Chicken Farm Mx Park Florida

project racer 7/4/2011 1:04am
7/4/2011 1:04am Edited Date/Time 7/4/2011 1:04am
mquehl wrote:
We used to have some fun though didn't we? When did Pat land on Todd? ANyone of us old guys still kickin it? I would race...
We used to have some fun though didn't we? When did Pat land on Todd? ANyone of us old guys still kickin it? I would race from time to time after 1990 but not often. Go do a HS or something. Last one was 08. Had alot of fun races at the Farm. I still remember the first open a class race I did there i had just installed a Fox Airshox on my YZ 400 and had the pressure wrong. Bought the shox and the Simons fork off of Gary Shultz- Got all out of shape with feet flying and Pat Post thought I was trying to kick him? Thats was a day to remember.

I have a bunch of those old memories from StPete, Gatorback, Cocoa Beach, could probably write a book
I want to say it was at Gatorback in '81 where Todd broke his back. The rumor was that he was supposed to get the Honda ride that ended up going to Keylon for 82.
mquehl
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mquehl 7/4/2011 5:23am
7/4/2011 5:23am
Ohh- I remember that- I was thinking this happened again. Must be getting Senile here in Ga.
croom mx
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croom mx 7/4/2011 11:53am
7/4/2011 11:53am
project racer wrote:
I want to say it was at Gatorback in '81 where Todd broke his back. The rumor was that he was supposed to get the Honda...
I want to say it was at Gatorback in '81 where Todd broke his back. The rumor was that he was supposed to get the Honda ride that ended up going to Keylon for 82.
If Todd Hempstead did not get hurt and did get the Honda Factory contract I think he would have gone on to a National Championship he was that good.
mquehl
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mquehl 7/4/2011 12:13pm
7/4/2011 12:13pm
Yes I think so too. Was hard to stay with him for any length of time. Had to work my ass off to keep him in sight if I was ever able to do so. We always did seem to grow fast racers in Fla. Look who has made it after our time- yeah we had Steve, Killer, Monte, Kippy, Mark M. Kenny K - all that and a few more then we run into RC, and the future looks even brighter...

The Shop

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croom mx
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croom mx 7/4/2011 12:18pm
7/4/2011 12:18pm
mquehl wrote:
Yes I think so too. Was hard to stay with him for any length of time. Had to work my ass off to keep him in...
Yes I think so too. Was hard to stay with him for any length of time. Had to work my ass off to keep him in sight if I was ever able to do so. We always did seem to grow fast racers in Fla. Look who has made it after our time- yeah we had Steve, Killer, Monte, Kippy, Mark M. Kenny K - all that and a few more then we run into RC, and the future looks even brighter...
Malcom do you remember going to Coco Beach MX also called Diamond Back during the 1980 Winter AMA. I recall whoops that were 5 feet deep and David Bailey on a Blue Bultaco?
mquehl
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mquehl 7/4/2011 12:43pm
7/4/2011 12:43pm Edited Date/Time 7/4/2011 12:48pm
Loved Diamondback. Had some fun there on my 400- racing the pro class on that track on a 400 convinced me to get a 125 for 1980. Damn those guys Hauled

1981 had the most fun there that year in fact look at the profile picture to the left- Thats the 125
croom mx
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croom mx 7/4/2011 12:47pm
7/4/2011 12:47pm
mquehl wrote:
Loved Diamondback. Had some fun there on my 400- racing the pro class on that track on a 400 convinced me to get a 125 for...
Loved Diamondback. Had some fun there on my 400- racing the pro class on that track on a 400 convinced me to get a 125 for 1980. Damn those guys Hauled

1981 had the most fun there that year in fact look at the profile picture to the left- Thats the 125
I used to race a RM465 there that's when my arms muscles gained about twice there size after 1 year of racing the bike.
mquehl
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mquehl 7/4/2011 3:56pm
7/4/2011 3:56pm
Same here. The local races we would go to were fun. The open pro was a blast usually when all of us were there we would have a freight train going from about 3rd to 10th but when I hit the winter am races on that 400 WOW. You all of the sudden have 39 guys around you that are as fast or faster. On that 400 I was hitting warp drive and I was getting passed!!!. Figured the 125 would be good for 1980 and I could learn how to go faster. Hope to see you guys soon if you still get out to races. I am working on some old CR s and YZ-s I think I have found some RM s also. Want to build them up like back in the day.
Glen Sutfin
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Glen Sutfin 2/9/2014 7:00pm
2/9/2014 7:00pm Edited Date/Time 2/9/2014 7:02pm
I raced there in 1975 and 1976, I was friends with Rick Lindell, Bobby Lane and Kenny Smith his father owned K&K concrete in the same shop as EC Bert. I have a photo of Bobby lane coming over the big jump way over center hanging on for dear life...but he landed it. I myself got stuck behind two other riders one race on the very top of the jump ended up falling and being run over by another guy coming over the jump, I survived to race another day but Chicken Farm is engraved in my memories for sure.
billy gunn
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billy gunn 4/26/2015 6:41pm
4/26/2015 6:41pm
project racer wrote:
I want to say it was at Gatorback in '81 where Todd broke his back. The rumor was that he was supposed to get the Honda...
I want to say it was at Gatorback in '81 where Todd broke his back. The rumor was that he was supposed to get the Honda ride that ended up going to Keylon for 82.
croom mx wrote:
If Todd Hempstead did not get hurt and did get the Honda Factory contract I think he would have gone on to a National Championship he...
If Todd Hempstead did not get hurt and did get the Honda Factory contract I think he would have gone on to a National Championship he was that good.
Croom Mx, Todd Hempstead was good in Florida but take him out of state and he could not make the top 5. I watched Carl Johnson beat him by 30 seconds or more in both motos at Mount Morris Pa. back in the day. This happened more than once. I sure do miss those guys though. Todd's dad Ray was a great guy. I miss seeing them, Karl Jordan, Carl Johnson, Mark Johnson, Kevin Foley, and others.
teggers
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teggers 9/25/2015 12:46am
9/25/2015 12:46am Edited Date/Time 9/25/2015 12:46am
I did a Google serch for "Chicken farm MX" and Vital pops up! Well done GUYB!


I loved that track. Broke my XR75 in half every time I raced there.
Carl_Johnson 3/20/2016 6:24am
3/20/2016 6:24am
Does anyone remember carl johnson,mark Johnson, ron brash, danny schmitt, all great riders
BVS40FL
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BVS40FL 3/20/2016 8:01am
3/20/2016 8:01am
Raced with Mark quite a bit . Both Carl and Mark's names came up a couple months ago when I ran into Kirk Youngblood's dad. We talked for quite awhile about the good old days.
project racer 3/20/2016 2:34pm
3/20/2016 2:34pm Edited Date/Time 3/20/2016 2:35pm
Recall racing Carl at Dade City one night in '82 on 125's. I think he sand bagged me the first moto, as in the second moto he was just too fast to catch.

I also remember Ken Johnson, rode 100A and 125's also. Lot's of awesome Johnson's back then.

Todd Shirah was also a fast 100A rider, thinking back.

Carl_Johnson 3/25/2016 5:47pm
3/25/2016 5:47pm
I remember the youngbloods Kirk was my friend ,miss the good ole day's
Mikkola Fan
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Mikkola Fan 1/31/2017 2:18pm
1/31/2017 2:18pm
All these names and places from my childhood...really amazing!
JOHN CHOATE
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JOHN CHOATE 1/31/2017 5:58pm
1/31/2017 5:58pm
Fla Winter-Ams in '82 I believe. The BIG uphill jump.

yamahayz80
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yamahayz80 5/28/2017 5:24am
5/28/2017 5:24am
Carl_Johnson wrote:
I remember the youngbloods Kirk was my friend ,miss the good ole day's


Kirk youngblood i still around he is my uncle he still races from time to time..

Pit Row

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KeithB141
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KeithB141 5/12/2018 4:40pm
5/12/2018 4:40pm
mquehl wrote:
This is cool, found a web site that has a bunch of us old guys remembering Chicken Farm. I am going through old photos right now...
This is cool, found a web site that has a bunch of us old guys remembering Chicken Farm. I am going through old photos right now and found some - working on loading them up this weekend. Loved that sand pit! Malcolm
Hey Malcolm, Keith Blackburn here long time no see! use to love riding with all the old gang at all the local tracks. We had some really great times back those days. Hope you are doing well and take care, Keith
Rickyisms 5/25/2018 7:28am
5/25/2018 7:28am
Did any of you know a Mike Taylor and Jon Heidenthal from Sarasota/Bradenton? They raced Dade city and the AMA winter series a lot in the 80s and early 90s.
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KeithB141 5/25/2018 8:19am
5/25/2018 8:19am
The names sound a little familiar but I can't say for sure. Been a long time ago...
Glen Sutfin
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Glen Sutfin 5/25/2018 8:31am
5/25/2018 8:31am
I raced Dade City Saturday nite then St Pete Motocross on Sunday... what a blast. Anyone remember Ron Runyan.. he was pretty fast at Dade City.
KeithB141
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KeithB141 5/25/2018 8:56am
5/25/2018 8:56am
My buddy Dane Whitt and I use to do the same thing on Saturday nights then hit the local MX tracks on Sundays. That was some great memories and times we raced in mid to late 70's then thru 1982. We rode all the local tracks, Sunshine, Coco, Orlando, Bithlo, Gainesville, Chicken Farm, the old track at Croom for a while too. Florida Winter AM race in 1982 at West Palm Beach was my last race. Raced again at Sunshine in the 40 and over 2009 & 2010.
Glen Sutfin
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Glen Sutfin 5/25/2018 9:27am
5/25/2018 9:27am
I pretty much raced with a friend of mine Dade city Saint Pete we used to run Night motorcross in Orlando that was a blast as well. Some of the other guys that were friends that raced all over the place Rick Lindell, Kenny SMITH Bobby LANE, and we had EC Bert manufacturing where we lived.
I came out to California in 1979 continue racing here and finished up a 1982 with my last races in the cow Palace Arena cross .
KeithB141
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KeithB141 5/25/2018 10:06am
5/25/2018 10:06am
Glen that's very cool I remember those guy's too. Dane and I both knew Rick and his father they were great guy's. I never raced Orlando at night but plenty on Sundays for sure. Those were some of best times of my life when I was younger. I use to race a Yamaha TT500 with a custom Bengt Aberg frame and YZ125 tank out of Jim Reilly's Dirt City in Largo for a while and that bike was very fun, but still pretty heavy. Raced 1980 YZ250 for a short while then I rode one of Steve Martins Honda CR250'S out at a toytown near Sunshine one day and I was hooked. Sold my Yamaha YZ250 and bought a new 1981 CR250. Got a support ride from Honda then got my 1982 CR250 and raced end of 1981 and 1st part of 1982. Sounds like you had a lot of fun out in California! Take care
Glen Sutfin
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Glen Sutfin 5/25/2018 10:21am
5/25/2018 10:21am
Yeah Rick and his dad were very cool people they were the ones that got me started in racing and actually took me to the races at chicken farm. Ric and I went to high school together and we had our own little private track that we used to race around on in practice on. After I left Florida for California years later Ric told me that his dad passed away from a heart attack now Ric is happily married in Georgia with his wife and rest for a little while while he was in Georgia I still keep in touch with him. Take care

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