Unlike the established tracks around Southern California, this track was laid out with tape and flags in a grassy area south of the pits. It reminded me so much of the Kansas tracks I rode back in the 70s...natural terrain with minor elevation changes, a jump or two, a drop away, a 6th gear wide open straight leading into a tight right hander, dust and high humidity :) (At least it seem humid to this former Kansan and now a wimpy Californian).

It had been a long time since I'd seen that much dust, which is not a criticism, so don't e-mail me, just an observation. When I was running races at Carlsbad, if there was even a small amount of dust I'd get complaints either from the riders or the local businesses that ringed the track. However, I don't think the dust was much of a problem at Harper's since it was immediately pushed aside by gentle breezes from an approaching storm out of the south.

Track layout and design was superb and Curtis Harper and crew put on a first class event. I particulaly enjoyed the saxophone duet playing the national anthem...very moving, a memorial ride celebrating the life of a local motocross rider who had recently passed away, and that hand-on-the-helmet start that requires everyone to have good hand eye coordination. I also was pleasantly surprised to see 3 female riders (at left) waiting their turn to race. My guess is that racing in the midwest is more of a family event and thus it's just natural to see women enjoying racing just as much as the men. You know, there really ought to be more of that around the country. Not only would it increase "entries" but it might make it easier for the men to convince their wives that they really need that "trick aluminum swingarm" to win. :) Additionally, there was a Pee Wee class that featured quite a few fast kids. This class was probably the most important one there, since if kids aren't exposed to vintage bikes, who's gonna care when those of us who experienced the Golden Years of US Motocross are all gone.

I met up with a few of the guys that frequent the Swapmeet, namely Phil Ketchum, John Bezinque, and Andy Lippert who was up to his elbows scoring. There were probably a few more "Swapmeeters" around and I would have loved to meet them, but my personality is one where I like to keep a low profile and not draw any attention. However, that's somewhat hard to do when your wife packs Hawaiin shirts in your luggage and that's all you have to wear. :)

Just on a side note, I want to give everyone running and working races a big "Thank You!" They do it "gratis", sacrifice time they could be practicing or prepping their bikes and at the very least, clearing their head for their upcoming race. My experience running races for 5 years is that their work goes mostly unnoticed. Saying thank you means a lot to those who see to it that you enjoy yourself at the events.

On the racing side, I believe I was told there was 197 entries for the day, which is a good turnout anywhere. Gates seemed to be full and racing clicked off like clockwork once they got underway.

As many of you know, my other hobby is photography and I took around 800 photos of some great racing. Over the course of 7-8 motos, I walked around the track looking for the right places to shoot. I tend to prefer photographing people cornering. Not that jumps aren't cool, but that's not where races are won. Racing is won in the corners and that's were you see technique, bar banging and passing. Additionally, I had to keep the sun at my back (photography is all about lighting), make adjustment for wind direction since that moved the dust aside, and try to find those areas that lended themselves to interesting photos. I did find a few "sweet spots" and I'll leave it up to you to find them among the photos below.

I have to say that going to Harper's was the icing on the cake for an already great mini-vacation. My cousin's son was a trooper and didn't complain once while there and around 2pm we decided to call it a day. If the truth be known, we didn't leave because of Marcus, I left because the heat and humidity had taken alot out of ME. :)

My thanks again to Curtis Harper and crew for putting on a GREAT event and thanks to all of you who do so much for vintage motocross.

Mark Holloway