at Industry as they will be dark until November. Next week here at IMS I will be in Salt Lake City watching my son ride at the Gatorade Flow Contest. He won an entry from their video competition and we are flying up and staying at a hotel and Gatorade is picking up the tab not papa.

IMS August 28

Hot day, hot night. I checked the weather before leaving and it was a mere 103 there at the track. Something was clogging the 91 Freeway in Corona and as I use the toll road to try and save time to get from Orange County out to 909 country I spent twenty five minutes coasting from the top of grade down to the 91 Freeway in a giant floating parking lot.






Before I tried using my IPhone for a ocean depth finder I could check the traffic flow on the screen and cuss at the red blockages on the south land traffic arteries. Now I first try the radio for information which usually isn't forthcoming or call someone for sigalert updates. This doesn't allow me an alternate route where you can get off the freaking toll road but it does tell you that there is an ambulance responding at 6Th Street in Corona.



























I would surmise that no matter what freeway you use on a Friday night in Southern California you encounter stop and go traffic. This gives the occupants plenty of time to look at the endless miles of automobile, RVs and trailer lots that line both sides but the crappy economy does seem to be eliminating some of these businesses and
their ranks grow smaller every time I pass through.














When I did get to the track I found the parking lot looking like last week with a zillion trucks and trailer belonging to the mini-sprint cars parked in such a mess that the off-track betting lot looked inviting. The little cars help pay the bills and they have to park outside the normal pits so although they are a pain in the ass IMO, they make it possible for the track to operate.















There is plenty to do after you get to the track besides the effort of getting your bike, tools and kit from the parking lot into the pits. Speedway at one time paid enough in purses to allow for riders to quit their day job. I was reading on the Internet where Mike Bast was making 50K a year when speedway in Southern Cal was booming and that when a lot way compared to today's dollar after inflation. So the time before races is spent repairing the bikes and getting ready again as that is the only time for some to do it.














A lot of time is spent changing the rear sprocket and switching which side of the tire is used. As speedway bike only go left the sprocket side of the tire wears and the other doesn't. So you flip the wheel over or install another wheel as the night goes on. Most of the top level riders have two bikes because they tend to quit when you least expect it or they go slamming against the wall or through the wall like Jason Ramirez did last night. He made a nice hole in the wall and his crew were able to repair it before the next race and send in back out. He was not able to restart after the crash as he doesn't have a backup bike. He could have used someones else bike as many riders share in a situation such as that but the crash was in a "Last Man Out Challenge" and that payout didn't warrant risking a bike that might be needed for one of the two remaining mains.




























I don't have a spare bike and last night I needed one. Mine quit after crossing the finishing line in my first race and I had to push it back. It had been running really good then I backed off on the throttle in turn one and it just stopped, no bang, or mechanical noise. I promptly took off my helmet and tried restarting. Steve Murray, who helps me out, pushed me but all I got was a little half -ass pop out out it. My ignition went away at the Perris long track races and it is like new. I pulled the side case and checked the ignition and it had not moved, tried another plug and all the wiring, disconnected the kill switch, took the carb apart, Buck came over had started to help and offered me his backup bike. I declined as his gearing and mine are worlds apart. Buck and I used to have two bikes, a short and a long stroke, and several times we switched bikes. back then I was not nursing my recent injuries and there was no reason for we to go out and wad his bike.





























There was sufficient time to work on my bike but all of our efforts came up without any results. I was already listed in the main as when the program was made up there were not that many riders but at race time there was eight and I was starting on the twenty. It is obvious to me that I would have won easily as I watched from the wrong side of the crash wall.














There is no instant replay in speedway or sideline protests and challenges such as they have in pro football (American) and when some one touches the tapes at the start the referee is the law. In the scratch main more than one touched the tapes but Buck Blair was sent to the pits. From my point of view looking at the start from an angle but very close to the tapes Faria touched first followed by Shaun Harmatiuk but Buck got the heave oh. Buck did argue with Steve and so did I. Look at the picture and see how difficult it is too call. My shot does not show Buck's front wheel as it is blocked from view but his body appears to be behind the gate loader and to the rear of Shaun and Mike. My call is obviously not objective and that is why I started the "Buck Got Screw Again" Foundation...


Now it is back to trying to find what the hell is wrong with my motor and to remove what is left of the king size mattress I ran over on the freeway last night. It is bad enough dodging Beach Ball but now they are throwing mattress at me.