December 2007 South Central Regional Report:

There has been some time since you have heard from me. I would like to thank Albert Newmann for all his help during my absence. He is truly a vintage crazy kind of guy, just loves the stuff. My status is getting better every month and I hope to return to the starting line again very soon. Thanks for all the calls and emails. It makes me feel good about our sport and those who spend so much time and hard earned money to have fun on old bikes. 

Since the last report some very good events have taken place. One that stands out is the 2-Day Reunion Ride at New Blaine, Arkansas. The whole event is just too much fun, lots of trails, fire roads, and a motocross track that is a blast to race on that it should be changed to a separate event. Many thanks to the Arkansas Dirt Riders and the New Blaine Fire Department for all their great work. It paid off! 

Combined with all the great riding  you get a Saturday night banquet. Larry Miers, Dick Mann, John Penton, and a list of Gold Medal winners that is awesome. There was Carl Cranke, Gary Hazel, Dan Leimbach, Doug Wolford, Jack Penton, Ryan and Adam Penton, the list was endless, a real who’s who. 

Tim Hamilton was there with his mom Betty, who supports him in all his events and made for a very good family trip. It was a pleasure to meet her. Tim put in some good rides in a very competitive group. I should have some photo’s of all these great riders available soon on the South Central website (ahrmasc.com). Photography and just hanging out with all these great riders, along with acting as a recovery specialist was my contribution since I could not ride. It was me and my truck helping out those riders and their machines that did not make it back to the home base. 

Also this past month we had the Moberly, MO vintage event. Brooks Blair had some great stories about that event and reported once again that the HLR Motorsports track was just amazing to ride on. Wes and Becky Willis of New Mexico were adopted into the Texas Contigency to help fill the void for Gary Davis and his crew that were unable to make the trip. Diamond Don once again hosted a great dinner and from the size of the crowd around his pit it must have been a good one! As for the racing, Post Vintage put the +60 Expert and Intermediate in the same gate so Don and Brooks got to ride together on Saturday. The bet between Don and Brooks was for   $10.00 per moto. Brooks was also dueling it out with Teddy Landers for the championship in the +60 Intermediate class. As it turned out Brooks and Teddy split wins with Teddy winning the second moto for the win. Brooks and Teddy beat Don both moto's with Don taking the +60 expert win in both moto's. The big 20.00 bet going to Brooks, now he has to figure out how to collect from the DD. Saturday night HLR served everyone dinner (all you can eat) and the band played to the wee hours.

Sunday's Vintage track was again in perfect condition. No other track we ride goes to this degree of effort to make a wonderful riding experience. Brooks' new Boyd Built 74 Husky Mag 250 was on it's second ride and Brooks could not wipe the grin off his face after each moto. Diamond said the Husky rousted him so badly in the first moto that he tried a risky pass on Brooks and ran off the track. The second moto was a repeat for place finishes with Brooks going off the track and having to ride hard to pass Bob Adams on the last sweeper of the last lap. Don finished 2, 2 for second and Brooks went 3, 3 for third. Wes Willis provided some spectacular riding on Brooks' Husky (after throwing the chain while riding second) and then again on his 400 Husky in the second moto. He finished 5, 2 for third. He gave Brooks chain adjustment lessons after the first moto. After the racing we had the Diamond Don wind down party to finish the best motocross riding we have had all year and we all hope to be back next year to HLR. Thanks to Brooks for this update!

Speaking of next year, the Reunion Ride will be heading back to the John Zink Ranch in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thanks to AHRMA for the two national motocross events and cross country national, now that’s cool.

See ya at the starting line and don’t forget to turn on the gas!

Bobby Lucas  50X

Thanks to Brooks Blair for additional input! 

November 2007 South Central Regional Report:

Fall has finally hit the region and believe me we all appreciate the cool-down in temperatures. The heart of our racing season is about to start up and the anticipation of the Post-Vintage National at North Forty Cycle Park is gaining momentum. We have a little bit of news to post for the past month so here we go.

The annual TVRC “King of the Hill” Small-Bore Challenge went off at Burleson MX Park a few weeks back. Burleson MX is one of those tracks that many of our vintage riders grew up on in North Texas and here they are 30 plus years later riding the same bikes on probably a very similar track to back then. Texas Vintage Racing Club host this event which is centered around the title of  the small bore vintage class champion for the day “King of the Hill”. Fourteen small bore bikes lined the gate this year for the crown. Both motos featured some great racing throughout the pack. Eb Simon, on his 1974 YZ125 took both moto wins to retain his title from last year. Eb is just naturally fast and his bikes are always tuned well. Jimmy Ewing finished up with second place and Mark Andrews third. Later in the day Eb turned in another great performance in our GPII A class with Richard Yale behind him. It’s great to see Richard back out on the track and his Maico is a sight to behold. Hopefully, he will get his RM125 on the track again to add to our growing GP 125 class! 

Brooks Blair arrived back from the Missouri National and reported the track was once again in great shape. If you have never been you are missing something special. A great track layout, wide, and the best dirt I’ve ever seen on ANY track. Brooks and Teddy Landers once again had a good battle on their hands with Teddy coming out with the overall in the Post-Vintage 60 Plus Intermediate class on Saturday. Brooks will be going to the ISDT race so an update next issue should be coming. 

Back to the Post-Vintage National for a moment. It will be a full weekend of racing for dirt-trackers and motocrossers. Friday night will feature a pit-bike race under the lights along with modern racing on the arenacross track. Saturday will feature the Texas Vintage Racing Clubs annual Wyman Priddy Memorial race. Wyman was the first privateer to win a national motocross event back in 70’s and was a local boy to boot. There will be a schedule of vintage class bikes, decade bikes (bikes manufactured more than 10 years ago), modern amateur motocross all on the motocross track and dirt track racing on the North Fortys dirt track. Sunday will be the AHRMA Post-Vintage National and more dirt track racing will be highlighted. Texas biggest vintage swapmeet will also be occurring along with other activities and entertainment. Action Packed! Gary Davis and the Livingston wrecking crew will be on hand and Gary said there will be a lot of food coming out of his pit and of course you might just hear that chainsaw blender of his revving throughout the nights. If you are wondering where to stay David Henry has set up a discount deal with some local hotels and there are plenty of new ones in the area. You can go to www.ahrmasc.com for more info. If the wife comes along there is a ton of shopping centers about 15 minutes down the road.

 Until next month.  

Albert Newmann #399

October 2007 South Central Regional Report:

This fall looks to be one busy season of racing for the region. The upcoming ISDT Reunion Ride in New Blaine, Arkansas and Post-Vintage Motocross Texas Shoot-Out in Sherman, Texas are highlights of the schedule. The Reunion Ride is the premier ISDT event and is a great honor for our region to host. It will be two days of events in the scenic Ozark National Forest. On Saturday will be the Special Test day and that night the Arkansas Dirt Riders will be hosting the Reunion Ride banquet. Capping things off on Sunday will be the grass track motocross race.

In mid-November the AHRMA Post-Vintage National will be held at North Forty Cycle Park in Sherman, Texas. David Henry, owner of the park, is also an avid vintage motocross and dirt track racer. David has three days of events planned starting Friday with arena-cross and pit bike national under the lights. Saturday’s events will be the Texas Vintage Racing Club’s 10^th annual Wyman Priddy Memorial Vintage Motocross race along with open amateur motocross during the day and a Vintage/Pro-Am National Flat Track race that night. Sunday is the AHRMA Post-Vintage National along with more flat track racing and awards party after the races. This is one, if not the most, vintage friendly active track in the country. The flat track and arena-cross tracks are very well lit and the surface is awesome. New bathrooms and showers now grace the facility along with a ton of campground available. Live entertainment, swap meet, and you know there will be some good cooking with the race being in Gary Davis and Don Rainey’s backyard. A great way to end the race year in the Lone Star state!

What’s been happening? Well the AMA finally returned a national outdoor national motocross race to Texas. Tony Miller and Freestone County Raceway hosted the event. A parade lap featured legendary state riders Bobby Pickard and Steve Wise on vintage bikes. An AMA outdoor modern national may not be vintage, but too a lot of us old guys it was great to see a pro outdoor race back home. A vintage bike show was set up in the pits and you could hear all the old stories about Rio Bravo, Lake Whitney, Rabbit Run, Mosier Valley, and Cycle Ranch national racing from the past. Roger DeCoster even stopped by the tent to look over the bikes and sign a tank for Scott Andersen. To complete our weekend Tony set up a Vintage/Post-Vintage Labor Day race, with a lot of help from TVRC volunteers following the outdoor national. The “Texas Vintage National” featured riders from all over the region. Matt Howell, Steve Smith, Gary Davis, Joe and Darrick Newmann from the Houston area, Mac Edmonston from Louisiana, the Simon Boys from Oklahoma, Karl Poindexter from Kentucky, and all the North Texas guys showed up to compete. Jay Navarro, Kirk Spencer, and Mac Edmonston stole the show with their fast riding. Joe Busby made his first appearance back on the track since his injuries from a street bike accident and didn’t appear to miss a beat. On a down note though, regional coordinator Bobby Lucas railed a berm too hard and crashed down an embankment of the track resulting in a broken foot. He’ll be riding the pine a couple of months with possibly some surgery in order, so get well Bobby.

Sandia just completed and again we had great support from the region. In Cross-Country racing Brooks Blair battled Bob Knibb with Brooks holding him off for a win in the Post-Vintage Plus 60 Intermediate class. Lloyd Morgan also pulled off a win the the Cross-Country Post Vintage Plus 60 Expert class after dueling it out with Teddy Landers. Lloyd struggled early on but put it together to pull away for the win. Both Lloyd and Brooks brought home some wood with nice rides in the vintage and post-vintage motocross also. Diamond Don Rainey rode well in the Plus 60 Expert vintage and post-vintage classes again just barely trailing Lloyd in their classes. Teddy Landers also had some great rides in his classes. Our newest local fast guy, Mac Edmonston, from Louisiana made some great showings and is definitely a rider to watch for in the future. As for my self it was a struggle with the altitude both days and sputtering bikes. Trey Jorski and Doug Gagnon made the show also and both did well in their motocross classes. It was a pleasure to meet and watch some of our road racers compete. Keith Martin and his pit featured some of the coolest race bikes at Sandia along with some of the fastest racing on the asphalt. Craig Murray took home a couple of class wins in the BEARS class and Ryan Ambrose took a second in the Sportsman 750 class. Ryan lead most of his race but eventually was passed on lapped 6. Keith also pulled down a fifth place in BEARS racing. The bad news coming out of Sandia however is that Gary Davis will be joining Bobby Lucas on the injury report. Gary also crashed down an embankment of the track breaking the tibia and fibula in his leg just above the ankle. A little surgery it appears is in his future so wish Gary well in his recovery also. 

Bobby should return with next months update. As he says “Don’t forget to turn on the gas”.

Albert Newmann #39

Thanks to Michael Canderia, Ryan Ambrose, Gary Davis, and Bobby Lucas for additional info!