News: TX Shootout, Regional Updates, Off Season News

February 2008 South Central Regional Report

Ah, the cold days of winter are finally here in the South Central Region. Unfortunately, like our brothers up north, we don’t have cellars to work on the bike in during the off season. Instead it’s some cold drafty garage and maybe a good day of sunshine will hit us every now and then. Most of you all I have spoke to over the last month seem to be forging ahead with getting bikes ready for the spring season. No schedules are out yet for any of the clubs in the region, but we have Bike Week creeping up on us at North Forty Cycle Park in Sherman, TX during the week of March 10-16. It will be hitting at spring break time for most in the area. Planned events include practice sessions, a Motocross school by Charley Bogard, and  Aaron Smith will be doing an Arenacross School. Lots of Open Amateur, Pro MX, TT, Dirt Track, Vintage MX, and the Jim Pomeroy Memorial race are all on tap from Friday to Sunday of that week. A MX Volleyball challenge, bands, and of course the “cougars and kittens” of the North Forty Girls! It should be a great warm up event leading in to Diamond Don’s. 

Speaking of Diamond Don’s, get registered and signed up in plenty of time so you do not have to pay those large late fees. You can register on-line at www.ahrma.org . The website should also point you to Don’s event website which will help you out for room reservations and information regarding the host city of Jefferson, TX. This tiny little town of 2,210 comes to life during the Riverport National. The town is very supportive of Don and Francene’s event. There are plenty of very nice bed and breakfast’s to stay at, antique shopping, eateries, historic home viewings, train rides, and good times for all. Francene will be leading a “Race Around Town” that many of the local retailers will be participating in for those  feeling the need to take in some of the shopping in town. It should be a fun time, but the real fun will be starting Friday night with the annual barbeque and crawdad boil (mudbugs as we folks close to Louisiana call them) and this year Don will add in a fish fry…good for us during lent too! Marty Tripes will be our guest head chef and Don will be serving as souz chef for the first time that I can remember! As for the track it is going to be similar in design but hopefully without a 6 inch down pour of rain. Don said he did not disc the track this year in hopes of it not becoming so water soluble if rain creeps back into the forecast. Some more trees have been cut out and a few tweaks have been made to widen the track. It will be great! The cross-country and trials events will take place on Friday and we’re bringing in some help to get the trials course even more technical this year. Oh, there will be a benefit 30 yard “hole in one” golf tournament and a raffle for a Kawasaki Mule with donations going to the Carnegie Library in Jefferson. Our master of ceremonies will be Jack Penton and Steve Stackable will be the legend motocross rider at this event. Gary Semics, Marty Tripes, Tommy Croft will be in attendance and Donny Hanson will lead a MX school on Friday. Something tells me we will be seeing Lackey and LaPorte hanging around during the event also.

From last month I have been in contact with Dennis Hawthorne. Dennis was the very first Arenacross champion and he held that title from 1986-1990. He got his start riding a 1975 Honda XR 75 which immediately was upgraded to a Suzuki RM 100 in 1976 and the rest was history. Dennis recently showed up at one of our vintage races on a 1974 Kawasaki KX 400 from Tony Mosley’s stable. It was his first time to race a real vintage bike and needless to say his back didn’t feel so wonderful the next day (he likened it to the iron chair exercise). Nonetheless he had a great time and was giving it his all. In his class he finished 2nd overall behind old time nemesis Kirk Spencer and just in front of the Flyin’ Hawaiian, John DeSoto. Overall, I call that a damn good day for stepping back on one of these machines for the first time in a long, long time. We will get a future story from him soon to find out more of what it was like racing in the late 70’s and early 80’s along with what he is up to now. 

It looks like we are going to pick up some help on the goings-on in the Road Race world. Paul Zuniga from Laredo, TX is out on the circuit and will provide some story telling that we normally don’t get to hear much of. This should be exciting. His company “Born Again Bikes” is going to be the sponsor for the AHRMA Novice Historic Production Heavyweight class for 2008. Hopefully, we’ll get an update on Ryan Ambrose and his pursuit of a crown for 2008 from the knee dragging circuit! 

The TVRC just had their local banquet and election. The banquet was very nice with a sit down dinner provided along with some nice prizes and series winner trophies were handed out. The elections for most positions were held and with only one person running per the positions being nominated for you can say it was over fairly quick. The highlight of rules changes was reverting he 1978 model bikes back into the GPII class. A few other items were discussed but appear to be tabled at the moment. A great turnout was on hand and many of the original riders from back in 1988/89 were in attendance.  

Last but not least, Alex Moroz has been working with Live Nation, the Supercross promoter, to get an area set up for AHRMA and a vintage bike display. Don Rainey is heading this one up for the Feb 16 Houston Supercross. Keep an eye peeled for us. From the quality of bikes among those interested for this display  we will undoubtedly have a concourse level display representing bikes from the 70’s and 80’s. If you are there come by, say hello, and hang out for a while. 

2008 is looking to be a good year. We will be attempting to promote another race up in Arkansas this year and possibly one in the Houston area. We hope to keep you in the loop of what is going on, however if you have a story to tell or information you would like to pass along just log on to your website www.ahrmasc.com and send us an email. We like email! 

Until next month!

Albert Newmann # 399

Thanks to Bobby Lucas, Paul Zuniga, Don Rainey, and the TVRC membership for information in this update! 

January 2008 South Central Regional Report:

Wow, what a busy fall season this has been. We hope to catch you up on some of the highlights and noteworthy information from our region over the past few months and going forward into 2008. Another year done and it looks to be an even more exciting year going forward.

The big motocross event we were looking forward to this fall was the first annual “Texas Shootout” Post Vintage National race at North Forty Cycle Park. It was a successful weekend of racing and good times. Over the course of the weekend we saw some of the best racing to be had around here in a long time. John DeSoto, Trey Jorski, Dennis Hawthorne, Kirk Spencer, Jeff Kring, Kevin Peltz all had amazing battles.

Prior to the National race on Saturday the Texas Vintage Racing Club hosted the annual Wyman Priddy Memorial race. A slightly different format of vintage and decade bike racing was held this year and by all means it was a success. David Henry, the track owner, also ran modern support classes and flat track racing later in the evening. Jimmy Ewing, one of our local riders was just lights out in the decade expert class to take the overall but the race of the day was the vintage expert class. Kirk Spencer took the overall but Dennis Hawthorne made his appearance on a vintage KX along with John DeSoto to round out the top three. What a treat this was to see.

Saturday night the pits were happening. The big get together was at Gary Davis and Don Rainey’s trailers. The “Balls To The Walls” team of Gary Davis, Kenny Bond, Mike Gowdy, and Todd Gardner along with Chef “Diamond” himself provided some excellent grub for all the hungry racers. Ribs, pork, lamb, bacon cream cheesed mashed potatoes, Texas style pinto beans along with a mess of deserts made for an exquisite culinary adventure! Oh yeah, the adult beverages were in a plenty also to liven things up. There was a band playing on the North Forty stage and I believe at some point we had a few racers attempting to control the microphone with a little impromptu Karaoke.

There should be a review of the Post-Vintage National in this issue of Vintage Views so check out that for a wrap up of the days racing events. One thing to reiterate though was the hard work David Henry put into this race. Doing the announcing all weekend was legendary track announcer Lynn Nickerson. To hear a professional announcer at a vintage motocross race just takes it to another level. His knowledge of motocross history and smooth delivery style is second to none. To cap this all off AHRMA has awarded David and the North Forty Cycle Park a full two day Vintage and Post-Vintage National for the late fall of 2008. You must mark your calendars for that event.

Coming up also for 2008 is one of the premier vintage scheduled races “ Diamond Don’s Riverport National”. This will be the sixth year and they just keep getting better. I think Diamond has a few new things up his sleeve for this year and can’t wait to get there. Also, 2008 will be the 20th anniversary of the Texas Vintage Racing Club. Can you imagine 20 years later this little old racing club from Texas is still making noise and getting stronger? Watch for a big event from them regarding this celebration.

Cross Country guys need to take special note for 2008. Take a look at the schedule you guys have been handed for this year in our region. There are four national races within a very reasonable driving distance and the Reunion Ride moves to the John Zink ranch outside Oklahoma City. The North Forty is also getting on board with an event the weekend of the motocross nationals, though not a National I’ll bet Bobby Lucas will establish a regional event for you all. Trials riders should take note also. You’ll have Diamond Don’s race for a national and David Henry will schedule an event alongside the motocross national at North Forty for local/regional trials.

Bill Davis emailed me to say we will have another Aussie invasion this year with Peter Lawson and his family coming over. We always look forward to hosting some of our friends from down under.

If any of you get a chance how about dropping Brooks Blair a note of congratulations? Brooks stepped to take the Plus 60 Intermediate Post Vintage Motocross Championship. Brooks and Teddy Landers had a battle royal all year. Lets add some more champions from our region this upcoming year. We aren’t short of the talent!

You all need to check out the February issue of Transworld Motocross magazine. Fellow regional member Chris Morton out of New Braunsfels, TX has a ten-page spread of his bike collection. Chris and Andrew Short spent some time together at Shorts ranch in Smithville, TX. He said Andrew Short is a real stand up guy and appreciates the old bikes and history of motocross.

Our regional website www.ahrmasc.com will be having a few new pages added over the winter. Keep your eye on it for new and updated information. We still need some of you riders to provide input and stories. This is your website.

Albert Newmann #399                                   

Thanks to Bill Davis, Gary Davis, Chris Morton, David Henry, and Mike Shelby for input!

 

Review from the TX Shootout appearing in the January 2008 Vintage Views:

Northwest Maico & CZ Post-Vintage Motocross Series

North Forty Cycle Park

Sherman, TX

November 18, 2007

By: Albert Newmann

On the heels of the annual Wyman Priddy Memorial race on Saturday the North Forty Cycle Park was host to the first Post-Vintage “Texas Shootout” National Motocross race the following day. Spectacular weather and just as spectacular track conditions set the stage for a fine day to be racing. Track owner and race promoter David Henry was greeted to a deserving round of applause at the morning riders meeting being lead by Al Wenzal and Bobby Lucas. David truly provided an extremely well prepped track and hospitality to all the riders and spectators over the full weekend of events he coordinated. The race course has flag booths all over the place and each were manned, races went off like clockwork, scoring was quick and precise, track conditions were well managed, and of course the North Forty girls made the trophy presentation second to none. You could never tell this was the first national race he put together for AHRMA. Just an awesome job!

Racing got off to an exciting start the very first race of the day with the GP 250 Expert, Plus 60 Expert and PV Open Age Intermediate classes on the gate. It was John DeSoto pulling the holeshot and unfortunately JT Southern was squeezed and took a nasty spill. He was a little dazed but I’m sure he has taken a “Pile Driver” worse than this over his career (sorry JT, but I just couldn’t resist). This gate featured Trey Jorksi and DeSoto neck and neck but on lap three Jorski widened the lead to fend DeSoto off. Though not in the same class these two put on a great show in this moto. In round two of this gate it was DeSoto holeshotting again and maintaining a bike length over Jorski during the race and finishing ahead this time. These two put on a show all day! DeSoto took the overall for the PV Plus 60 Expert class on his Maico, Jorski took the GP 250 Expert class and Rik Smits in the PV Open Age Intermediate. Not to be ignored was another battle with Don Rainey and Bill Fleming. Don and Bill exchanged positions several times in each moto with Bill taking third in moto one and Don taking third in moto two. 

The second gate of the day had the GP 250 and GP 500 Intermediates featuring local riders Jim Vaughn and Will Henry along with “Wildcat” Karl Poindexter. Jim Vaughn was a holeshot machine all day on his award winning “Bad Bike” KX 250. Jim got off the gate quick and kept his lead over fellow GP 250 riders until late in the moto when Will Henry edged around him. The second moto of the day again had Jim holeshotting but Henry quickly took the lead spot until the last corner of the race with Vaughn. Jim got the inside position in the turn to get under Henry and hooked up his KX 250 to get the checkered flag and the overall for the day.  Louisiana rider Matt Alexander put pressure on both riders throughout both motos to finish a close third. Karl Poindexter took first in the GP 500 class and was just smoking on the track for the day.

The buzz of the day was centered on race eight though and if you weren’t on the track you were hanging on the fences watching. Kirk Spencer, John DeSoto, Trey Jorski, and Rick Jordan were all on the track at the same time. Kirk and Rick were in the Historic 500 Expert, Jorski in the PV 40 Expert and DeSoto racing the 500 GP Expert class. Hitting the first turn altogether in moto one were Jorski, Spencer, Jordan and George Marshall. Spencer gets the best line and leads this moto until the third lap when Jorski eventually gets around him and Marshall in tow. Spencers old Maico put up a good fight but the longer travel bikes got the better of him in this one it appeared. From top to bottom this was clearly the fastest of the fast today on this gate. Spencer gained the overall with a 1-1 for the Historic 500 Expert win, DeSoto finished 1-1 GP 500 Expert class, and Jorski nailed a 1-1 in the PV Plus 40 Expert. George Marshall and Jimmy Ewing has a very respective 2nd and 3rd overall for the PV Plus 40 Expert class.

In the PV Plus 50 Novice class it was Robert Wilson, Mike Haynes, and Ron Davis putting on a good show with Wilson taking the win. Kevin Peltz made the long journey down from California to take the PV Open Age Expert class. Super quick Texas native Jimmy Ewing brought home first place wood in the Ultima 250 Expert class. Thomas Vallandingham from Missouri riding a CZ looked very quick on the track to finish 1-1 in the 500 Historic Intermediate group. One guy to keep your eye on next year is Karl Poindexter. He is consistently in the mix regardless of the competition and could be eyeing a national championship in the GP 500 Intermediates for 2008 if he can make the circuit. The PV Plus 40 Intermediate class had local hotshoe Scott Anderson taking a 1-1 for the overall over some stiff competition. One of the biggest Texas highlights was Brooks Blair taking the overall in the PV Plus 60 Intermediate class with a 1-1 over Teddy Landers. Brooks and Teddy have battled it out all year, but this race decided a national championship. Congratulations to our new national champ Brooks Blair!

Overall, it was a day of some very fine racing. No injury report, smiling faces, new friends were made and the rest of the country has finally had an opportunity to race at one of the most vintage friendly courses in the country. Many thanks to Al Wenzal, David Henry, Bobby Lucas, the many sponsors, and the Texas Vintage Racing Club for such a well run event. North Forty Cycle Park will be back on the schedule for 2008 with both a vintage and post-vintage national event in the late fall. Be sure to put it on your event calendar.

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

  

 

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