South
Carolina Motorsports Racing News
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Ø New Ticket Pricing Creates Value for 2011 Brickyard 400 Fans
Ø Chub Frank Shoots for another Turnaround Victory at Muskingum County Speedway This Saturday Night
New Ticket Pricing Creates Value for 2011 Brickyard 400 Fans
INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, July 28, 2010 – A new, two-tiered ticket pricing program is creating even more value and a wider variety of options for fans attending the 2011 Brickyard 400.
Prices have been cut in selected rows of specific grandstands at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series mid-summer classic. Race Day general admission ticket prices also have been reduced.
“This new ticket pricing program will make the Brickyard 400 more accessible to more fans while also providing more choices for value-conscious consumers,” said Jeff Belskus, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation president and CEO. “The combination of more affordable ticket prices, exciting racing from the stars of NASCAR and the great new fan experiences we created in 2010, such as the Brickyard Beach Bash and Family Fun Area, should produce a very memorable Brickyard 400 in the final year of our Centennial Era.”
Brickyard 400 Race Day ticket prices have been cut in the lower rows of the Southeast Vista, Southwest Vista, Northeast Vista and H Stand grandstands. Prices in those rows range from $50-65, a reduction of $20 over 2010 prices.
Brickyard 400 Race Day general admission tickets, which debuted in 2010 at $40, are available for 2011 at the reduced price of $30 in advance, $35 on Race Day.
Prices for selected premium seats were increased slightly as part of the new program.
Visit http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/brickyard400/eventinfo/38782-2011-Ticket-Pricing/ for more details or http://www.imstix.com to reorder or apply for 2011 Brickyard 400 tickets.
The 2011 Brickyard 400 is scheduled for Sunday, July 24, 2011, subject to any changes on the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.
…BY4002010-026…
Chub Frank Shoots for another Turnaround Victory at Muskingum County Speedway This Saturday Night (July 31)
ZANESVILLE, OH - July 28, 2010 -
Can lightning strike twice for Chub Frank at Muskingum County Speedway?
That’s what the veteran driver from Bear Lake, Pa., will be hoping for this
Saturday night (July 31) when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series returns to
Ronnie Moran’s three-eighths-mile oval in central Ohio.
Frank, 48, was the winner – a very happy and relieved winner – of last year’s
WoO LMS stop at the semi-banked track. He snapped a frustrating 15-month,
62-race winless streak with the victory, which also marked his first-ever
triumph in more than a decade of special-event appearances at Muskingum County.
“We needed that win (at MCR) last year more than anybody can believe,” said
Frank, fondly recalling the track’s 2009 WoO LMS event that was run on Aug. 20
after being postponed one month by rain. “We were really struggling, and when
you struggle your confidence gets down and you just keep falling behind. You
need wins to make everybody feel better and put some money in the bank account,
which we definitely needed last year – and still need right now.”
Indeed, Frank rolls back to Muskingum County in search of another slump-busting
score in the $10,000-to-win ‘Pepsi 50.’ He won the WoO LMS ‘Buckeye 100’ at
Ohio’s K-C Raceway that immediately followed last year’s event at MCR but
hasn’t reached Victory Lane since, saddling him with a losing streak that
reached 37 races after he finished seventh in the opening night of
Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek on Tuesday (July 27) at Central PA Speedway in
Clearfield, Pa.
Frank hit paydirt in last year’s WoO LMS show at Muskingum after going back to
basics by ‘borrowing’ a 2005-vintage Rocket chassis from western Pennsylvania
racer Chad Valone and assembling it with his own parts. He’s not exactly
duplicating that plan of attack this year, but he has brought out a new car –
well, a car new to him – for Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek in hopes of shaking
him out of his doldrums. Frank recently purchased a 2009 Rocket chassis from
Pennsylvanian Bob Close that was driven successfully last season by young
talent Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., and plans to enter it in all of
this week’s Outlaw events.
“When I found out Close didn’t want (the car) I said, ‘I’ll take it,’” said
Frank, who assumed ownership of Valone’s ’05 machine after his win outburst
last year and just sold it this month to an upstate New York crate Late Model
racer. “I knew it was a good car – Satterlee won a lot of races and ran good in
some Outlaw shows with it – so I figured we’d put it together and try it.”
Frank won a weekly dirt Late Model feature on July 23 at Lernerville Speedway in
Sarver, Pa., in his first start with the former Satterlee mount, and on Tuesday
night at Central PA he started from the pole position and led the first five
laps of the 40-lap A-Main before fading. He thinks he has a potential winner
under him, but the hard-nosed owner-operator knows he also needs some breaks to
go his way like in his big Muskingum County moment 11 months ago.
“The car was good last year (at MCR) and we did everything right to get in
position to win – we drew the right time-trial number, qualified good and
redrew the outside pole for the feature,” said Frank. “But my tires were
probably a factor in how we ran – and really, we picked them by mistake. We
didn’t have the tires we wanted to run ready, so we put a different tire on
than everybody else. We were softer (on compound choice) and it made a big
difference.
“It just goes to show you that everything’s got to go your way to win these
things.”
Frank controlled last year’s 40-lap A-Main at MCR, a track that had always
proved problematic for him. He concedes that he didn’t sign in that evening
with an especially good feeling that his fortunes were about to turn around.
“I’ve never really run all that good at Muskingum, so when we won it was kind
of a surprise,” said Frank, who through 29 WoO LMS events this season was
ranked ninth in the points standings with four top-five and 14 top-10 finishes.
“I don’t dislike Muskingum; I ran there quite a bit with the STARS (Renegade)
Series for a bunch of years, and it’s always been a pretty racy place. But it’s
just been one of those tracks that we couldn’t get a handle on – until last
year.
“I’m just hoping we can run the same way there (this Saturday night) and get on
the same kind of roll again.”
Frank is part of the powerful traveling WoO LMS band that will invade Muskingum
for the third consecutive season. He’ll be joined by former champions Steve
Francis of Ashland, Ky., who won the tour’s 2008 event at MCR, Josh Richards of
Shinnston, W.Va., Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Darrell Lanigan of
Union, Ky., as well as Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., Rick Eckert of York,
Pa., Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., Russell King of
Bristolville, Ohio, rookie sensation Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., Brent
Robinson of Smithfield, Va., and rookie Jill George of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Muskingum’s talented field is also expected to include the track owner’s son
and grandson – dirt Late Model superstar Donnie Moran of Dresden, Ohio, and his
15-year-old son Devin, who was victorious recently at the oval. Others with
plans to compete include Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., Gregg Satterlee
of Rochester Mills, Pa., Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, Robbie Blair of
Titusville, Pa., Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, and Doug Dodd of Cambridge, Ohio.
Saturday’s program will see pit gates open at 2 p.m. and the spectator gates
unlocked at 4 p.m. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
General admission is $25, with kids 6-11 admitted for $5 and children
5-and-under free of charge. Reserved seats are available in the top two rows of
the grandstand for an additional $5, and pit passes will be $40.
Further information is available by logging on to www.themuskingumcountyspeedway.com or calling 740-403-6298.
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country
by many important sponsors and partners, including Arizona Sport Shirts
(Official Apparel Company), Armor All (Official Car Care Products), Hoosier
Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), STP (Official Fuel Treatment), SuperClean
(Official Cleaner-Degreaser), VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel), DirtonDirt.com
(Hard Charger Award) and Chizmark Larson Insurance; in addition to contingency
sponsors Eibach Springs, MSD Ignition, Ohlins Shocks, Pink Carburetors, Pro
Power Engines, Quartermaster, Rocket Chassis, R2C Performance and Wrisco
Aluminum.
Road Racer X
Moto
Moments Wallpaper: Jorge Lorenzo & Casey Stoner
While the U.S. contingent wasn’t able to
finish quite as high as some fans had hoped, the 2010 Red Bull USGP was again
an event for Americans to be proud of. Let the weekend live on with this
scorching Andrew Northcott shot of Casey Stoner chasing eventual race-winner
Jorge Lorenzo up the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca asphalt.
IMPORTANT:
Click the thumbnail below (whichever is the appropriate size for your monitor)
and use
the expanded photo, not the thumbnail, as your wallpaper. Widescreen, full screen,
and horizontal/vertical iPhone wallpapers—now higher resolution to accommodate
iPhone 4s—available.
Click for Widescreen Wallpaper (16:10)
Click for Fullscreen Wallpaper (4:3)
Click for Fullscreen Wallpaper (5:4)
Click for Horizontal iPhone/Mobile
Wallpaper
Click for Vertical iPhone/Mobile Wallpaper
GEICO
Powersports RMR Danny Eslick Update
Racing
in front of a massive crowd that descended on the famed venue for the combined
MotoGP/AMA Pro event, the defending class champion once again battled at the
front of the pack. Getting away strongly from the second row after qualifying
sixth quick aboard his GSX-R600 at 1:28.166, Danny swiftly moved into second
position and fought off a hungry pack of SportBike challengers for the opening
three laps.
However,
the Oklahoman found himself shuffled back in the multi-rider pack a short while
later. He pushed hard while avoiding taking any unnecessary risks, given his
hard-earned championship position.
Eslick,
sponsored by GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil, settled into sixth place and then
gained a position when the title leader temporary ran off course and re-entered
the fray behind him. Danny kept him at bay to the checkered flag, vitally
gaining a net championship point with his fifth-place result and narrowing the
gap to just a single point, 264-263.
The
result was the eleventh top five finish in twelve races of Eslick’s remarkably
consistent championship campaign. After the race, he said, “I got a good start,
but it was a little bit different out there–we’d only been on track once in
those kind of conditions.
“I got
into second and there were a few of us up there at the front. Someone stuck a
wheel in on me and the little lead freight train went by me. I just tried to
hang in there at the tail end of it and see how it was going to play out, but I
just didn’t have anything for them today. We were chasing the front-end around
a little bit. We just flat-out got beat this weekend but in terms of the big
picture we ended up doing all right. I picked up one point in the championship
and now it’s only separated by one point. It’s a really tight championship with
three rounds to go.
With
only 12 points separating the top three in the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike
title standings, Eslick is anticipating a thrilling conclusion to the season.
FMF
Launches New Steve Rapp Video (Embedded)
Pedrosa
Visits Honda Race School in Indonesia (Pics)
Courtesy Repsol Honda
The
Spanish three-time world champion gave some valuable advice to the 16 lucky
Indonesian students, aged between 11 and 15. Pedrosa also gave a few
demonstration laps on a 110cc Honda Blade with the colours of the Repsol Honda
Team, one of the bikes used by the school where Noburu Ueda – former 125cc
Grand Prix champion for Honda – is head instructor.
Pedrosa,
who is currently second in the MotoGP World Championship standings, flew
directly from San Francisco, after the weekend’s race in Laguna Seca, to the
capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, and then he travelled to Sentul, 40 km south of
the city.
The
students at the Honda Race School and over a thousand fans watched Pedrosa do a
series of laps of the Sentul kart circuit. After the demonstration, the Repsol Honda
Team rider gave the young aspiring riders some advice based on his experience
of starting to race when he was just a boy.
Courtesy Repsol Honda
After
spending some time teaching the students at the Honda Racing School, Pedrosa
commented that he has always connected with and got on well with children. “I
don’t know why, but I always feel very comfortable with them,” he said. “And
perhaps in the future, I’ll also think about working on some type of project,
like my manager Alberto Puig when he started with MoviStar Cup”.
This
was Pedrosa’s first visit to Indonesia and the first official visit of a Honda
MotoGP rider to the fourth most populated country in the world.
After
his visit to Indonesia, Pedrosa will go back home to Switzerland to rest and
relax before the MotoGP World Championship resumes on 15 August in the Czech
Republic.
The
Honda Racing School in Sentul accepts children aged between 11 and 15 to take
them from beginner level to expert and teach them the skills and discipline
needed to win races. The project is backed by the Suzuka Racing School.
Courtesy Repsol Honda
The
emerging Indonesian market is a significant market in which Honda is expanding
and strengthening its motorbike production. Two weeks ago, Honda President, Mr.
Takanobu Ito, announced that Honda will increase motorbike production in
Indonesia from 3.3 million to 3.5 million by the end of the year. He also
explained that in 2011, Honda will have built a new factory in order to
increase annual motorbike production to 4 million.
In
2009, the Indonesian motorbike market, among all manufacturers, reached around
5.6 million machines, where Honda has a 46% share. Between 1971, when Honda set
up its first manufacturing alliance in Indonesia and 2009, Honda produced 25
million motorbikes in Indonesia.
Dani
PEDROSA >>
“It was
great fun riding the 110cc Blade. Obviously, it has very low horsepower
compared to my RC212V, but I think that it’s great for the children to start
understanding how to ride a motorbike, get to grips with the gears and the
riding style needed. The best advice I can give them is to follow their
instinct from the heart and to have fun on the bike. They have an opportunity
in life, so they must remember that and give it their all. When I started, I
was also very small, but full of passion.
Courtesy Repsol Honda
I
would never have imagined that I would race in the World Championship, but I
was very lucky to be part of a project – like them now –, so they must go on
dreaming and work hard to make their dreams come true. I was really surprised
by how many people in Indonesia watch MotoGP. They are very passionate and know
everything about the championship. It’s a beautiful country, the people are
very friendly and everyone has told me that I must come back and visit Bali.
Now, I’ll go home, visit my family and have fun with my friends, after so many
races in such a short time. And then, my team and I will have to get ready for
the second half of the season and to win races”.
Latest
in the Aprilia Vs. BMW Video War: “Painting Is Not Our Art”
The Aprilia RSV4 is not a 182.5bhp
paintbrush and the road is not its canvas. It doesn’t create paintings, it wins
races. Nine victories so far this season, half the races it has entered. That
puts Aprilia first in the World SBK Championship while the BMW S1000RR is
second to last with less than half the points. Maybe BMW should put down that
palette and pick up a V4?
Aprilia
USA releases the final video in its trilogy series, which like Aprilia’s first
video, the Tablecloth Trick, pokes at BMW. All videos, including
the latest, Aprilia + Art, can be viewed on Aprilia USA’s YouTube
Channel.
RSV4
enthusiasts can still snag a free t-shirt! Details available on Aprilia USA’s YouTube
Channel or at www.Aprilia.pcxhost.com.
Vesrah
Suzuki Report from Laguna Seca AMA Pro Round (Pic)
Cory West riding for the Vesrah Suzuki team
at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey CA in the AMA Pro Racing Daytona
Sportbike class procured a 7th place finish with teammate Chris Fillmore
following him home in the 8th position. The 2 teammates ran nose to tail for
the majority of the race with Cory pulling a slight gap at the end of the race.
Courtesy Vesrah Suzuki • Photo by Brian J.
Nelson
Mark
Junge – Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki
“This first
year in the AMA Pro Racing series for the team with new tracks and procedures
is a learning year. The lack of track time this weekend hurt us but we are
looking forward to the remainder of the season as the team has experience at
all of these tracks.”
Cory
West – Vesrah Suzuki #57
“The
weekend seemed to be going well after Saturday’s qualifying sessions. We got
the bike working well and had a good starting spot for the race. This morning
we wanted to try a few small changes that we thought would help after studying
the data last night but the weather didn’t cooperate and our warm-up was
cancelled due to the heavy fog. We decided to take the gamble and go with the
changes heading into the race and it was a bad decision. I got away with the
leaders at the start but struggled with the bike. I managed to hang on to 7th
place and kept my 5th position in the championship so I am happy for that. I’m
looking forward to VIR since it is a track that I’ve been to with the Vesrah
crew last year. Hopefully we can return to form and bring home a top 5 result.
Thanks to my mechanics Tony and Bruce and the whole Vesrah Suzuki crew and
we’ll see you in a few weeks.”
Chris
Fillmore – Vesrah Suzuki #55
“We were
chasing the set up all weekend and had to roll the dice for the race this
morning. The morning warm-up being canceled hurt us as we had planned to try
something and weren’t able to. I was able to run with my teammate Cory until
near the end of the race, which pleased me. I’m glad to get out of there with
some points and am looking forward to VIR where I was able to test with the
team earlier this year.”
TRANSCRIPT:
Indy Q&A With Incoming Nicky and Roger Hayden
MODERATOR: Welcome everyone to this
teleconference for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Our guests are two of the
prominent members of the first family of American motorcycle racing, the
Haydens of Owensboro, Ky. Nicky and Roger Lee Hayden. A little bit of
background on both.
Nicky
Hayden is in his second season with the Ducati Team and his eighth season
overall in MotoGP. He’s sixth in the 2010 season standings after finishing
fifth in a great battle last Sunday in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna
Seca. Nicky has finished on the podium at each of the first two years of the
Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he’ll look to
continue that streak at this year’s event, which is Aug. 27-29 at IMS.
Roger
Lee Hayden is riding full time this year with Team Pedercini aboard a Kawasaki
in World Superbike. He also rode for the LCR Honda team last weekend at Laguna
Seca in MotoGP, and he also will ride a Moriwaki MD600 as an American Honda
wild-card entry in the Moto2 class at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP Aug. 27-29
at IMS. And American motorcycle racing legend Kevin Schwantz, who won the 1993
500cc World Championship, is managing that team that Rog will ride for.
Nicky
and Rog, thanks a lot for joining us today.
Nicky,
I’ll start with you. What is it about Indianapolis, about the circuit there,
the vibe, the crowd. What is it that suits you? You’ve rode so well there,
being on the podium the first two years of the race. Is there anything that
sticks out, that really works for you there?
NICKY
HAYDEN: Not necessarily one thing. I do think racing inside the oval, somewhat,
I feel pretty comfortable. Growing up in America, we raced at a lot of tracks
with that same style setup. Daytona, Vegas, Colorado, Loudon. There was a lot
of tracks where we raced inside the oval. Indianapolis, you don’t really feel
it as much because we don’t use the banking too much. But I like that. Also,
the track is very technical. There’s three or four different types of almost
sections. You have some new pavement, old pavement. It’s not an easy track for
the riders or for the teams for the setup because you have to try to get the
bike to work on the bumps in those parts. And also with some fast corners, slow
corners. So quite tricky. More than anything, I just like the atmosphere, the
crowd. My home crowd is always worth something.
MODERATOR:
Rog, how tough has it been for you … you’ve been on quite a variety of machines
this year. Heck, in the last two or three weeks you’ve tested a 600cc Moto2
bike, you’ve ridden a 1000cc World Superbike and you raced an 800cc MotoGP bike.
How tough has it been to adjust to all three of those bikes, because we’re not
just talking engine displacement, but different levels of electronics and
things like that?
ROGER
LEE HAYDEN: It’s been pretty tough, but for the Moto2 bike, I had two full days
to get used to it. And I had a lot of time riding a 600, spent a lot of years
on one. That adjustment wasn’t quite as much. The GP bike was quite, was quite
different than a Superbike or a 600. That one took a little bit longer to get
used to. But I just try to think about it the night before, the days leading up
to it about what bike I’m going to ride and come in prepared for it.
JIM
RACE: Roger, this is for you. Is there any testing you’re going to be able to
get done, and are you going to Brno?
R. HAYDEN:
I’m not sure yet about Brno just because the team is planning on having Randy
back, and that’s their goal. For right now, Randy believes he’s going to be
back for that race. So now it’s just kind of setting back and waiting.
PHILLIP
WILSON: This is going to sound like an obvious question, but I’m dying to hear
your answer. Being on the podium at Indianapolis, you’ve been there and done
that. I’m taking it that this year you want to be the guy on the top spot, and
nothing else matters.
N.
HAYDEN: Well, that top spot is always a lot nicer than the two spots beside
them. I’ve had four fourth places this year, and the difference between podium
and winning is huge. We know the level in MotoGP is really high. Lorenzo and
Dani, who has been winning the last couple, are strong. So I know to think
about a win, man, that’s out there. But that’s always the goal. I have the team
to do it, the bike. All the pieces are there. So, Brno is the race leading up
to it, with a test on the Monday. Obviously, we’ve got big goals, and I believe
in myself. So we’ll go for it, for sure.
WILSON:
For years, guys were asked about Valentino Rossi, and now the questions are
about Lorenzo. What does it take to beat a guy like Lorenzo? What are you
looking at when you try and take him down?
N.
HAYDEN: The thing he’s proven this year is that he’s really solid. Last year he
had the speed, but we’d see a few mistakes here or there at the track. This
year, he’s qualified first or second or finished first or second in every race
this year. So he’s really showed no weaknesses. So to really answer your
question, at the moment, he’s not showing any weaknesses. So we’ll keep
monitoring the situation, I guess, and see what develops. But now, nothing.
DAVID
SWARTS: Nicky, are you sick? You’re starting to sound like Earl there.
N.
HAYDEN: Yeah, actually I don’t feel bad. But I’ve lost my voice. I think five
races in six weeks in five different countries, and follow up with a race at
home, with a lot going on, just I lost my voice. But actually I feel fine. No,
no drama there.
SWARTS:
I didn’t get a chance to talk to you Sunday night, but I was hoping you’d recap
the race a little bit. I know you got a bad start, but it looks like you had a
battle all the way through to the end.
N.
HAYDEN: The actual race wasn’t too bad. It was about as much as we could have
hoped for all weekend. I wasn’t happy with how the weekend had actually went. I
was seventh, eighth in most all the sessions, during the sessions, with a
little gap. So that battle for the podium with Rossi, Dovizioso and Spies, that
group was really about a half-second faster than me all week. And a half-second
at Laguna is a lot. Laguna is our shortest track in the whole championship as
far as lap time. But for the race, very thankful the team. We made a few
changes. We actually made a pretty big change for Sunday morning and maybe went
a little too far. And then for the race, we a few small changes. Changed the
weight balance, and the bike felt good in the race and was able to certainly do
my best pace of the weekend by quite a ways. I can’t be disappointed too bad
with the race because after practice and qualifying, you know going into the
race you’re not just drop a second. I was able to drop about a half of a
second. That’s a big thanks to the team to keep working hard. The podium was
only about a second in front of me, which I think I’ve had about four or five
of those now this year. So that’s not cool. But regardless, the race wasn’t as
bad as it could have been but certainly not as good as we had hoped on the way
out there.
DEAN
ADAMS: Gentlemen. Rog, I wonder if you can tell the press who weren’t at Laguna
how the test on the Moto2 bike went in the extreme heat, the desert heat, there
in California.
R.
HAYDEN: The test was really good, especially for the first test with the new
bike. The Erion guys, they’ve built a lot of 600s, but they’ve never built a
Moto2 bike. So there’s a lot of different things they can do to it. And, as
usual, we had a few little problems with the data to begin with, with some
sensors and stuff. But not a whole lot. It was tough, 110 degrees, so it wasn’t
easy for me or the mechanics. But we get it running pretty quick right away.
Some lap times that we know a couple of the AMA teams that have been out there
before. We just kind of worked at our own pace. We had a plan, and we just
stuck to it. I was just surprised at how smooth it went. And for me, it was
also getting back used to riding a 600 coming from the Superbike. But I really
enjoyed the bike. And I think me and the team and everybody at Honda left that
test feeling encouraged for Indy.
ADAMS:
Nick, post-race at Laguna, you said you were riding over your head, but you
were going faster than ever before. That doesn’t sound like the Nicky Hayden
any of us have known for the last 15 years. Can you talk a little bit about
what it’s been like on that Ducati this season?
N.
HAYDEN: Well, I didn’t mean over my head. Maybe the way it sounded. But just on
the limit. The last five laps there, I was just pushing hard. Rossi was bringing
back Dovi, and I was bringing them both back. Spies was in the mix. So I didn’t
necessarily maybe mean over my head, but just riding on the absolute limit,
definitely on the edge and maybe even over it a little bit. That’s what it
takes right now in MotoGP. We’ve seen this week. How many crashes were there
this weekend and even during the race? Dani at the front was riding on the
limit, and that’s what it takes.
TIM
ETHRIDGE: Nicky, five countries in six weeks. Can you talk about what it took a
kid from Owensboro to get to the top of the profession the way you have? And
how often do you get back to Owensboro?
N.
HAYDEN: I’m in Owensboro right now. We just flew in, me and most of the whole
crew flew in to Evansville last night. That’s normally the airport we fly into.
So we got home late last night. Back home now to regroup for the final push.
We’re basically midway through our season, so it’s an important time.
Obviously, we started it young. My parents both raced. Our whole family is into
bikes and just grew up with always the goal, just having fun, but always really
wanted to make a career out of it. And it was something we all loved to do. So
we had hoped to parlay it into a career. Luckily had some good sponsors and
caught some breaks along the way. And every time we got an opportunity, we just
tried to make the most out of it. Started out dirt-tracking and then got into
road racing, and turned professional at 15 and just worked my way up to the
race here in the AMA. And with the AMA championship in 2002, was able to get
opportunity to go to MotoGP.
ETHRIDGE:
What is it about motorsports and Owensboro? You’ve got the Waltrips and the
Greens and Mayfields in NASCAR, and you guys. Is there an atmosphere over there
that’s conducive to racing?
N.
HAYDEN: If you look at the results, there has to be something, definitely.
Owensboro’s turned out a lot of good people in motorsports and even sports, in
general, for the population. You’d be surprised. A lot of athletes have came
from this area. I don’t think there’s necessarily one thing that sticks out. I
think it is quite a central location. There is a lot of racing here in the
Midwest for motorcycles, and I think that helps it.
CHRIS
JONNUM: Nicky, in one of your answers there, you talked about making the most
of opportunities. I know you and Roger have been aggressive about pursuing any
possibility to race in World Championship, whether it be wild-card or moving up
to MotoGP after winning your AMA championship. Tommy has been more content to
stick around in domestic racing. Do you think he has any interest in dipping
his toes in the water in world championship racing, and if so, how do you think
he would do?
N.
HAYDEN: I think if the right opportunity came up, sure, he would like it. He
would like to win the AMA championship first. That’s a big goal of his. He’s
right in a good position. Him and Hayes looks like going down to the wire,
which is exciting for bike racing in America. He’s won a lot of Supersport
races and titles. I think more than anything, an opportunity hsan’t came up.
It’s one of those things where you’ve got to be in the right place at the right
time, like Rog this week on the MotoGP bike. He got that opportunity almost
because of not really having a good, solid ride right now with something. Life
is like that. Just be there, be whatever, when you’re name is called. Step up
and try to make a splash. But I certainly believe in Tommy’s talent and think
with the right opportunity, he could certainly cut it at the international
level.
JONNUM:
Roger, do you think this experience this weekend will have any kind of help for
your upcoming Moto2 opportunity, or is it just an extra thing on the side,
pretty much?
R.
HAYDEN: No, I think this past weekend I learned a lot. The crew chief at LCR,
he’s been around for a long time. I learned a lot, believe me. I had no
pressure on me, but he also gave me advice, a few times in practice, different
things about stringing more laps together. I learned some stuff even for the
World Superbike Championship this weekend that can help. I get to see a lot how
the championship goes and how racing at the world level, going over different
data. Just different things. You always try to learn from every circumstance. I
felt like this weekend was a big opportunity for me, and I feel like I learned
a lot. And I hope to carry it on for the rest of the year. I’m always trying to
learn something, so I felt like any opportunity I can get, I can always keep
using it.
RON
LIEBACK: Up until around Round Six, the Dutch TT, you placed fourth a
consistent four out of five rounds. But you didn’t receive any (inaudible)
until this weekend at Laguna, which by the way was an awesome race. What are
the biggest struggles with the GP10, and do you think with more time on the
bike next season, it will be even more positive?
N.
HAYDEN: Well, the biggest struggle, this year we had new engine rules, which
has made it hard on all the teams. But our team is hanging on pretty well. It’s
going to be interesting how that plays out as we go down the stretch. Sure,
more time with the bike, more time with the team is always good. Next year,
things aren’t all settled down completely. But we did a big step from last year
to this year, and I would hope to be able to do the same next year. The bike
has improved a lot from last year, and the engineers there are really committed
to wanting to make it the best bike on the grid. And I’ve seen a lot of
improvements really from last year to this year. From rideability, reliable,
more consistent bike. Yeah, I think the bike has a lot of potential that we
haven’t even got to yet.
LIEBACK:
What’s up with the haircut?
N.
HAYDEN: Ah, nothing. Ain’t nothing behind it or nothing like that. Yeah, that’s
not going to stick. That’s not a full-time thing. It’s a home GP deal.
DAVID
EMMETT: Casey said at Laguna, and has been saying recently that basically he
can’t get anything more out of the bike. The bike, he’s gone as fast as it can
go. How do you feel about that? Do you feel you can still get more out of the
bike to make another step, or do you really need some development time and some
new parts to get it going?
N.
HAYDEN: Well, it’s a combination. I think the bike, in this game, if you’re not
improving, somebody else is. So you’re going backward. Ducati, as the season goes
on, it’s not like we get a lot of new parts, this and that. Now they’re
focusing on next year and down the road. I’m sure we’ll have some setup options
and some ideas to test at the Brno test that we haven’t tried yet. But as far
do I expect some radical new parts? No. One of the things we need to sort out,
we’ve been having big problems with our starts lately, me and Casey both. From
me in Mugello to him at Silverstone and me again this week. Well, Barbera, what
happened to him may have been related to the start. We can work that out. I
know Casey, he’s a good rider. He don’t leave much out there. So I’m sure if he
thinks the bike needs to improve, I hope we can improve it. But I think we have
a good enough package to be winning races. Casey proved in Qatar, if he don’t
crash there, he wins that race quite easily. But that being said, we want to
improve. We’ve seen a lot of the other teams making steps, especially Honda
seems to have made a big step from the start of the season. So we need to do
the same.
EMMETT:
Do you know what you’re going to be testing at Brno yet?
N.
HAYDEN: We had a brief discussion about it Sunday night in the post-race
meeting after Laguna. But I don’t think it’s nothing major. There’s a few
things, just some setup options that we haven’t really had time to try the last
couple races. But I don’t expect anything major. Find out more this week when
the engineers get back to Bologna. And even for the teams, two weeks off. It’s
been a busy little stretch for these guys, so they can all get back to the
engineers at the shop and find out where our next step’s going to be.
ADAMS:
Nick, you said at Laguna that Indy is your home race. Ben Spies said home races
are special because the bike is either going to be on the podium or in the
crash truck. Do you hold with that? Are you going to try harder to win there
than anywhere else? Friends and family, et cetera?
N.
HAYDEN: You know, I’m not going to make any predictions or anything silly
because I really feel like I try my hardest every week. But certainly, we’ll go
for it. Obviously we’ll see when we get there what kind of pace we got. I can’t
make any bold predictions just yet, but certainly your home race you need to do
something special and not leave anything on the table. So that’s the plan.
ADAMS:
At Indy, you’ll be racing in front of more friends and family then anywhere
else correct?
N.
HAYDEN: Oh, yeah. By a long ways. Laguna is somewhat a home GP. But Indy, we
drive. It’s three hours away. I literally can see the Indiana border from my house
sometimes. It’s right there. I’m a Kentucky boy. We had a few of the OG’s came
out to Laguna, but most people, as far as friends and family, hang out and wait
for Laguna. I really value my home GP because my first couple of years when I
joined the World Championship, there was no stop in America. We’d go to all
these races and see these guys having their home GP, and I thought how cool
that was. The closest I got to home was Brazil. I thought having a three-hour
flight and one-hour time change from Miami was kind of like a home GP. So now
to have two of them in America, I get to take full advantage of it and really
appreciate it.
HENNY
RAY ABRAMS: Nicky, Sunday night you spoke about the problem with your hand. Is
this something you’re concerned about? Is there anything you can do about it
between now and the race?
N.
HAYDEN: We talked about it with the team. I don’t think so. Kind of my fingers
went to sleep. It’s something that hasn’t happened really since back in my AMA
days. I had carpal tunnel, fixed it. Went away. Haven’t had a problem since. I
hope it was just a fluke deal. I was out on my bicycle this morning trying to
feel about, “Do I feel anything strange?” We’re looking into a few things.
Really just put it down to a fluke deal.
RACE:
Nicky, last year at Brno, you had a pretty good tussle with Colin and finished
sixth. Do you anticipate being that high again? Is that a track you like?
N.
HAYDEN: Brno is I think a track all riders like. It’s very different than the
last two tracks we went two. Sachsenring and Laguna are the two tightest, the
two shortest lap times by a long ways. And the gearing is really tight. For
those tracks, we’re not in sixth gear much. Brno will be a big change. It’s
big; it’s open. It’s not a track that I just love. The tracks you love are the
ones you get the best results on. I like Brno. I’ve been on the front row; I’ve
been on the podium there. It’s a track I (inaudible). Also it’s important with
that test. As limited as testing time is now in MotoGP, you really got to take
advantage of any extra time. The motors we get to test with don’t come out of
our allocation. So you hope for good weather and hope to make a breakthrough.
Last year at that test on the Monday, we changed something with the geometry
and was able to take a little step from there. And my results improved from
basically that test on. It was something we found in the last 30 minutes of the
test. It had rained in the afternoon, and we had waited and waited, and the
track finally dried. Everybody went out and was able to get some stuff in, so
that’s important.
MODERATOR:
Roger, this is Paul Kelly from IMS. One final question before we end the call,
for you. Talk about what it’s like to have Kevin Schwantz as a team manager. To
be able to go to a guy with questions who’s … he’s a legend. He’s an American
motorcycle racing legend. He’s been there; he’s done that. What advantage is
that for you going into Indy on that Moto2 bike, having Kevin in your camp?
R.
HAYDEN: For me, it’s nice to have a guy like Kevin on your side. But it’s an
honor because Kevin was one of those guys who I looked up to when I was growing
up. For him to pick me to ride his bike, he could have picked anybody in
America who would have loved to jump on a good Honda at your home round, the
GP. Even this weekend at Laguna, he went out and watched and came into my box
and gave me some pointers and stuff. It’s really beneficial. At Indy, he can go
out and watch and come back and tell me. When we go to Barber next week and
test, he’s going to be there to watch. He gives good, positive feedback. A guy
who races motorcycles is going to be able to help you a lot more than somebody
who is just a bystander.
N.
HAYDEN: I will say to the casual American fans that the Moto2 championship
hasn’t really maybe caught on here in America just yet because I don’t think
they completely understand it. But the fans that are coming to Indy, definitely
be ready for some good racing because it’s 35, 40 guys all within about two
seconds. And I think Rog being in there might help draw some interest to the
series, and if they give it a chance, they’re going to like because we’ve seen
some really good racing this year.
MODERATOR:
That’s great, that’s great. Nick, you’ve got a future in PR after you get done
with riding.
N.
HAYDEN: Well, I’m being serious. I know the riders; I know the teams.
MODERATOR:
I know, I know. (Laughter).
N.
HAYDEN: We all like it. It’s been pretty entertaining, that’s for sure.
MODERATOR:
Yeah, no doubt. Forty bikes going into the first turn there. It’s
super-exciting. Nicky and Roger, we sure appreciate you guys taking the time.
Nick, enjoy your couple of weeks off here, and we look forward to seeing both
of you at the end of August in Indianapolis.
Iron
Horse BMW/Speedcell/ESP Report from Laguna AMA Pro Round (Pic)
Courtesy ESP • Photo by Brian J. Nelson
July
25, 2010 (Monterey, CA) — The Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ Evan Steel Performance
Superbike made it’s third AMA American Superbike appearance at Laguna Seca this
past weekend. Rider Chris Peris and the ESP crew continued development of the
highly sophisticated BMW S1000RR. Development of the German made Superbike has
been ongoing since the team’s last AMA appearance in Sonoma, where they secured
a solid top ten finish.
Friday’s
first practice showed that the talented ESP crew’s hard work had paid off. At
the end of the session, Peris was in sixth position with a time of 1:26.3. The
time was a mere 1.3 seconds off of pole time and the closest the team had been
to P1 since switching to the BMW.
Saturday’s
two qualifying sessions would determine the grid for Sunday’s final. The
morning session saw the Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP team continue to improve
the setup of the machine, posting a 1:26.1 lap time, for a provisional position
of ninth. During the second and final qualifying session on Saturday, the team
chose to work on a race setup for Sunday’s race versus an all out one lap
flyer. Even though the team was looking for a race setup, Chris was able to
improve his lap time to a 1:26.0, running a string of laps in the mid 1:26’s,
for a final grid position of eleventh for Sunday’s race. The Phil Allison built
motor was consistently at the top of the speed charts throughout the weekend
including second fastest Superbike overall in the first qualifying session, and
the highest trap speed in qualifying session number two.
On
Sunday morning the team was greeted with gray skies, cold temperatures, and
fog. The fog was so thick on Sunday morning that AMA Pro Racing had to cancel
the morning warm-up because of safety concerns—the marshals could not see from
one flagging station to the next. The lack of morning warm-up was a bit of a
concern for Peris as the team had made a major chassis adjustment overnight.
Peris’ concerns were alleviated when AMA officials decided to have a ten minute
warm-up immediately preceding the race. The adjustments the team had made to
the chassis helped the overall balance and feel of the S1000RR through Laguna’s
fast and flowing turns. When the lights went out, Peris had his best launch of
the 2010 season aboard the BMW and was with the lead pack of ten riders. As the
race wore on, Peris was embroiled in a four way battle with Bostrom, May, and
McCormick. At the finish line, Peris was ninth, after posting the seventh
fastest lap of the race with a 1:25.62—less than a second off the fastest lap
of the race a 1:24.69. The ESP crew was rewarded with another solid top 10
finish, once again demonstrating the strength of the BMW S1000RR platform. With
stock wheels, brakes, calipers, and an anorexic budget, the Iron Horse BMW/
Speedcell/ ESP Superbike was capable of running with the much more developed,
full time Superbike teams and riders.
The
S1000RR is now back at the ESP shop in Tucson, AZ where the crew is working on
refining the handling package and chassis setup to track conditions and rider
preference. Although the team would like to contest the remaining AMA Superbike
rounds, the budget is not currently in place. The whole crew at ESP is grateful
for all the contributions and fundraising efforts of fans, friends, customers
and family that made their participation in the Laguna Seca round possible.
Team Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP is actively seeking sponsorship to campaign
as many additional AMA rounds as possible in 2010.
SLIDESHOW:
Simoncelli at the San Fran D-Store
SIMONCELLI AT THE D-STORE • COURTESY DAINESE USA
Picture 1 of 7
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