Report on the Stockton Mile, 09-12-09

[xmailman]

This is a report on Saturdays Stockton Mile and it is a partial report at that. I was awakened at 4 AM Saturday morning to the sound of thunder. Big flashes of lightening followed immediately by LOUD reports of thunder. Unusual here in Sebastopol. I sort of dozed and at 6 AM said to myself time to get up and go. Soon I was headed outside to get the newspaper only to find out it was raining.

The bike is sitting in the garage ready to go but now I'm not. My bike isn't my only mode of transportation anymore so it's on to plan B, take the truck. Threw most everything in the truck and headed out. Wound up taking Hwy 4 to the track, a 130 mile drive from the house, 2 hours and twenty minutes.

Got my press pass, Thank You Al, and entered the track. These are just a few of the bikes on display when you first come in.





These are the empty grandstands around 11:00 AM. It has just quit raining and will soon be raining again. Lots of lightening. If you look at the far end of the grandstand between the seats and the roof you will see a puff of black smoke. Lightening hit something South of the Fairgrounds. In front of the grandstands you will see a wall of plywood. The club, Lodi Motorcycle Club, put up an eighth of a mile of plywood for rider safety. This was to keep a rider from siding under the rail and hitting a post.




This is Jimmy. He was nice enough to share his umbrella with me as we stood out in turn 4. We needed it a couple of times. Who would have thought you needed an umbrella in Stockton in September? He also told me how hard the club worked to put on this event. Behind him you see some of the mountain of hay bales they bought to put to the outsides of the turns.




View from the display area to the parking area. Wet!




Here you have the track drying crew doing there best to prepare the track.

[xmailman]

Rain has stopped but the grandstands are slow to fill up.



Out in the pits a couple of old H-D KR 70's


On the other end of the spectrum a TZ 750 road racer set up for the dirt. Notice the tracks in the water.




Engine of the TZ 750. I like the fuel in the fuel lines. And of course the radiator.



Here's the whole bike. Pretty as hell. Would be a nice shot against a white back ground.

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This isn't a road race frame.



For Greg a shot of Joe Kopp. Those ignition wires and the frame just pop. Greg is an author. His book on the early days of the Grand National racing is a must have for race fans. It can be found here. http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorcycle-Racin...d=p3286.c0.m14
It is very entertaining and full of facts.



Time for practice. This is turn 1. Nice rooster tails. Your choice of lines. At the bottom of the shot you can see the rails the plywood is protecting the riders from.







You can tell the riders who were in competition. They had the most mud.

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Turn 4 and a local amateur snuck in.



Here is his claim to fame. Helps when your also a club member, LOL.




Ray Abrams working on a TZ 250 , while another gentleman uses a spark plug magnifying scope to check out a carb jet.


Nice bike, friendly rider. Tell me who he is and I'll add his name.



Exotic isn't only for Yamaha's. Check out these BMW's. Chain drive with a rear sprocket that only hill climbers and stunter's would ever use. The rider came in 3rd in his heat race beaten just before the line.




OOpps. Turns out I trashed the end of the report. I'll put it up after lunch.

Bill

[kluts]

Nice report, Bill. At the last moment I decided to go and was glad I did.

[David 1]

Wow
That's an in depth report. South Bay Riders have a report today also. But not the inside look like this.
I've never been there. I ought to try it.
Thanks for the photos
dc

[xmailman]

So here we go with the start of a heat race. Notice the stand are now full.




Two starts, a restart of the same guys, in a row in turn 1. Notice how close together the pack still is both times on each start.













And we will end with Joe Kopp. With him went my camera batteries. I had brought 2 and recharged one of them once. Only took a few hundred photo's but moving the zoom in & out shortens battery life. Plus I had used the flash.




To all you die hard fans I apologize but I left when the semi's started. It turned out I ha a 2 hour 10 minute ride home. The end the same way as it started in the rain. I think next year I'll go and just sit.

Bill

[xmailman]

Al Webber was nice enough to give a press pass based on my old racing photos. I took lots of pictures of the guys working the event. I'll send Al a CD with all the pictures.

Those club members had two hard days of work. I know the racers were grateful. That's not counting all the prep work. I was told putting up all the plywood was a bitch. Now they have to take it down and move all the hay bales. Anybody need $4000 worth of hay in the Stockton area? LOL.

[Papa-Ken]

Originally Posted by kluts

Nice report, Bill. At the last moment I decided to go and was glad I did.

Glad you and Bill went. I was loaded and ready to go, frothing at the bit until I saw all the gray clouds in the ski.........wussed out. I so miss the Sacramento mile and thought great.....Stockton mile only an hour away and then blew it. Oh well, I hope they hold this every year and I get another chance to watch the flat-trackers light my fire. Thanks Bill for your excellent presentation of the Stockton Mile.........Ken

[Ramjet]

That was a great report, Bill. There was a front page blast, about the huge turnout, in the Stockton Record newspaper, on Sunday. They claim we had over 7,000 people there. It was a long two days, as both ended after 7pm for the workers. Stay tuned though, as I believe the fair board wants more of this. Sammy Halbert reeled in Kopp in the feature, and won it for a standing ovation. The crowd went wild. We didn't have much to do , at first, with the water trucks, but the track held up well , and put down some water on Sunday.