Trenton Fairgrounds New Jersey (George Miller)

1/2 Mile Dirt Track Trenton New Jersey

Wauseon Hand Shift 2010

Starting Line

Heat of battle...

Nine HDs and Indians line up for the HEAT race (pre Fire)

Mike with his Board Tracker

Comin' out of staging

Crankin' up Ol' Thirty Three

Some pics from the Wauseon hand shift class heat races in no particular order.

Wauseon Racing - Board Track Class Upset

Pusher Man Racing Wins Wauseon Board Track Class!

Board Tracker's on the track

My son Jesse (three year member Pusher Man Racing Team)


The workings of "The Bottle Rocket"



Nice light trans

Pusher Man Racing Machines

Just Say No to Brand X

The Bottle Rocket - Now #1

The Pope

Just nice!

God Damn the Pusher Man...at least that is what Pat Murphy (the previous reigning champ of the board track class) is thinking! Carl AKA Big Jesus of Pusher Man Racing takes the #1 spot in Wauseon on his latest creation...The Bottle Rocket! When the dust cleared it was Carl Up front. When I asked Pat what happened he graciously stated, "He Kicked My Ass!"

More Wauseon Photos to come, including Hand Shift Class and the swap meet...

Hatfield Pa 1954

The photo is from 1954 taken at Hatfield Race Track in Hatfield PA. The program is from 1966.

Wauseon Ohio 2009 More

What could be better then Drag Racing Knuckleheads in Englishtown NJ one weekend and Flat Track Racing Flatheads in Western Ohio the next?

Well that's how my week went! My middle son and I just returned from Wauseon Ohio where the AMCA puts on a great National Meet and right on the grounds are Vintage Flat Track races! My old 1938 WLDR #33 was up to the task again this year and performed great for a motor that's been together for at least 50 years without a rebuild! My goals: Don't Crash and don't come in dead last...both achieved! I ran in the Hand Shift Class 1936 - 1951. What a friggin' blast!

The Board track Class was really alive this year with about 14 Board track bikes on the track 1929 and back. This is no fluffy parade lap these guys do beat those things which was evident when I witnessed Evan's J model (ridden by Pat "The Thin Man") blow chunks of cylinder head across the track. Dale Walkser brought out "The Last Board Tracker" built by HD in 1929. Cool OHV DAH type Motor with a crazy story behind it. They were shooting a pilot for a History Channel show during the race. There's a picture of the bike in the previous post.

You gotta make Wauseon!!! It is always worth the 550 mile trip for me. Not to mention I picked up a great unmolested (slightly bent) 39 Knuckle frame.

Wauseon 2009 AMCA Meet and Dirt Track Races!!!

Wauseon Ohio 2009!!!! I screwed this posting up so I am doing it in two. Up at the top of this one is Dick Zurbick with his 1948 WR #75, Dick is 82 years old and still flat track racing! Below him is Dale Walkser's "Last Board Track Racer" 1929 DAH style engine with a bazzar story behind it. There's a shot of our bikes in the pits, the "bobber" display which is actually a very small portion of it and Dennis on his KR.

Russ Paradise Revisited

Back in April Russ Paradise passed away. I did a post on him then. I found a few more pictures. The ones of his 39WLDR are from 1991 in Wauseon Ohio and the one of me and him are from Wauseon Ohio again in 2003 with our Dueling Grimy Knuckleheads!

One hell of a guy...

Racing & Crashing

Old original black and white photos I've had. Not from the internet...until now I guess.

45 Racers

The Acme Racing team in the pits at Wauseon Ohio races 2007

In Memory of Russ Paradise: February 20, 1945 - April 03, 2009

I received word yesterday that my good friend and mentor Russ Paradise passed away. I was looking forward to seeing him this Thursday at an AMCA meet in Pennsylvania.

The attached crappy pictures I snapped from images of an old VHS tape on my TV. Russ raced dirt track in the 60's until Uncle Sam interrupted his career by drafting him off to Vietnam. He resumed after he returned.

The pictures above are from 1991 at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Western Ohio. Russ is on his old 45" WLDR Flathead. As I looked through the view finder I realized that this is the exact moment that I decided that I had to Flat Track race before I die. It took me almost ten years to make that a reality.

Russ loved to "get right up in the loose stuff" and spray the crowd with pea gravel (his favorite racing surface) as he went by the Grand stands.

Russ shared a lot of his experience and wisdom with me over the years. Trying to teach me the art of broad sliding, tuning my Flathead and drinking Jack and Ginger at 7 AM when it's "Crackin' Cold"! I only mastered the latter. He recently sold his Knucklehead to another friend and I got to ride it around his property this past fall.

I will definitely miss this (sometimes cranky) old bastard! I learned a lot from him...now I just need to put it to some good use!

RIP

Flat Track 45 Maintenance

Race prepping the 45

Flat Track Races Weedsport NY 2006

Vintage Dirt Track Races Weedsport NY 2006