AMA Superbike @ Mid-Ohio - July 16-18th 2010

[dropstharockalot]

Weekend review:

1) 700+ miles in three days... I'm not an inronbutt guy, so this is my new record.  The ol' M900 ran like a top.
2) Mansfield, OH doesn't have much to offer.  If I do this next year, I'll pony up the extra dough for a room in Lexington or camp at the track.
3) Speaking of camping at the track - various sources reported nine arrests, seven bikes impounded, one track security golf cart flipped over by a small mob, and a minor bonfire incident.  Good times!
4) Be careful what you volunteer for - my offer to help resulted in me dragging an enormous floor fan up from the hot pit back to the trailer - not such a big deal if the contraption isn't deviously engineered to pivot and swing at wild angles, and to jab sharp edges into your calf muscle.
5) Those of us that have only been to IMS for racing events don't realize how spoiled we are and how good we have it.  Civilization is right outside the track, there are vendors catering to your every need, there are restrooms every thirty feet, track staff are everywhere to assist you, there's law enforcement for traffic control - it really is world-class.
6) That said, Mid-Ohio is a pretty cool experience. Everything is intermixed... parking, camping, bleachers, vendors, pit crews, racers… at one point I looked at the guy next to me in the stands and it was Kurtis Roberts, just checking things out between races.
7) A guy that can pilot a 50cc scooter with a 25-gallon Igloo balanced on the bars while drinking a Busch Light deserves some sort of award... there were enough of them this weekend that there probably could have been gold, silver and bronze medals handed out.
The average AMA racer is probably 5’-8” at most, and maybe weighs 150lbs.  Most of them look like they’re probably 19 or 20.
9) Finally, privateer racers are my new heroes.  Stymie showed up with an '07 GSX-R, torn leathers, a volunteer pit crew, and the same bundle of 500 plastic zip-ties that you or I would buy at Lowe’s and keep in the garage.  Pros show up with four team-sponsored 18-wheelers containing dedicated suspension techs, tire specialists, EFI tuning guys that work for the manufacturers, data analysis pros, managers, publicity wonks, chefs, drivers, fitness instructor Billy Blanks to give everyone invigorating Tae-Bo workouts, masseuses, long-legged umbrella girls with less than 4% bodyfat and real hair, Turtle from “Entourage”, and all their parents and spouses… all residing in air-conditioned comfort between races.  Despite all these advantages, Stymie held his own for 19 laps with Melissa Paris – factory-supported Yamaha rider on a ’10 YZF-R6- until his tires went all to crap on him at the end of the race.  Pretty outstanding effort.

10) If someone could please fill me in on why DesmoOhio is “The Politically Incorrect Ducati Club,” I’d appreciate it.  I’m assuming there’s a good story behind that slogan.

[BryanS]

I believe the "politically incorrect" bit stemmed from a letter that Chris, their president, sent to the AMA a while back when they started writing weird rules and his letter was pretty non-politiically written.... or it could just be all the crazy crap they do.... it doesn't seem that long ago that we we're hanging out a mid-Ohio with them drinking moonshine from a mason jar (granted it was one of our members that brought the moonshine)