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Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
Racing it was a blast too but I never got confidence to push it on the pavement but made up for it on the pavement.
The Shop
Still a lot of those bikes ripping the shit out of that stretch of road.
I raced a lot of "Sumo", when i lived in So Cal... Apex, Adams, and Qualcomm. It was a lot of fun.
I was heavily involved manufacturing SX products from the beginning but fortunately for me I had already headed back to my MX roots making Moto Hose just before that crash. When my competitors CV4 and Samco were hurting from lack of sales Moto Hose was climbing fast.
The Great Recession played a huge part in the sport's downfall.
Pit Row
WAR Series Qualcomm 2013
They turned it into tarmac supercross, and all the guys who would have supported the series , from the bottom up decided not to bother, because unless you had been a former MX Pro, you were wasting your time .
I raced the AMA series in 2003, and was competitive enough to get offered a deal for 2004, but when i did the final, round, they had already, started bringing in the SX style ramps and at that point i was out.
Great pic of Benny Carlson, he rode for us here in Europe, in 2009 i think, i have that shirt and one of his hand guards, we looked after him on his first trip to europe in 2002, where he rocked up with a broken, hand after getting kicked by a cow.
He was a great kid and turned into a good Pro, nice family, believe he worked for Bell Helmets.
Me with 2 other blokes that may have been good if they had stuck at it.
Him and Steve Drew came to stay at out house in 2002 , in the UK, it was on the run up to 5th November, (our 4th of July) , and they arrived before i got home, and were waiting on the doorstep... kids were playing with fireworks in the underpass just round from our house, and after a couple of loud bangs, they asked ' what the hell is that ' and i said ' i guess the drug guys are playing hard ball again' ... they looked like they were gonna run a mile.
Casey was a flat track guy from Bakersfield, and i have a picture of him and his dad Allen on my wall here, another great racing family.
Me on our TM500 in Germany in 2019
I raced Sportsman class 'cause I couldn't afford SM wheels for my clapped out XL600R or CR500, but at least the XL600 was halfway there with a 17" rear wheel!
Rick Pearce was so fast and a Bakersfield local and held the #1 plate competing with guys like Mark Cernicky, DeWayne Jones, and a few other fast guys!
Supermoto was a Euro thing back then but Don was promoting it as hard as he could. He got us a one-off at Angels Stadium parking lot on a Monster Jam weekend and all the big AMA guys showed up and killed us! Nicky Hayden, Kevin Schwantz, Anthony Gobert, and I think a few others showed us all how to REALLY ride Supermoto!
Wasn't long after that that the AMA SM series started up and then it was too big, too fast, and too expensive for rolling chicanes like myself! At least I got my pic in Cycle News, so I got that going for me!
PS. Nice shots of everyone and I even spotted an old friend from HRA and Paso Robles native, #64 Travis Marks
Thanks for posting these, I'm gonna go shut the fuck up now.
I raced for Brad Dodenhoff's East Hill's Vertemati team, with Pucho Bagnis and Mike Foster, i got to race Glenn Cyrtiss and Paul Brent's Superbikers 2 series that kicked off in Pheonix, th week before,in March, then came back for the first AMA round in June at Laguna Seca , where everyone and his dog rocked up.
There were 10 Factory KTM's , with the likes of Kurt Nichol, Joe Copp, Chris Carr, Mickey Dymond, and a rake of other pro's plus Mcgrath, and Ward on Fun Bike Center TLD Honda's
I made the Open main and ran 3rd for a while ,before ending up 10th or 11th , after pulling over to let Nicoll through who won, but Benny Carlson and Doug Chandler were not on the lead lap , so i got mugged.
I missed the 450 main, finishing 3rd in the LCQ, on a Cycle News Honda that i picked up as alast minute fill in , i think Ray Sommo won it .
I Gpt invited back for the Final in Las Vegas at the RIO Casino, which was full of proper fast Euro guys (unlike me who was a fat guy on holiday) and the track was full of metal SX jumps , which was simply too much for me .
I followed a guy on a KTM, to try and get over the big table, he only just made it and i didnt, quite get over it... turns out it was Grant Langston in unnamed KTM leathers.
I made the open main, out of my heat , , there was no LCQ as it was live on TV, so honestly i could have gone all that way for nothing.
When i got there in March, i raced bar to bar with Scott Russell , by the end of the year , so many Pro's had jumped in that i wasnt going to abuse the goodwill of the guys that gave me a great year , that i couldnt back up.
Here is a set of Decal Works that arrived late at the track, for the 450 ride, i really need to stick them on a plate on the wall .
Great times.
Oh and the first year they ran X Games, i got a call from my man out there asking if i was interested in coming.. i declined , and the spot went to Kenny Bartram anyway .
When we got back, we raced in the UK till the end of 2011, picking up a National Title in the support class ( i was 46 then) , and then raced the IDSM Championship in Germany for 8 years , lining up with Berndt Heimer and MArc Reiner Schit who were both World Cahmpions.
I like to think of it as maximising mediocrity, i was decent enough back in the day to pick up some good help, and enough fun to be around, to keep that help, as i moved, into their Vets series, we won a few races too.
Supermoto could have been huge, but money fucked it over, which is a shame.
Its still fun, even now,
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