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Flat Track Racing Mega Thread - INCLUDES SPOILERS!

How was Pomona? I caught the live stream of the Expert Main. Love that track and it makes me sad to think that might have been the last event there.
 
oh, it was lotsa fun

- all the LA motoheads made appearances [including the Keanu Reeves ARCH]
- the Nat'l Anthem singer could actually sing
- the Legends signing included Romero, Emde, Brashear, Odom & a zillion others
- for some reason, the crowd will clap for Barry of "Storage Wars" TV drivel
- discovered that The Sacramento Mile will run in May [cooler] of 2015
- missed the Retro PinUp Girl competition [looking at vintage trackers.....]
- both spectator & rider counts were too damn low.....
- Fremont's Chad Cose almost put his factory Triumph into the Main [a one-off, end-of-season ride]
- Bryan Smith won everything heat, Dash for Cash, final] & it still didn't matter**

**turns out that his controversial DQ at The Calistoga Half-Mile
was the Kaw's oil level window lens cracking & dripping oil on the exhaust -
pretty ironic that a leaky Japanese bike loses the race [& 'ship!] to oil-tight Harleys.....
 
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That is ironic. Thanks for the notes.

Bummed for Smith but just as happy for Mees. Mees was right at the front end one every type or track, every type of surface all year. Thats a tall order.

Never made to Pomona. On top of the great racing, the fact that it draws so many moto-industry types makes it a cool event. I hope Southern California can find a replacement.

Good and bad news for me on the Sac mile. I like the cooler temps of May but there are so many events to conflict motorsports events that could conflict; Hangtown, etc. Plus spring and fall are my busiest times of year for work so I miss most everything that happens in May, September and October.
 
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Excellent season 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track highlight video from Thunder Media.

[youtube]mnOHxC7bzaY[/youtube]
 
DogBoy said:
Calistoga Expert Main. Maybe the worst coverage from FansChoice.TV all year. IMO, poor camera placement made it hard to follow and looked amateurish from the infield shots. However, the speed shots from the fence make up for most of the bad stuff.

Tight, fast 1/2 mile track that is a little sketchy judging by the number of injuries.




[youtube]1-6nnY3ZpMo[/youtube]
Click to expand...

I heard that the source of the smoke on Bryan Smith's bike was a cracked sight glass that allowed oil to drip on the exhaust. Anyone else confirm?
 
Thats what Bryan Smith has said in multiple interviews. Sammy Halbert's bike had a lot of oil on the fork and number plate. Other riders said they had oil on their visors from following Smith. Seems like it was more than a drip and the bike was losing plenty of oil which did not all burn off on the exhaust.
 
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DogBoy said:
Thats what Bryan Smith has said in multiple interviews. Sammy Halbert's bike had a lot of oil on the fork and number plate. Other riders said they had oil on their visors from following Smith. Seems like it was more than a drip and the bike was losing plenty of oil which did not all burn off on the exhaust.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Big crack.
 
all McLaughlin, all the time.....

Steve McLaughlin is new DMG Dirt Track Consultant

".....With a full flat track schedule nearly complete for 2015 and every round set to be broadcast live in high definition and free of charge online at FansChoice.tv, we feel there is a lot of positive momentum.....

.....With his wealth of knowledge on the business of event promotion, McLaughlin will act as a liaison to the AMA Pro Flat Track promoters and will assist AMA Pro Racing with site selection for potential future events....."


http://www.roadracingworld.com/news...cturing-renewing-focus-on-ama-pro-flat-track/
 
flying_hun said:
Isn't there something going around about him putting on Daytona too?
Click to expand...


I think I posted that rumor myself!
nothing more at this point

this McLaughlin position is really a replacement for Mike Kidd's previous, similar Florida AMA Pro assignment, which didn't produce the desired results

recently, Kidd pissed off Ohio AMA, too, with his bogus SuperMoto series announcement

& folks wonder why there aren't enough events/promoters in the mix.....
 
a DogBoy cross-post from GP off-season thread - many Champions, indeed!

December 13th at Superprestigio 2014.

93 Marc MÁRQUEZ (ESP) – MOTOGP – campeón del mundo FIM de MotoGP (2013, 2014)
53 Tito RABAT (ESP) – MOTO2 – campeón del mundo FIM de Moto2 (2014)
12 Àlex MÁRQUEZ (ESP) – MOTO3 – campeón del mundo FIM de Moto3 (2014)
19 Álvaro BAUTISTA (ESP) – MOTOGP – campeón del mundo FIM de 125cc (2006)
60 Julián SIMÓN (ESP) – MOTO2 – campeón del mundo FIM de 125cc (2009)
21 Troy BAYLISS (AUS) – SUPERBIKE – campeón del mundo FIM de World Superbike (2001, 2006, 2008)
38 Bradley SMITH (GBR) – MOTOGP
45 Scott REDDING (GBR) – MOTOGP
36 Mika KALLIO (FIN) – MOTO2
5 Johann ZARCO (FRA) – MOTO2
94 Jonas FOLGER (GER) – MOTO2
23 Marcel SCHROTTER (GER) – MOTO2
19 Xavier SIMEON (BEL) – MOTO2
7 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI (ITA) – MOTO2
88 Ricard CARDÚS – MOTO2
9 Kenny NOYES (USA) – MOTO2
42 Àlex RINS (ESP) – MOTO3
33 Enea BASTIANINI (ITA) – MOTO3
31 Niklas AJO (FIN) – MOTO3
Brad BAKER (USA) – FLAT TRACK – campeón AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National (2013) / ganador I Superprestigio Dirt Track
Jared MEES (USA) – FLAT TRACK – doble campeón AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National (2012, 2014)
 
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:applause

Indeed they were experts because they got it right.
 
AMA Pro Flat Track re-Titles class structure: GNC1 and GNC2.

Replacing confusing nomenclature with slightly less confusing nomenclature:
The former Grand National Expert class will now be referred to as GNC1 while the former Pro Singles class will called GNC2.

This makes some sense. It was odd for fans not familiar with AMA Pro Flat Track to have the Pro class as the Junior class while the Expert class was the top class. The mix of singles and twins and who races whaa at which venue will still be confusing as hell but the class names make a touch more sense even if they are lengthy and awkward. I see how this follows the MotoGP/Moto2 but its still convoluted compared to Superbike or Supersport.

How renaming the classes attracts money or gets more $$$ into the racers pockets, I do not know. It seems like the $$ aspect should be a much bigger priority than class names. Lets face it, any real money is going to come from sponsorship not more people through the gate. Chicken and egg I suppose.
 
I found the Pro / Expert nomenclature confusing, so maybe it's a good thing to at least get that out of the way. :dunno

I grew up a long way from any live AMA flat track venues, and got most of my early enthusiasm from reading about Nixon, Romero and Aldana in the pages of Cycle World. When as an adult I moved to Sacramento in the nineties, I was kind of put off going to the Mile because it seemed like it was mainly a venue for Harley guys to hang on to the one place where their brand still dominated. Kind of like Harley drags.

When I finally went to an AMA dirt national a few years ago, I saw that it wasn't all HD folks - and the racing is FUCKING SPECTACULAR!!!1111 - but that the demographics are overrepresented with people like me - old guys. Partly, that's representative of the way motorcycling has skewed, but it seems even worse at the races.

How do we get younger riders, especially those here on teh BARF to come on out to see some flat track?
 
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