motomike137
Member
- Nov 21, 2001
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FEATURE STORY
THE NATIONALS
There is nothing quite like the outdoor nationals. Supercross is cool, but outdoors will always be the soul of the sport. Once you have seen a supercross, you have pretty much seen them all, except for Daytona. There is the left hand first turn. Hey, you know why it’s always a left? I guess somebody decided it was too dangerous for 20 riders to enter a right hand turn with the rear brake being on the right and all. Hello, what are they wussies? I think they can handle it. Which way did most everybody go who had a choice at the Anaheim split? Exactly! Anyway, there is the whoop section, which by the way needs to be like it used to be. Why all of the sudden did the whoops have to be huge and require a rider to be pinned in fourth gear? Remember when the whoops were all different sizes? It would be a whole straightaway full of high ones, low ones, one really big one and it made riders think. Now its just balls! I’m over it. Plus, if you don’t have a practice track with a set of those things you can forget it, and to make it even worse, they don’t even put ‘em in during Friday practice, which really hoses the privateers. OK, then you have the triples. Why does it have to be a triple? They have had triples since the earth was cooling. What is the second jump for? So anyway, my point is while supercross is great, it’s very consistent. Nationals are not. Glen Helen, Hangtown, Mt.Morris, Southwick, Budds Creek, Unadilla and I can keep going, are all so different form each other. The weather plays a huge role too. The other thing about the nationals I like is how close you can get to the fence to see the riders go by, yet they disappear for a while to add a little suspense.
I was going to write a little something about the nationals and who would do what in my opinion, but instead of judging those guys which I really don’t like doing, I thought I would remind everyone what the nationals are all about and how raw they are.
Just fast-forward to how cool it is when you’re driving there in the morning and all of the sudden you get a glimpse of the track. Next, you finally get parked and get in the pits to see the bikes and the riders. Man I got goose bumps typing this! For me, Glen Helen will be my first national this year. Looking at the hills with the huge flag and all the people set up on the hillside with Troy Lee’s hospitality area never gets old. Then it’s time for the first moto and the riders take their parade lap to scope out the track and you get to see everyone up close and maybe even get to wave at somebody and they give you a thumbs up back. Then the start! 20 riders in a supercross doesn’t compare to a national. If your not near the start you can only hear it and have to wait to see who emerges with the lead which is cool too, which reminds me, when you’re at a supercross you are in assigned seats. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they aren’t. At a national you can roam around all day and watch from different places, or just get there early enough for the best view. Plus you get two motos and end up having to do a little math while the race is in progress, which just pulls you in even more. Fans are great. The girls are great. The color is great and the riders really need tear-offs! You can smell the food, you can smell race gas (in SX you just get fumes), you can smell rubber near the start, and sometimes you can smell those funny cigarettes! The nationals are pure. Only four more days…
Tune in to dmxsradio.com tomorrow night (Wednesday) and share your thoughts or experiences. It’s the best place to rap about the sport. If you want to call in and ask about who is looking good etc. I’ll tell you what I know. In the meantime check out the 2003 national preview at racerxill.com. I’m down with it, except I think they forgot Ryan Hughes.
The photo is of the 1984 500 national at Saddleback. I can’t remember who sent it to me (sorry, send it again and I’ll give you credit), but it’s pretty cool. I’m leading Goat Breker, Broc Glover – also #1, Kenny Keylon and 36 other 500cc 2-strokes down “Bonzai” - the scariest hill ever! Breker and Broc passed me right after that because I was so happy I got the holeshot I forgot to race. Soon after, Breker went over a berm and Broc crashed and I won. Thanks guys. Goat Breker was the “King of Saddleback” a hell of a promoter, a pilot, a juggler, a boxer, a prankster and is basically hilarious. There definitely needs to be a documentary on Goat! Broc still rides, holds the record for the most 500 national wins and works for Dunlop. MX is in his blood. I loved having that blue and yellow #1 plate, but I never thought it made any sense or was fair to Broc who was the defending 500 national champion. I miss the 500 class!
db
THE NATIONALS
There is nothing quite like the outdoor nationals. Supercross is cool, but outdoors will always be the soul of the sport. Once you have seen a supercross, you have pretty much seen them all, except for Daytona. There is the left hand first turn. Hey, you know why it’s always a left? I guess somebody decided it was too dangerous for 20 riders to enter a right hand turn with the rear brake being on the right and all. Hello, what are they wussies? I think they can handle it. Which way did most everybody go who had a choice at the Anaheim split? Exactly! Anyway, there is the whoop section, which by the way needs to be like it used to be. Why all of the sudden did the whoops have to be huge and require a rider to be pinned in fourth gear? Remember when the whoops were all different sizes? It would be a whole straightaway full of high ones, low ones, one really big one and it made riders think. Now its just balls! I’m over it. Plus, if you don’t have a practice track with a set of those things you can forget it, and to make it even worse, they don’t even put ‘em in during Friday practice, which really hoses the privateers. OK, then you have the triples. Why does it have to be a triple? They have had triples since the earth was cooling. What is the second jump for? So anyway, my point is while supercross is great, it’s very consistent. Nationals are not. Glen Helen, Hangtown, Mt.Morris, Southwick, Budds Creek, Unadilla and I can keep going, are all so different form each other. The weather plays a huge role too. The other thing about the nationals I like is how close you can get to the fence to see the riders go by, yet they disappear for a while to add a little suspense.
I was going to write a little something about the nationals and who would do what in my opinion, but instead of judging those guys which I really don’t like doing, I thought I would remind everyone what the nationals are all about and how raw they are.
Just fast-forward to how cool it is when you’re driving there in the morning and all of the sudden you get a glimpse of the track. Next, you finally get parked and get in the pits to see the bikes and the riders. Man I got goose bumps typing this! For me, Glen Helen will be my first national this year. Looking at the hills with the huge flag and all the people set up on the hillside with Troy Lee’s hospitality area never gets old. Then it’s time for the first moto and the riders take their parade lap to scope out the track and you get to see everyone up close and maybe even get to wave at somebody and they give you a thumbs up back. Then the start! 20 riders in a supercross doesn’t compare to a national. If your not near the start you can only hear it and have to wait to see who emerges with the lead which is cool too, which reminds me, when you’re at a supercross you are in assigned seats. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they aren’t. At a national you can roam around all day and watch from different places, or just get there early enough for the best view. Plus you get two motos and end up having to do a little math while the race is in progress, which just pulls you in even more. Fans are great. The girls are great. The color is great and the riders really need tear-offs! You can smell the food, you can smell race gas (in SX you just get fumes), you can smell rubber near the start, and sometimes you can smell those funny cigarettes! The nationals are pure. Only four more days…
Tune in to dmxsradio.com tomorrow night (Wednesday) and share your thoughts or experiences. It’s the best place to rap about the sport. If you want to call in and ask about who is looking good etc. I’ll tell you what I know. In the meantime check out the 2003 national preview at racerxill.com. I’m down with it, except I think they forgot Ryan Hughes.
The photo is of the 1984 500 national at Saddleback. I can’t remember who sent it to me (sorry, send it again and I’ll give you credit), but it’s pretty cool. I’m leading Goat Breker, Broc Glover – also #1, Kenny Keylon and 36 other 500cc 2-strokes down “Bonzai” - the scariest hill ever! Breker and Broc passed me right after that because I was so happy I got the holeshot I forgot to race. Soon after, Breker went over a berm and Broc crashed and I won. Thanks guys. Goat Breker was the “King of Saddleback” a hell of a promoter, a pilot, a juggler, a boxer, a prankster and is basically hilarious. There definitely needs to be a documentary on Goat! Broc still rides, holds the record for the most 500 national wins and works for Dunlop. MX is in his blood. I loved having that blue and yellow #1 plate, but I never thought it made any sense or was fair to Broc who was the defending 500 national champion. I miss the 500 class!
db