Post by getta20m on Jun 22, 2008 12:38:34 GMT -5
Can motorcycle flattrack racing during intermission at a car race event keep the stands packed and draw people to their feet? You bet it can! Last night’s motorcycle race at Eagle Raceway had the crowd of about 2,000 cheering so loud the racers could hear them as they speed past the grandstands.
When the green flag fell Leo Ostantowski #87r wheelied his XR750 off the line and hooked handlebars with Josh Trail #29g. This allowed track hero, last night’s Sprint Car feature event winner, Mike Boston, riding borrowed bike #74n and Rob Goodwin #51g, to lead the way into turn one. Leo and Josh freed themselves from each other and followed directly on their tails. Brigitta Meyer #20m and Dennis Hofmann #112 both chose to begin on the back row, but were in hot pursuit. The eight laps of racing continued hot and furious with Mike riding his Sprint car line entering the high-banked corners way up top and swooping down onto the straight. On about lap three Mike’s line bites him as he hits loose stuff and gets squirrelly. Rob, Leo and Josh take advantage and speed past him to fight over podium positions, eventually finishing in that order. The racing never slows down and the crowd loves the show. All the competitors were laughing and smiling afterwards, no matter where they finished. Flattrack racing is one of the rare sports that this kind of fun and goodwill is found.
Most of us went to the stands and watched the car racing after intermission. Eagle puts on a good show and has nice facilities. You can see the entire track from anywhere, but in addition they have one of those big projection screens running live film of the racing. The track is a fast, wide 1/3-mile. The corners are very wide from bottom to top and have very high banking. The straights are long enough to tuck and slid your bottom back for just a moment, but don’t forget it’s a short track! There is a flat part at the bottom of the track but the motorcycles carried lots of speed on the banking through the corners. The pit area has a platform to view the races, similar to McCool Junction.
Thanks to Roger Hayden, owner of Eagle Raceway, for providing us with an area to display our bikes by the ticket gate, free passes and good entertainment. Thanks to Tom Laird for arranging this and keeping things running smoothly. Thanks to all the riders that showed with shining bikes and the ones that suited up to race.
Last night was tons of fun and the 27th is shaping up to be even better (I’m busy working on my strategy).
Hope to see everyone at the Motorcycle and Midget Car Races at Eagle Raceway on July 27th !
Brigitta #20m
When the green flag fell Leo Ostantowski #87r wheelied his XR750 off the line and hooked handlebars with Josh Trail #29g. This allowed track hero, last night’s Sprint Car feature event winner, Mike Boston, riding borrowed bike #74n and Rob Goodwin #51g, to lead the way into turn one. Leo and Josh freed themselves from each other and followed directly on their tails. Brigitta Meyer #20m and Dennis Hofmann #112 both chose to begin on the back row, but were in hot pursuit. The eight laps of racing continued hot and furious with Mike riding his Sprint car line entering the high-banked corners way up top and swooping down onto the straight. On about lap three Mike’s line bites him as he hits loose stuff and gets squirrelly. Rob, Leo and Josh take advantage and speed past him to fight over podium positions, eventually finishing in that order. The racing never slows down and the crowd loves the show. All the competitors were laughing and smiling afterwards, no matter where they finished. Flattrack racing is one of the rare sports that this kind of fun and goodwill is found.
Most of us went to the stands and watched the car racing after intermission. Eagle puts on a good show and has nice facilities. You can see the entire track from anywhere, but in addition they have one of those big projection screens running live film of the racing. The track is a fast, wide 1/3-mile. The corners are very wide from bottom to top and have very high banking. The straights are long enough to tuck and slid your bottom back for just a moment, but don’t forget it’s a short track! There is a flat part at the bottom of the track but the motorcycles carried lots of speed on the banking through the corners. The pit area has a platform to view the races, similar to McCool Junction.
Thanks to Roger Hayden, owner of Eagle Raceway, for providing us with an area to display our bikes by the ticket gate, free passes and good entertainment. Thanks to Tom Laird for arranging this and keeping things running smoothly. Thanks to all the riders that showed with shining bikes and the ones that suited up to race.
Last night was tons of fun and the 27th is shaping up to be even better (I’m busy working on my strategy).
Hope to see everyone at the Motorcycle and Midget Car Races at Eagle Raceway on July 27th !
Brigitta #20m
It was also fun to finish right behind an XR750. That probably won't happen to me much, especially on a 350 Honda....
Good job fast guy!