VOL. 55 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 P111
got the right setup, or the right
degree of bravery that weekend
to win. And we now have fans with
incredible name recognition for
the top five or six in Singles, who
follow them loyally. I mean, Shayna
Texter now has her own line of
merchandise, which we market for
her at events, and it's one of our
best-selling lines.
Has her success persuaded
other women to come and
race?
In the last year or so, as her
visibility has raised, it's certainly
encouraged a lot more females
to come to the races. We have
a midprogram break, so we run
qualifying and heat races, and
then we take an hour's break in
the middle of our program, and
we open the paddock to the pub-
lic so that everybody can come in
and mix with the racers, and get
close up to them and the bikes,
and chat to them. This usually
coincides with sunset, when you
don't want the sun in the eyes of
the racers, so we kill two birds
with one stone. What I've noticed
this year that the crowds are big-
ger, and they're more engaged,
and they also know who the stars
are. But there are half a dozen
racers for whom there's always
a line of people waiting to chat
with them, and get autographs
signed. Shayna is number one,
and a high proportion of the
people wanting a selfie with
Shayna Texter are girls between
the age of eight and 18, brought
by their mums and very proud
dads! Shayna certainly has a
story that resonates—it's still very
much a rarity to have a female
who's actually successful in a
male-dominated sport, not merely
there to make up the numbers.
Our TV partner NBC under-
stands that, and they're obviously
very keen on Shayna, to the point
that they tap her on the shoulder
Lock expects more
manufactures to
jump into the AFT
arena in the next
few years.
could be one of 15 guys—or a girl!
Obviously, our Singles are very
closely matched, because they're
based on production 450 moto-
cross bikes, which are incredibly
similar, whatever the OEM's will tell
you. And the tuning allowed in AFT
Singles is fairly straightforward, so
nobody has a power advantage,
and nobody has a chassis advan-
tage. So it's about which kid has
Since coming
back in [Indian]
has been wildly
successful, and
now it's almost
impossible to win
a race unless
you're on an
Indian. If that
situation remains
for five years I've
got a problem."
Shayna Texter
is to AFT as to
what Danica
Patrick is to
NASCAR.
