AHRMA MAG November 2023, Vol. No. 5, Issue No. 9

november 2023, Vol. No.5, Issue No.9

Race Reports

• Diamond Don’s - motocross, trials, cross country • ISDT Reunion Ride • Athens Dirt Track • Cross Country - Pine Lake Raceway, Coyote Run, Hayes Farm • ...and much more!

Stories • Board of Trustee election Candidate Statements • Whatever it Takes

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AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

AHRMA Mag EDITOR Steph Vetterly ahrmamag@ahrma.org EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Skip Kennedy, Wes Willis, Clay Olson, Joe W Koury, Frank Eaton, “Chicago” Jerry Grakauskas, Clint Hawk, Richard Brodock, Bill Ryburn, Al Charles, Suzy Moody, Joshua Schucker PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTORS Bobby Hedge, Kenny Lau - Awesome Shots, Steve Allen, Sarah Lane, Mia Moore, David McCune, Terry McWhorter, Sarah Huth, Craig Lowery, Dave Kutskel, Lorena Walker ADVERTISING ahrmamag@ahrma.org PUBLISHER The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association ADDRESS 8913 Town and Country Circle #1093 Knoxville, TN 37923 PHONE 888-41AHRMA (888) 412-4762 COVER - The Last Diamond Don Extravaganza - Loyd Morgan (27L) and Diamond Don Rainey (53) take to the motocross track in the Vintage 70+ Expert class for one last AHRMA extravaganza!!

Morgan would finish fourth, with Rainey taking an unfortunate DNF. Photo by Bobby Hedge .......................................

AHRMA MAG is published ten times a year by the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association.

All rights reserved under International and PanAmerican copyright conventions. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part without the written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

AHRMA MAG is printed in the United States of America. The articles contained in this magazine are works of journalism and do not represent the opinions or ideas of AHRMA MAG. AHRMA MAG and the publisher assume no responsibility for the content of advertisements. While we welcome submissions, the magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Please do not send originals.

from the editor

By the time this issue comes out, the announcement of our plans for the AHRMA MAG in 2024 will have been released. I’m a huge proponent of this magazine, as I think it’s a great way to showcase our members and riders who participate in our many racing disciplines. Even though I’m only 34 years old, there’s something about vintage motorcycles that I truly love.

photo by TIM VECHIK

welcome to the

Moving into 2024, we’ll have some special issues coming out each quarter focused on non-racing content. In order to continue the legacy that previous editors have created in providing priceless AHRMA content, we need your help. We need people who are interested in talking about past racing, the “good ol’ days,” want to showcase the bike they’ve spent hundreds of hours restoring. We need people interested in sharing and writing stories, and taking pictures. Any time I’m walking around the track, I get the opportunity to talk to so many of you - and you share the most wonderful stories and adventures of races you’ve run and people you’ve met. You have great content, now let’s get it down on paper!

From my time working with AHRMA, I know you, the membership, are very vocal about sharing your opinions on what you want to see with the organization, and now I ask that you be very vocal about helping to propel this magazine to the next level. Have some ideas about what content you’d like to see? Send me an email or call and let me know! Have some stories you’d like to recount? Send in your stories and photos!

I can’t thank our current contributors enough for all their help reporting on our events and happenings around the country. Our members are a wealth of knowledge and fun stories, and I want to showcase them!! Help us make this magazine even better than it already is! www.ahrma.org/ahrma-mag-submission-guidelines/ see you on the track!

Steph Vetterly Thanks to everyone who subscribes and looks forward to each issue.

We at AHRMA MAG want to hear from our readership. We’d like to know how we’re doing.

Send us feedback and comments about your favorite stories and columns, likes and dislikes and what you’d enjoy seeing in future issues. email: ahrmamag@ahrma.org call: 888-41AHRMA (888-412-4762)

contact us!

888-41AHRMA (888-412-4762)

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS Daniel May, Executive Director email: executive.director@ahrma.org 8913 Town and Country Circle #1093 Knoxville, TN 37923 Ed Roman, Special Committee Chairman email: ed.roman@ahrma.org MEMBERSHIP email: membership@ahrma.org 8913 Town and Country Circle #1093 Knoxville, TN 37923 COMMUNICATIONS Cindy McLean email: communications@ahrma.org RACE DIRECTORS ROAD RACE DIRECTOR - Al Charles email: roadrace.director@ahrma.org OFF-ROAD DIRECTOR - Terry McPhillips email: offroad.director@ahrma.org DIRT TRACK DIRECTOR - Richard Brodock email: dirt.track@ahrma.org RACE COORDINATORS CROSS COUNTRY COORDINATOR Becky Hayes email: becky77m@yahoo.com NATIONAL TRIALS COORDINATOR Debbie Poole email: pooleschl1@hotmail.com

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Carl Anderson (Chairman) - chairman@ahrma.org Mike Dixon - michael.dixon@ahrma.org Arthur Kowitz - dbsuperbiker@gmail.com David Rutherford - david.rutherford@ahrma.org Tim Terrell - tim.terrell@ahrma.org

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contents 10 DIRECTOR’S COLUMNS

38 ATHENS DIRT TRACK

14 BOARD OF TRUSTEE ELECTION

40 PINE LAKE RACEWAY CROSS COUNTRY

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

20 DIAMON DON’S - MOTOCROSS

44 LITTLE TALLY ROAD RACE

24 WHATEVER IT TAKES

46 HAYES FARM CROSS COUNTRY

26 DIAMON DON’S - TRIALS

28 DIAMOND DON’S - CROSS COUNTRY 30 ISDT REUNION RIDE

48 COYOTE RUN - MID-ATLANTIC

52 FIELD OF DREAMS - MID-ATLANTIC 56 MARKETPLACE & SWAP MEET

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26

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38

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NOVEMBER 2023

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PHOTO BY PAUL ELLEDGE

from the staff

The First 80 days A

s I write this, it has been just over 80 days since the AHRMA Board of Trustees named myself interim Executive Director, and appointed Ed Roman as the chair of a special committee to the Executive Director. Forty days ago, on September 15th, the board voted unanimously to transition the position to full-time. I have been focusing on road race, dirt track, and the organization financials.

Ed has been concentrating on off-road, membership, and insurance. The splitting of responsibilities has been very efficient and productive. Parallel to the transition of Executive Director duties, we have executed an extensive membership recovery drive. The data Ed Roman and his team have gathered on membership demographics is very impressive, and I encourage you to visit www.ahrma.org and review the minutes from the 2023 Barber Board of Trustees meeting.

2024 will bring both challenges and opportunities. Membership has stabilized but we need to find new opportunities within a younger demographic. The data shows that the current membership is “aging out”, and we need to embrace the next generation of vintage racers. The AHRMA Mag is being restructured to embrace changes in print and online media. Print is dying everywhere from magazines to newspapers, so we need to find a mix between print and digital that works going forward.

Sponsorship across all disciplines is key to success. Costs have increased in every aspect of the business, from track rental to insurance, and sponsorship is the only way we can afford to put

on the programs our members have come to expect. Spectator growth is of equal importance to membership growth; we need alternative sources of income to make the programs work.

Ed and I are excited for 2024.

I will continue to attend as many events across the three disciplines as I can. The best way to serve the members is to meet them face-to-face and understand what they like and dislike about AHRMA. We have our work cut out for us, but we gladly accept the challenge.

Daniel May DANIEL MAY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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PHOTO BY TIM GUNDLACH

Membership moral is very strong, and the call for volunteerism has yielded top talent to strengthen the organization. A reduction in monthly overhead combined with in-kind donations has bolstered our financial position, and all indicators point to a strong finish of our fiscal year on November 30, 2023. We are back in the black! Road Race had a great season-ending event at the Barber Vintage Festival, Dirt Track finished strong at Beaver Creek, and I will be at Henryetta for the final Off-Road national.

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

NOVEMBER 2023

ROAD RACING

from the staff

Road Race planning committee is working hard to get the schedule out as soon as possible in November so racers can make their plans for next year.

PHOTO BY ETECHPHOTO.COM

We need to send out a big thank you to our 2023 sponsors and support them whenever we can.

The 2024 sponsorship program is open, and our new sponsorship team is working hard with our existing sponsors and signing up new sponsors every day.

T

he 2023 race season has finished, ten rounds of races that took us all over the country. We had frost in Carolina, the threat of tornados in Nebraska and sometimes a little rain mixed in. As my first year as race director for AHRMA I have met hundreds of incredible people and have enjoyed directing all the races. Our AAR program headed

by Artur Kowitz graduated close to ninety students, our best year ever. My staff throughout the year was made up of long-term volunteers, and when needed I called upon new volunteers that stepped up and they all did an excellent job.

NOVEMBER 2023

Selecting track venues is a business decision by both parties, we want the best dates at reasonable prices and the tracks want large groups that come back each year. The 2024 track selection process and schedule began at the first event of the year in 2023 with a reminder to track management before the end of the event to hold our date or can you give us a better date next year. All the tracks we raced in 2023 want AHRMA back and are working with us on pricing and track dates. The 2024 schedule is shaping up and we do not want to release it until it is accurate, and we have confirmed dates. The

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

As we grow and our racing classes get bigger and mixed with vintage and modern machines you will hear more and more about track safety.

Procedures for safe gridding and on track safety will be stressed more at each event. At the last Board of Trustees meeting, it was announced that safety committees (volunteers) will be formed for each racing discipline to make sure we cover the bases regarding event safety.

I want to thank everyone for supporting AHRMA in the 2023 season and looking forward to 2024.

Al Charles

AL CHARLES ROAD RACE DIRECTOR

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I

want to use this month’s article to acknowledge the help and support Becky Hayes has given AHRMA and me.

Becky is retiring as the National Cross Country Coordinator. She, along with Craig, has been the steady hand of the AHRMA cross-country community for a very long time. Becky has been an stalwart advocate for this discipline and has given a massive amount of her time and energy to promoting and guiding the AHRMA Cross Country Series.

Not only has she run many of the events, but she and Craig have been involved with the rules process.

I want to thank Becky for all the time and effort she has given to me personally over the past 18 months. She has not only taken the time to educate me in this discipline with words and actions, but has done so with great patience (I asked a lot of dumb questions). She has walked me through everything from how to properly arrow a course (and walking up and down, up and down every hill at Barber... took me two days to get my legs to recuperate!), and has helped me to learn to use Moto Tally to score events. She’s even introduced me to some tools that I didn’t even know existed (I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a hammer stapler. I have one on order now!) that make putting

12

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OFF-ROAD

from the staff

up arrows much easier and less painful!

future. Their impact on AHRMA will be felt for a long, long time.

Most importantly, we have had many discussions on what is good and bad for the Cross Country program. She has helped me identify things to look at in order to move the program forward successfully. Her help (and patience) in all areas has been invaluable.

When you see Becky and Craig, make sure you thank them for all they have done for AHRMA!

Becky and Craig are planning on taking some time off to travel on their new Moto Guzzis. I wish them safe travels and hope to see them as riders at events in the

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

Thank you for everything, Becky and Craig!

Be safe, have fun, and ride fast!

Terry McPhillips TERRY MCPHILLIPS OFF-ROAD RACE DIRECTOR

NOVEMBER 2023

from the staff

TURNING THE

W

hoa, what a crazy couple months! We had two of our big races in August including the fast red clay banked 3/8 mile Mike Gerald Classic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and our big 1/2 mile race in Athens, Ohio.

Both were well-supported and will be on the schedule for 2024. From there, we went to Georgia Karting Komplex in Carnesville, Georgia, where we had some of the closest racing of the season. Then came one of our most anticipated events in the first flat track race ever at the Barber Vintage Festival. What an experience is all I have to say. The atmosphere, the crowd, and the racing was electric. With no down time, we followed up Barber with our season finale at Beaver Creek Speedway in Toney, Alabama, just north of Huntsville, and it was one for the books.

2024 will bring some new aspects to the program as well as continuing some of the great features that are currently in place. Look for some new safety features including a brand new high-end safety light system, a starting light, and electronic scoring. All this will help us make a safe and consistent program that you can expect at every event. A few returning aspects will be the Dick Mann Memorial Championships and the Dirt Track Vintage Cup. The 2024 AHRMA Dirt Track Vintage Cup Class will be our Seventies Singles class.

More details to come soon.

As well as new safety equipment, the dirt track program has also added two perpetual awards to honor our racers for their efforts throughout the season.

NOVEMBER 2023

The Daniel Beher High Points Brakeless Award was created to replace the previous award that was retired at the end of 2022. The award is named after one of our fellow AHRMA dirt track racers who passed away earlier this year and is awarded to the racer who accumulates the most points in any one of our three Brakeless classes.

Daniel himself raced two of our Brakeless classes as well as competed in trials, cross country, and motocross. Daniel also made several runs on the salt flats chasing land speed records.

The other dirt track perpetual award was named after another of our AHRMA members for his sportsmanship, competitive drive, dedication, and constant smile and attitude. Racing dirt track for over 50 years, Gary Moore did not stop there. In 2022, Gary set his mind to road racing for one reason: race at the Barber Vintage Festival. Earlier this year, he took the road race school, and when he heard we were racing flat track at Barber, he was beyond excited.

PHOTO BY MARIAH LACY PHOTOGRAPHY

CORNER

continued support. To all the racers who came out and joined us at one or many of our races this year, I cannot express enough how much your support means to me. Without you, this series does not work and I will continue to do my best to provide the best events and tracks I can as we continue to rebuild this program.

Richard Brodock RICHARD BRODOCK DIRT TRACK DIRECTOR

The Gary Moore Spirit Award began taking shape earlier this year with plans to surprise Gary and award it to him at Barber.

Sadly Gary passed away a few weeks prior to Barber but we stuck to the plan and Gary was awarded the first-ever Gary Moore Spirit Award posthumously. Gary and Daniel never met a stranger and their presence at AHRMA events will be missed both on and off the track.

As we wrap up the 2023 AHRMA Dirt Track season, I have to thank so many people for their AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

The Daniel Beher High Points Brakeless award. photo mia moore WWW.AHRMA.ORG

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES ELECTION: These statements can also be viewed at ahrma.org/news

jeff hargis - east

Hi, I’m Jeff Hargis. I live in Battle Creek, Michigan. I retired from Post Cereals in 2022. I’m running for trustee in the Eastern region.

I’ve always had a love for motorcycles, from dirt, to ice and road bikes. I built a race bike and joined AHRMA in 2008. I started racing in the Sportsman 750 class.

The people I met at the first race is why myself and my wife fell in love with racing and the AHRMA family that welcomed us in with open arms.

new members including my son Nick. Even though I road race a vintage bike I recognize “Vintage” is a continually moving time period and we must move with it. I also understand the need for modern classes, and the need to bring in younger members to grow OUR organization.

Besides racing I started volunteering wherever I was needed. Which opened my eyes to what it takes to make a race event successful. Since I started volunteering more, I took an interest in organization itself.

Which has led me to why I want to become a trustee. I believe I have a good sense of what it takes to make AHRMA successful.

I believe I can help the Board of Trustees and AHRMA to the next level of Fun, SAFETY, and sustainability for ALL members.

I’ve brought in volunteers. I’ve also mentored and help bring in

In closing, I would be honored if you would vote for me.

Sincerely, JEFF HARGIS AHRMA # 9035 (269) 209-9940 jeffhargis@comcast.net

alex mclean - east have the interest and time to devote to the work required to be an AHRMA Trustee – to give something back.

Not only have I been an active racer for over 25 years but more recently volunteered as an instructor.

To all AHRMA members, I am honored to be considered as a candidate for AHRMA Trustee.

AHRMA has been an important part of my life. I have been a long-time member and avid racer and I now 14

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My commitment to all AHRMA members should I be elected is that the priorities of all members will be fully and fairly heard and fairly and fully represented. I will work to help stabilize and improve AHRMA’s financial health and work to broaden and extend the appreciation of AHRMA’s mission in the racing community, both through enhanced communication and increased participation to support our club both spectator and rider for all forms of racing - and all of our AHRMA sponsors.

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

I appreciate your consideration for me as an AHRMA trustee. Again, I will commit to fairly represent and work for the interests of ALL AHRMA members equally.

I am available to answer any questions or listen to suggestions you may have via phone or email.

ALEX MCLEAN (122) AHRMA # 1938 (832) 992-1065 alex127542@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 2023

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS bob robbins - east

Dear fellow AHRMA members, My early two wheeled life began on a 60s minibike and led to years of Motocross racing until making a living got in the way. Around 1972 I won an informal race on my Suzuki 90 for money on a makeshift track when some bikers threw cash in a pot and it was the first and last time I saw prize money. Many years later once I had some resources to try a few track days on a road bike I discovered roadracing and 30 plus years on am still at it.

Over the years I shifted nearly all of my racing to AHRMA where I feel more at home. I jokingly call it the “Last Chance Ranch” for some of us aging riders.

AHRMA has undoubtably experienced some challenges of late with many outside factors of rising costs, personnel and financial problems putting 2022 in the spotlight as a serious need for change moving forward. I do believe the new dawn is a bright one with Dan May at the helm and having the ability to get others to step up and to regain a level of trust and confidence among members knowing their money is being used wisely. The process of digging out can only be successful through sensible discussions and making good decisions to keep pace with the challenges we face. We are a growing organization and must retain a legacy to keep the spirit of the AHRMA family and what it evolved from and stands for.

If elected I will use the practice of having two ears and only one mouth and do my best to work alongside the other trustees in all disciplines to focus on the balance between what works for the members and what it takes to sustain that in today’s environment.

As there is a huge difference in the racing disciplines and resources members have at their disposal, it is our responsibility to offer each member an opportunity to compete

and enjoy the experience whether a weekend or a season.

Points to focus on across all disciplines in my opinion •

Overall organization safety

•

Member input and suggestions

•

Open communication with transparency

It’s inspiring to see more younger riders coming along in the past few years as it’s the needed evolutionary element for AHRMA. The positive energy in the AHRMA family atmosphere needs to continue through social media to help recover and to prove we are as strong as ever.

I believe in paying it forward and I try to live by a saying I once saw at a customer “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do”, so all I ask is the consideration of your vote so I can use my experience to help keep AHRMA moving forward. As we all know there is a whole lot that goes into making a successful season of events through dedicated people working as a team.

BOB ROBBINS (#46) AHRMA # 2390

beno rodi - east knowledge will help the organization overcome its current growing pains, alleviate financial pressures and continue on a positive course.

My name is Beno Rodi and my passion, rather my life, is racing vintage motorcycles. I started racing in 1961. By 1967 I Road raced at the Daytona Speedway, ran the Alligator Enduro, and short tracked at the Memorial Stadium. And ever since I helped write the AHRMA rulebook back in the 1980s, AHRMA has been at the center of everything I do.

I’ve been an AHRMA trustee numerous times over the years and would welcome the opportunity to serve again. With the other trustees, officers, and staff, I weathered the difficult years of the organizations bankruptcy and enjoyed the everimproving era we’ve moved into.

I hope that my experience and

Let me say that I am not a politician, but unfortunately, I feel that the organization has become overly political to the detriment of the members. Personally, my contributions to AHRMA have been negatively impacted by changes in leadership and mixed agendas.

After racing my Royal Enfield in dirt track for 34 years (never missing a race), the bike was protested. I won an appeal, but it was at the expense of my reputation. Additionally, after providing dirt track tech as a volunteer (never paid for services or expenses) for decades, I was told by trustee Arthur Kowitz two years ago that my services were no longer needed. Today there is no dirt track tech – no helmet check, no bike check, etc.. This is a dangerous situation for the riders and a significant liability for AHRMA. I have also known at least a dozen long time volunteers fired without any explanation. For an organization with financial troubles this makes no sense.

sure bikes and riders follow the rules. I want to restore AHRMA’s reputation and ensure trust, communication, and fairness in its dealings. While we can’t always achieve everything folks ask for, we do our best to give a fair and impartial hearing to requests and to help the organization deliver on the things we commit to. My promise to you is that I will do my best to represent the East Coast membership and our collective needs.

The bottom line is that I bring not only decades of vintage racing experience but extensive knowledge about AHRMA’s organization, finances, as well as the spirit of evolution necessary to sustain and grow vintage racing. Most importantly, I want to see the legacy of AHRMA continue, grow, and be carried forward by future generations of vintage enthusiasts.

I ask for your vote this year with the hope that, if elected, my contributions will help deliver great 2024 and beyond racing seasons and a lasting legacy for all AHRMA members.

If I am voted back as a trustee, my main focus will be to help right the ship financially, keep safety and liabilities under control, and make

BENO RODI AHRMA # 143

I’ve been passionate about vintage racing with AHRMA for over 25 years. In that time I’ve competed in AHRMA roadracing, trials, cross country, vintage, post vintage, and next-gen motocross. In my role as Rocky Mountain Offroad Region Coordinator for the past 5 seasons, and Great Lakes Region Event Coordinator prior, I have had the privilege of working closely with our promoters, sponsors, and members in developing a race series that includes all motocross disciplines, cross country, and regional support classes.

I’ve come to understand that as a race sanctioning body AHRMA generates value for its members through greater access and higher quality events and we create value for our promoters by increased membership participation. There are large areas of the country with no AHRMA offroad races, yet nearly three-quarters of current AHRMA members compete in offroad disciplines. I believe if AHRMA were to have regional events in underserved geographic areas membership would increase further. Without events that are easily accessible, with lower entry barriers for time and cost than

jason colon - west

Having persevered through tough times in the regions I have led 16

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AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

NOVEMBER 2023

the National series, there is less incentive to become an AHRMA competition member. Regional racing is foundational to a healthy future. A stronger regional presence and the increased membership it would generate gives AHRMA more leverage to make the National Motocross, Cross Country, and Trials business models more attractive to higher-quality tracks and promoters.

By focusing on details, the flexibility I encouraged in offroad regional operations allowed member feedback and sound business practices to drive what individual support classes Regions offer in their programs, making them more successful. Networking with other offroad region coordinators has given me the opportunity to

better understand differing regional perspectives and membership interests across the organization.

Giving me a broader perspective on possible opportunities for AHRMA, its challenges, successes, and potential areas of concern. Over the years I’ve learned the value of engaging those with differing viewpoints and building consensus in a leadership role. But listening alone is only the first step, it takes vision, focus, and follow-through to do the best job possible.

Successful organizations evolve, I believe as a Trustee it is important to listen to and respect what each member and every discipline offers.

Regardless of the era that you grew up in, what we share in AHRMA is a love of motorcycles and the desire

to ride, race, and preserve them.

Whether on the track, in the pit, or in the garage the connections we share with our AHRMA family are stronger than our differences.

My fellow members, what is great about AHRMA is still far stronger than its shortcomings. Yes, there is room for improvement in the organization. It takes dedicated leadership to keep an organization like AHRMA together. If elected to AHRMA’s Board of Trustees I will work hard to represent all AHRMA members and disciplines for a stronger future.

Sincerely, JASON MARK-ANTHONY COLÓN AHRMA # 2390

sharon dray - west I am excited to say I am running for Western Trustee for 2024. I am currently living in the Dallas Texas area and enjoy my time with the Racing community. I have been involved with AHRMA Motorcycle Roadracing since 2012 when I came on board to assist with the Orbits Timing System. Prior to that I was privileged to assist Cindy Cowell and AHRMA as it continued to grow.

I have always expressed concerns over Rider safety and keeping the lines of communication open, with the Members, Sponsors and Volunteers.

My name is Sharon Dray and I have been involved with Motorcycle Roadracing (Modern and Vintage with a brief exposure to Off Road Racing) for over 40 years. I have built a reputation on Openness, Fairness, Progressive thinking and most of all Rider Safety. I believe these components will be crucial in moving AHRMA forward in an ever fluid environment.

NOVEMBER 2023

I have been actively involved in Motorcycle Roadracing since the late 80’s. I worked with modern bikes at WERA Motorcycle Racing for over 30 years. After a brief break to welcome my first Grandson into the world, I was approached by Cindy Cowell to assist AHRMA with Timing and Scoring. This has escalated into more and more involvement with MSR registration setup and event Gridding for Roadracing and also an MSR assist for the Off Road

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

Disciplines.

I was asked in 2016 to work with the local Police Department located on the Grayson College Campus where I am currently the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police. I have an Associates Degree in Applied Science, with a Computer Aid Draft & Design major.

I have Administrative as well as hands on experience in Motorcycle Roadracing, beginning with Grass Roots, Vintage, Pro and Semi Pro events. I have a diverse background and personality. Most people who know me know my goal is to learn 1 new thing every day.

If I am elected as a Western Trustee, I will work hard to respect the trust placed in me and I will continue to value the Members as AHRMA moves forward.

Thank you for your consideration, Keep the rubber side down.

SHARON DRAY

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wesley poole - west In the mid 90’s to the mid -2000’s we traveled extensively to AHRMA events across the country, and as I became older and more aware I saw there were differences in how the regions operated. I began to realize that various regions had their particular style of governing due to the unique circumstances they faced.

The challenge to AHRMA members who may be new to the governing/ operations side, is keeping their organization vital and growing. We have a responsibility to those who built AHRMA over the last decades, to not simply be racers, but to learn more about, and participate in governing.

My name is Wes Poole and I’m 37 years old, recently relocated from California to Clark, Colorado. When my parents joined AHRMA, they took the whole family to races starting in 1989, when I was 4 years old. I rode trials at 14 years of age and Vintage MX at 16, and our participation has been continuous from the beginning.

I’ve raced and volunteered in Vintage MX, Cross Country and Trials, and though there was little opportunity in the west, I jumped at the opportunity to ride the two or three AHRMA dirt track/TT events in the area. I believe I have a good understanding of the culture and needs of these disciplines. As a trustee I look forward to being introduced to the entirely different world of AHRMA road racing, and I know there is a lot to learn.

It is my opinion that the AHRMA Mission Statements are some of AHRMA’s most important guiding documents, and I will refer to them in making many decisions.

My 7 year old son just rode his first AHRMA trial, and my two daughters and wife always enjoy working and catching up with friends on AHRMA weekend. I am even more

emotionally involved and committed to the wellbeing and success of AHRMA, so that my kids can be part of the family that is AHRMA, just as I have been.

I’m pleased to see the technological advances that AHRMA has instituted over the last several years. I understand these needed upgrades, as I made similar changes in 2018 when I took over the construction company my parents started in 1976.

I’ve experienced the best of AHRMA as well as some very unsettling times.

In the more resent years I’ve observed a drive to push AHRMA into another level. This required spending money outside anything AHRMA is capable of generating and moving away from the volunteer-based organization I had always known, which was clearly destructive in more ways than just fiscally. As a small business owner, I’m aware of fiscal responsibility on a daily basis, and that it must be respected and never underestimated.

As 2023 comes to a close, AHRMA’s future looks encouraging. I hope to get your vote so that I can be involved in the coming turn-around.

WESLEY POOLE

luke sayer - west on its feet financially and bring back the fun of AHRMA racing with friends and family. I have volunteered many hours at all discipline events both setting up, running, and tear down. Being retired allows me to devote a lot of time and effort to help AHRMA succeed.

Hi! My name is Luke Sayer and I am currently a member of the AHRMA Board of Trustees. When I ran for the board 3 years ago, my goal was to ensure the sustainability of AHRMA for the future. Unfortunately, AHRMA is now playing catch up financially.

My goal is to help AHRMA get back 18

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We are poised for success with our new Executive Director, Daniel May and Special Committee Chairman, Ed Roman. I am currently the Secretary of our association and on the Executive Committee that meets weekly to discuss AHRMA business, provide guidance to our Executive Director and get issues in front of the whole Board of Trustees as needed.

With my off-road, dirt track and road racing background along with a AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

common sense approach to details, I can continue to help AHRMA thrive in the future. I also bring an ability of being able to work with people of different opinions and reach a common consensus.

We in AHRMA have a unique opportunity to compete on really cool motorcycles with really neat people. We need to continue to provide opportunities for us to grow AHRMA. This task is not easy in today’s crazy economy, fuel prices and competition for our free time.

I would appreciate another opportunity for 3 more years serving on the Board of Trustees. Thank you for voting.

LUKE SAYER Rider #76U NOVEMBER 2023

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2023 BRIDGESTONE TIRES AHRMA NATIONAL VINTAGE, POST VINTAGE, & NEXT GEN MOTOCROSS SERIES

DIAMOND Brandon Glenn (#15), Zach Sayre (#223)

The Last Diamond Don Extravaganza

DON'S Bill Hobson (#114), Kyle Kyzer (#541)

WORDS: SKIP KENNEDY AND WES WILLIS PHOTOS: BOBBY HEDGE

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he final Diamond Don’s National AHRMA Vintage Motocross race, quite possibly the largest vintage race in the world, is now in the books and the fat lady has sung her last song. This was one of the best events ever promoted by Diamond Don and Moto Mama. The biggest crowds, the most racers and the highest amount ever raised for charities.

On Thursday September 6, the Robert E. Lee Memorial Dual Sport Adventure Ride and the Jack Thompson Memorial Tiddler Ride raised $3,330 from donations and registration fees.

The sale of the event poster by auction on Sunday evening raised $1,500; and the raffle for a vintage racing bike drew in $2,000. These funds, donated to Jefferson Adopt-A-Cop, help law enforcement officers in Marion County receive reimbursement for their out-of-pocket expenses 20

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for business equipment not covered by their employers.

The program covers all law enforcement officers dedicated to service in Marion County. As a small community, this program is so valuable to the support and morale of their law enforcement.

The registration fees from the exhibition 100cc Battle on the Bayou race and the 200cc Texas Throwdown race brought in $3,000 for Women Rock, Inc. Women Rock, Inc, are saving and changing lives. Giving Hope, Making a Difference, Defeating Breast Cancer. The wonderful thing about this charity is that 100% of the money goes into the hands of cancer patients who need it.

Promoters Francene and Diamond Don Rainey are so thankful to the generous nature of the racing community that came to spend the week in Jefferson. There were almost 800 race entries in the AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

four venues, as compared to last year’s 696. There were 877 people through the gate (825 last year).

Blue skies, cooled off for great temperatures, no rain! Lots of fun for family and friends in Jefferson. A lot of people came in Labor Day weekend and stayed ten days. That gave them the opportunity to visit shops, antique stores, museums and great restaurants. Jefferson businesses said a big “thank you” to racers and family for spending time with them in the heart of East Texas.

The track was the most fun ever.

Cole Johnson came over with his NOVEMBER 2023

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equipment from Johnsonville MX and made some great changes to the track. He had the best water truck in Diamond Don history that kept most of the track dust under control throughout the days of racing.

DeCoster’s teammate. He also raced against Heikki Mikkola, four-time World Champion, and Brad Lackey. While he never won a World Championship, he came very close many times. The Flying Dutchman retired in 1979.

AHRMA sold 84 weekend passes at this race, which would most likely be a record. Gerrit Wolsink was a big pull for racers and spectators. “The Dentist” traveled from his home in the Netherlands to be the event legend. Wolsink is five-time United States 500 Grand Prix winner at Carlsbad 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1979. Gerrit joined the Suzuki Grand prix team in 1973, as Roger

While Gerrit didn’t race, he enjoyed visiting the pits and talking to all the racers. You could also find Brad Lackey, Steve Wise, Blake Wharton, and Trey Jorski “bench racing”. Oh, the stories they told!!!

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The “Mouth of the South,” JP Parsons, was back from his quadruple bypass which was a life-changing experience. Shand AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

Gracia added to the announcing excitement. Big thanks to Brian Oakley for upgrading the outdoor sound system so racers and spectators could enjoy JP and Shand on the mics.

Sportsman 500 intermediate saw ten riders, with Alexander Knight taking the win over Iain Johnstone; Brian Oakley walked away a well-deserved third. Curt Jaimet of Melton, FL, won the hotly contested 100cc Vintage Expert, with Bruce McFarlane and Jamie Adams coming in second and third. Vintage +50 intermediate was loaded; Charlene (cha-cha) Campbell and Gary (Groove Dog) Davis WWW.AHRMA.ORG

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points standings. Close battling in the 60+ intermediate saw Jim Voelk of Platte City, MO, taking the overall with 3-2 finishes and Rick Owens and Rob Springer taking second and third respectively.

Ultima 4-stroke was very close to a Honda sweep with Rick Allen going 1-1, Michael Hill 2-2, Anthony Puppillo 3-3. Sheila Monk finished just off the box in fourth place. A decades-old rivalry was renewed in the Ultima 250 expert class as Ricky Parker and Parker Whitley went to battle, just as their dads (Trampas Parker and Billy Whitley) battled decades ago. Ricky won the first moto but Parker Whitley ended up with the overall.

Garhett Carter (#738, Sportsman 125 Expert)

exchanging moto wins with Char coming out on top. Team Cramp’s Mike Hance was a distant fourth! Vintage Open Age Novice saw seven riders in a hotly contested race with Tyler Little from Greenville, SC, with 1-1 moto finishes. Stephen Clark, Joseph Sanchez, and Zane Tidwell battled for third and fourth with Clark taking third and Sanchez finishing fourth. Vintage +60 novice had 18 competitors with Tom Hooker taking the overall and Ben Paschal finishing in second.

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Post Vintage 50+ Intermediate first moto saw Mark White winning the class with a 1-2 finish. One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing Hirotaka Matsuda of Okinawa, Japan, getting second in the first moto.

Unfortunately, Matsuda was unable to finish the second moto.

Post Vintage 60+ Novice had one of the largest gates of the weekend with 18 riders. Jeff Reed of Munford, TN, was the winner and currently leads the national

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Jeff Olson, from Minnesota, won the 1975 400 raffle bike donated

by David Pierce. Thanks to Wes Willis for getting the bike ready for the raffle. The raffle benefited Jefferson Adopt-A-Cop. The money goes directly into the hands that need it. Jeff was present to win, and you couldn’t knock the smile off his face!!!

Diamond Don and Moto Mama were surprised many times throughout the weekend with gifts and accolades from the many friends made over the years. Two big surprises: Gerry Hayes, Canada, brought a big group of friends together to make matching specialty onyx and

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diamond rings for both of them; and to top off the culmination of 21 years of racing, Marianne and Jeff Blackwood gathered up twenty years of t-shirts and made a quilt of all the years. The Blackwoods show up to the races with three generations of family.

It is always nice to see the young ones out there.

The weekend wrapped up with the wine-down party with a new band this year, Braydon Watts Band.

While all the band members were in their 20’s, they played music that got everyone revved up and on the dance floor. Braydon says “music is all about love”; and that is what everyone felt who stayed over before the long trek home. Can that young man play a guitar!!

Skip Kennedy (#58k, Vintage 70+ Expert)

Riley Ripper (#822)

Francene and Don had this to say as the event wrapped up: ‘The words “Thank You” do not adequately express our genuine appreciation for all the riders, their families, sponsors, employees, volunteers, AHRMA and our so many friends for all the support and love over the last 21 years. These friendships will continue on for many years. It’s been a great run, but we are ready for retirement and spending some quality time together. Love you all. Are we having fun yet????

Brad Lackey (L) and Skip Kennedy (R) at the Wine Down party. Skip sponsored the wine and showed his skills as bartender.

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Hirotaka Matsuda came all the way from Okinawa, Japan, to make the final Diamond Don’s race.

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The trackside official’s watching, and he’s on the radio saying, “Whoa, you gotta check this guy out on 973!”

WHATEVER IT TAKES ROCKIN’ AN UNORTHODOX RIDE

WORDS: CLAY OLSON & JOE W KOURY PHOTOS: KENNY LAU - AWESOME SHOTS & BOB BEAN

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he 2023 Bridgestone Tires AHRMA Vintage and Post Vintage Motocross Series convened at Diamond Don’s Riverport National for the 21st and final time. Billed as the largest vintage motocross race in the world, this “you-don’t-wantto-miss-it” event drew racers from all over the country to the tune of 342 rider entries! One of those riders was Clay Olson of East Bethel, MN, who showed up to compete on an AHRMA weekend membership. The way 24

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his weekend played out should serve as an inspiration to anyone who wants to race vintage motocross and have big fun on a small budget.

32-year-old Clay has been racing with his dad since he was four years old and currently rides a Husky 250 and 350, both 2023 models, in local events at BCMX, Moto City Raceway, and Berm Benders, to name a few. He also runs an off-road race shop, PDR Performance, specializing AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

in motocross suspension and engines, including the popular Race Tech Suspension components. Two years ago, he bought a 1982 Suzuki RM125 for his dad, Jeff, to ride in Post Vintage classes. The planted seed that led to his foray into the vintage world came from transplanted Texan friends and AHRMA racers, Dave and Karnie Wessling of Team Cramp. They described the Diamond Don’s buzz and recommended buying a vintage bike and making the NOVEMBER 2023

last event on the Big Cypress Bayou in Jefferson, TX. Other motivation came from fast guy, Randy Richardson (rider 222), a member of the Tenior Citizen Team.

Clay found a 1972 Bultaco 350 Alpina on Facebook Marketplace for a ‘negotiated’ $1,600, rebuilt the brakes, reshod the rims and looked over the rest of the bike deeming it worthy enough for the trip, and the track. He subsequently discovered the Bultaco wasn’t an MX bike, but a trials/enduro model. Oh well, he was already entered in Classic 500 Intermediate and Vintage Open Age Intermediate, so off they went to Texas. His buddy, Josh Hultberg, rode the bike in Friday’s Cross Country race. The freshly 3D-printed intake manifold the bike came with retired before the end of the race, but after getting towed back to the pits, they managed to patch it up with parts they located at the DD Swap Meet. During Saturday’s practice, Clay’s first outing on the bike, the rear fender mount snapped, the tail light broke off, and the chain adjusters needed some impromptu zip-tie repairs. The air filter also started disintegrating requiring, yes, more zip ties. Clay said the jetting was off causing a high RPM sputter at anything

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Clay’s drive home, he decided next year he would get a full membership and make more events.

Clay had never ridden an ‘old bike’ prior to this event except for some seat time on the ’82 RM, which obviously has way more suspension travel. He said he expected it to be fun, but those expectations were blown away at his first AHRMA event. His dad even won the 400 Husqvarna giveaway bike and Clay said the social media reactions to the entire experience were priceless.

He is already revising his 2024 race schedule and has The 1972 Bultaco 350 Alpina MX talked to AHRMA Off-Road (well, sort of) Director, Terry McPhillips, about potential Midwest race over 1/3 throttle. This all “comes venues. Hooked, I’d say. And with the territory” and Clay said you can be one of the stoked it was a comically fun part of the and hooked vintage motocross trip keeping the ol’ Alpina going. first-timers by following Clay’s Welcome to vintage racing. footsteps to an old bike and an Leaning on the fence, watching AHRMA racetrack. Heck you may the action, we all noticed number have the bike you need lurking 973 methodically carving his somewhere on your property. way through the pack standing No excuses. on the pegs, a style that would Whatever it Takes! make Marty Tripes smile. Lap after lap, we kept looking at each The off-season is upon us. Keep other in amazement at how fast an eye out on the AHRMA website he was riding on what appeared for the 2024 Vintage Motocross to be a Bultaco Sherpa or Alpina. racing schedule.

I spotted him later that day and AHRMA: Keeping the Past Fast! we spoke briefly. He said the ride was a challenge with the short suspenders and engine misfire.

Later, he would elaborate on how he short-shifted and railed the outside lines in the turns to maintain momentum. He could out-corner the other bikes, but they would pass him back resulting in a change of strategy to try and block their pass attempts out of the corners and down the straights. He won both his classes Saturday. Moving up to the Historic 500 Expert class on Sunday, Clay went 2-1 for the overall after Trey Jorski had a mechanical issue in Moto 2 (quite an accomplishment against Post Vintage machinery). Three overall wins for the Alpina! (The ‘Taco did get some curious stares from the other riders lined up at the starting gate.) During the drive home, I decided to follow up and recap his weekend. During L to R: Josh Hultgen, Jeff Olson, Clay Olson AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

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2023 REDWOOD ENGINEERING AHRMA NATIONAL VINTAGE TRIALS SERIES

DIAMOND Dennis Burnett (GRM Maverick)

DON'S

WORDS: FRANK EATON PHOTOS: STEVE ALLEN

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e all watched the weather for Diamond Don’s and knew it would be hot, and it was. However, a somewhat cool Friday morning helped kickoff observed trials for the start of Diamond Don’s weekend.

This turned out to be the Jay Huffman Memorial Trials. About 10 years ago Don asked Jay if he would set up the trials, and for 10 years he set it up with an outstanding team of volunteers.

The most critical part of the team was always his wife, Rene.

She took care of the signup and scoring and at times this can be a stressful job. Sadly Jay passed away earlier this year and will not only be missed by friends and family but the AHRMA community. Jay also hosted other AHRMA events on the family farm in Donie, Texas.

Jay and Don worked it out so that there would be a support class of non-AHRMA members which would run concurrently with the AHRMA trials. This was called the Diamond Don Trials.

This class is open to modern bikes and has helped bring riders to AHRMA. This year we had 32 riders with 15 AHRMA riders and 17 riding support.

Bruce Capps (Honda TL125) 26

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Being a true team player, Rene volunteered to do the signup and scoring once again. James

AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

James Holton (GRM Maverick)

Holton volunteered to set up the trials sections and conduct the trialsmaster duties. Without volunteers these events would not be possible. Please ask the event promoter if they need help.

Every little bit helps.

The trials began at 9:00 am with a three-hour time limit due to the start of cross country at 12:30 pm. James, with the help of Henry Gregorich, laid out eight challenging sections.

This area is in the Piney Woods of east Texas so there is lots of pine straw to make traction a bit slippy on the first few passes through a section. There were small hill climbs, tight turns, and off-camber turns that tested the riders skills.

In the past we used what Diamond Don calls the “ruins.” I NOVEMBER 2023

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believe this was the site of a civil war era foundry. I am not sure of the history but it sounds good.

We used this site for several years and then it became too over grown. Don recently had the growth removed so it was time for another section. The ruins consist of concrete foundation pillars that the riders rode over and in between.

It appeared all of the riders had a good time. A big thanks to Don and Francene Rainey for making the event happen for 21 years.

They say this is the last year of Diamond Don’s. Twenty-one years of trials at Diamond Don’s…

What a ride. If you missed riding at Diamond Don’s, I am sorry. The many riders that did compete over the years had a great experience, saw old friends, and met new NOVEMBER 2023

ones. Looks like the Diamond Don event is history but it will live on in the minds of the riders.

As a side note, Rene included the age of the rider on the score sheet. Age ranged from 22 to 76. A quick calculation revealed an average age of 57 years. Just thought this was interesting.

All ages are welcome so come out and test your skills at the next AHRMA trial.

Scott Kirn (Yetman Super 90)

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2023 BRIDGESTONE TIRES AHRMA NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY SERIES

DIAMOND The Last Time Down the Dusty Trail

DON'S

WORDS: “CHICAGO” JERRY GRAKAUSKAS PHOTOS: KENNY LAU - AWESOME SHOTS

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rior to this year’s event, it was advertised as the last year of Diamond Don’s Riverport National weekend.

“Diamond” Don Rainey and his wife, “Moto Mama” Francene, are retiring. Gone will be one of the most unique cross-country events on the AHRMA calendar.

Landmarks, past and present, include such names as ”Hogzilla,” “The Alamo,” “The Levee,” Evel Knievel’s ramp, the alligator pen (which is real), Arkansas bridge, the River trail, and the inner loop.

The most memorable was when we raced through the “Critter Shed.” In one door, out another with scoring inside in front of the “Rhumbar,” which served free adult beverages to the spectators.

The tradition of the Rhumbar moved to under the event center with the riders getting scored in close proximity.

Randy Richardson (222) 28

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As in the previous three years, the cross-country race has consistently been dry, being held AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

in September instead of earlier iterations being in April. The course this year was the driest yet, due to the hot, dry summer that Texas endured. There were even some dry creek beds that were ridden in whereas in previous years, we were lucky to cross them, let alone ride in them. There was also about a quarter-mile section of new single-track trail in the trees and brush to avoid an extremely dusty Jeep path. The length of the course was over six miles and meandered over and next to the railroad tracks, a bayou, and up and down the levee a few times.

There were about 50 racers entered in the vintage session, which also included novice from both vintage and post-vintage, as well as pre-modern and the women’s classes. Leading all racers to the finish line was Alabama rider, Ty Roberts, NOVEMBER 2023

Randy Richardson (222)

Cameron Ishmoor (16)

besting AHRMA stalwart, Randy Richardson, in the process.

Roberts won the Sportsman Open Expert Class and Richardson won the +50 Vintage Expert Class. Bill Hester took the win for Sportsman 200 Expert.

In the Women’s Expert class, Jennifer Juarez held off Shelia Monk for the first two laps, but Shelia got by on the final lap for the win. Jacob Ritorto was impressive on his BSA, while winning in Classic Expert ahead of Hodaka mounted Bruce MacFarlane. The first Intermediate to cross the finish line was Steve Watson on his Yamaha, with a win in the +60 Intermediates.

Rick Parker (96)

Cameron Ishmoor took the honors in the Pre-Modern Expert class, while Ricky Parker bested the Post Vintage 200 Experts.

The first intermediate to get the checkered flag was Justin Megucsa winning the Post Vintage 200 Intermediate class.

Yes, it was dusty and hot, but it was still enjoyed by the racers.

Being the last one, it will be missed.

Special thanks go to Bad Co. Racing, Taxes 49 Crossing Liquor Store, and Rocketship Racing for supplying the complimentary adult beverages at the “Rhumbar.”

In the Post-Vintage session, there were over 75 riders and Sam Burroughs led all riders to the finish line, winning the PV Open Expert Class.

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Joel White (742)

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NOVEMBER 2023

26TH LEROY WINTERS MEMORIAL

ISDT REUNION RIDE Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 48th ISDT in the Berkshires WORDS: CLINT HAWK PHOTOS: SARAH LANE

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he second weekend of September 2023 will be one that is not soon forgotten by the riders and spectators who made the pilgrimage to the Berkshire Mountains. A small field nestled between the peaks would bear witness to a very meaningful gathering and celebration known as the ISDT Reunion Ride. First, we must take a quick look back 50 years, to 1973, to understand why offroad racers, ISDT/E veterans, vintage enthusiasts, and icons of the sport made their descent upon the hamlet called North Pownal, Vermont.

The ISDT had never been in the United States of America until one spectacular week in September 1973. This was the culmination of years of work by two men: Al Eames and John Penton. Al Eames had been laying out the course for the Berkshire trials for several years and had a great knowledge of the area.

John Penton, after getting to experience the Six Days for the first time in 1962, would never let 32

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go of the desire for the USA to excel in the Six Days and for the event to be held on American soil.

Dave Eames recounted to me the many nights his father, Al, spent hours looking over topographic maps of the area, tracing out known routes through the mountains, and speculating on where he might be able to direct the course. He would then go out on his motorcycle to see exactly where he could or couldn’t make it through and how the different sections could be woven together.

Al Eames also spent much of his time speaking with landowners, local councils, and state organizations to make sure the permissions were granted, and the event would go off without a hitch. Eames laid out all the trail, special tests, and transfers adding up to over 1,000 miles of course over the six days of competition.

John Penton was and had been a huge sponsor of the USA Trophy Team. John had the superhuman ability of persuading the powersthat-be and making sure they AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

fell in line with the vision he had of hosting the first ISDT in the USA. The dedication of Eames and Penton as well as their many volunteers made the dream a reality. September 17th to 22nd, 1973, the best in the enduro world came to the Berkshires to compete and represent their respective nations. Two highlights really stood out from this event for rider performances.

The US team made up of Ron Bohn, Malcolm Smith, Dick Burleson, and Ed Schmidt won the Silver Vase, becoming the first-ever US team to do so.

Bill Uhl was the top finishing American rider aboard his 100cc Penton. Uhl also received the Count Lurani Trophy, recognition from the FIM for his outstanding performance under extreme personal duress. The 48th ISDT in Dalton, Massachusetts, was a great success and an event that would be celebrated by many for decades to come.

Let’s fast forward 50 years again. Friday morning welcomed beautiful sunshine and blue NOVEMBER 2023

skies as the mist cleared away from the surrounding mountains.

Mother Nature had not been kind the night before; there were calamities such as overturned porta johns, grass track tape strewn about, and large trees down. Credit where credit is due, event promoter, Joe Chodnicki, trail boss, Marc, and their band of volunteers sprang into action and started sorting out a promoter’s nightmare. Through their hard work and a few event-goers pitching in, by Friday afternoon the course was patched up and clear. That afternoon saw many riders and spectators now making their way into the staging area from all corners of the country.

The row of national flags was erected along the parc fermé and start area. The Penton Owners Group had started building a fantastic display of maps, pictures, and other memorabilia from the 1973 ISDT. Familiar faces such as Jack, Jeff, and Tom Penton were circulating around the grounds as the comradery and fellowship that this event provides had already begun. Bikes were unloaded and given their final checks and adjustments.

Tech inspection by the Brown family ran very smoothly as lights and license plates were checked. Packet pickup from the pre-registration was a breeze.

The neatly done 50th anniversary logoed row number stickers were applied to the front and right side of the machines. The decision was made to forego the mandatory impound of the motorcycles on Friday night with another rainstorm moving through the area. The stage was set for the ride to begin.

ISDT was there, ridden by Doug Morrison and owned by Max BMW. The other was a very tidy replica of the late Carl Cranke’s ISDT Penton 250 Harescrambler piloted by none other than Carl’s son, Ryan. Canadian ISDT vet, Gary Richards, had two very rare and very nicely restored Zundapps on hand as well.

The rider’s meeting was quick, informative, even comical, and national anthems were played for the represented countries. The Dutch national anthem, followed by the Canadian, then the United States of America. This was a special moment for all since the Six Days is, after all, about representing your country. The nostalgia and feeling of this being a special endeavor saturated the air. Row after row began forming and at 9AM sharp, row one fired their bikes to life. The sound of vintage enduro two strokes echoed all around and the smell of premix wafted about. ISDT/E Vets and VIPs were the first few rows, followed by the Vintage pre1974 rows, then the Post Vintage rows set off into the lush green Vermont woodlands. I was on row 12 on my 1973 Penton Jackpiner surrounded by many bikes of the same vintage. The little Jackpiner

lit on the third kick and as soon as it did, I felt as if I was instantly transported back to 1973.

The first few miles of the almost 30-mile loop were fun, fast, and flowing woods trails. The dark loam had held up quite well to the previous two nights of rain. A bit slick on top but good traction once you get going. These “low dust” conditions are what I live for and seemed only appropriate for the Northeastern terrain. The loop then popped out on the road through a farm’s driveway and continued through the village, across the railroad tracks, then on back to some gravel roads.

These led to the first check and timed special test of the day and “special” it was.

This section of old logging track known as “the military road” was a special test in the 1973 ISDT. This, folks, was hallowed ground. My minute came up and away I went into the long, loamy, rocky, and rooty uphill section that would challenge most riders even on a modern enduro bike.

As I danced the Jackpiner across slick rocks and roots previously traversed by some of the greatest off-road riders in the world, I once again slipped further back into 1973. The terrain is exactly what Fred Hoess (123)

Saturday morning dawned to a misty fog contrasting the previous morning greatly. The motorcycles were all impounded by 8AM and what a sight that was. A vintage enduro enthusiast’s heaven.

Penton, Ossa, Zundapp, Hercules, BMW, Sachs, DKW, Husqvarna, Rokon, Kawasaki, Triumph, CanAm, KTM, Maico, SWM, Suzuki, Hodaka, Yamaha, TM, and Honda all represented. There were two bikes that really stood out: Herbert Sheck’s original big BMW twin that competed in the 1973 NOVEMBER 2023

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Lissa Aldakimov (203)

one would expect the Berkshires to provide. Soon the long uphill subsided and the terrain flattened out. Then it was an all-out sprint to the end of the section which was guarded by some large water holes to splash our way through.

lined up on the roads to catch a glimpse of riders passing by.

They were all waving as we were all enthusiastically waving back.

It was great to see that there are communities out there who will still support these events!

The next part of the loop was some winding gravel roads with some very epic views of the surrounding mountains.

One thing that really stood out was the number of locals who

We passed through what was once the largest apple orchard in North America, which was very impressive. The next portion of the loop made a quick 90-degree turn off the road into a section Dan Wally (422)

of fresh-cut single track and it was great fun, the stuff that true enduro riders yearn for. We then popped out into a powerline section with beautiful views of the farms below.

The powerline section was a nod to the 1973 ISDT because thousands of spectators lined the powerline hills for one the most viewed special tests of that week.

After that it was a quick blast of back roads, across the highway, and back to the start/finish area.

Once back there we completed the next special test which was a hill climb. The start was at the very base of the wooded hill and was challenging because of the short run. Once the momentum was rolling, it was a handful of throttle towards the top of the ridge, at the top a quick turn back down the other side of the steep hill as quickly as you can manage with the clock stopping once returning to the bottom of the hill.

This then led us to the gas stop.

After the short break we headed back out on to the main loop for another 30 miles or so.

Once returning from the loop we started the first of the grass track tests which was one full lap of the grass track timed. Something about a field full of yellow tape flowing from one side to the other really gets a Six Days-junky going. From there, swiftly on over

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to the acceleration test, blasting around the horseshoe-shaped track, and stopping in the white lined box at the end as rapidly as your drum brakes would allow.

This would mark the completion of day one and after a quick once over on the bike, back to impound it went.

Naturally, not long after the day’s riding ended, the bench racing began. The ringing of the earlier events lore spread far and wide through the camping area.

Following these wild stories, the preparations began for the banquet that evening. The mud wiped away and everyone tidied up, the migration began over to the local American Legion Post.

The very nicely appointed, but humble, outdoor pavilion awaited everyone and the evening’s many festivities. First, many autographs were signed by ISDT/E veterans, and it gave everyone a chance to rub elbows with true legends.

Next was dinner, which was prepared by M&J’s Taste of Home and every item from the green beans to the prime rib was fantastic. The dining area was absolutely packed as the sounds of conversation and good times filled the air.

Once everyone had eaten dinner the real show started. Jack Penton and Jeff Debell hosted the next couple hours of interviews, speeches, and inside views on what it is like to compete in the Six Days. Jack and Jeff recognized many of the Six Day veterans from various years in the house first. It quickly became apparent how much it meant to represent their country for all these men and women. Suzy Moody, who was on the first women’s team the AMA ever sent to the Six Days, was on hand to tell her pioneering story that laid the path for the subsequent women’s teams to go compete.

The always fast New Jersey ripper, Lissa Aldakimov, also shared her story, and it was very apparent how much the Six Days experience meant to her on a personal level.

Suzy Moody (223)

Blackwater 100 overall winner.

He let us know how much it meant to get one of those everso-famous Skunk Stripe helmets always worn by the United States riders. One of the most accomplished riders in American Six Days history, Fred Hoess, took us on quick trip back into

his 28 appearances at the Six Days and total of 21 gold medal performances. He is also still representing the Stars and Stripes in the FIM Vintage Trophy and will be headed back again this year to defend his overall champion title in that event.

Anthony Yannitelli (62Y)

Another offroad legend in attendance was Kevin LaVoie, ISDT veteran and three-time NOVEMBER 2023

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Drew Smith and Ben Smith are both multi-time Six Days veterans, and were there to partake in the weekend’s festivities; that is one fast family. The list of who’s who in attendance goes on and on: Dwight Rudder, Greg Davis, Kerry Clark, Billy Burns, Stephan Vanasse, Bill Beroth, Erik Nijkamp, Alan Drane, Marc Grossman, Daryl Diamond, Tom Canning, Tom Buckles, Gary Richards and many others.

The night’s peak was recognizing the veterans of the 48th ISDT in 1973, the very event we were there to commemorate. The Penton boys, Jack, Jeff, and Tom, made up one half of the US Trophy team in 1973 and were on hand to tell us about their trials, tribulations, and triumphs in the Berkshires. Carl Cranke’s son, Ryan, and wife, Sue, were honored in his memory for his performance on the US Trophy Team that year. Ron Bohn was given quite an ovation for his role in the first-ever US team to win the Silver Vase there in 1973.

Dave Eames said a few words about his Six Days experience and a little more insight was given into his father, Al’s, labor of love laying out the route for

the 48th ISDT. I always love Paul Danik’s story about how John Penton took care of a bike for him to be able to compete in his very first Six Days that year in which he took home a gold medal. Many other veterans of the 48th ISDT were in attendance and recognized such as Jim Hollander, Stellan Tingstrom, and Carl Bergren.

With the last of the stories told on the microphone for the evening everyone started departing but that’s when an interesting little side story arose. A gentleman walked in and wanted to thank everyone for coming there to celebrate the event. As it turns out, he went to the local high school and graduated in 1973.

They were having their 50th class reunion the same weekend as the 50th anniversary of the Berkshire ISDT. He commented on how everyone at the class reunion recalled the ISDT because it was a huge event for the area and “the biggest event of their high school years.” It truly was a night of great memories, stories, and fellowship.

Mel and Alan Drane

L to R: Barbara Hoess, Suzy Moody, Gretel 36

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Sunday morning came early for everyone as we had another early rider’s meeting and 9AM key time.

There was a quick debate at the meeting about cutting the 30-mile loop out of Sunday’s schedule because there was a threat of rain. In the true “never say die” spirit of the Six Days, most voted that we complete the loop as scheduled. Luckily, the rain never showed anyway. Minute by minute the cycles were pushed from the parc fermé to their respective starting spots. The big loop Sunday was a personal highlight of the weekend for me.

Fellow Penton rider Jerry Stark and I had been chasing each other all weekend and decided to ride the hallowed “military road” section together on our Pentons.

We eventually caught up with Jack Penton and Ryan Cranke in that section and decided to ride the rest of the loop with them.

This was quite the honor to have the opportunity to ride in that company. The four of us all on Penton/KTM motorcycles, Jack’s namesake, riding in formation through the Berkshire Mountains is an experience that I will never

L to R: Suzy Moody, Paul Danik, Paul Clipper

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forget. I would also be a terrible liar if I said I didn’t get a little teary eyed a couple of times.

Once done with the loop, it was time for the final grass track motocross test that traditionally closes the Six Days. There were nine motos in total and the competition was fierce. Battles seemed to pop up in every single moto everywhere within the packs of riders. The course was laid out exquisitely and that made the racing fun for all riders. I was in the second moto and had an absolute hoot of a time. Flowing grass track on a great-handling, great-running 175cc machine with a low center of gravity is quite a visceral experience.

Fred Hoess is a grass track master, and everyone gathered around to watch him put on a clinic on his Husqvarna 250.

The motocross test was a neat experience, everyone cheering each other on, air horns bellowing, and cow bells ringing. The checkered flag falling on the ninth and final moto of the day signaled

the end of competition for the ISDT Reunion Ride.

As is tradition, the bench racing revved up as the bikes were put away for the day. Everyone bustling about, loading up for their journeys home, and saying their goodbyes. There were, however, still awards to be handed out. Medals were donned upon the competitors who had finished the 26th Leroy Winters Memorial ISDT Reunion Ride.

Fred Hoess would receive the big trophy for being overall champion of the two-day competition.

Everyone was proud of what they had accomplished and applauded every award given to anyone else. The greatest award was just getting to be there and experience the event itself. This was far and away one of the best motorcycling events I’ve been to in my 33 years on earth. Where else would you get to have that much fun on your bike, bang bars with icons of the sport, and ride on hallowed ground? I know that anyone lucky enough to attend will join me in thanking

Joe Chodnicki for making this all happen. These events are a monumental undertaking and a labor of love. This one truly checked all the boxes for anyone who loves the Six Days and the history that comes with it. I would recommend that anyone who is into vintage bikes check out one of the Reunion Rides in the future and learn a little more about the rich history of the ISDT. With that, we have covered the 50th Anniversary of the 48th ISDT in the Berkshires, now maybe we can start working on Joe to plan the 60th!

A huge thanks goes out to trail boss Marc and his volunteers.

Sweep riders extraordinaire Scott Kilton and Kevin Deschambeault.

Thank you to the landowners. We would also like to thank all the event sponsors as well! Vortex, EK, Cycle News, Motion Pro, Maxima, IMS, Ronnie’s, Dunlop, Motonation, Acerbis, Preston Petty Products, Fasthouse, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, W.E.R., Re-MX, Bultaco East, COR Graphics, AMA, and Skrewball.

Join in the fun! celebrating Japanese bikes from the ,60s, ,70s, ,80s, & ,90s

vintage Japanese motorcycle club MeMbership benefits include:

• 6 full color, 64 page magazine, 6 issues a year • Local, regional, and national rallies, shows, and rides • Free classified ads online and in magazine • Member discounts • Annual dues are US $35 / Canada $45 / All other countries US $60 • Volunteer-based, 3400+ members, nonprofit founded in 1977

Join online

www.vjmc.org or call member services

763-420-7829

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37

NATIONAL - dirt track

Athens County Fairground 1/2 Mile WORDS BY RICHARD BRODOCK PHOTOS BY MIA MOORE

N

othing goes hand in hand more than Ohio and 1/2 mile county fairground tracks. Ohio is home to some of the best, if not THE best, cushion 1/2 mile tracks in the country and Athens Ohio County Fairgrounds is no exception. Located about an hour southeast of Columbus and home to Ohio University, Athens has the small-town feel that is perfect for Saturday afternoon motorcycle racing. As local motorcycle clubs started showing up, it was like stepping back in time to the glory days of flat track. You can’t beat the smells, the sights, the bikes, and the racing at a 1/2 mile fairground.

Racing started out with a packed grid for the Dinosaur class and its pre-1951 machines. A rumbling pair of Harley-Davidson’s piloted 38

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Tim Riordan (21), Justin Walls (122), Brandon Snider (80f) AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

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athens, oh

by Matt Young and Adam Holmes led the pack around the track. Tim Riordan on the lone Indian found himself mid pack surrounded by more Harleys and Preston Palmer on board his lone Triumph. Like a ballet on dirt, these 75-yearold pieces of flat track history gracefully glided through the turns taking the spectators back in time. This day, victory would go to Matt Young while Holmes would take second and Brandon Snider would take third, all three on Harley Davidson’s.

As the Sportsman classes took to the track, sounds of the 1970s filled the air. Two-stroke rockets and fire-breathing twins paired with the grunt of big bore singles and you’re in flat track’s golden era. Jimmy Pooler on his everfast Triumph would fend off a challenging Joe Baker on his Yamaha to take the win in the Vintage Cup Sportsman 750 main event. Richard Brodock would take third on his Triumph and continue to stretch his lead in the 2023 Vintage Cup. David Aldana would hold off James Paden to win Seventies Singles but would fall to mechanical issues in the Vintage Heavy Weight class where Jimmy Pooler would pick up another victory. This would not be Pooler’s last as he would also take home the win in Brakeless Heavyweight onboard his BSA twin over Scott Fluck and Rickie Pollock both of Triumph twins.

The race of the day went to the Hooligan main event. The embodiment of grassroots flat track, Charlie Meister, Levi Ellis, and Alexander Priddy all rode to the track aboard the same motorcycles they would race.

After a quick prep involving the removal of a few street parts and some number plates added, they were ready to go and go they did.

Ellis and Meister would swap the lead every turn of every lap and Priddy had the best seat in the house right behind them fighting for his chance to take his turn leading. Down to the last lap the battle continued as the three racers came out of turn 4 with a full-on drag race to the line. The crowd was on their feet and the noise was deafening but soon silence filled the air. The crowd NOVEMBER 2023

was quietly waiting, the racers themselves didn’t know, who won?! “And your winner is Charlie Meister” rang out across the PA. Ellis would edge out Priddy for second place.

Sportsman 125 on her Honda CB125. Johnny Bova would take home the win in the newly formed Endurance class leading all 15 laps of the main on his Harley Sportster super hooligan bike.

Matt Young was not done for the day as he climbed on his Mad Dog bike and would take another win over Hayden Filmer (second) and Zara Green (third). Zara would not be denied however and would take home the win in

Thank you to the Athens County Fair Board for inviting us to be a part of such a great event and use your great facility. We look forward to having Athens Fairgrounds on our schedule for many years to come.

Jared Slattery (12)

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39

NATIONAL - cross country

Pine Lake Raceway

“THIS WAS FUN!” Wesley Poole (19x)

WORDS BY BILL RYBURN PHOTOS BY DAVID MCCUNE

I

t has been five years since the inaugural cross country event at Pine Lake Raceway just outside of Ashtabula, Ohio, and this year it was even better than in the past.

For those of you who haven’t visited here, this place is truly fantastic! Only 10-15 minutes from downtown, Pine Lake Raceway and Trails has been operating since 1969 and is without a doubt one of the nicest facilities we visit. The facility itself is large, with more than enough shaded pit

G. Scott Price (036) 40

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pine lake raceway

Harrison Walkama (113), the overall Vintage winner.

parking, clubhouse for easy tech inspection and registration, and an on-site mobile catering truck.

Saturday night, we were treated to a free BBQ and movies at the Pine Lake clubhouse. Great food and good movies. Our special thanks to David and Wade Brown for the food and entertainment, and to Bud Fischer for making this venue available.

For our two days of racing, the course was right at five miles in length and had a little of everything except pavement.

First and foremost – the trail NOVEMBER 2023

was safe and well-marked! The start was in the grass field, with numerous turns – all designed to flow perfectly. Then down a slope across a creek and a turn to a single-track section. Back up the slope into another great section of grass track. Down the hill into the woods, up the double step getting some nice air and then back into fresh single track.

The single-track sections were interspersed with multiple short sections of old road. We didn’t have any steep or long uphill/ downhill sections, but we seldom had much flat ground. Then on to AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

the old motocross course. Back to single track for about a mile, including a slippery single-track area with multiple ditches, roots, mud holes, and choppy ground with a couple of ditch crossings.

When we finally came out of the woods and on to the start/finish, we then crossed a field and hit the TT track. The back section of the TT track was wide open in high gear, then back into the woods for a short stretch and then on to the grass rack. Then repeat.

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NATIONAL - cross country field on a beautiful 75-degree afternoon. The lineup included several new and weekend riders, plus many familiar faces.

Weekend rider Sportsman 200 Expert, Harrison Walkama (HON), set the pace, followed by new member and Sportsman Open Expert, Arron Good (SUZ). Classic Expert, Jacob Ritorto (BSA), held on to third overall for two laps but finally settled for fourth overall as Vintage +50 Expert, Chis Gillespie (CAM), got passed on the third lap. You could sure hear Jacob coming (and going) on that BSA single! Vintage Womens Intermediate, Trini Cunningham, set the pace for all the women and completed three laps.

The afternoon Post Vintage (PV) event had about 35 entrants.

PV 50 Expert Chris Gillespie (HON) set the pace for the first lap and then PV 60 Expert Terry Cunningham (HUS) took over and cruised to his class win and first overall, then took another lap as the sweep rider.

There was action everywhere with competition usually not within class but with the rider directly in front/behind you. PV 50 Intermediate had the most entries with Mark Ziepfel finishing just 15 seconds ahead of Ken Stern. In PV 60 Intermediate, James Work (SUZ) and Larry Miller (YAM) were

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Chris Gillespie (3)

nose to tail until James lost a couple of minutes on lap 2 and just could not make it up by the end. The man of the hour was PV 70 Intermediate Donald “Doc” Harless (YAM) who, at age 86, won his class on both days!

Sunday morning brought an earlier start and several new entrants and most of the usual suspects. It also appeared that

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the course was faster as a lot of the mud and slick sections had dried up, although we had pounded out the trail and exposed a few more roots and ruts.

Most of the results were about the same as Saturday, with Sportsman 200 Expert Harrison Walkama again being overall fastest. However, Elmar Kruza (HUS) joined us in Vintage 60

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pine lake raceway Expert and gave eventual class winner, Mark Schwab (YAM), a run for his money by keeping close for the full hour and finishing a mere 46 seconds behind. The closest race of the morning was in Sportsman 200 Intermediate where Randy Bennett (HON) finished 4 seconds ahead of Nicolas Gatrell (HON). It was probably closer than this as it takes at least four seconds for the scorer to enter the numbers.

Trini Cunningham was again the quickest of the women riders.

Chris Gillespie, PV 50 Expert (HON), was the quickest of the PV entrants, leading all four laps from the start. In PV 60 Intermediate, Mark Ziepfel led the class, followed by Saturday’s winner, Larry Miller. Larry went back and forth with Historic 200 Intermediate Mark Reed (YAM) for the full hour, with Mark Reed finishing about 20 seconds ahead. In should also be noted that Mark Ziepfel also traded places a few times with PV Open Intermediate Eric Bolin (HUS) with

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the two of them coming through the finish four seconds apart.

Mark Ziepfel had competed in PV 50 Intermediate on Saturday.

Maybe he got older overnight!

Overall, a great weekend. No injuries and very few mechanical issues. We hope you new and weekend riders will join us again!

For those interested in specific race results, check out the times and points standings at www.ahrma.org.

Our “hard luck” award for the weekend goes to all of you who missed this weekend at Pine Lake. Too bad – but there is always next year!

These excellent events don’t “just happen.” In case you have never given it a thought, it takes a lot of time and effort to put on a cross country event. Just think for a minute how much effort goes into planning and scheduling, preparing awards, then cutting several miles of new trial and then posting over 600 arrows and

18,000 feet of ribbon. Then there is tech inspection, registration, scoring, and it isn’t over until results are posted and awards are presented. My apologies for any omissions or errors in the following list of the volunteers at Pine Lake: Dennis Brown and his sons, David and Wade; Jerry and Nate from Cleveland, George and Rick Lilly, Chicago Jerry, Brandon Gaspar, Chris Boyle, Mark Schwab, Chris Baker, Maddox, Jackson and Axel Bidenstaff, Nancy Lisey, Marty and Mandy Hughes, Bud Fischer and his staff, the support of our national sponsor Bridgestone Tires, and of course, our national cross country coordinator – Becky Hayes.

If you want a challenging and rewarding experience, join this list of volunteers!

12/21/19 10:20 AM

The Benevolent Fund was created in 1992 as a means of helping AHRMA members in need. AHRMA offers a variety of raffles and other fundraisers benefitting the Benevolent Fund.

Members also are encouraged to contribute directly.

Members in good standing for at least one year may take advantage of the fund.

All applications for assistance are kept confidential. Requirements are listed in the AHRMA Handbook.

Contact Bob Goodpaster 219. 942.2401 norton80_1@msn.com *Offer valid in U.S. only.

RW_SUBSCRIPTION_AHRMA COVER-B_V1.pdf. 1. 12/2

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NATIONAL - road race

WORDS BY AL CHARLES PHOTOS COURTESY TALLADEGA GRAN PRIX RACEWAY

T

alladega Gran Prix Raceway is a small track located outside Munford, AL, and is easily recognized by its silo-shaped multipurpose tower building. Felica Fox runs it, and her entire staff is very friendly.

“Little Tally,” as it is sometimes referred to, is a traditional race weekend before the Barber Vintage Festival each year. This year we were four weeks before Barber and for some it was the last chance to qualify directly for our Barber weekend. The event was a little underattended but plenty of track time was had by all. We graduated five more students from AAR, and they got some good track time over the weekend. We had a total of 420 entries for the weekend which included AAR, Friday practice and Saturday and Sunday races.

Friday practice started promptly at 9am and had 15-minute plus sessions and there were five for the day. No crashes on Friday, only a few mechanicals and some missing transponders. The rider’s 44

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school had a long mock race and ended with a red flag, just for practice.

Saturday races began promptly at 8am with two rounds of practice until 11am and all races were run after lunch.

RACING HIGHLIGHTS Race 1 - 350 GP Class Saturday and Sunday Eric Watts bested Tim Joyce in close racing both days Race 2 - Thruxton Cup Challenge had a large field of nine entries and Clint Austin gapped the field by a good margin on Saturday with Rack Lanigan coming in second. On Sunday, Clint had some problems and Rick took the win with Dustin Foretich coming in second.

Grant Spence took the win in Sportsman 750 both days. Steve Enter and Thomas Pillsbury swapped finishes for second and third Saturday and Sunday.

Race 3 - Sound of Thunder 4 had 14 entries with Jonathan AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

Hollingsworth edging out Tim Terrell both days.

Eric Watts finished a not-todistant third on Saturday but was forth on Sunday edged out by Daniel Miller.

Race 4 - The Formula 750 class on Saturday was led by Shane Turpin early but a mechanical DNF gave Tim Joyce the win. On Sunday, Shane took the win.

In the Sportsman 500 class David Miller held off Peter Pinello both days to take the win Saturday and Sunday. They finished third and fourth in the combined classes.

Race 5 - Sidecar entries were spread out among six different classes with Bill Willmeroth and D. Richards being fastest on both days.

Race 6 - Sound of Singles 2, Adrian Jasso led the way Saturday and Sunday with Dace Frick and Tim Terrell second and third.

In the Formula 125 class, Dave Rhodes and Greyson Rogers NOVEMBER 2023

little tally swapped the top spot between Saturday and Sunday and Ken Knoop finished third both days.

Race 7 - The fast classes were well attended with 17 machines slated to start the Formula Thunder, Sound of Thunder 2, Sound of Singles 1 and Next Gen Superbike 2 classes. Patrick Lansu set a fast time of 1:02.9 on Saturday, and on Sunday Robet Mclendon set a fast time of 1:02.1.

Race 8 - Next Gen Superbike Middleweight had Harry Vanderlinden and Kevin Rammer swapping the top spot with William Heggerty finishing third both days.

Sound of Singles 3, Adrian Jasso lead Dave Frick both days for the win with Dave coming in second.

Race 9 - Moto Lemans is always fun to watch as the riders sprint to their machines and push start them to get rolling.

Jonathan Hollingsworth inched out Brian Larrabure each day for the win.

was overall winner.

Saturday and Sunday.

Randy Sullinger took the overall wins on Saturday and Sunday in the Next Gen Superbike Lt class. Bill Howard and Harry Vanderlinden finished second and third on both days.

David Rhodes took first place Saturday and Sunday in the Formula 250 class with Dave Rhodes second

Race 11 - Jonathan Hollingsworth led the 200 GP class start-tofinish on Saturday and Sunday.

Novice Historic Production Hvy saw a close battle for the win between Maxon McLaughlin and Douglas Parker on Saturday and Sunday with the two swapping wins.

Grant Spence won the Class C foot shift and Ralph Wessell won the Class C Hand shift on Saturday and Sunday.

Race 12 - Sportsman 350 saw David Miller and Peter Pinello take the first and second spots both

Race 13 - The Sound of Thunder 3 class was won both days by Dainel Miller and second place both day was a battle between Max McLaughlin and Marc Perrone with swapping places between Saturday and Sunday Marc on Saturday and max on Sunday.

Open two stroke was a battle between David Frick and Adrian Jasso. Adrian won on Saturday and David won on Sunday.

All in all, our “Little Talladega” weekend was a success, good weather and lots of track time, we look forward to returning in 2024.

Race 10 Another well attended race with 21 machines entered Sound of Thunder 1, Next Gen Superbike 3 and Next Gen Superbike LT, Motard and FL Extreme EXH. The race was red flagged on Saturday and called complete after five laps.

Patrick Lansu was the overall winner.

On Sunday Robert McClendon set the fastest time of the weekend 1.01.87 and NOVEMBER 2023

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NATIONAL - cross country

HAYES FARM WORDS BY SUZY MOODY PHOTOS BY TERRY MCWHORTER

J

ust WOW! To say the weekend was perfect is really an understatement.

I mean if you could dial up the perfect cross country event, the Hayes Farm had the meter pegged. The event was centrally located in Ramsey, Illinois, just north of St. Louis, smack in the US Heartland. Word has been

out for years that this is a great event that has traditionally been run every other year. So, this year there was a great turn-out of riders and crew to enjoy what was anticipated to be a great race.

Becky told me they had been working on the trail since February. For the race, they put up over 800 arrows, stakes, and

Suzy Moody (061)

ribbons in all the right places and several, really well made bridges that allowed them to put in just the very best, flowing course in the fields, lowlands, and hardwoods surrounding their homestead.

Weather-wise, there was a nice storm system that swept across the region on Thursday, bringing a much needed drink of water to the parched trail system. By Friday the sun was shining, the temps were only in the mid 60’s, the skies where blue and the bench racing and final bike prep were underway in the pits. Come Saturday and Sunday morning, there was a nice crispness to the air and race nerves were in full swing.

First out of the gate were the Vintage bikes (1975 bikes and older) and all Women racers.

Even though there were lots of arrows, Mother Nature had laid a nice carpet of leaves on the trail, so the first riders in the Vintage race had to do a bit of trail recon while keeping the throttle pinned.

The lucky guy to lead the way was fast Chris Gillespie who had a really great race on his trusty Can Am. Coming in behind Chris were Clint Hawk on a great

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hayes farm looking and running blue-tanked Penton175 Jack Piner, along with Honda rider Steve McWhorter and Tom Notestone on a pretty orange-tanked Husky. The all-time famous, world-class pontificator of all things; Johnny Friedli, also known as “Peg,” was riding a nice Ossa Super Pioneer coming in second in the Vintage 70 Intermediate class behind Yamaha-mounted Tim Parfitt.

In the Women’s classes, Becky Hayes won the Post Vintage Intermediate class and Trini Cunningham won the Vintage Intermediate class, while Suzy Moody was seen doing some trailside maintenance.

The Post Vintage (PV) race had a large group of almost 50 riders.

The first row was stacked with some well-known hot shots and some entrants we have not seen around in a while. Clayton Farris, riding a Pre Modern bike, took top honors for that class, but perennial favorite Terry Cunningham put on a master class not only winning the Post Vintage 60+ Expert class, he took a quick pit stop to work on his bike and was also seen helping a rider on the trail. Chris Gillespie and Chris Caballero rounded out the PV podium. It was great to see fast Tim Sheppard putting in some fast laps on his Yammy.

times down as they became more familiar with the course. And man what a great course! It’s like they cleared out all the rocks and denied any roots from even trying to hang out on the trail. Traction was perfect and even the berms where making the trail super fun and super flowing.

It was great to see Jay and Jared Hall from Halls Cycles at the event. Jared took the top slot of the Pre-Modern bikes on a very nicely turned out Cagiva while Jay was smokin around the course on a beautiful Husky.

Bruce Dalton, coming all the way from Colorado, obviously loved the course as well, winning the PV 200 Expert class. My old friends, Gary Copeland and Barry Brazier, showed up from middle Tennessee to dust the cobwebs off their vintage bikes.

Also in true vintage fashion and a downside of having the race at your house/shop, you also have a lot of folks with those minor needs. Craig was more than gracious trying to help everyone out with whatever they

needed. He even lent out a really nice Husky to Jimmy “Jammer” Golliher, when his KDX clutch cable shredded in two. Now how nice is that?

All in all, I have to say of the past three years I have been racing AHRMA, this was absolutely one of the best races out there. You know it’s good when instead of being relieved to see the checkered flag, you are sad you didn’t have another few laps to go.

Thanks again to Craig and Becky Hayes and team for putting on this event. Thanks as always to Dennis Brown for running tech inspection.

Also, thanks to Jimmy Golliher, the AHRMA Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, for arranging some nice swag from Adam Thorton at Wiseco, and Roger with Magnum Distributing out of Waterford, Township, MI, for some nice goodies as well. Both of these companies are invested in supporting vintage racing and we appreciate all they do.

See ya at the races!

Sunday morning had the usual Vintage experts lined up on row one. I’m sure each of those riders thought they could take the overall of that group for the day. Well ….. That was until Terry Cunningham decided to ride his wife’s bike and came rolling up on Trini’s 1977 MR 175. Sure enough, when the green flag waived, Terry exited. I heard he was seen pulling wheelies and doing knack, knacks for the crowd. Not far behind were Clint Hawk and Chris Gillespie taking second and third overall for the Vintage classes. Nice guy Tom Notestone won the Vintage 60+ Expert class and Steve Heathcock, riding a fine vintage Suzuki, won the Vintage 60+ Intermediate class.

By Sunday afternoon the trail was really well established and the riders were bringing their NOVEMBER 2023

Jay Hall (650), Alan Todd (44W) AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

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mid-atlantic

Logan Holley (110) photo by dave kutskel

Summer of Mud WORDS BY JOSHUA SCHUCKER PHOTOS BY SARAH HUTH, CRAIG LOWERY, DAVE KUTSKEL

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n most of the Mid-Atlantic (MA) region of the country, the summer of 2023 can be generalized as a dry one.

Scenes of wilted leaves, brown

yards, and stunted crops are commonplace across the area.

Now, this is just a casual observation, as I’m certainly no meteorologist. But, if I had to

Bob Lisey (271) photo by dave kutskel 48

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predict when a drought would end and rain will fall, I’d confidently proclaim, “When’s the next round of AHRMA’s Mid-Atlantic Series... yep, that’s when!”. You see, through the first five rounds of the series, held at four separate locations, only the doubleheader in Frackville was unaffected by precipitation. Heck, round two at Irish Valley had to be hastily postponed a week due to an especially gloomy forecast. So, as riders returned from an extended break in the series’ schedule, hope was abundant that fortunes would change. Leading up to the weekend’s twin bill at MAcoordinator Dave Kutskel’s Coyote Run near Ebensburg, PA., the meteorologists were not following my advice and, apart from the minor chance of scattered passing thunderstorms, which seems to be the default for this time of year, were painting a pretty picture for the long-range NOVEMBER 2023

mid-atlantic forecast. Well, by now I’m sure you can see where this is going…

Friday evening was beautiful with plenty of fellowship and reconnecting after the several week lay-off. Dave was proudly sharing his confidence in the course work he and trail boss Mike Zdybak performed on the expansive property being shared by the Kutskel clan and their generous neighbors. Anticipation was high for a great weekend of racing. Then in the wee hours of the morning, a storm rolled through with enough oomph to dash any hopes of a mud-less weekend. As the starting line began to fill for Saturday’s vintage race, the rain had subsided, and the mud was anxiously waiting to throw some knobs to and fro. But, in reality, it wasn’t that bad. Big kudos for the course preparation and knowledgeable use of the existing terrain. There was just enough elevation variety, and just enough freshly cut singletrack in the woods, where runoff and absorption into the fertile soil, pine needles, and organic matter help avoid overly slick conditions, that a whole bunch of the course was rather enjoyable. Certainly, there were some sections that just outright sucked, but that is nearly unavoidable after the overnight deluge.

Conditions improved with the passing of each lap, thankfully.

A decent sweet spot was found in the Post Vintage race where the flowing goodness in the dense woods was tractable and a delight. Soft ground leading to continued exposure of roots produced a slightly drier, but rougher, experience in the disc brake-focused third race. Whether the course was a struggle or not, it was an exhilarating joy to hear the loud cheers, whistles, and cowbells from the sizable crowd of enthusiastic spectators as riders navigated the famous sinkhole approaching the finish line.

The annual Coyote Run experience provides a couple unique events that folks look forward to. During the intermission between races two and three, a small simple course NOVEMBER 2023

Ashley Ritorto, Powder Puff Action! photo by sarah huth

Grant Reichart (731) photo by sarah huth

is lined with onlookers to root for the competitors in the powder puff race. Here, a collection of women of all ages, and with little racing experience, take to the woods for a friendly, fun, and memorable “race.” Being in a somewhat open area of the course, the ground was relatively dry due to use and the warmth of the day’s sunlight, so the ladies didn’t have to contend with nearly as much sloppiness as AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

found on the full circuit. Everyone is a winner is this event, and several talented individuals have used this as a steppingstone to tackling a full-blown race in subsequent events. Following the awards ceremony after Saturday’s racing concludes, the other anticipated event kicks off.

The annual pig roast and potluck meal is a “you go home hungry, it’s your fault” kind of deal. There is plenty of fire roasted pork WWW.AHRMA.ORG

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mid-atlantic and chicken, fresh sweet corn, salads, side dishes, and desserts to feed this sizable crowd and more. Of course, by this point the local meteorologists had gotten wind of the event going on this weekend and rightfully changed the forecast, because now there was a pretty certain call for potentially strong thunderstorms rolling into the area early evening.

Happily, the afternoon’s meal was unaffected, and all were able to enjoy the food and friendship without too much haste to avoid the weather.

While everyone feasted, the large string of yellow, orange, red, and purple blobs continued a steady march east across the radar screen and arrived in Ebensburg shortly with darkened skies and sharp cracks of thunder. As everyone retreated for shelter, the storm intensified with pounding rain, strong wind gusts, and a dazzling array of lightning. With phones blaring National Weather Service Tornado Warnings, this was looking to be a long and unsettling evening. Considering neither campers, enclosed trailers,

Kelly Ashcraft (335) photo by Craig Lowery

Sy Merrell (185), Christian Brumbaugh (74x), Brett Reichart (700) photo by dave kutskel 50

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tents, nor vans are recommended sheltering locations, all hunkered down praying for a safe escape from the turmoil. Gratefully, the collective prayers were answered as the storm passed and morning came with the only casualties being several canopies.

Of course, this meant that every inch of improved conditions that were gained on Saturday were washed away, and participants approached the morning’s green flag understanding the mud factor had been reset to “slop.”

But again, with a bit of Zdybak/ Kutskel early morning tweaking to avoid exceedingly wet areas, the course overachieved. Sunday’s route was an almost completely separate and unique course from Saturday. In typical Coyote Run fashion, Saturday was more flow and Sunday more technical. As with Saturday, there were tough sections where mud had the bike swapping all over the trail seeking the slightest bit of traction or dragging through footpeg deep, or deeper, ruts. Check out “Dave Light XC Racing Stories” on YouTube for LJ Spayd’s demonstration of how deep some of the ruts could be! Outside of these difficult stretches, the remaining eighty-five percent of the trail was reasonably navigable and, in some spots, downright awesome. This time the fans lined the banks of a shale pit where a short steep climb drew the attention of riders and spectators alike. For a twist, this year’s shale pit section gained a downhill ski jump type obstacle and a big sweeping set of esses on the approach that put the bikes in crowd’s line-of-sight for an appreciable amount of time.

In summary, despite the moist conditions, the courses were still quite enjoyable. It is easy to imagine how great they could have been given better conditions. Thank you, Mike and Dave, for the hard work and imaginative design work to create unique and enjoyable loops at Coyote Run and elsewhere in the series. In giving thanks, this “mid-point” of the season is always a great opportunity to fully thank, in addition to Mike Zdybak and Dave Kutskel, all NOVEMBER 2023

mid-atlantic the additional volunteers and/or contributors that help make this series a resounding success! So, gratitude to the following folks, you are appreciated by everyone who takes the green flag or lines the course cheering their favorite rider or bike: SSC Jessi Reichart; Joe Cole; Randy and Kevin Marshall; Brian and Logan Holley; Darlene, Brock, and Emily Kutskel; Jim and Jamie Reitz; flagmen Rick Huth and Richard Colahan; scoring contributors Connie Zdybak, Donna Walker, Lori Spisak, Grant Reichart, Kristy Schucker, and Emily Tewpoindeaux; Glenn Hershey; and many others. Thank you all!

Equally, much appreciation is also directed toward the sponsors of the series Potomac Vintage Riders, Preston Petty Products, Stainless Cycle, Grove Printing, KMI Printing, Horizon Homes, and M3One. Sarah Huth (86) photo courtesy of sarah huth

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mid-atlantic

Raising the Bar

CROSS COUNTRY & MOTOCROSS AT FIELD OF DREAMS MX FARM WORDS BY JOSHUA SCHUCKER PHOTOS BY LORENA WALKER

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ast season, the AHRMA Mid-Atlantic region introduced a revamped motocross (MX) schedule that would leverage its successful cross country (CC) series and locations through the addition of MX races at many of the CC

venues. Use of existing MX facilities at several stops throughout the season along with the creation of some new grass track circuits, where able, resulted in a rather strong turnout for the limited series. Seeing this as an opportunity, series coordinator

Brett Reichart (700), David Norris (535) 52

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Dave Kutskel began to spread the word to the series’ participants to be on the lookout for new potential venues for an expansion of the 2023 MX series to ten races. Mick Spisak, whose family is a regular competitor in the region, pursued that call to action and began to scour his locale on the edge of Pittsburgh’s suburban sprawl for a suitable destination for an MX series round. The rolling terrain of the area along with Western Pennsylvania’s historically strong MX presence were sure to uncover somewhere apropos to the stated goal. Oh… and it would sure be great to have a CC there as well.

Not only did Mick’s search identify one potential site, but even a backup plan at another property, and each with the ability to host both disciplines.

With preliminary agreements in place, the 2023 schedule was released with a weekend pegged for “Site-A.” But alas, shortly afterward, unforeseen problems cropped up at both sites and Mick was left staggering as he was a now a barker with no big top. Here is where a bit of serendipity took NOVEMBER 2023

mid-atlantic over. In his normal travels, Mick often passed by a picturesque horse farm ten minutes from the Spisak home that caught his eye for a few reasons. One, his daughter and fellow AHRMA racer, Laci Horvath, had always been involved in equestrianism.

Second, and most important, the undulating pastures evoked dreams of motocross perfection… if only someone would let him execute those dreams. I think there’s a bit of that type of dreaming in all of us, and if not, you may be reading the wrong periodical.

As the stars continued to align, Mick learned that longtime acquaintances Mike and Stephanie Sgambati, also from the vintage MX world, had just recently purchased the farm. A quick phone call to Mike and an enthusiastic “YES, I’ve always wanted my own MX track!” turned into a full -blown effort to create something special.

Mike and Stephanie even had the most fitting name in “Field of Dreams MX Farm.” Certainly the “build it and they will come” mentality from the 1989 movie of a similar name is quite appropriate in the collective hopes that the monumental effort would translate to a successful event …not sure if Mick or Mike played the best Kevin Costner role for this effort, but probably a combination of the entire team.

what they dreamed of in a track, the heavy equipment began to roll.

Hundreds of man-hours later, the crowd began to assemble at Field of Dreams (FOD) MX Farm for its first look at the newly created facility. Most initial impression were, “wow, what a sight to behold.” The level of professionalism exuded by the preparation and the obvious motive of creating an “experience” were beyond most locations the series has ever visited. And that is not to discredit any of those other venues, because they are in summation excellent as well, it is just that Mick, son-in-law Josh Horvath, and crew set the bar just a bit higher with FOD. The starting line, holding three gum bands on tall sturdy posts, is nearly one hundred feet wide and leads to a three-hundred-footlong uphill grass straight lined on each side with twenty-foottall flagpoles each adorned with Old Glory waving majestically.

Ribbons, barrels, sponsorship banners, and spectators huddle around the one-hundred-thirty degree first turn which banks slightly as the pack heads left and downhill. The first several turns

are still lined with grass before the track transitions to well tilled and raked loose dirt. The course uses the terrain effectively as it weaves up and down the slopes and through a few g-out dips and gullies of the former horse pasture. Several bowl turns are solidly crafted and hold up well to the punishing knobs of nearly thirty motos of action. Multiple lines are encouraged using dual elevation jumps and small humps christening the inside lines of multiple turns.

Sweepers and tight one-eighties tango with each other as racers make their way through the 1.2 miles of twenty-foot-wide course.

The final approach to checkers carries man and machine along a sweeping uphill, off camber arc with several rolling jumps leading to the “Chute”, a fan-favorite huckable jump which perfectly launches the bikes into a return to the banner laden grass section to begin another lap. In fact, all the jumps on this course, from the first downhill ski jump to the “Chute” are perfectly crafted for the vintage rider in mind, which adds so much to the overall experience at this type of event and aligns with what the MX

From the first visit to the farm, it was clear that the terrain had a lot of elements that could be exploited to make a high-caliber facility. In fact, Mike had already been ripping his Maico around a roughed-in course using many of the elevation changes, dips, and natural bumps that would ultimately provide the outline for a significant portion of the finished course.

Mick provided his input from his experiences traveling to a multitude of MX tracks over the years, including many of AHRMA’s popular National Championship venues. By integrating interesting elements of many tracks, strict attention to detail and atmosphere, and with a comprehensive foresight into NOVEMBER 2023

Jim Golliher (17J), Laci Horvath (1W) AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

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mid-atlantic experience was like in the eras represented by the machines in use.

Another great way to experience the era represented by the machines is to hear about it right from the horse’s mouth. In another sensational act, Mick was able to convince former 70’s AMA Pro Motocrosser Don “Killer” Kudalski, and his wife Denise, to travel north from their home in Florida to act as the grand marshall for the weekend.

Don and Denise had nothing but praise for their stint in PA stating that Mick and Dave and everyone else made them feel like royalty and were so grateful for all the friendly interactions throughout the event. Don was thoroughly impressed with the facility and the layout, likening it to the mid seventies’ iteration of Unadilla.

Many stories were told about those days, paling around with his friends Marty Smith and others, his days riding for Rokon, as a Harley-Davidson factory rider, the early days of Supercross, and more. Don even got a chance to take a lap on a Rokon and a ’78 Harley MX, provided by Perry Brink Cycles and Charlie Walker respectively, for a fantastic photo opportunity in between stints as a flagman, starter, 2-minute board operator, and general ambassador for the sport and fandom. Don claimed he hadn’t ridden a Rokon since 1975, and further claimed he hasn’t raced since his pro days wrapped around 1980, but he looked pretty racy in the parade laps. Turns out, after a delusional period of trying to feed his competitive spirit with golf, he realized that golf courses look like they’d make great MX tracks, so lately he’s been dabbling in trail riding and dual sporting on his DRZ400 to satisfy that still lingering need for speed. Thanks for the memories, Don and Denise!

Mark Schwab (32), Richard Stephens (33R)

concerns that he didn’t have much ground to work with, he did a tremendous job extracting all that the finite space had to offer.

Of course, the route utilized nearly all of the MX course, which wasn’t a bad thing as highly praised as it was. But the short sections through the woods were quite delightful. Adjacent to the lowest spot of the MX area’s slope, a tree line hides a more aggressive slope with several drainage gullies eroded into the hillside.

The CC course enters the woods here after the first few turns on the MX track, and runs parallel to the fence row, swithcbacking along the downslope and across the number of dips and washes.

A variety of pallet bridges and log piles were used to navigate through the runoff spots and avoid too much mud slinging. The circuit transitioned to another fence row perpendicular to the hillside and utilized a small grass track section in a neighboring

Josh Schucker (627)

While Saturday’s MX races were a huge success, there was still more racing to tackle during Sunday’s CC event. Certainly, the MX course is the star of the show at FOD, as the area available for a woods course is limited. But, despite trailboss Mike Zdybak’s 54

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NOVEMBER 2023

mid-atlantic field before returning for a few more flowing bits of single track that returned the riders to the MX course. Even with the inclusion of Saturday’s course, the entire loop was relatively short compared to normal Mid-Atlantic fare, but the variety of terrain and quick lap times made for a truly enjoyable experience as most entrants accomplished seven or eight laps.

Great job to all those who tackled trimming the woods for this loop as it was a surprisingly far better than expected in a small footprint.

A great weekend without doubt, and I know that I am not alone in hoping to see this great facility

continue to improve and return to schedules for 2024 and beyond.

Mick, Mike, and Stephanie: a collective thank you from all the participants, and large spectator turnout, for all the hard work and ability to turn your visions into reality, and thanks to all those that helped you execute that vision whether cutting trails in the woods, pounding stakes, building decks, running equipment, or stringing banners. While plenty of other deserve mention, a short list of thanks goes to Lori Spisak, Laci and Josh Horvath, Rick Klingensmith and family, and Mike’s hotshoe excavator friend. Plenty of sponsors, above

and beyond the Mid-Atlantic’s typical list stepped up to amplify the presentation of the venue and event with RaceTech, Vintco, Preston Petty, THOR MX, Walker & Walker Equipment and Highland Tire stepping up to provide signage, giveaways, excavating equipment, and more. As always, the AHRMA Mid-Atlantic region runs so well due to all the help of the willing and passionate volunteers that give so much to the series, and to the sponsors that keep the motor running; Potomac Vintage Riders, Preston Petty Products, Stainless Cycle, Grove Printing, KMI Printing, Horizon Homes, M3One.

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KEEPING THE PAST FAST!

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MARKETPLACE ADS: The Marketplace plan is specifically designed for small business owners. Members or nonmembers may submit an ad of up to 50 words and may include 1 photo. This ad will appear both on ahrma. org’s AHRMA Swap Meet page, and in AHRMA MAG’s Marketplace section for 2 issues, with photo. Marketplace ads cost $25 for 60 days and may be renewed as many times as you like.

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