If the Wrenchead.com National Dirt Track Series were to be viewed as the new engine by which flat track motorcycle racing is to be propelled into the same league as supercross and road racing, and the season opener at Texas Motor Speedway were viewed as a sputtering-though-somewhat-solid startup for that new engine, then round two at the Indy Mile on May 13 might best signify a catastrophic failure that has left that engine in need of a serious rebuild.
Playing before a sparse crowd, the Formula USA-sanctioned event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds met with one disaster after another until the National class main event was finally cancelled nine laps into the race due to unsafe track conditions. The race track had required a significant amount of manicuring before the race program could even begin, delaying the opening heat race until just after 9 p.m. The program then ran into several delays as the track crew battled to flatten the ruts that began to form in the turns, with particularly troublesome areas being found at the exit of turn two and the entrance to turn three. The 25-lap main event was then started, but was red-flagged just nine laps into the main event when Bartels’ Harley-Davidson’s Shaun Russell suffered a grinding crash on the back straightaway. After listening to the safety concerns of the riders, officials called the race, awarding no points to the finishers but paying out the full $55,000 purse.
Perhaps it was no surprise then, that a few recognized rough-track riders came to the fore at Indy. For the record, Team Harley-Davidson’s Rich King was credited with the win, as he had led the race prior to the red flag. KK Motorcycle Supply/Las Vegas Harley-Davidson/Schaffer’s Harley-Davidson’s Geo Roeder II was paid for second place, thus upping his career-best finish on a mile by one spot. Rogers-Lake Racing/Mitchell’s Modesto H-D/Custom Chrome’s Gary Rogers finished a stout third.
Moroney’s Harley-Davidson’s Roger Lee Hayden outran Motion Pro/Redline Oil/JB Graphics’ Bryan Smith in the Pro Singles main event. But even this race was not immune to controversy, as accusations were leveled by some of the teams running 400cc equipment that many of the top finishers were misrepresenting the displacement of their 600cc-based engines in order to gain an advantage through the use of larger restrictors as set forth in the rules. Formula USA officials heard the complaints but elected not to tear down any of the top-finishing motorcycles.
Here is the rundown of the top 10 paid riders in the National class and the top 10 finishers in the Pro Singles class.
NATIONAL: 1. Rich King (H-D); 2. Geo Roeder II (H-D); 3. Gary Rogers (H-D); 4. Chris Carr (H-D); 5. Will Davis (H-D); 6. Mike Hacker (H-D); 7. Joe Kopp (H-D); 8. Steve Beattie (H-D); 9. Dan Stanley (H-D); 10. Willie McCoy (H-D).
PRO SGL: 1. Roger Lee Hayden (Rtx); 2. Will Davis (ATK); 3. Bryan Smith (ATK); 4. Bret Beyer (Rtx); 5. Sam Lowe (Rtx); 6. Brandon Laursen (Rtx); 7. Kenny Noyes (Hbg); 8. Brian Shirley (Rtx); 9. Jason Goodwin (Rtx); 10. Jeremy Thompson (Rtx).
