|
|
The
Springfield Mile
August -
September 2008
My friends (Dave and Bob)
suggested a ride to Springfield, Illinois, to see the Springfield Mile.
It's the grand-daddy of flat track motorcycle racing. I
had never been to a 1-mile flat track race, so I was eager to go.
Then I lost a good friend and taking 4 days to ride there was no longer an
option for me. Dave and Bob offered to change their plans to
accommodate me (these are great guys), and instead of riding our
motorcycles we flew out there and
back.
This was a great trip with
great friends. The racing, the food, the bikes in the spectator
areas, it was all incredible. Some heartfelt advice...Never pass up
an opportunity to go to the Springfield Mile!
|
|
| On Saturday morning, we visited
the Lincoln Museum in Springfield because the racing didn't start until
later in the afternoon. We had a lot of fun just getting
there. I was driving, and (true to form) we were lost. We
pulled up alongside a police officer and he gave us directions. As
soon as I pulled away, I asked my friend Dave which way to go.
"I don't know," he said, "I wasn't
listening..." Neither was I. We all had a good
laugh over that one.
This is Abe and Mary Lincoln at the Ford
Theatre, just before the assassination. The Lincoln Museum had many
interesting exhibits. |
 |
|
My friend Dave with his D40X
in the museum. |
One of the paintings in the
Lincoln Museum. |
|
General McClellan in the
Lincoln Museum. |
|
 |
On our first day in Springfield,
we went to the fairgrounds to watch the 1/4-mile flat
trackers.
On the way in, we spotted this interesting
Norton in the parking lot. |
| Check out polished the aluminum
bodywork. That's Dave and yours truly. |
 |
|
Another shot of the Norton. |
 |
The 1/4-milers were
awesome.
This racing, all by itself, would have been
worth the trip out there. I love watching the flat trackers.
This guy on a Yamaha is fighting to keep
the front end down as he exits Turn 4 and heads down the straight in front
of the stands. |
 |
These boys are kicking up some
dirt coming out of Turn 4. |
 |
Another flat tracker drifting
out of Turn 4. |
| Here's a group right after the
start of a heat. |
 |
 |
I panned this shot of a
Kawasaki. |
| This young lady, seated right in
front of me, was using a Canon 35mm film SLR. She seemed to know
what she was doing, too. |
 |
 |
Another panned shot of a Yamaha
dirt tracker. |
| This poor guy lost it coming our
of Turn 4 and he crashed directly in front of us. Hard. It
scared me. I didn't think he was going to get up. |
 |
 |
His crew had him up in a few
minutes. I was stunned that the guy walked off; I thought he had
been seriously injured. The next day, this guy won a heat on the
1-mile track.
The announcer said he was "tougher
than a $2 steak." I believe it. |
 |
The crowd on Friday night,
watching the 1/4-mile flat trackers. |
| Early on Saturday, we went to
the Harley dealer in Springfield. He had some interesting
bikes on display. This is a 750cc flathead Harley KR, the forerunner
of the Harley Sportster. |
 |
 |
Here's another Harley KR on
display at the Springfield HD dealer. |
|
The Springfield HD dealer had
an old Indian Chief on display.
|
 |
| The next day, we went to the
1-mile track on the other side of the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
There were many interesting motorcycles
parked outside. I grabbed this shot of a KLR 650 with a very
creative personalized plate.
|
 |
 |
Check out this old Ariel Square
4.
The owner started it while I was
there. It started on the second kick, and it sounded like two
Triumph 650s running at the same time. |
 |
Another interesting old
bike...one of the very early Harley Super Glides. This is an early
1970s model. |
| Check out these two shots of
older Sportsters. Although their personalized plates identify them
as XLCH models, these are actually the XLH models (distinguishable by the
larger oil tank just in front of the right rear shock absorbers). |
| This is J.B. Norris's old BMW
GS, with 250,000 miles on it. J.B. Norris was a flat track announcer
for the American Motorcycle Association. He died this year. |
 |
 |
The track sold $10 tickets that
would allow race spectators to ride their motorcycles around the 1-mile
dirt track, with the proceeds going to an education fund for Norris's
children.
The event was a success, as the bikes
completely filled the track.
Here's a couple on a Suzuki taking a lap
for J.B. |
| Here's an older fellow doing the
same thing on a Harley with a sidecar. |
 |
 |
Chris Carr's truck in the
infield.
Chris Carr is the AMA National Number 1
rider. |
| This old B-17 flew
several orbits during the day. |
 |
My good friends...Dave, Jeff, and Bob.
|
 |
After a few heats, the water
truck needs to wet down the dirt track. |
| This guy was having fun on his
XR750 Harley flat tracker. |
 |
 |
Guys coming off of Turn 4 at
over 100 mph, on their way up to 135 mph. These boys are
really flying. Notice that they tuck their right hand in to cut down
on aerodynamic drag. |
 |
Another shot in Turn 4.
I was really happy with the way these shots
turned out. I used a cheap lens - a 10-year old, mostly plastic,
$139 Sigma 70-300. I zoomed out to 300 mm, set the ISO to 1000 (even
though it was a bright day) to get a very high shutter speed, and set the
lens at f5.6.
The autofocus wouldn't keep up with the
motorcycles at this speed, so I manually focused on a spot and waited (but
not for long!) for the motorcycles to enter the viewfinder. |
 |
Here's another, a bit more
closely cropped. |
 |
These young ladies were
strutting around the infield. It was a hot day out there.
The Sigma 70-300 did its
job. |
 |
Another young lady beating the
heat. |
 |
Riders waiting to enter the
track. |
 |
This guy lost it in Turn 1. |
|
The field entering Turn 2 at
over 100 mph. The noise is incredible. There's nothing like
it!
|
 |
The two fastest riders...Chris
Carr (in the white and orange leathers) and Kenny Coolbeth (in the black
leathers).
These guys are drifting sideways at over
100 mph, just a few inches apart!
Coolbeth won on Sunday, and Carr won on
Monday. |
| Nicole Cheza, a very fast
rider. She won the "Dash for Cash" and the crowd
went nuts for her. |
 |
 |
Kenny Coolbeth, after winning
the Springfield Mile. |
 |
We ate here all four nights we
were in Springfield. The place was awesome. I had the same
thing all four nights...smoked turkey, roasted corn, and beans. Wow,
was it ever good! |
| This was a fantastic
trip. We had great a group of guys, we watched motorcycle racing for 4
days, we took in the Lincoln Museum, we saw a bunch of really interesting
antique motorcycles, and the food was awesome. I will definitely do
it again, and if you ever have an opportunity to see the Springfield Mile,
trust me, you don't want to say no. It just doesn't get any better
than the Springfield Mile!
|
|
