AMA Flat Track: Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Announces Signing of New Crew Chief Brent Armbruster for 2013 AMA Grand National Twins Series Championship Season

The Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team has announced that AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship-winning tuner and crew chief Brent Armbruster will be joining their team effective immediately for the upcoming 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season for the series' and team's Twins Series Championship assault.

A long-time member of the AMA Pro Flat Track fraternity hailing from the Clio, MI. area, tuner and master wrench spinner Armbruster had been involved with the Rogers Racing team that led 2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees to the title this past season.  Armbruster also tuned the machine that took Mees to his first win at Springfield in May '11 and to five wins during the 2011 season, and has been involved with flat track racing for several decades now.

Speaking with team co-owner Dave Lloyd this morning, Lloyd noted the great effort that has been put in by departing crew chief, Dave Gamble, over the course of the last few seasons.  "Dave has done a great job in heading up our efforts over the course of the last few seasons, and we wish him the very best in his endeavors going forward.  We're looking forward to a new chapter in our history with Brent coming on board, as Mike and I have known him since around 1987 when we were novices getting started in the sport."

After losing three engines this year and missing the set-up and the Nationals at two rounds this season (Hagerstown and Knoxville), the team still pulled out three top-10s (Santa Rosa 6th-place, Tucson 8th-place, Pomona 7th-place) and two top-5 results (Lima 2nd-place, Indy 4th-place) for their hard-earned efforts, and are looking to improve dramatically on the season as a whole.

In the shot above the team is shown getting ready for the first practice session of the Twins Series season at round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile I event on May 27. 

As rider Henry Wiles gets ready to head out for practice on the team's #17 LBM/Foremost Insurance Group/Ramspur Winery/Motorcyclist Magazine-sponsored Italian 'L' twin, he can be seen on the right talking with Dave Gamble and Dave Lloyd, while brother and co-owner Mike Lloyd can be seen talking with 2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp (far left, seated).  Kopp was the team's rider during the 2010 season which saw him get them their first-ever win in the series on the team's potent Ducati 'L' twin mount at the Arizona Mile I round in Prescott in May '10.

Brent Armbruster is shown with Jared Mees and the #9 Rogers Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Saddlemen/National Cycle-backed XR750 just before the riders hit the track for the Dash for Cash event at the Springfield Mile I round on May 27, 2012.  2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson is shown ready for battle on the #1 Zanotti Racing XR just beside Armbruster.

According to team co-owner Dave Lloyd, Armbruster will be taking possession of the team's big red twins and doing all of the prep-work at his home in Michigan and then transporting the team's rig and bikes to each event for the 2013 season, which should free-up more time for the LBM brothers to concentrate on the daily runnings of the team and dealing with sponsors, "and should help travel to-and-from each event for Brent and Henry" noted Dave Lloyd, since they both live close to one another.

Michiganite Armbruster should be a great addition to the team for the coming year and his vast knowledge of bike prep and turning wrenches will be another plus for the team.  Under Armbruster-prepped mounts, Mees only suffered from a small handful of mechanical failures in the last few seasons, which finally translated into a Grand National Championship this year for the fellow-Michigan resident and Rogers Racing team.

Team co-owners Mike (left) and Dave Lloyd (right) help crew chief Dave Gamble finish with some final settings on the #17 Foremost Insurance/Ramspur Winery/ENI USA/Motorcyclist Magazine-sponsored Ducati just prior to the running of round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval.  The team suffered it's first engine loss at the first Twins Series event at Springfield, and put them in the hole right from the start of the year.  With Armbruster coming in to help out immediately going forward, this should help in terms of freeing up time for the Lloyds to concentrate on sponsorship and team operations.

"We're further ahead today then we were at this time last year in getting sponsorship situated for next year," commented Dave this morning from his new home just outside of the Evansville, IN. area, "and we have a lot of the same folks coming back as we move into the new season, and Ramspur Winery is stepping up their involvement for 2013, while Foremost Insurance will also be involved again as they were this year and the last few seasons with the team.

"You're never done with bringing in sponsorship in racing, but we're looking forward to the new season with a new fresh face in the team to help us reach our goal of winning another Twins Series event," continued Lloyd.  "Brent and I have known one another for almost three decades and are looking forward to working together moving forward."

This is great news for one of the hardest working and most professional looking and run teams in The Rolling Thunder Show, and helps to guarantee that they will be back again for the 2013 season to again battle it out with the other greats in the best racing series on wheels in the world.

Congrats to the LBM crew and to Brent Armbruster for this great news and we can't wait until the first Twins Series event of the 2013 season to see them all in action together!

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

Columbus, Ohio -- October 27, 2012

Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, Inc. (LBM) is proud to announce that multi-time Grand National Championship and AMA Pro Racing Tuner of the Year, Brent Armbruster will be joining the team effective immediately.

“Our entire team and sponsors are extremely excited to have Brent join our efforts,” exclaimed team co-owner David Lloyd.  “I have known Brent for almost three decades. His personality, work ethic, race craft and attention to detail will be a big step forward for the team.”

“I am really excited about a fresh start in 2013 and working with the LBM team and Henry Wiles.  I have known David and Michael Lloyd since we first raced Amateur Nationals when we were 14 years old.

"I have a lot of respect for what the Lloyd Brothers team has done in the past and their efforts to build the sport,” said Armbruster.  “Henry is a great rider and his record speaks for itself.  I am really looking forward to excellent finishes next season as the team challenges for the overall championship” continued Armbruster.

To learn more about Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, Inc. log on to www.lloydbrothersmotorsports.com 

or Lloyd Brothers Motorsports on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lloyd-Brothers-Motorsports/167527649947476?fref=ts

AMA Flat Track: Five Events & Six Weeks Left in the 2012 Season to Get Your Buell Raffle Ticket in the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Air Fence Fund Raffle

Henry Wiles works on final positioning of the controls on the #17 Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Italian 'L' twin along with the help of crew chief Dave Gamble during the team's preparation for 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 on August 18.

After a rough start to the season at the Springfield Mile I round in late May, the Ohio-based LBM team regrouped for the second Twins Series event of the year one month later at the Lima Half-Mile, and along with the hard work and team effort, not to mention Hammerin' Hank's skill on a flat track racing motorcycle, came out of the event with an extremely solid 2nd-place finish.  With a DNQ at Hagerstown and then suffering a blown motor at the Sacramento Mile round in late July, the team was ready for a solid finish to get their top-level program back on track towards the front of the field.

Enter round 10 of the 2012 season at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile and a packed house, thanks to the European contingent on-hand for the Red Bull Indy MotoGP round a few miles down the road at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the LBM/Foremost Insurance Group/Rampsur Winery/ENI USA-sponsored team saw their stellar efforts turn for the better as 2-Time Singles Series Champion Wiles brought the big 1098-based mount home in 4th-place, the team's second top-5 of the year.

These guys never say die and through the thick and thin and the ups and downs that befall racing teams and riders at times, they worked through the muck and came home again with a great finish to show for their hard work.  Between co-owners Dave & Mike Lloyd, crew chief and ex-IndyCar and CART wrench Gamble, frame fabricator Lyle Pizzino and a cast of other family members and crew (and top ace Wiles in the saddle) the long-time contenders in The Rolling Thunder Show could again leave the track with all of their heads held high and proud.

For the second year in-a-row, the team is again putting on what could be an annual event in raffling off a chance to win a 2009 Buell (and should, with the help of AMA Pro Flat Track, Saddlemen, and Arai-last year's fund raiser 2nd-place prize sponsor) that all funds collected will benefit and be given to the RoadRacing World Air Fence Fund for Dirt Track.

What I personally (and many others even more in-the-know then myself) consider the single best thing a race fan can do to help support the sport, and especially the safety of the riders in the sport, is to donate to the Air Fence Fund.  Since air fence has been incorporated as a protective device to keep the riders and machines from bouncing off of or directly striking fixed objects, the injury and loss of life that was once an even more prominent fixture in motorcycle racing of any kind has fallen off dramatically. 

Air fence acts as a protective 'pillow' that not only keeps the aforementioned out of harm's way, but also is designed to help envelope a fallen rider and machine in order to keep them from traveling at an alarming rate of speed into objects that are fixed at any given racetrack.  Whether it would be armco barriers, armco support arms, fencing that lines a track or even light poles placed in a corner. the use of air fence in the last decade-and-a-half or so has lowered the chances of severe injuries at racing events.

The Lloyd Brothers team for the last two years has taken on the task of transporting the '09 Buell AMA Pro Road Racing pace bike to each of the Twins Series event of the season, making up banners and tickets and talking to the fans at each of those events about how important a donation to the fund can be to riders and to racing as a whole.  Last year alone the raffle raised over $11K, overall in the top-5 of donations made to the dirt track side of the donations. 

Obviously times are tough for a lot of us financially speaking, but some of us still get a chance to get to a few races a season in order to enjoy the sport we all so dearly love and live for.  But for the cost of a t-shirt you can help promote the safety of the greatest sport on wheels in the world.

So before the season is over, whether you make it to an event or even just buy your ticket online, take the time to purchase a $20 ticket towards the chance to win a special motorcycle in AMA Pro Road Racing history, and even more importanty making a donation that could pay-off to the fund that has helped save many of those racers we all adore watching swapping handlebars at high speed.  And when you get by the LBM pits to get your ticket, tell 'em Stu's Shots sent you and take the time to talk it up with one of the highest-profile and most professionally run teams in the sport, not to mention one of the funnest and finest group of people that have been campaigning The Rolling Thunder Show for over two decades.

Check out the press release below from the boys to find out where/how you can go about helping to keep the riders in the saddle and out of the fence!

 

 

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

 

 

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