Hagerstown

Monaco it's not . . .

Wanna ride bikes?  Sure, says J.D.

Wish I could, says Coolbeth

Jake Johnson

Jake chased . . .

. . . but there was no catching Jared Mees

Wednesday Wallpaper: Henry Wiles & Aprilia

Continuing the flat-track trend for another week, here is a shot of Hammerin' Hank Wiles on the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Aprilia from 2008.  The location is Hagerstown, the session qualifying, the late afternoon light golden, and the Italian v-twin sound reverberating off the concrete wall and up and around the clay bowl electrifying.  Click and make big.

   

"Haggerstown"

One of the "best" parts of visiting Hagerstown Speedway is watching the track prep goobers circulate in their surprisingly stable fleet of jalopies.

Fortunately the weather this year was good and we didn't see quite as much of them as last year, when a Goober-v-AMA Official vehicular manslaughter event was only narrowly avoided.

One can only enjoy broadsliding water trucks for so long however, before it's time to walk the padddock.  Refreshingly, although some have a larger footprint than others, professional flat track racing still only requires a cargo van and an E-Z UP canopy.

An XR-750 footrest helps too, naturally.

The trucks and paddock set-ups might be modest but they support some hardcore racers and eventually it's time to head out on track.  Which means it's time for one of the truly best things about flat track racing:  the golden light of dusk.  Despite the clouds and schedule delays conspiring to block the sun at the precise moments it was trying to show off the most--it really was uncanny!--I managed to get a few decent frames.

  

If dusk is for photogs, nighttime is for flat track racing.

Congrats to Joe Kopp.  Winner.

On the way out the door . . .

. . . bound for Hagerstown

Sideburn #5

On the cover of the new issue of the world's best go fast, turn left magazine, Sideburn, is a Tim White original photo of Jake Johnson en route to the Grand National Twins win at the Hagerstown half-mile in July 2009.

Hagerstown 2009

Another Hagerstown National is in the books. Jake Johnson won the GNC Twins Main event, rain-shortened as it was, over Ken Coolbeth and Sam Halbert. Brad Baker won the Pro Singles Main.


Damn. Next they’ll tell me I can’t run the blender in the bath.



Lloyd Bros. Ducati



Ready to Race



Not ready to race






Unfortunately rain and track-prep delays meant there were no bikes on track during the “golden hour,” the early evening period of low and warm sunlight that usually illuminates practice and qualifying at flat track events. By the time bikes rolled onto the track Saturday evening the sun was gone for the night.


Jake Johnson’s brake works



Brad Baker (17M) leads his heat



Sam Halbert (43) leads Jared Mees (21) in their heat



Sideburn Magazine fans. In the tswphoto blog is as good as in the magazine, right girls? Right?