Geico Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Announces Barry Boone to Return as Official Announcer for 2013 Season

Round 10 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season saw the stars of The Rolling Thunder Show sharing the stage in Indy with the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend, returning alongside the premier road racing series in the world after the cancelation to the schedule from the previous year due to the tragedy suffered at the Indiana State Fairgrounds during the Sugarland concert.

AMA Pro Racing's Barry Boone holds the mic for Bryan Smith after the Michigan resident had taken the #42 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing Kawasaki 650R-based parallel twin to the win in the Dash for Cash early in the evening, while the lovely ladies representing AMA Pro Flat Track's best display the $1000 bonus check awarded to Flyin' Bryan for his popular win on the evening.

Earlier today, Boone was again officially announced to be returning to his official announcing duties with the Geico Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Series for the 2013 season, and is also looking to fill his busy schedule with his open weekends also providing announcing duties for the AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship Series. 

This is another great announcement from the DMG-led Blue Crew as Barry does a wonderful job, alongside Scottie Duebler, of keeping the fans abreast of the action on the track during each event throughout the season.  This is one fan looking that much more forward to the full season ahead, and we shout-out a big 'congrats' to Barry and look forward to seeing him back at the track again this year, keeping us all entertained!

Check out the full press release below thanks to AMA Pro Road Racing!

Barry Boone to be AMA Pro Racing's Official Announcer for Second Consecutive GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 8, 2013) - AMA Pro Racing is pleased to announce that Barry Boone will resume the role of Official Announcer for the 2013 GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing season. The one-of-a-kind voice will be treating fans to in-depth race coverage and insightful commentary throughout every event this year. This season will mark Boone's second full year of announcing at GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing events, and his fifth year of announcing for AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barry Boone is shown while performing his announcing duties at one of the 2012 Geico Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing events.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Corey J. Coulter.

 

 

"I couldn't be more excited to be back on board with GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing again in 2013," said Boone. "It's an honor to speak on behalf of AMA Pro and our great promoters. I'll continue to focus on entertaining the fans while delivering them the information they deserve at each event this season. We are the premier road racing series in America and I can't wait for our next event."

 

Boone has built a solid reputation for himself as a man with an innate ability to keep fans up to date with all of the on-track action, as well as the off-track drama. Listen for Boone's voice at GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing's next event, the Subway SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America, scheduled for May 31-June 2, 2013 in Elkhart Lake Wis. 

 

Tickets for the Subway SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America start at just $20. For more information, please visit http://roadamerica.com/Races/RaceInformation.asp?id=240. 

 

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.  Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.     For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

AMA Pro Flat Track: Johnny Lewis Announces Return to Grand National Racing with Latus Triumph for 2013 Twins Series

Great news for AMA Pro Flat Track fans hit the airwaves last night when it was announced on Pit Pass Radio that Johnny Lewis, the former AMA Supermoto Champion and winner of the season-opening round of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track season at Daytona, would be returning to the track for the 2013 season alongside the returning AMA Grand National Championship-competing Latus Motors flat track team. 

2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp was also announced as one of the heads of the new project (no doubt in part because of his long-time ties with the Latus organization located in the Northwest Territory of Oregon, not far from Kopp's home state of Washington), which will see Smokin' Joe return to the series where he almost won his second AMA Grand National Championship while riding for Latus and the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team before retiring from full-time competition at the end of the 2010 season. 

The team will be fielding Triumphs run out of the Latus shop, with sponsorship from Latus Triumph, Castrol Oil and GE Capital, among others, in the Twins Series rounds of the now-rebranded 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles season, with Lewis slated to do the riding and Kopp looking to head up the team throughout the season.

Lewis, who ran the first six races of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season before walking away from the series after disagreements were raised with how the on-track incident with eventual '12 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees at round 2 in Daytona ended up playing out last season.  For those not familiar with the incident, the night after Lewis took his cherry-breaking win in the series at the start of his third season in The Rolling Thunder Show, he and Mees were involved in a 'questionable' incident on the last lap of the 25-lap National main at the short track inside Daytona International Speedway.  Mees went on to finish in the runner-up spot behind the night's second new winner-in-a-row, Matt Weidman, while Lewis collected himself and eventually finished in the 8th-place spot. 

Lewis announced last night on Pit Pass Radio and his new video on You Tube (see both below) that he had been testing the new Triumph at Oglethorpe Speedway outside Savannah, GA. yesterday and that he and the team were excited about their prospects for the season ahead.  The new Latus Triumph flat track team is expected to debut their new efforts together in competition this Friday, March 8 at the official kick-off to Bike Week in the Steve Nace Racing All-Star Series event at Oglethorpe.

Check out the link below to hear JL10 make his big announcement and then see his video as he blasts the new Latus Triumph around the track in testing from the Peach Tree State yesterday.  This is great news for AMA Pro Flat Track all around, for the fans, the team and the sponsors.  Latus Motors in the past has brought a great deal to the greatest sport on two wheels in the world and with the addition of former AMA Grand National Champion Kopp to the team's mix, add in Johnny Lewis 'wild and crazy guy' attitude and killer riding skills and you have a match made in heaven for the coming year.  Way to go guys and congrats!

In the shot above, Lewis is interviewed for the fans by AMA Pro Flat Track official announcer Barry Boone after taking the #10 Scott Powersports/Triple J Racing/Wallace Trucking/Arai-backed Kawasaki 650R-based mount to the heat race win in round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track season at the Lima Half-Mile on June 30.  After coming home in the 5th-place spot in the National main that night, Lewis competed in one other National at the Hagerstown Speedway the next week (with another strong 4th-place finish on the Scott Kawi) before taking his hiatus from the series for the rest of the season, while sitting in the 3rd-place spot in the championship.  It's going to be great to have you back JL!

2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp talks with the fans during the fan walk at the Lima Half-Mile in June 2010 (with the #3 Latus Motors/LBM XR750 on display.)  The return of Kopp to the track full-time (albeit in an advisory role) will bring big points with the fans as the Washington State resident is a fan favorite throughout the series and should bring a great mix of leadership, quality and class to the on- and off-track progression of the Latus Motors Triumph team.  Welcome back Joe!


 Check out Johnny Lewis' interview from last night with the great guys from Pit Pass Radio.

And here's the video of JL10 testing in Savannah yesterday that he uploaded last night on You Tube.

These are the sweet graphics JL10 will be rockin' in Daytona next week for the season-opening Singles Series rounds at Daytona, which include his sponsors Triple J Racing, Wallace Trucking and RIDE Academy.   The action kicks off on Thursday, March 14 at Daytona with round 1 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles season and continues on March 15 with round 2.  JL10 sponsor graphics photo courtesy of Johnny Lewis.

AMA Pro Flat Track: Kiesow Racing & Jeffrey Carver, Jr. #23 Team Up Again for 2013 Season

A promising announcement out of the Kiesow Racing and Jeffrey Carver, Jr. camps was made earlier this week when it was announced that they would be teaming-up again for the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season.  Carver, the 2010 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion, will again be aboard the ultra-sano Kiesow Racing Harley-Davidson XR750s for the 10-confirmed Twins Series events and three others that are yet to be announced and/or confirmed.

After campaigning the 2011 season under the tutelage of long-time flat track tuner Eddie Adkins (riding the same mounts that Henry Wiles used to win the Lima Half-Mile in June '10), Carver had a decent year in his Rookie Expert season, finishing the year ranked as the 12th-place rider in the series with a best finish of 7th-place at the I-96 Speedway round in Lake Odessa, MI.  Carver ended the year ranked as the second-best rookie in The Rolling Thunder Show behind Saddlemen Rookie of the Year, Brad 'The Bullet' Baker.

Teaming with the Kiesow Racing team for the 2012 season, along with Eddie Adkins again helping out with the wrench turning ,Carver and the blue and orange XRs stepped it up and came out fighting for his sophomore campaign and finished the season ranked as the 8th-place rider in AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship competition.  Carver only missed two Nationals during his 2012 campaign (Daytona Short Track I, Tucson Half-Mile) in the 16-race season after missing 7 of 20 races in his rookie season of '11.

In the shot above from round 4 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile I, Carver rolls out ahead of the practice pack on the #23 Kiesow Racing/Hall's Cycles/Eddie Adkins/Sponseller-backed XR750.  In his first race on the team's XR, Carver brought it home in the 9th-place slot at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Memorial Day Weekend mile event.

Also seen in the shot are eventual event-winner Willie McCoy on his #59 Harley-Davidson of Wausau/Independence H-D/Tucker Rocky/Arai-sponsored XR, Nichole Cheza on the #15 Global Products/Harley-Davidson Co/Black Hill's H-D/Mr. Sign Yonkers, New York-backed XR, Luke Gough on the #62 Dick Ford/Skip Eaken Racing/Johnson Cams/KK Motorcycle Supply-sponsored Kawasaki, and Jethro Halbert on the #69 Goodwin Racing/Drew Massa Trans/SHR/Arai-sponsored XR.

Round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season saw Jeffrey Carver, Jr. on the podium after taking the #23 Kiesow Racing/Hall's Cycles/Eddie Adkins/Carver's BBQ-sponsored XR to his first-ever Twins Series heat race win (and his second-ever direct pass to the Dash for Cash) at the running of the Ohio National Championship round at the Lima Half-Mile.  Carver upped his best-ever finish in a Grand National main later that evening to bring the Kiesow Racing #23 XR home in the 7th-place spot after finishing in 5th-place in the Dash.

Carver and the team look to move things up a notch for the upcoming 2013 season after their 8th-place ranking from last season, and there's no reason to believe it won't happen with the team's immaculate preparation of their equipment and Carver's never-say-die resolve to run things up another rung on the ladder when he's on the track.

We wish them the very best of luck this year and are looking forward to seeing more out of this great pairing!  

Thanks to AMA Pro Flat Track for this press release from Kiesow Racing concerning their plans to team with Jeffrey Carver, Jr. again for the 2013 season.

You can check out Kiesow Racing's Facebook page here.

And here's Jeffrey Carver, Jr.'s Facebook page to peruse.

AMA Flat Track: NBC Sports to Air Pomona Half-Mile Season-Finale Round 16 on December 29

Bryan Smith acknowledges the crowd after winning round 13 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile II on September 16. 

Flyin' Bryan had just taken the #42 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing/Guts Wear/MPH-sponsored Kawasaki 650R to it's second victory of the season at the weather-delayed Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval over runner-up Sammy Halbert and 3rd-place finisher Jared Mees.

While AMA Pro Flat Track official announcer Barry Boone talks to the crowd, Halbert and Mees ponder their race finishes with just three rounds remaining in the 2012 season.  Mees would go on to win the 2012 AMA Grand National Championship over 2nd-place man Halbert and 3rd-place finisher and defending 2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson at the season-finale in Pomono, just shy of a month later after collecting the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Singles Series Championship the night before the Springfield Mile II round.

After winning the Sacto Mile event earlier in the season, Smith would go on to take the ceremonial 2012 Twins Series Championship at the season-ending round at Pomona.

AMA Pro Flat Track announced today that NBC Sports will be airing the season-finale at Pomona this Saturday, December 29.  You can check out the full press release below for air times and a handy guide to get your DVRs set-up to find where NBC Sports airs in your area.

Tune-In Alert: Pomona Half-Mile Airs Saturday (December 29th) on NBC Sports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 26, 2012) - AMA Pro Flat Track's racing action from the Law Tigers Flat Track Finals at Pomona Fairplex will be aired this Saturday (December 29) at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT. with a re-airing on Monday (December 31) at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT.                             Bryan Smith #42 leads Jared Mees #9, Sammy Halbert #7 and Jake Johnson #1 during action at round 16 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Pomona Half-Mile on October 13.  NBC Sports will air the season-finale round this Saturday, December 29 at 1:00 PM EST.  AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.     How to catch the action: See NBC Sports' TV listings and channel lineup by going to http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/   NBC Sports Channels on Select Providers:   * Dish Network - 159 * DirecTV - 220 * AT&T U-Verse - 640   Please check your local listings for a channel line-up to find NBC Sports. Search Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour or Motorsports Hour if you don't see the program listed.   Stay connected with AMA Pro Flat Track at www.twitter.com/AMAProFlatTrack and www.facebook.com/AMAProFlatTrackSeries.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

AMA Flat Track: MavTV Set to Broadcast Knoxville Half-Mile on December 13

The three men who have dominated the last three seasons in the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com series stand atop the box after the running of the Springfield Mile I  on May 29, 2011.  Jared Mees had just won his first-ever mile event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on the #9 Rogers Lake Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Lucas Oil/Saddlemen-sponsored XR750 over Jake Johnson and Sammy Halbert. 

In the shot above from that great day, AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone talks with 3rd-place finisher Slammin' Sammy as runner-up Jersey Jake and event winner Jammin' Jared discuss what really happened out their after 25-laps and Mees' tuner, Brent Armbruster, looks after the team's winning mount.

While Halbert would take the overall wins category for the last two seasons, Johnson and Mees would end up snaring the title in the '11 and '12 seasons, respectively, over the hard-charging Washington State resident.  Johnson added to his '10 title, while Mees took the overall honors this season in a year that saw more and rejuvenated innovations in The Rolling Thunder Show, which is expected to gain even more steam for the upcoming 2013 year.

Rumor has it that the 2013 schedule may include, again, a couple of previously-visited venues that weren't on the schedule in '12, and it was announced on Facebook today that the Pomona season-ending round will be making their official announcement soon as to when their event will take place next year.  And as has been the case for the last two years AMA Pro Flat Track is expected to announce the 2013 schedule sometime in the next 12-14 days +/-.

MavTV and AMA Pro Flat Track announced today that round 11 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Knoxville Half-Mile will be broadcast next Thursday, December 13.  See what the official press release has to say below and get your DVRs set as we all await the release of the new schedule and get ready to welcome Santa Claus into our homes in just 18 more days.

Tune-In Alert: Knoxville Half-Mile Airs December 13th on MAVTV

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 6, 2012) - AMA Pro Flat Track's racing action from Knoxville Raceway will be aired next Thursday (December 13) evening at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.   How to catch the action:   Find out how to get MAVTV by going to http://mavtv.com/get-mavtv.html   MAVTV is available nationwide on: Dish Network - 361 Please check your local listings for a channel line-up to find MAVTV. Search Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour or Motorsports Hour if you don't see the program listed.                                Jared Mees on the #9 Rogers Racing XR leads Brad Baker on the #12 Dodge Bros. XR during the running of round 11 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Knoxville Half-Mile.  MavTV will air the race on Thursday, December 13, 2012.  AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.     Stay connected with AMA Pro Flat Track at www.twitter.com/AMAProFlatTrack and www.facebook.com/AMAProFlatTrackSeries.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

AMA Flat Track: Stu's Shots & Todays Cycle Coverage.com 2012 Season Wrap-Up

The top-7 men in the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season get ready to roll out for the first practice session of the day at round 13 at the Springfield Mile II on September 16.  With four rounds to go in the season, the battle for the 2012 AMA Grand National Championship was coming to a head with the Pomona season-finale lying just 27 days away.

Finishing what could have been a totally miserable season after breaking his leg at round 5 at Lima just shy of three months earlier, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. rounded out his season with another win (after having taken the Knoxville Half-Mile win in just his second race back from injury).  Coolbeth took the #2 Screamin' Eagle/Harley-Davidson Motor Co/Fox/Arai Helmets-sponsored factory XR750 to a decisive win at Pomona to end the season ranked in the 7th-place position after missing out on five of the season's 16 rounds due to his recovery.

After having another stellar year in winning three rounds in the Singles Series for the 2012 season (Springfield TT and Short Track and his record-tying 8th win at the Peoria TT), Henry Wiles and the #17 Lloyd Brothers Motorsports/Foremost Insurance Group/Ramspur Winery/ENI USA-backed Ducati team had what could easily be referenced as an up-and-down season in the series' ten Twins Series events. 

Losing three motors on the year, the team fought hard to still bring home two top-5 results with finishes of 2nd and 4th at Lima and Indy, respectively, and also added three other top-10 finishes to round out the year on a much higher note to rank as the 6th-place rider for the 2012 season.

2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Saddlemen Rookie of the Year Brad 'The Bullet' Baker was probably the most-traveled of riders throughout the 2012 season in terms of how many different motorcycles he threw his leg over in competition.  Starting off the season riding for Kenny Tolbert Racing on a fleet of Kawasaki KX450Fs and 650R-based mounts, it all fell apart for KT and the Washington state resident at the fourth round of the season at the Springfield Mile I round.

Failing to make the main, just days later Tolbert pulled the plug on the team due to lack of funding (other then what was coming out of the Texan's pockets) and mothballed the team, leaving Baker without any current options.  By round 5 at Lima he showed up on a bike that reportedly hadn't been in competition in several years, qualified strong only to end the evening in the 17th-place spot with only two points scored in two events.

See-sawing between some strong rides on a Tony Dodge-prepped XR, putting in two events on the Harley factory mount in place of injured team rider Coolbeth, and then competing on his own Baker Brothers' Honda for the remaining Singles Series events on the calendar,  the sophomore Expert ended the year with a super 2nd-place finish at Pomona and as the 5th-ranked rider in the nation.  I don't believe since Gary Scott's defense of his '75 championship has a rider rode or competed on such a wide breadth of equipment in one season and Baker's ability to jump on different machinery throughout the year more then shows it is just a short matter of time before we see him on top of the box.

Bryan Smith was one of only four men in the 2012 season that made all 16 events on the year (the other three will be mentioned shortly.)  With the advantage of two wins on the year on the #42 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing/MPH/Guts Wear-sponsored Kawasaki 650R-based rocket (Sacto Mile and Springfield Mile II) and a big handful of top-3s, Flyin' Bryan not only finished the season as the 4th-ranked rider in the country, but also took home the ceremonial Twins Series Championship for the year. 

All of the talk this last season was focused on and around the new parallel twin mount that first showed it's strength and prowess under the mile specialist's grip at the Springfield Mile I round by winning his heat and the Dash for Cash (and eventually a hard-fought 3rd-place in the first Twins Series event of the season.)  By mid-year the talk had turned to advantages and riding styles and differences between the power output, weight and racing lines used by the new breed of mile machines.

At Pomona last month, it also showed that a Kawi could also end up on the box at a half-mile event in what was a great 3rd-place finish to cap off the season's ramblings.  It was also what I believe to be the second-best finish on a half-mile track since the Kawi's first started hitting the track in the 2010 season (Johnny Lewis took the #10 Scott Powersports Kawi to a 2nd-place finish at Hagerstown in 2011.)

With his string of 10 of 11 podium finishes between the Springfield TT and the Springfield Mile II rounds, 2-Time and defending AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson looked more than able to keep in the fight for his third series title in the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season.

But in the end, the champ and the #1 Zanotti Racing/Schaeffer's H-D/Boughner Racing/Arai-backed XR750 team not only had dropped to the 3rd-ranked spot on the year but Johnson failed to win a National main for the first time in his over ten years competing in the series.    Never fret, the quiet man with the championship focus will be back as strong as ever carrying the #5 again, proudly ready to go after it again.  And you can bet he'll be ready to make up for lost time.

Sammy Halbert again led the series in overall wins for the 2012 season (Lima Half-Mile, Castle Rock TT, Indy and Santa Rose Miles) and with his first-ever mile event win at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile on August 18 grabbed the dirt track 'grand slam' along the way.  Looking to steal the championship from Jared Mees by getting a 2nd-place in the Dash at Pomona after both Mees and Johnson missed the extra points-paying event, Slammin' Sammy's #7 South East Harley/The South Ass/Mo Vaughn Transport/LZ Racing-sponsored XR had his clutch go south in the National main and ended up with an unlucky 13th-place finish to end the year ranked as the 2nd-overall rider in the nation. 

Jared Mees had previously wrapped up the ceremonial 2012 Single Series Championship at the Springfield Short Track on September 15, but even then stated he still had 'unfinished business' in terms of clinching the overall championship at Pomona.  After getting banged and moved around at Pomona, Mees settled into an eventual 8th-place finish that would cap his run to the 2012 AMA Grand National Championship on the #9 Rogers Racing/Blue Springs H-D/National Cycle/Lucas Oil-sponsored XR750. 

With the team announcing several weeks ago that tuner Brent Armbruster would be leaving the team (and moving to the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports corral for the 2013 season), Mees' and Rogers' new tuner, Kenny Tolbert, will be back in action spinning the wrenches for the new AMA Grand National Championship-winning effort.

Could KT also be bringing along his fleet of Mean Green Kawi 650Rs that have been in the closet since mid-June?  Mees had talked of having to put a Kawi together in order to keep with the Kawi rockets in mid-September.  Or will KT's signing make the difference for them to be able to stay with their tried and true XR fleet?  Don't forget, the chances are still pretty good that the rules will get some tweaking in terms of restrictor sizes mandated and in weight minimums being set for all of the competitors for the 2013 season.  But will that be enough to keep the pundits quiet? 

Only time will tell, and it's going to be a long off-season...............

Stephen Vanderkuur hops off of his #10J Parkinson Brothers Racing/Performance Cycle & Dyno/MDR/SSR-sponsored Honda CRF450R after winning his heat race at round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles season at the Lima Half-Mile on June 30.  AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone talks to the crowd while Vanderkuur gets some help with his mount and gear prior to the podium celebrations.

Vanderkuur ended the season with three wins on the year and capped off his 2012 Pro Singles Championship in style by winning the season-finale round at Pomona to go with his previous wins at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile and Santa Rosa Mile events.  The young rider, another of a long line of superior flat track talent to come out of the state of Michigan, didn't even qualify for the first two rounds at Daytona, yet still finished the season on top over two riders who qualified for all 16 rounds on the season (runner-up in the 2012 championship Jake Shoemaker and 3rd-place man Jason Isennock) and completed his great run for the championship with seven top-3 performances, ending the year with a tally of 214 points to Shoemaker's 192 and Isennock's 175 points.

A big congrats to our new 2012 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion, Stephen Vanderkuur, who had a strong season to capture the fourth Pro Singles Championship since the series' inception in 2009.  Vanderkuur joins former series champions Brad Baker, Jeffrey Carver, Jr. and Mikey Martin in a very unique group of young men who have since moved up to the AMA Grand National Expert class to compete against the best racers in the world in The Rolling Thunder Show.  A job well done, and I'm sure we'll see our new champion competing against the big boys before too long!


Dan Jacobson, Sr. is one of the many fans, photographers and journalists that follow the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship to every event possible each season.  Based out of the Great White North in Fargo, North Dakota, 'Dakota Dan' as he is known, probably puts on thousands of miles each year traveling to the events he covers from his remote location, and chronicles those events at Todays Cycle Coverage.com.  Check out Dan's latest from the season-finale at Pomona below, along with some super photography from Tom Hnitaw.

A big thanks to Dan Jacobson, Sr. & Todays Cycle Coverage.com for this great write-up on the season-finale at round 16 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Pomona Half-Mile:

http://www.todayscyclecoverage.com/wordpress/2012/11/09/the-king-of-cool-and-fast/

AMA Flat Track: Bryan Smith #42 Talks About How He Lost the Santa Rosa Mile & Howerton Motorsports' Plans to Run Pomona Half-Mile Season-Finale

Round 10 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile saw the usual highlights throughout the day for an event that runs in the same city that hosts the premier road racing championship series in the world just down the street.  With the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend taking place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, everyone knew the real racing was going on at the Indiana State Fairgrounds as The Rolling Thunder Show was ready to take center stage to a stellar crowd of European and American fans alike.

One of the new highlights and surely one of the big hands-on favorites to win the first race back at Indy after last year's cancelation due to the tragic stage rigging collapse just days before the best racing show on wheels in the world was slated to hit the track, was the #42 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing Kawasaki/Guts Wear/Dreyer Motorsports-sponsored mount of Bryan Smith. 

In it's third overall event and first since winning their first race together, Flyin' Bryan and the west side Indy-based Howerton team headed to the mile oval for the first race to return to the final weekend of the Indiana State Fair in over a decade with high hopes, broad expectations and a home-track advantage that bouyed all of the first year team's hopes.  But as fate and rotten tomatoes would have it, in the end the might and fury of the long-running Harley-Davidson XR750 of one Sammy Halbert National #7 would overcome in the end and leave with the spoils of victory over the new and rocket-fast Kawasaki one-off.

Although what was attributed to a faulty battery in Smith's Kawasaki which caused the bike to lose fire, before the evening was finished Smith and the Howerton team had made their mark and had wowwed the fans and folks on-hand in winning their heat and the Dash for Cash event to show everyone in the house that a new force to be reckoned with had hit the dirt ovals of America and was not going to go away soon.

As has been evidenced in every one of the five mile events the machine has campaigned this season, there is a new breed of winning horse in town and a not-so-new sheriff aboard it.  In five outings, the team's finishing numbers read 3-1-14-1-3 for a not-too-shabby Olympic scoring average of 4.4.  And with the fresh announcement from Wednesday the team has one more round to contest in next weekend's season-finale at Pomona.

Last weekend's final mile event of the season saw Smith start to runaway with the Santa Rosa Mile in what early looked to be a cakewalk to the top step on the victory podium, but as with all things in life this one took a different turn when the high line went away in Sonoma, and again Sammy Halbert came on to take his second mile victory of the year with Bryan having to settle for a mere 3rd-place finish.  Still not too shabby in anyone's book!

In the shot above, Flyin' Bryan talks with AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone at round 10 at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile on August 18 after winning the Dash for Cash event.

Bryan was a little hard on himself for the way things turned out last weekend at Santa Rosa, and talked with AMA Pro Flat Track's video team about how things transpired throughout the 25-lap National main.  Check it out!


Thanks to AMA Pro Flat Track for this great video of action from the Santa Rosa Mile at round 14 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season last Sunday in Sonoma County, California, and for the great crew of Will Fulford & Yve Assad from The Fast and Dirty.com for putting this together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPjLvHD1iik&feature=plcp

And for those that missed the announcement from Wednesday, October 3, here is the link to the original press release story about Howerton Motorsports announcing they will now run the season-finale at the Pomona Half-Mile on Saturday, October 13 to help Bryan out in his chase for the Twins Series Championship and looking forward towards the 2013 season:

http://stusshots.blogspot.com/2012/10/ama-flat-track-crosley-radiohowerton.html

 

AMA Flat Track: MavTV & NBC Sports Announce Airtimes for Sacramento Mile

Round 13 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season saw Bryan Smith take the #42 Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports powered by Eaken Racing Kawasaki to his second win of the season aboard the freshly updated parallel twin after having taken his first of the season (and the new-for-2012 team) at the Sacramento Mile in late July. 

Sammy Halbert #7 and Jared Mees #9 flank Flyin' Bryan on the podium at the Springfield Mile II on September 16 after what could best be described as a 25-lap power struggle between the XR750-mounted 2nd and 3rd-place finishers and the potent Kawasaki that is enjoying it's first full season in Twins Series mile competition in The Rolling Thunder Show.

Now you can get a chance to catch up with the action in the greatest racing series on wheels in the world as MavTV and NBC Sports today announced along with AMA Pro Flat Track that the Sacto Mile event will be broadcast for our viewing pleasure. 

So check out the full press release below thanks to AMA Pro Flat Track and get your DVRs programmed for this weekend's airings and next week's replays of one of the great races in the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season.

And while you are checking out the action on the tube you can also watch along online as the series heads to the return of The Santa Rosa Mile this weekend in round 14 of the series and it's first of three events on the West Coast to wrap up the great year of racing, unless you are heading that way or in the area then you definitely need to head to the track to catch up and check out the great weekend of racing going on in Santa Rosa. 

Tune-In Alert: Airtime for AMA Pro Flat Track's Action from Sacramento Mile on NBC Sports and MAVTV

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 27, 2012) - AMA Pro Flat Track's racing action from the Sacramento Mile will be aired Sunday (September 30) evening on NBC Sports at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT with a reairing on Thursday (October 4) evening at 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT.

 

Also, on Thursday October 4, MAVTV will air the Sacramento Mile at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT with a reairing at midnight.

 

 

How to catch the action:

 

See NBC Sports' TV listings and channel lineup by going to http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/

Find out how to get MAVTV by going to http://mavtv.com/get-mavtv.html

 

NBC Sports Channels on Select Providers:

• Dish Network - 159
• DirecTV - 603
• AT&T U-Verse - 640

MAVTV is available nationwide on:

• Dish Network - 361

Please check your local listings for a channel line-up to find NBC Sports and MAVTV. Search Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour or Motorsports Hour if you don't see the program listed.

 

 

Next Up

 

AMA Pro Flat Track is headed to the Santa Rosa Mile. Event Info | Tickets

 

Stay connected with AMA Pro Flat Track at www.twitter.com/AMAProFlatTrack and www.facebook.com/AMAProFlatTrackSeries.

 

 

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

AMA Flat Track: Lloyd Brothers Motorsports & Henry Wiles Springfield Doubleheader Race Report

Round 13 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season finally got off the ground at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on September 16 after a two week rain delay due to the remnants of Hurrican Isaac that washed out the normal Labor Day Weekend marathon. 

Henry Wiles, who had won the final Springfield Short Track the night before just across the fairgrounds at the Multipurpose Arena, was busy working it on the #17 Lloyd Brothers Motorsports/Foremost Insurance Group/Ramspur Winery/ENI USA-backed Italian 'L' twin on the mile oval as he tried to add to his two top-5 finishes earlier in the season (2nd-place at Lima, 4th-place at Indy.)

But as luck would seem to have it for the LBM team this season, things went from good to worse in the 25-lap National main on the mile oval as the big red machine suffered a mechanical in the form of a slight oil leak that saw Wiles miss the black flag on lap 23 and eventually disqualified for not stopping.  The leak caused some minor smoking from the machine as it hit the exhaust on the bike with just a few laps to go, after Henry had slipped back to mid-pack after earlier in the main running as high as the 7th-place spot.

Unfortunately this just added to the woes the team has suffered this season, after losing motors earlier in the year at the Springfield Mile I and Sacramento Mile events, and then missing the set-up at the Hagerstown Half-Mile.  But you can bet your bottom dollar the boys out of the Columbus, Ohio area will get it turned around and be back towards the front in the remaining three rounds at Santa Rosa, Tucson and Pomona.  These guys have a wealth of knowledge between them and coupled with Henry's abilities in the seat will get it turned around.

In the shot above, Shaun Russell on his #28 self-sponsored XR750 leads Brad Baker on the #12 Dodge Brothers-backed XR along with Henry just past the mid-point of the National main as the cross the start/finish line during the Springfield Mile II last Sunday.

Round 12 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season saw the series return to the Multipurpose Arena on the grounds of the Illinois State Fairgrounds in what was for the foreseeable future the last National main event at the Springfield Short Track as what was announced in January by the IMDA.

A familiar face again graced the top of the podium as former 2-Time AMA Pro Flat Track Singles Champion Henry Wiles pulled another fast one out of his hat....uh, helmet...to take his 6th win in-a-row in the 450 class at Springfield and also tie former 7-Time AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr with the most wins in short track competition with 9 National main events to his credit in the course of nine short seasons.

Hammerin' Hank had to work some for this one, however, as the rider of the #17 Don's Kawasaki/DPC Racing/Nick Nazzisi/Schiller's Tree Service-sponsored KX450F had to work his way around early leaders Brad Baker, Jake Johnson and Jared Mees in order to secure his spot in the history books.  But when it counted, The Hammer put it to them and managed to get around Baker with five laps to go to take his 2nd win of the season at the Arena (Springfield TT in late May) and 3rd in the State of Illinois this year (Peoria TT in mid-August.)

Joining the active record-tying former champ on the podium are Brad Baker (2nd-place, left) and Jared Mees (3rd-place, right, partially obscured by AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone.)  Mees however collected the 2012 Singles Series Championship with his great run to 3rd-place to add to his '09 & '11 Twins Series Championships.

You can read about Henry's on AND off weekend at the rain-delayed Springfield doubleheader below, thanks to the great group of guys from the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team. 

And don't forget you can still get your Air Fence Fund raffle tickets for the Buell giveaway at the remaining three rounds in the 2012 season at the upcoming Santa Rosa Mile, Tucson and Pomona season-ending half-miles.  You can get those in the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports pit area if you are going to hit either one or all of the Left Coast season wrap-up events, or also online via the LBM site, www.lloydbrothersmotorsports.com. 

This is the best way you can help to keep the riders safe and also give back to The Rolling Thunder Show and the greatest racing series on wheels in the world!

Press release courtesy of the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship Twins Series team


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