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6K views 35 replies 13 participants last post by  Shackman 
#1 ·
Well, it was the last Saturday in June yesterday and everybody knows that means flat track racing in Lima!
This year was more than a little special with Jimmy's grandson racing and Raven coming down from Canada making this a truly international mini meetup.
Thomas has been working in Bloomington and with me in Cinci we decided to meet at the best sandwich shop in all of Darke County Ohio, Made Right. If you're ever in, or near, Greenville, check it out!

Tire Wheel Land vehicle Cloud Sky


We took a little tour of rural Ohio, always fun, and then super slabbed the last little stretch to the Allen County Fairgrounds home for the last thirty some years of the Ohio National. Raven met us upon our arrival in somewhat of a miracle of timing and we watched some practice.

Cloud Tire Sky Wheel Vehicle


Lima is a cushion track, quite familiar to Ohioans and Canadians but increasingly rare on the circuit these days. We two Bruces (raven and horosho) watched some practice and got sprayed with pea gravel. Just the little bit hurts a bit, imagine how Bronson Bowman feels here:

Sky Cloud Ecoregion Vehicle Tree


Jimmy took a break from his team duties to say hello and we all gathered around Thomas' slow black XR.

Cloud Sky Tire Wheel Vehicle


From the grandstand we had a pretty decent view of start/finish and the podium

Clothing Cloud Sky Truck Race track


Poolpawpaw's grandson, David Wiggins, was a super impressive young man. He and his family spent some time talking with us and all of us came away impressed - nice work Jimmy! Looking forward to watching David mature and seeing what he can do both on and off the racetrack. I would not bet against him!

Tire Bicycles--Equipment and supplies Wheel Smile Bicycle


The Canadian Bruce was somewhat surprised with the number of helmetless riders. We do that here. In rural Ohio, motorcycle generally means Harley Davidson and helmets are strictly optional. To be fair though, we get a lot of folks riding to the race and have for many years.

Cloud Sky Plant Tree Asphalt


The singles race was an extremely popular win for Shayna who ran away with it and the Twins race was a back and forth between Carver and Mees that, once they got going, wasn't decided until the final turn. Well worth the price of admission! I also got to see something I have never seen in a flat track race when Brian Bowman had a tire come off the rim. Odd issue, that.

Clothing Cloud Sky World Street light


Probably also worth mentioning that the Production Twins race was won by Chad Cose with Cory Texter coming in 2nd and an XG750 making the podium, piloted by "Rocket" James Rispoli who some of you probably remember from his ama pro racing days.
All in all it was a really good time. It was nice to finally meet Raven after so many years talking on the forum and Jimmy's family and it was really good to ride with Sadwingsrgn, as always. If you're on the fence about next year just do it!
Of course, as is required by our bylaws, whenever two or more more forum members meet and are photographed together, we salute you!

Cloud Sky Tire Vehicle Motor vehicle
 
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#5 ·
Corn field somewhere in Germany. I dare say that that is 'Signs' that the field is right outside some major city over there.

I think I would invest in a really good metal detector if I had to plow one of those fields,,,,,,,,, :pinch:
 
#12 ·
The track looks great! Where are the requisite Shayna pics!?
It's not like the old days when you could just walk up and talk to her, Shayna is by far the most popular rider in the paddock and her autograph line weaved basically all the way through the paddock. I think Jimmy and his granddaughter spent some time with her though, hopefully he took some pics.
Her win was super popular, she got huge cheers every time she came around. She's probably the shortest rider in the series and Dan Bromley, her teammate is probably the tallest which looked a bit comical. Sorry for the low quality of the pics but hey, any picture of Shayna is better than no picture of Shayna, right?

Clothing Sky Cloud Vehicle Tree

Motor vehicle Musician Podium Stage equipment Event


First off I would like to thank Horosho for everything. I had a great time,it was some of the best racing I have seen in years.
Poolpawoaw's grandson is a very impressive young man it says a lot for the younger generation.
Meeting Jimmy, Thomas, Bruce and Jimmy's family was truly a pleasure.
Thanks again Raven
My pleasure, it was great to meet you too!

Looks like you guys got to see some great racing. A lot of fun.Thomas' XR probably garnered more looks and pics than the Indian FTR. :)

Congrats to Shayna, I think that is two in a row for here at Lima.
You're right about Thomas' bike and you literally couldn't miss it from where the Indians were set up!
You're also right about it being two in a row for Shayna and she ran away with this one!

Future trivia note: Previous to Lima only one rookie had made a main this year in the (stacked!) singles class. At Lima, three rookies made it, Dallas Daniels, Brandon Kitchen, and Trent Lowe. Keep an eye on those three, I think you'll see a bunch of wins and very likely some championships in their futures.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Oh, one other thing. After parking my bike fairly close to the Indian display where there were two FTR bikes where I could walk to one and the other to compare them all I can say is that hands down the XR is, in a side by side comparison, a MUCH better looking bike. On paper and, unless you sink the cost of a decent college education into the XR, probably on the road the FTR is a better bike but as they sit the FTR is kinda,,, well,,, modern boilerplate if ya know what I mean.
 
#7 ·
First off I would like to thank Horosho for everything. I had a great time,it was some of the best racing I have seen in years.
Poolpawoaw's grandson is a very impressive young man it says a lot for the younger generation.
Meeting Jimmy, Thomas, Bruce and Jimmy's family was truly a pleasure.
Thanks again Raven
 
#10 ·
Looks like you guys got to see some great racing. A lot of fun.Thomas' XR probably garnered more looks and pics than the Indian FTR. :)

Congrats to Shayna, I think that is two in a row for here at Lima.
 
#11 ·
Boss, I bet you are right since I believe I got some dirty looks from them as they were closing up for the day. ;)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
Tire Wheel Fuel tank Vehicle Automotive lighting


Codydawg saw this bike saturday at Indian races
 
#18 ·
should have just bought an Indian........
 
#32 ·
Hi all, I’ve been out of action for a couple years, due to my late wife’s illness and passing.

It is fantastic to see photos and stories on the American Mile Flat Track racing - after all this is what our lovely XR’s are all about. I’ve been riveted to photos and stories etc. on flat track racing ever since the iconic movie 🎥On Any Sunday - yeah 😖 - gives away my age.
The closest we get to anything like this in Australia is racing singles and speedway sidecars around a 300metre to 400 metre oval dirt circuit ! We did have a few Mile and 1/2 Mile circuits many years ago, but I don’t recall seeing twins racing. The Australian Mile circuits phased out after the deaths of a few brave sidecar racers.
Cheers, XRConvert.
 
#35 ·
Sorry to hear of your wife's passing.I am not sure what I would do if something happened to mine, we have been together for 46 years now.( gives away my age)
As for close fast racing, nothing beats speedway racing. It used to be big here, but not so much anymore.
 
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