Dirt-tracker Chris Hart of Macedon, New York, has announced a new deal that will see him riding for Carl Patrick Racing in the 2003 AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships series. Primary backing will come from Lombardi Harley-Davidson of Staten Island, New York; and Schott Harley-Davidson of Lewiston, Maine. The team’s product sponsors will include R&D Machine, Keith Campbell, KK Motorcycle Supply and Redline Oil, among others.
The new deal comes along just in time for the 26-year-old Hart, who displayed amazing prowess on the circuit’s cushion tracks last season, winning the Dirt Track Hall of Fame Half Mile in Harrington, Delaware, and finishing third at Lima, Ohio, en route to an 18th-place finish in the AMA/Progressive standings. After parting on good terms with former team owner Eddie Adkins, Hart went shopping for another deal, but time was running out.
“I’m very happy, very excited,” Hart said. “If this hadn’t happened, I would have gone racing, but it would have been very limited because I certainly don’t have the kind of equipment that it takes to run the full series. But Carl got in touch with a couple of my sponsors, and they were able to work something out. Now I’m going to be part of a very strong program. We have three XR750s, along with two Honda CRF-based 505s and a Rotax. I can’t wait for the year to start.”
The AMA/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships series kicks off with the tradition season-opening Daytona Short Track in March.
