Welcome to Racerhead. Thirty years ago this week, something truly bizarre and long-reaching happened. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the old Soviet Union (in present-day Ukraine) in a city called Pripyat suffered a meltdown of sorts, and radioactive waste was ejected into the atmosphere. The Soviets immediately shut down the area around Chernobyl, evacuated the thousands of people living there, and tried to clean up the problem, at a cost of billions of dollars (and that, in turn, helped end the Cold War). To this day, Chernobyl remains almost completely off limits, a snapshot of exactly what life was like in the old USSR—though it's now overgrown, wild, and weird. If you're a disaster tourist, this is on your short list.
More than forty years ago, I remember going to a place called Honda Hills in Linville, Ohio, to watch a Trans-AMA race with my dad. My favorite rider, Heikki Mikkola, was going to be there, and so was Roger DeCoster, "Bad" Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, and more. Mikkola won the race on his Husqvarna, and I even got a photo with him after the race, wearing the homemade Mikkola jersey my mom made for me. Here's some video of the race.
A few years later I was able to race at Honda Hills for an AMA Youth National Qualifier (pre-Loretta Lynn's), and the whole time I felt like I was Mikkola out there. I loved the track, which had short, steep hills, big jumps, and great dirt. It was run by an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer named Dick Klamfoth, who won the Daytona 200 twice back when it was a beach race. One of his granddaughters married Michael Willard, the fast man from Ohio who ended up winning some titles in Canada.
Anyway, at some point maybe a dozen years ago, Honda Hills shut down for good. The iconic sign that used to announce its schedule is still there out along Interstate 70, though it’s on its last legs. I was on my way to the AMA in Pickerington earlier this week for a meeting and a tour of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum and stopped along the highway to shoot the old sign. Turned out I had a little extra time the next day, so I decided to take the old National Road Route 40 to maybe see what was left of the once-grand old racetrack that was a huge part of my youth, the one and only time I saw my hero Heikki Mikkola race and win.
With my long-suffering sister in tow (she never got the #signjousting thing, nor my love of revisiting old tracks), we found the right road, and then we found yet another Honda Hills sign, this one at the actual entrance. The gate was open, but I had no idea what to expect. I had heard that the old track had been sold off, developed, clearcut, and so on and so forth. There was a time when the Cycra boys were renting it out for company ride days, and I also heard that every now and then Ohio legends like Tod Perkins and Denny Swartz and Gary Semics would pop in and ride. But I had lost touch with Michael Willard, and I had never actually just taken the time to detour from my trips across Ohio to the AMA or Indy SX or Ironman or whatever.
Until Wednesday—coincidentally, the thirtieth anniversary (give or take a day) of the Chernobyl disaster. We drove right in, as the gates were unlocked. The old dirt track oval up on top was still there, overgrown but not so lush that we couldn't make a lap around in the SUV. The old buildings were still standing, the concession stands and sign-up building, and an old mobile home was there, collapsed and abandoned seemingly on the spot, because it was still filled with dirt old trophies, plaques, paperwork, and more.
The track itself … well, it's still there, too—overgrown, fences down, old spectator bridge up, jumps still shaped, drainage ruts, old bleachers and benches and gates.... It was absolutely beautiful, and a little sad too. The place was a snapshot of my youth, and probably a bunch of my old friends and racing rivals from days long gone by, like Tom Carson, the Andrews brothers, Joey Mauer, Mark Musselman, Marcus Sellards, Troy Graham, and the playground legend Don Conkle, who came out of nowhere to win the old AMA Minicycle National Championship one year, then just disappeared.
We all know and remember tracks from our youth, and many of them are of course gone forever, now an intersection or sub-development like Carlsbad, Elephant Hills, Rocky Ridge, Country Springs, Antietam, and more. Or maybe they’re just sitting there, practically untouched and not yet asunder, like Saddleback, Keysers Ridge, Cowboy Badlands, or Honda Hills. My advice is to take a moment the next time you're nearby and see what's there, enjoy the memories, and maybe have a walk around what's left. You might be amazed by what you actually find, with your own eyes or maybe just in your old memories.
Here's Racerhead.
THE CLINCHER (Jason Weigandt)
I think KTM flew in some of the big brass to Boston last weekend just in case Ryan Dungey wrapped his second straight Monster Energy Supercross Championship. Alas, it didn’t happen, so I wonder if the honchos will stick around for a week and hope for a clinch on Saturday. I can’t think of a better justification for a “work week” in New York City.
Anyway, some riders have told bosses to stay away because planning a big celebration adds pressure or even a jinx. But this really only matters when the championship is a close, pressure-packed situation, like in 1992, where many think Yamaha’s pre-planned championship celebration for Damon Bradshaw contributed to his meltdown at the final round. Later that year, when Jeff Emig was tussling with Mike LaRocco for the 125 National Motocross Championship, Emig told Yamaha to keep to business as usual. He wanted to operate with just him and his mechanic, Steve Butler, as they had all year. It worked, as Emig went 1-1 the finale to take the championship.
Dungey won’t need nearly that much this weekend. A fourteenth or better will get the job done, even if Ken Roczen wins. Lately Dungey has just been ignoring the points, going for it in three-straight wins (coulda shoulda been four if not for that Detroit penalty) before finally having an off night day at Foxboro. (I don’t buy that he all of sudden shifted into protect mode, especially considering a Foxboro win would have actually clinched the title.)
I asked 1984 AMA Supercross Champion Johnny O’Mara, who worked with Dungey earlier in his career, about this. O’Show says most people are overthinking it when they expect riders to back it down. He says at the top level, you’ve had a whole lifetime of riding hard, so you’re in autopilot when the races begin, just riding by instinct and going as fast as you can. There really isn’t room for thinking about points or backing it down during an intense 20-lap main event. Johnny said the only difference he could see when a rider has a title en route is maybe taking fewer risks during the week—he wouldn’t be surprised if Dungey maybe decided not to shoot for personal-best lap times during the week. But when the gate drops and it’s race time, he thinks most riders just revert back to learned habits.
Anyway, the milestones (will probably) keep coming for Dungey. Back-to-back titles is a rarer feat than you might think. Only Bob Hannah, Jeff Stanton, Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, and Ryan Villopoto have successfully defended supercross titles. That’s it! Think about that.
Dungey's next title defense will come in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross in a month. With Roczen and Eli Tomac picking up their game lately, this will be a battle! Our man Kyle Scott caught some other riders prepping for outdoors this week out in California.
AUSTIN FORKNER (DC)
Remember all of the hubbub about 17-year-old Austin Forkner back in February when folks like Chad Reed thought he should turn pro after Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki lost both Adam Cianciarulo and Arnaud Tonus to injury? Forkner held his ground, stayed amateur, and focused on turning pro come May 21 at Hangtown. We recently spoke to #214 to see how things were going. He's been riding in Oklahoma at Robbie Reynard's, training with Clint Friesen, and will soon head out west to California to start getting everything dialed in for May 21.
When asked to look ahead at which tracks he can’t wait to race, he explained that he’s been lucky enough to ride several of them already, as the family has been preparing him for this transition by traveling a lot. Thunder Valley, Muddy Creek, RedBud, Spring Creek, Glen Helen—he’s been to half the tracks on the circuit.
“I am sure they will all be prepped differently than when I was there for amateur races, tilled much deeper, but at least I will know the general lay of the track,” he said. And while he’s never been to Southwick in Massachusetts, he said, “I think I’m pretty good in the sand, so I am really looking forward to what that’s going to be like.”
He added that he has been to sandy Baja Acres in Michigan several times and enjoyed some success there: “Baja is super-sandy and it gets really tore up, but that’s maybe the only really, really deep sand track that I’ve been to. And the one here at Reynard’s, three-minute lap times, we’ve just been doing thirties (minutes) and forties on it. It wasn’t fun—it just sucks riding it—but it’s pretty good training because it’s super-sandy and deep.”
IT CAN END SO QUICKLY (Weigandt)
Yesterday, former Grand National Cross Country and National Enduro Champion Charlie Mullins suddenly announced his retirement. His elegant retirement letter is one of the best I’ve ever read. Now maybe you don’t follow off-road, and maybe you don’t know Charlie, but stay with me here. His story is relevant to any rider in this sport, including the supercross guys.
The sad end to Charlie’s career is a testament to how cruel fate can be in this sport, and how quickly fortunes can change. In 2014, Mullins was battling his FMF KTM teammate Kailub Russell for the GNCC points lead. He held the top spot at mid season, and then came a series of unfortunate events.
First, KTM handed him a fresh new practice bike at the Loretta Lynn’s GNCC, but the bike was later stolen off of the back of his motorhome by some bike thief scumbags. The bike was eventually recovered, but meanwhile KTM shipped a new bike to Charlie so he could still ride during the week. A few days later he went riding at the JGR track in North Carolina with Justin Brayton, and the bike cut out while he was jumping a double. The result: one badly-broken wrist and one really, really badly broken wrist. For the next two years, Charlie has done everything to fix those wrists. He skipped the entire 2015 season trying to recover, but his comeback in 2016 did not work. Here’s an excerpt from his letter:
After the last GNCC I went to my doctor to inquire about a cortisone shot for my left wrist. I was desperate for anything that would take the edge off of the pain. Since I’m still having considerable pain in both wrists, he decided to x-ray them. We learned that the bones in my right wrist have shifted and the staple from the partial fusion appears to be moving/coming undone. Every bump, crash, and jarring of my wrist is destroying it a little at a time. It’s not going to get better. It’s only going to get worse, and fast at the rate I’m going. I had both wrists x-rayed five weeks ago and in that short amount of time the bones have moved and damaged considerably. I knew in that moment, this was it. I cannot risk damaging my wrists any further. As hard as the decision is, I am confident it’s the right one.
I want you to know I fought to not be the statistic. I thought if I trained harder than anyone else, put in more time on the bike, rode through the pain, maybe it would work out for me. I could be the exception. Man, I wanted that to be true. I held on to that hope for two years. I spent two years, praying and sweating my way through the pain, trying to get back to where I was and it’s taken a toll on me. It wasn’t until last Thursday that my hope was gone. Once the hope is gone, I knew I couldn’t get on the bike safely again. I have family to care for and I cannot risk my life knowing I’m not in control.
The worst part about the injury isn’t that it ended his career—it’s that he didn’t want it to end his career. Ricky Johnson had to retire because of a wrist injury, and he always talks about the difference between being forced out or leaving on your own terms. Huge difference. I know Charlie pretty well, and multiple times during this process I asked him if it was even worth all this pain and rehab and if he had just considered calling it done. Each time, he told me the injury only made him want it more! The time off, the time watching others in battles he wanted to be part of, it only steeled his resolve. In fact, Charlie said years of racing both GNCCs and Enduros in the same year (he’s the first rider to ever win a title in both series) had left him burned out. But when the wrists forced him to the sidelines, he became rejuvenated.
I remember when Charlie was a young buck on the GNCC tour and he’d joke about eating Taco Bell and playing video games. Those were the teenaged years. These days, Charlie has become a training animal and health-food guy. I even got to ride with him a few times this year, and I could clearly see how much he loved being back on his motorcycle. He wanted this to work so badly…but even after six surgeries, it can’t.
All it took was one crash on one jump, one day. That’s how quickly things change in this sport. Something to think about for every rider: never take wins, results, or really anything for granted. It can all end tomorrow.
Good luck in whatever’s next, Hot Rod. You can read his full letter here.
Pro Perspective (Ping and JT)
David Pingree: This Saturday night, riders will face an obstacle they haven’t had to deal with much this season: cold temperatures. As the program kicks off, temps will dip into the low 50s, making for chilly racing conditions. There are a few factors to deal with when this happens. Thankfully, the bike is no longer one of them. Back in aught-two, before the big war, bikes used to have carburetors. That’s right, kids, bikes didn’t appropriate the amount of fuel and air that the engine needs electronically. It was a prehistoric time, and cold temps would cause all kinds of problems. Now the bikes just do that themselves. Just as important as jetting is making sure the rider is warm and ready to go when the gate drops. That means riders will spend a little more time warming up before heading down the tunnel. Most guys will spin on a bike or row or work through a series of dynamic stretching exercises to limber up and get muscles firing.
From there you are going to see heavy coats, beanies, and gloves to keep that heat in. Getting cold can lead to arm pump, reduced reaction time, and poor overall performance. I don’t think Saturday night’s temps will be quite cold enough to create problems with fingers going numb, but maybe for the guys living in Florida or other warm places it could. Finally, the track will change as well. The water that is put down during the day will resurface in the evening and, depending on how hard the base surface is, could make it very slick. If the dirt is soft, ruts could start to form.
With the 450 title being decided and the 250 completely up for grabs, this weekend could be drama-packed. The cold weather only adds to the fun.
Jason Thomas: Racing in the cold is not something I ever enjoyed. My Florida bones struggled to adjust anytime we had a race in the cold weather, but as I traveled back and forth to Europe year after year in the winter months, I began to figure it out. The real key is simply maintaining your body heat as the actual gate-drop time approaches. The body, just like an engine, won't perform at its peak unless it's at operating temperature. Riders will complain of arm pump or "being tight" or "blowing up" if they aren't warm and ready to go. The usual remedy is a stationary bicycle or a rowing machine in the minutes before racing and then jacket layers to trap that heat in while waiting. Once riders are on the track, the body will maintain that heat due to the energy being expended, but that downtime before the gate drops is critical to stay warm. No one loves the cold nights of the supercross season, but if the details are looked after, the riders' results shouldn't be affected.
FIRED UP! (Weigandt)
Too tired to go out this Friday or Saturday night? Well, get fired up! Read our Three-on-Three column from this week where myself, Matthes, and JT discuss our thoughts on a playoff format in supercross. (Commonly known as a chase format, which started in NASCAR, this would be a points reset before the final few rounds, which would likely create a tighter championship fight down to the final round. AMSOIL Arenacross already uses such a system.) We don’t know if this format is coming for certain, but we do know it is being discussed by the power at Monster Energy Supercross.
Anyway, a lot of the commenters on this site do not like the idea. Read Three-on-Three and then dive into the comments section, which gets really, really heated. It will get you jacked up better than any energy drink. The spirited debate reminds me of the old MotoTalk message board days.
(And I’m including this link in Racerhead just to further prove I’m not shying away from, or covering up, this topic.)
HELMET DAY (Kyle Scott)
This week Troy Lee designs held a ride day at Pala to give the media a chance to try out its new SE4 helmet. The first thing I noticed was it’s really light—so light that I initially questioned it. However, the carbon fiber shell allows it to be so light without compromising structural integrity. The TLD designers were on hand to answer all my questions and made sure the pads were all sized correctly.
Straight out of the box, the helmet fit great and had a real snug feel to the face. There's a new ventilation system in the front designed to get more cool air in and plenty more in the back to get hot air out. The SE4 also has the patented MIPS (Multi-Directional Impact Protection System) inside to help reduce rotational forces by transferring the energy to the helmet around your skull versus your brain inside your skull. There are also three different liners of EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) to help protect against impacts at varying levels of speed. My first impressions of the helmet are great and I can't wait to use it more.
HEY, WATCH IT
Gronk goes to supercross (our man Chase Stallo was very excited about this and made sure we posted this link)
Valentino Rossi: The Doctor - Series TRAILER
Random Notes
The Legends and Heroes tour is finally honoring the biggest legend in the history of the sport, the great Barry Carsten!
(New Jersey's own Jason Weigandt wrote that part above. He's very excited.)
Barry will honored during Saturday's show at Met Life Stadium. Here's a snip from the Legends and Heroes press release:
Carsten earned and ras a Top 100 national number for 23 years - a rare accomplishment for any rider. Listed as No. 5 on the AMA's All Time National Starts roster is solid proof that the New Jersey journeyman racer made a great career in racing.
That's bad ass. Congrats, Barry. We believe that 23 years of national numbers puts Barry in an all-time fight with John Dowd for most numbers.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND WE'LL GIVE YOU A FREE BEACH TOWEL. C'MON IT'S THE JERSEY SHORE! So seriously, stop by the Racer X booth at MetLife Stadium—located in the Party in the Pits—to pick up a free copy of Racer X Illustrated. You can also sign up or renew for just $25 (60 percent off the cover price) to get a one-year subscription, a FREE Racer X beach towel, and an extra issue!
Motorcycle-Superstore.com and Suzuki wants to remind everyone that they are giving away a 2016 RMZ250. The winner will be chosen on May 9th after Las Vegas Supercross. Not only will they give away the bike, but five additional winners will be chosen to receive:
Seven MX – jersey, pants & gloves
Alpinestars – Tech 10 boots
Bell – Moto 9 Flex helmet
Pro Taper – handlebars, grips and sprocket
Pirelli – MX32 tires
To win, enter here. http://bit.ly/RMZGiveAway
*Rules and restrictions apply.
That's it for Racerhead this week. Enjoy your weekend at the New Jersey (or New York) Supercross at MetLife Stadium, where the full Racer X crew will be there following today's road trip from Morgantown to the stadium. The boys (and girl, thanks, Julie) are literally putting up the subscription booth in the pits right now, so don't let our efforts go to waste--stop by and say hey tomorrow. Or, as they do it in this region, stop by and say "Hey, how you doin?".
That's all. We'll see you at the races.