Quote:
Originally Posted by canamman
Wow, R.Lee, you sure know how to pick an" only" event of the year to attend!
That racing competition was off the chain. Really cool to run in to you on the fence! You are a motorsports almanac! http://www.americanflattrack.com/ |
Thanks canamman.
Yes, Flat Track Motorcycle racing is AWESOME competition. I have to agree with Willie G. Davidson (Great Grandson of one of the three Davidson Brothers, that founded the Harley-Davidson Motor Company) when he said, a couple of years ago, after attending a flat track race, "This is the most exciting form of motorsports on the planet. This series needs to be rebuilt and brought back to it's former glory!" It was unreal, the way that we met!
Thank you for lending me the lawn chair, that was a life saver! Looking forward to seeing you again, in the near future.
Really glad that you read the post about this event and decided to check it out!
Now, we need to get the rest of these guys here from Georgia, to come on out for this race next year, when the AFT Series returns to Dixie Speedway (as well as other forum members, here in the U.S., to check out the AFT Series, when they race at a track near them)! It WILL (I'm going to optimistic and say will, instead of would, it is GOING TO happen) be GREAT meeting everyone, have some good racing talk and enjoy this exciting form of racing!
This was the first time that this series had been back to North Georgia, since the 1990s. In the past, this was one of the biggest forms of racing in the country. It is a long story on how it fell out of popularity, though one thing that started it's decline was when the original Indian Motorcycle Company went out of business, in 1953. Both Harley-Davidson and Indian built their names and reputation on the race track, practically from their beginnings, back in the early 1900s. With import bikes, like Triumph, BSA, Norton and later, the metric bikes, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda, to compete against H-D, the sport carried on through the 1970s, but as popular/known stars retired, the series lost it's popularity. It has been there, but has been, largely, "flying under the radar". But now, with renewed promotion/interest in bringing flat track racing back, with the revival of the Indian (now under Polaris Industries) brand and with Harley-Davidson coming back into racing and with strong interest from the metric companies and with Triumph remaining in the fray, the sport is poised for a big comeback! The race at Dixie Speedway was added to the schedule, as a trial. To see if interest was in the area. The fear was that the weather would be bad all weekend and it did not look good, at all. Weather threatened, all week leading up to the weekend. A good friend of mine, a former rider and AMA Grand National Champion, put together a reunion of retired riders, several former Grand National Champions that featured vintage racing bikes, to help promote the event. I was more than glad to help him with the event. Had the weather been a problem and the races been rained out, it is doubtful that they would have returned to this area again. It was placed on the schedule between Daytona and Charlotte, two established events in the series and there was no plan to reschedule, if the event had been postponed. Fortunately, the weather held off and the fans came out. The stands and the whole track were full!
There was no parking left on the grounds of the speedway, cars had to be parked outside of the track. It was a great turnout and the fans saw some outstanding racing! Indian brought out a new racing version of the "Scout" and they dominated, sweeping the top three positions. As a Harley guy, I hate to say this, but Harley-Davidson got embarrassed!
It wasn't pretty for us. I believe the first Harley finished 5th. They have brought out a new bike, to replace the AWESOME XR750, that dominated this form of racing for so many years. There isn't anything left to get out of the XR750, it's had everything that it had gotten rung out of it. The new GX750R needs ALLOT of work! If anyone can turn this bike into a winner, it will be Vance and Hines, who runs Harley's racing program. They are out to lunch right now, they have a whole lot of work to do! By all accounts, the event was a HUGE success!
We talked to the AMA (American Motorcycle Association) officials and they were pleased! They said that this event/race will be on the schedule, they will be back next year!
Please, come out and support the American Flat Track Series, be a part of bringing this exciting form of racing back to the forefront! Support the AFT Series, see a race, when they come to a track near you. You won't be sorry and you will become a fan!
Flat track racing has been popular, worldwide, not just in the U.S., so guys, if you are from outside the U.S., check and see if there is flat track racing in your country. You will love it, I promise you!
They run the 1/2 mile dirt oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, this coming weekend. Check them out on
www.fanschoice.tv . All of the AFT schedule is streamed live. Also, NBCSN will show all of the AFT races, delayed, on Thursday nights. So check out the races from Dixie Speedway, this coming Thursday evening, you might see canamman and me on TV!
Again, it was a real pleasure meeting and talking with you canamman!
We need to get the Georgia Gang from the forum together soon.
Take care, my Friend.