What a beautiful day THIS turned out to be… I missed the motorcycle world lately and had to just get away from reality and hit this event! As most of you know I love ‘old school’ everything so I sure was feeling at home at Billy’s race today…
Thank you Daddy for getting me out of my head for a while I needed it! I hope y’all enjoy my take on the day 😀
RIDE SAFE AND ENJOY!
Valgal
Well, I gotta say one thing, the weather at New Smyrna Beach Speedway on 3-5-22, was picture perfect for Billy Lane’s SONS OF SPEED, and when chief flagman Bubba Blackwell dropped the green…well, the action just never stopped…!!! It took over 15 heats to reach the finals, which were run after a short breather for both fans and racers.
Plenty of food and drink was available to the rear of the grandstands.
The finals were, as always, pretty exciting. Watching those old machines run the way they do, gets you wondering just how well they were designed and built…!!! Several of them were 100 years old…!!!! I’m wondering if today’s machines will last THAT long…???
Anyway, the:
Hot 45 class was won by #13, E-Bay Jake,
stock 45 …won by #26,
Stock 61, won by Michael Lang,#25,
Hot 61, won by (who else)…E-Bay Jake,
and the Singles class by #46…check me on that one. One rider in the 45 Class went down on the 4th. Turn…he also had the #13.
All in all, it was an exciting day at the races. ValGal covered the pit action, and I stayed high up in the grandstand…gettin’ too old to wander in the pit area all day…Val did a fabulous job.
Thanks to Billy Lane and the whole crew for their hospitality…hope to see ya next time..!!!
Miserable George & ValGal…Old School Biker Magazine
Well, once again, Old Man Weather put the “blocks” to us as far as HEAT was concerned. Sat., Oct. 16 was BRUTAL at New Smyrna Speedway in Samsula, Fl. for Billy Lane’s 2021 Biketoberfest edition of the Sons of Speed Old Time Motorcycle Races!! Nice crowd on hand for a Biketoberfest event.
Rev, Al gave the Invocation, we pledged allegiance to the flag, and, they were off. I tried my best to keep up with scoring, but didn’t do a very good job!!! There was just one mishap as the riders were returning to the pits after a heat. Jody Perewitz was bumped by another rider, and she went down. Thank the Lord, she was OK, but her bike was damaged to the point where she couldn’t continue…the throttle control cables were rendered useless. She told me…”That’s Racing…!!” What a girl…!!!!The program ran straight through without an intermission, and these were the results as I got them: Michael Lange-Stock 45…EBay Jake-Hot 45…Single-Winner-take-all-Billy Lane…Stock 61-Michael Lange….Hot 61-Michael Lange…Wildcard-Winner take all-Michael Lange . So, that was IT!!!! Race was over just after 4PM. I was BEAT…had to have help getting up the high bank on turn 4 to get through the gate!!! I think next race, I’ll just sit in the Grandstand and do what I can from there!!
Thanks Billy Lane for your hospitality…Miserable George
…..Billy Lane and company does it again…
First, I’d like to thank Robin Bailey for all her invaluable assistance in covering this very COLD #10 Sons of Speed Race at New Smyrna Speedway.
When I say “cold’, I mean the weather, NOT the track action!! Right off, we noticed an increase in the number of competitors over last time…a definite sign that this sport is gaining in popularity!! Billy Lane himself worked the flag tower this year, and wasted no time in getting the action started right after the National Anthem and invocation.
There were 12 heats this time, made up of 45’s, early 61’s, and, hot 61’s, and, despite the COLD weather, the action on the half-mile was hot and heavy. Folks, THIS is real old school “board track” style motorcycle racing…if you close your eyes, you can almost see the boards!!!! No brakes, no clutch, and no trannies…starting and stopping is a real chore, but these racers handled it with ease!!!
We’ve published copies of the final results, so, YOU take it from there. I don’t wanna make any mistakes.
Our BIG thanks to Billy and Erin Lane, and the entire crew for bringing back this “old school” event, and I look forward to many more!! I thank them too, for their fabulous hospitality…!
See ya next time…Miserable George
The action at this year’s Biketoberfest Billy Lane’s Sons of Speed vintage Motorcycle Races, at New Smyrna Speedway, began on a note of sadness, at the announcement of the passing of racer Mark Hanna this past June…the race was dedicated to Mark…
This race was held under the lights, which caused a “slight” problem for me, in as much as I didn’t want to use my camera flash shooting the riders in action on the track. Making adjustments to the different race situations proved to be quite a chore, so I set what I figured would be a good “mean” setting…BUT…I was wrong, so some of the action is a bit blurred…please bear with me…OK?
There was yet another touch of sadness at the news of Brittney Olsen’s retirement from active motorcycle racing…always loved to watch that little girl race…she was GOOD too, although this last time out…she failed to score a final win. Good luck, Brittney…!!!
It was touch and go with the weather all evening, as we experienced some drizzle during the race…an all-out shower coming just after the final lap!!!!
The winners were:
45” Class…E-bay Jake
Stock 61” Class…ROXY HANNA!!!
Hot 61” Class…E-bay Jake.
It was a safe event…no spills. Air was a bit cooler, so the bikes ran a bit better too.
AS always, I wanna thank Billy Lane and his wife Erin for their awesome hospitality, as well as some of the crew members for their information during the action. Looking forward to Bike Week, 2020 and the next Sons of Speed event…
Miserable George
If I’m gonna be in the pits on Race Day, I wanna be there early, and, early I was, on St. Paddy’s Day, 2018, for Billy Lane’s Sons of Speed Races at New Smyrna Speedway. Weather was shaping up to be just about perfect…sunny and warm!!!
I believe it takes a special kind of rider to take command of one of these ornery machines…hard to start, and hard to stop too!!
BUT, long about 1PM, after tuning, warm-up laps for both engines and tires, the first heat blasted off. It was the stock 45’s, followed by the stock 61’s, and then, the HOT 61’s…a kind of “souped up” class!
You could see the tell-tale wear on the tires because of that steady “left-hand turn”. The actual speed wasn’t blinding, but, it was fast enough to make you NOT wanna go down!! And, the sound…..well, I can’t even describe it!!
Thanks to the track staff, and my tape recorder, I was able to capture the names of all the winners of the heats, semi, and the finals…I THINK I got them all, if not, I am truly sorry…I tried!!
No spills, but, lots of chills and thrills!! A big thanks to Buzz Kanter and Bubba Blackwell for their between, AND during runs chatter, and helpful information about this fabulous sport. Bubba showed us his expertise with a big dresser, and, Buzz was very informative concerning nearly every aspect of this type of motor racing.
Also, for those interested…the 2018 Cannonball Run will be held in Sept…8th. to 22nd., starting in Portland, Maine, and finishing in Portland, Oregon….Don’t miss it…!
I just wanna thank Billy Lane for his hospitality, and, the Speedway kitchen for making the best “track-burgers” I ever ate!!! It was a good day all around, and, I’m certainly looking forward to the next Sons of Speed event…stay tuned…stand up for your country, and vets, and…GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Miserable George
