Gentlemen,
Two weeks ago I got a call from fellow GT owner Buddy Stubbs, owner of Arizona's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership. Many of our members met Buddy Stubbs when he gave us a tour of his spectacular vintage motorcycle Museum during the Las Vegas Rally to the Rally. Buddy asked me if I'd ever been to a Grand National motorcycle dirt track race. I told him I had not, but that I had watched the 1970s film "On Any Sunday" at least 100 times so I knew enough about flat track racing to know that I wanted to see one. I was surprised when Buddy told me that up until the early 1970s, the Phoenix Fairgrounds were one of the stops on the AMA Grand National tour but there had not been a Grand National race in Arizona for the last 40 years....until last Sunday when one was held in Prescott, Arizona. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has dominrated flat track racing for the last half-century and they are the primary sponsor of the Grand National Tour. Buddy Stubbs' two Harley-Davidson dealerships were the largest local sponsors of the race. He asked me if Veronica and I would like to be his guest in his top floor corporate suite to watch the race. But of course!! We would ride from his dealership in Phoenix up to Prescott on our Harley-Davidsons and spend the entire day at the track. Got to like that!
For those members not familiar with it, flat track motorcycle racing originated in America and for many years it was the fastest form of motor racing in the world. In the early 1900s when motorcycles were much faster than cars, young daredevil riders would challenge each other on local horse racing tracks that had swept the soft dirt from the top of the track leaving the rock hard dirt surface below. Even in the early days those riders on stripped-down motorcycles with no front brakes would hit speeds of 90 mph at the end of the straights where they would pitch their motorcycles sideways and power slide under full throttle around the turns. Not much has changed today. The motorcycles still do not have any front brakes, they are still stripped-down, bare-bones machines, and the majority of them are powered by 750 CC Harley-Davidson V-Twins. These more modern bikes however, hit speeds of over 140 mph before they pitch them sideways to power slide around the turns literally inches from their fellow competitors. And in Prescott, just like in the old days, the race would be held on a one-mile horseracing track with all of the soft topsoil removed.
Shortly after I settled in to Buddy's corporate suite and just before the start of the first race, in walked Bill Davidson. Bill is the great grandson of the Bill Davidson who co-founded the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and today he is a Vice President in charge of styling. His father, Willie G. Davidson is a senior vice president of Harley-Davidson and a true motorcycle legend.
As we spent the entire day at the track, Bill and I had a lot of time to talk. We discussed a lot of different issues, primarily motorcycles and cars. When the subject of the Ford GT came up, Bill told me that he loved driving his father's silver Ford GT! I was quite surprised, not that he liked to drive it, but that his father, the legendary Willie G. was a Ford GT owner. His father's Ford GT is 2005 serial #17, Silver with Black stripes. He told me his dad loves it because it's made in America, that his dad used to work for Ford, and reminded me that Harley-Davidson is still tied in with Ford with the F-150 Special Edition Harley-Davidson pickup trucks.
I did not know that before Willie G. Davidson went to work for Harley-Davidson in the 1960s, he worked for the Ford Motor Company as a stylist. How many of you knew that???
The director of Harley-Davidson's Racing Division was also there. He told me that the XR750 engine is still produced in small batches specifically for these racers. The engine is sold unassembled and racers must construct their own custom frame. Bill Davidson and his Director of Racing (I can't recall his name) were both fascinated with Ray Hofman's recent 266 mph run in his Ford GT. Bill gave me his e-mail address and requested that I forward him videos and information on the Hofman Motorsports record-breaking performance.
It was a great day of racing with a few spectacular 140 mph pileups as well. Amazingly, the riders all got up and limped back to their pit areas and they all raced again later in the day. These are tough men and women (there were some female riders)! History was made in the Championship Race. For the first time in the 70 year history of flat track racing, a Ducati, the only one in a 25 bike field, came from behind to win in the last 20 yards of that final race. Bummer for the home team but a fun day for all.
Chip
Two weeks ago I got a call from fellow GT owner Buddy Stubbs, owner of Arizona's oldest Harley-Davidson dealership. Many of our members met Buddy Stubbs when he gave us a tour of his spectacular vintage motorcycle Museum during the Las Vegas Rally to the Rally. Buddy asked me if I'd ever been to a Grand National motorcycle dirt track race. I told him I had not, but that I had watched the 1970s film "On Any Sunday" at least 100 times so I knew enough about flat track racing to know that I wanted to see one. I was surprised when Buddy told me that up until the early 1970s, the Phoenix Fairgrounds were one of the stops on the AMA Grand National tour but there had not been a Grand National race in Arizona for the last 40 years....until last Sunday when one was held in Prescott, Arizona. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has dominrated flat track racing for the last half-century and they are the primary sponsor of the Grand National Tour. Buddy Stubbs' two Harley-Davidson dealerships were the largest local sponsors of the race. He asked me if Veronica and I would like to be his guest in his top floor corporate suite to watch the race. But of course!! We would ride from his dealership in Phoenix up to Prescott on our Harley-Davidsons and spend the entire day at the track. Got to like that!
For those members not familiar with it, flat track motorcycle racing originated in America and for many years it was the fastest form of motor racing in the world. In the early 1900s when motorcycles were much faster than cars, young daredevil riders would challenge each other on local horse racing tracks that had swept the soft dirt from the top of the track leaving the rock hard dirt surface below. Even in the early days those riders on stripped-down motorcycles with no front brakes would hit speeds of 90 mph at the end of the straights where they would pitch their motorcycles sideways and power slide under full throttle around the turns. Not much has changed today. The motorcycles still do not have any front brakes, they are still stripped-down, bare-bones machines, and the majority of them are powered by 750 CC Harley-Davidson V-Twins. These more modern bikes however, hit speeds of over 140 mph before they pitch them sideways to power slide around the turns literally inches from their fellow competitors. And in Prescott, just like in the old days, the race would be held on a one-mile horseracing track with all of the soft topsoil removed.
Shortly after I settled in to Buddy's corporate suite and just before the start of the first race, in walked Bill Davidson. Bill is the great grandson of the Bill Davidson who co-founded the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and today he is a Vice President in charge of styling. His father, Willie G. Davidson is a senior vice president of Harley-Davidson and a true motorcycle legend.
As we spent the entire day at the track, Bill and I had a lot of time to talk. We discussed a lot of different issues, primarily motorcycles and cars. When the subject of the Ford GT came up, Bill told me that he loved driving his father's silver Ford GT! I was quite surprised, not that he liked to drive it, but that his father, the legendary Willie G. was a Ford GT owner. His father's Ford GT is 2005 serial #17, Silver with Black stripes. He told me his dad loves it because it's made in America, that his dad used to work for Ford, and reminded me that Harley-Davidson is still tied in with Ford with the F-150 Special Edition Harley-Davidson pickup trucks.
I did not know that before Willie G. Davidson went to work for Harley-Davidson in the 1960s, he worked for the Ford Motor Company as a stylist. How many of you knew that???
The director of Harley-Davidson's Racing Division was also there. He told me that the XR750 engine is still produced in small batches specifically for these racers. The engine is sold unassembled and racers must construct their own custom frame. Bill Davidson and his Director of Racing (I can't recall his name) were both fascinated with Ray Hofman's recent 266 mph run in his Ford GT. Bill gave me his e-mail address and requested that I forward him videos and information on the Hofman Motorsports record-breaking performance.
It was a great day of racing with a few spectacular 140 mph pileups as well. Amazingly, the riders all got up and limped back to their pit areas and they all raced again later in the day. These are tough men and women (there were some female riders)! History was made in the Championship Race. For the first time in the 70 year history of flat track racing, a Ducati, the only one in a 25 bike field, came from behind to win in the last 20 yards of that final race. Bummer for the home team but a fun day for all.
Chip
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