Flattracking

[Bonafide Bob]

From AMA........

"LAS VEGAS (Nov. 21, 2015) - Jared Mees capped off a weekend for the record books tonight, as he took home the inaugural Superprestigio of the Americas checkered flag less than 24 hours after capturing his third Grand National Championship in four seasons."

 Way to go Mees.....
  Bob

[Guzzistajohn]

Way to go Jared!

[Arizona Wayne]

I watched it but sorry, the track was so small and the straights? so short just couldn't get excited about it.      I know some of you guys like flattrack but I'm a road race fan with real speed and corners that don't all turn the same way. 

[Bonafide Bob]

I watched it but sorry, the track was so small and the straights? so short just couldn't get excited about it.      I know some of you guys like flattrack but I'm a road race fan with real speed and corners that don't all turn the same way. 

 I like road racing too, but flat track is my favorite... simple racing...go fast turn left....repeat.;=)

[Yukonica]

This was the first time I watched a whole evening of that style racing. The few times I'd seen it before I was of the same opinion as Arizona...it's repetitive. But, having stuck through the Elvis impersonator I was obligated to watch to the end. And I found myself getting into it. The staccato pace of heats was part of it, the ruts chucking an unpredictability to racing side by side, the integrity of the guy who sidelined himself after accidentally taking a competitor out, and the tactics of lining up a good pass were all ingredients of an entertaining event. I'd watch it again.
It pales in comparison to the scale of the Spanish event it is modelled on. FIM sanctioning probably means there is a movement in the background to take the concept to the larger audience.

[Poncho]

I like road racing too, but flat track is my favorite... simple racing...go fast turn left....repeat.;=)

what ever happened to that figure 8 course.. go fast turn left, go faster turn rite.. watch yor azz in the middle?

[Daniel Kalal]

I was in the stands in Vegas for both the AMA races on Friday and the Superprestigio on Saturday.  Of course, that little shorttrack wasn't what anybody wanted as the final race of the season--particularly with the grand national championship on the line.  But, the schedule collapsed at Calistoga, so this was the best that could be done, considering.  I thought Carr did a really terrific job at creating a track that actually worked, using that strange football shaped infield.

The AMA races followed the traditional heats and semis (and then added the oddity of a B-Main).  The heats were probably still too crowded.

The Superprestigio followed the rapid-fire short heats (to earn points) with only six riders at a time with a turn-around so fast that the riders stayed on their bikes with their helmet on between heats.  I think this worked better for the little track.

In large part due to the good design of the track, the faster guys did rise to the top and it wasn't the game-of-chance that I feared might happen.  Pretty good racing and nobody seems to have been (too badly) hurt.

If Calistoga had happened, there's a good chance that Bryan Smith would today be the Grand National champion.  But, it didn't, so he's not.  Poor guy keeps coming close.

I hope this race is back next year, but only as a Superprestigio race and not part of the GN series.

[oldbike54]

 Thanks for the explanation Deke , have been busy and thought the season was over , Read the AMA website and that led to more confusion . Now I know what happened .

  Dusty
 

[Arizona Wayne]

I was in the stands in Vegas for both the AMA races on Friday and the Superprestigio on Saturday.  Of course, that little shorttrack wasn't what anybody wanted as the final race of the season--particularly with the grand national championship on the line.  But, the schedule collapsed at Calistoga, so this was the best that could be done, considering.  I thought Carr did a really terrific job at creating a track that actually worked, using that strange football shaped infield.

The AMA races followed the traditional heats and semis (and then added the oddity of a B-Main).  The heats were probably still too crowded.

The Superprestigio followed the rapid-fire short heats (to earn points) with only six riders at a time with a turn-around so fast that the riders stayed on their bikes with their helmet on between heats.  I think this worked better for the little track.

In large part due to the good design of the track, the faster guys did rise to the top and it wasn't the game-of-chance that I feared might happen.  Pretty good racing and nobody seems to have been (too badly) hurt.

If Calistoga had happened, there's a good chance that Bryan Smith would today be the Grand National champion.  But, it didn't, so he's not.  Poor guy keeps coming close.

I hope this race is back next year, but only as a Superprestigio race and not part of the GN series.

1 thing for sure, you had to be fast with the words as an announcer and both C. Carr & his side kick did a good job. The podium blonde interviewing winning riders (1st, 2nd,3rd) all did good too. 

[krglorioso]

I watched the AMA "Grand National" event and the following evening's "Supreprestigio".  I came away sadly disappointed and disgusted at the miserable little "race" track and the 1950s pro wrestling announcer, Dani Medin in everyone's face asking her typically vapid questions, bizarre imitation of Kid Rock and pyrotechnics. 

I wrote the American Motorcycle Association's pro racing management today and vented long and loud at the miserable venue and the entire production worthy of some backwoods Figure 8 race.  To have Bryan Smith and Jared Mees compete for for the 2015 American flat track championship at this final race of the season on such a piss-ant track was an insult to these great riders as well as the rest of the field.  It was an embarrassment to know that riders of international status were invited to come to this sideshow for a Superprestigio that had no prestigio at all.

This track was so slow the riders were forced to use 2d and 3d gears to keep from stalling in the corners.  Dust was everywhere--traction was nowhere.  A circus event needing only a bevy of clowns to perfect it.  Unfortunately, the clowns could not attend.  They were busy at AMA headquarters planning a "Wheel of Death" event for next season's finale.

Dusty: What is your take?  Am I the only one who was outraged?

Ralph
AMA Expert-rated flat track racer 1966-68
Charter Member, White Plate Flat Trackers Association.

[oldbike54]

 Haven't watched it Ralph , guess I should . That ultra short track style of racing isn't really my cuppa. That said , didn't realize until a few minutes ago that this race had replaced the Calistoga national that was cancelled because of the SoCal fires . The AMA doesn't seem to understand racing , might be time to hire a pro . Maybe next year we can get something like the old Astrodome race to decide things .

  Dusty

[Daniel Kalal]

I watched the ... and the 1950s pro wrestling announcer...

I gather you watched it on a screen at home?  In any event, at least for me, the bikes were so loud I never heard a word either of the announcers said while the races were happening.  I've been made dirtier from watching Lima at the fence, but yes; there was plenty of dust in the air.

[Daniel Kalal]

...The AMA doesn't seem to understand racing...

Keep in mind that AMAproracing is owned and run by the France family of the DMG--the actual AMA is hardly a factor in all of this.  Of course, you might then argue that Bill France doesn't understand racing, either.  I attribute a lack of corporate focus as the main problem.  The series needs the tighter series-wide control that Super-cross has  so they're not so at the mercy of whatever promoter happens to pick up a race in a given year.  This Vegas races was a Bill France special deal, and I'd imagine he lost a bundle just to provide some sort of season-ending race and not a whimper of a conclusion that otherwise would have been the case.

[Arizona Wayne]

If anyone still wants to see this race it will be on NBCSN 11/29 @ 9pm Eastern time.  Or see it on www.FansChoice.tv  as a rerun. 

[krglorioso]

By the way, the announcer who drew my ire was most certainly NOT Chris Carr.  It was the buffoon who introduced the riders, using a style reminiscent of the announcers who worked at the 1950s-early 1960s at Bruno Sammartino/Gorgeous George "rasslin" matches.  This "style" is noted for a long drawn-out last name of the competitor and to me was totally demeaning to any serious fans and all the riders.  Maybe I am steeped in the 60s, when the announcer would introduce the riders as "Number 94, George Roeder, from Monroeville, Ohio, on the Harley Davidson", in a nice, well-modulated voice.  I've heard my own name etc mentioned that way more than a few times. 

The France family is better off in NASCAR and AMA pro racing is better off with the France family in NASCAR. 

Ralph

[Bonafide Bob]

<< Maybe next year we can get something like the old Astrodome race to decide things .>>

   I like that ideal, and maybe it can be in the New Orleans Super Dome... I would like to be able to attend a pro race close to home.
Bob

[Arizona Wayne]

Now that would be cool 

  Dusty

To do something like that you need an assurance of a LOT of attendees.   This show was a trial project copying what is successful in Europe.   For now, good luck on your dreams.  Wishin' and hopin' ain't the same as doin'. 

[Bonafide Bob]

To do something like that you need an assurance of a LOT of attendees.   This show was a trial project copying what is successful in Europe.   For now, good luck on your dreams.  Wishin' and hopin' ain't the same as doin'.

 In my opinion any type of motorcycle racing will never be as successful here as in Europe.

[krglorioso]

In the current (today) issue of Cycle News, Bryan Smith comments on the "National" at Las Vegas.  Bryan was not happy with the circus, either, and said that next year he'll try to win enough races that he won't have to enter this sorry spectacle to decide the championship.  The Cycle News article on the race claimed the track was "100 yards long", which seems a bit smaller than it looked on TV, but it was sure small, anyway.  Fast lap times were in the 10 second range and that includes coming to almost a dead stop at each of the two turns....So, it was pretty small.  Kinda like a roller derby.

Ralph

[Bonafide Bob]

I was a big George Roeder fan in the sixties, I used his number on my plates until I stopped riding local dirt tracks.

  Bob

[krglorioso]

I was a big George Roeder fan in the sixties, I used his number on my plates until I stopped riding local dirt tracks.

  Bob

To say that I raced with George would be a terrible exaggeration, tho at some races I was on the same track at the same time, but only on the same lap at the start.  He and Ronnie Rall, #52, were farmers in Ohio and had plenty of opportunities to practice at home on their side-valve KR-750s.  Ronnie was very sociable; George was very, very quiet.  He lost the AMA grand national championship once by just a few points, to Gary Nixon, I believe.  I believe George died within the past year or so.  He was a fabulous rider on pavement or dirt.  As good as Resweber, IMHO.

Ralph