Larry Pegram

Indy 09'

 

 

  

 

Here are some more from last summer. 

Cleaning stuff up, and realizing I take alot of fucking pictures.

Kenny Roberts Indy Mile 2009

Lake Elsinore Grand Prix

This Saturday

Submitted by Noah Jordan:

Summer of 09

MotoGP Estoril...Spaceman.

MotoGP at Estoril in Portugal...no one's home race. Valentino Rossi came into this round with a 30 point championship lead over teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner came into this round fresh off a self-induced 3 race absence that he spent back in the land down under being treated for a brutal case of Kangaroo Flu. Many wondered if Stoner would even show up at all. Well...he showed up, told Schwantz to shut the fuck up, and qualified in 3rd. Not bad for being off the bike for 9 weeks. JLo and Rossi started from Pole and 2nd respectively. What about the 'mericans? Edwards started from Edwardth and Hayden from 9th. So there.

This is also 'contract time', when under performing and sponsorship-challenged riders get canned to make way for new blood. Rossi and Lorenzo will be back next year with Fiat Yamaha. Rumor is that Rossi may jump ship to Ducati at the end of 2010. World Superbike hotshot Ben Spies will be pardner'd up with Edwards at Tex 3 Yamaha...Toseland got shuffled back to World Superbike to ride a factory Yamaha R1 and play a Yamaha piano in his gay cover band. Vermeulen is also heading off to World Superbike, where he will ride for the 'factory' Kawasaki team, while 250cc maniac, Alvaro Bautista, will step up to take his seat on the Suzuki MotoGP bike along side Capirossi. Stoner and Hayden at Ducati. Dovi and Pedrosa at Repsol Honda. Melandri and Simoncelli at Gresini Honda. Elias looks to be off to Moto2, and DeAngelis to a disco.

>

Back to the race...Lights out and Pedrosa, who is made of styrofoam, went straight to the front of the pack. Pedro's lead lasted roughly 4 corners, until he ran wide and let Lorenzo and his fucking sweet Neil Armstrong tribute helmet up into the lead. From there, JLo pretty much scurried off to a lonely 4th win of the season by a gap of over 7 seconds. Meanwhile, Rossi sat in 3rd with Stoner right on his ass. 2 corners into the 2nd lap, Stoner took Rossi for 2nd courtesy of a rather ballsy inside move and quickly closed down on Pedrosa in 2nd. As for Rossi, that was as good as it was going to get. That's right, the world champ finished in 4th...this was also the first time he has ever finished off the podium at Estoril. Gutted.

26 laps to go, and Stoner smokes Pedro on the brakes at the end of the front straight to take over 2nd...but not before destroying his right footpeg on the previous corner. Nine weeks off the bike? Yeah, right.

With JLo long gone, the top four places were pretty much done and dusted. What else was going on, you ask? Well, not a whole hell of a lot. Homeboy Hayden had gotten a decent start, but was starting to go backwards and ended the day in 8th. Edwards finished where he started...in 5th. Elias was in true 'contract time' mode and finished 6th from his 13th place start...ape style.

Yep...Lorenzo's win cut Rossi's lead in the champeenship from 30 to 18 points with three races to go. Even though he missed three races, Stoner sits only 3 points off of 3rd place Pedrosa in the standings. After another one of his epic celebration wheelies, Lorenzo pulled to the side of the track, grabbed a 'Lorenzoland' flag, and did a slow motion space walk into the gravel to plant the flag...excellent. Not only is JLo challenging Rossi for the title, but also in the post race celebration department.

Race Result:

1) Lorenzo-Yamaha

2) Stoner-Ducati

3) Pedrosa-Honda

4) Rossi-Yamaha

5) Edwards-Yamaha

6) Elias-Honda

7) Dovizioso-Honda

8) Hayden-Ducati

9) Toseland-Yamaha

10) Vermeulen-Suzuki

11) DePuniet-Honda

12) Melandri-Hayate

13) Canepa-Ducati

14) Talmacsi-Honda

DNF:

Capirossi-Suzuki

Kallio-Ducati

DeAngelis-Honda

Next stop: Phillip Island

T...out

World Superbike Imola - Pre Race - No Spoliers

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

This year, the most excellent Imola circuit returns to the World Superbike calendar after a two year absence. That's all fine and dandy, but when I think of World Superbike at Imola, three things come to mind...Bayliss, Edwards, and 2002. Those who witnessed it know what I'm talking about. Those who don't...Google it.

Last time out in Germany, Big Ben Spies finally took over the lead in the championship points courtesy of a first, a second, and Haga's goofy looking 5 mph tip over. Imola is Ducati's 'home' race, but Haga has never won here. Haga's teammate, Fabrizio, will start from pole..."clean up in turn 1, please."

Bonus...250cc Italian hairpiece Marco Simoncelli is filling in for Shinjured Nakano on the Aprilia RSV4 along side one Mr. Max Biaggi. Two Italians on the 'other' Italian bike in Ducati's Backyard? Mama Mia!

Watch:

Race 1...4pm CST (SpeedTV)

Race 2...5pm CST (SpeedTV)

I'll wrap this up after the races.

Nicky

Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

A Labor Day Weekend ride across three states for three race events brought a welcome escape from our daily grinds. Friday afternoon we headed towards Davenport, IA for The Mississippi Fairgrounds Annual Antique Bike Swap Meet and Flat Track Races. Our first stop of three. Upon our arrival at the half mile track old friend Mike Abeltins and I took in the dusty fairground atmosphere as a breath of fresh air. Plenty of bikes, swap meeter’s and on lookers abound. Grandstands were three quarter full. The races Friday night were decent but not spectacular. However they were a nice way to kick off the trip.

Saturday morning we hit the swap meet and hooked up with Mike’s old friend Jeff Scherim of Des Moines. He, Mike and I weaved our way through the swap meet discovering things we thought we could not live without. How about a 1915 Cyclone for $30K? Or a girls 1937 Monarch bicycle in excellent condition which looked waaaaaaay ahead of its day for $1700. Or a blue Harley Davidson from an unknown year in prime condition? Probably 1920 give or take. The black 1937 BMW Model R5 in near mint condition was not posted for sale but drew many onlookers. Care for a 1965 Schwinn Typhoon bicycle, Mikey?

Around noon Saturday we headed for Springfield, IL for The Magnificent Mile. Chances of rain increased but the ride was dry until arrival to our hotel. Overnight it poured. Thunder. Lightning. And all that shit. We made our way to The Mile and so did about five to six thousand others. No more rain but the damage had been done. We parked under the canopy of the Food-O-Rama and explored. We visited the classic bike area which holds any bike over 25 years old.

The 1978 Yamaha SR500 looked well ridden. The mint condition XR 750 Harleys were dying for some dirt. Conversely the 1972 Suzuki GT 750 was dying for some pavement. The Grand National was on hand as it was the day prior in Davenport gleaming with gitup and go. We scouted around, spoke with others and had come to the decision the track was just to wet for any racing today. We got up next to turn one and as you can see the black Midwest dirt was gonna need way more sun and time before the Dunlaps saw action on this terrain. NO bikes on dirt heading into turns one and three at just over 100mph.

A bit of disappointment but no sweat off our balls. So we headed to Indy from the Illinois State Fairgrounds to take our chances for some concrete racin’. NHRA Style!

Rain had been and was still in the area but with the help of Mike’s I-Phone we avoided all downpours on the ride. Thank God for the Age of Information. When we rolled into Brownsburg, Indiana early Sunday evening. Our first stop was for fuel. While stopped the sun poked out and a Bitch of a Black 1970 Barracuda pulled in next to us. It was a sign. Everythang gonna be alright! The next morning we got to O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

I was a NHRA virgin. Mike and Jeff teased me about NHRA being similar to Crack. I was like huh? Would I be walking out of this track covered in NHRA gear? My shirt covered in autographs? A foam John Force #1 Finger on my paw? A Brandon Bernstein tattoo on my ass? Lipstick on my collar from Top Fuel Driver Hillary Will? WTF? Well I must say on word about NHRA - MUTHAFUCKNCOOL!!!

NHRA as Mike and Jeff clued me in all day tops all motorsport events I have been to. And this was their Super Bowl Event – The Mac Tools Nationals. NHRA offers more for a fan than I could have ever imagined. Pit access, No problem. A break in the action between classes, No problem. Regular peeps hanging out for horsepower, No problem.

Some Hoosier working security that saw Jeff W. a few weeks ago at the Moto GP, no problem. (He recognized Mike’s shirt.) My NHRA Cherry had been popped. Speaking of poppin’ did you see the vein in John Force’s forehead after he got in to it with Tony Pedregon? Hell I’m like an old school NHRA’er now bitches. Ya’ll betta recognize. No not really. I just like to ramble on - Now’s the time, the time, the time. OK enough Led. One more thing about Top Fuel. It’s not the sound. Not the speed. It’s the feel of all that horsepower that is truly amazing.

The drags in Indy were the icing on the cake of this ride and I want to thank Mike and Jeff for all the insider info in regards to NHRA. Props. After Ashley Force Hood and Tony Shumacher took out the completion we headed for Peoria for our last night on the road.

The Embassy was more than we could have asked for. Back in Des Moines on Tuesday for a cold one with the dog before the wife got home from work.

Some where around 1200 miles give or take. A great weekend for all three of us - besides what are ya gonna do sit around and let your meatloaf all weekend? Cuz two outta three (races) ain’t bad…

...Bobby Hanson

Indy o9'

Davenport 09'