Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

FIRST PERSON/OPINION

Via e-mail, regarding Loudon, Iraq:

Loudon paid homage to the troops and the Iraqi people in their own way in the season’s opening race this weekend.

First, they cancelled Thursday’s practice. Then they ground down the track’s surface and repaved part of the track. They must have run out of asphalt when they got to the front straight. They set up a half-ass chicane that utilized pit road as the front straight. Then, they really went the extra mile and brought in a rainstorm for all of Saturday. The way the rain brought the oil to the surface on the freshly-paved sections was almost as beautiful as the lake that formed in one of the turns. This was all done so that the participants would fully know the years of hardship that the Iraqi people have endured under Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Then, the folks from the LRRS regime went one step further. They covered the track with sand so that the racers would know what the troops experienced during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

When I think about all the calling for a regime change, I cannot help but think of the LRRS morons. They canceled the other forms of racing at the track because they figured that none of them were as stupid as motorcycle club racers.

When I was in the Marines our motto was Semper Fidelis which is Latin for Always Faithful. The LRRS racers should have a motto of Semper Stupid, for Always Stupid.

Loudon, the only game in town. If you don’t like it, then leave – but you aren’t going to get any of your money back.

Kevin Fegan
Franklin, Massachusetts




Now, a response to the above, via e-mail:

I (and all of the people at NHIS last weekend) take offense to Kevin Fegan’s e-mail calling us a bunch of stupid morons. Hundreds of racers, including myself, participated in a great weekend of racing, despite many adverse conditions, including weather, track condition, and idiots like Kevin Fegan. He never specified if he actually raced that weekend or just turned tail and ran home.

If he stayed he would know that the support people stayed out the entire day Saturday in crappy weather and we ended up running a full schedule. Sunday was beautiful, dry, sunny, and not too hot.

I was not exactly happy that the track was not in its normal configuration, but when I heard that the Bahres had some sections of the motorcycle course paved as to minimize the impact on our weekend even though it would be torn up for repaving, I figured they did all they can to keep us running. The layout was good enough. Pit road is flat with good pavement and the chicanes added a little something new. New England winters and springs are not exactly predictable for optimal paving conditions, how does Kevin expect them to schedule around nature? The same goes for the rain. Thank God we aren’t with AMA or they would’ve cancelled the racesm altogether! As for the sand, I have no idea what he was talking about. On the nice sunny Sunday the fast guys were still ripping 1:13 lap times, even with a slower track configuration. There seemed to be no problems for them, maybe Kevin is a little more picky.

And after all this, Kevin still had the inflated ego to compare his crybaby weekend with a war in Iraq where people are dying? I think that says it all but needed to get the rest off my chest.

Yes, NHIS is the only game in the NE, but that isn’t their fault. If someone would actually open a track instead of issuing press releases about their plans to open tracks, than we could have a multi-track series and Kevin could go elsewhere.

“A wet day at racing is still better than a great day at work.”

Chris Cosentino
Union City, New Jersey



Via e-mail, regarding Sears Point:

Showing up to Infineon raceway for an AFM event a few days prior to the AMA National, I figured that I would be starting to see some changes and improvements to the track’s safety for the AMA round. I was wrong.

As I circulated around the track, it all pretty much looked the exact same to me in most areas. I really figured this out when in a practice session on Saturday I got tossed on my head in the carousel (turn 6) and myself and the bike bounced off the tire wall. I luckily walked away with only some bumps and bruises. But as I stood there looking at my crashed-up motorcycle and watching guys rail through there I then noticed that the run-off there is a joke. It gets used up real quick when you through it down the road, straight at a wall at 100 mph.

I just don’t understand how they are spending millions and millions of dollars modifying this track for rider safety, when there are still concrete walls with tires in front of them and 20 feet of run-off in almost every turn.

Thanks to everyone who helped in the purchase of Airfence because I personally don’t see many permanent track improvements!

Hawk Mazzotta
Pebble Beach, California