Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126344
E • ~ E 00 - l' 0') ~ 1-0 QJ ..c e QJ u QJ o Nevada desert racing Casey olks and the MRAN By Patricia Warhol Photos by Doug Atkins and Cam Putman MRAN starts from up close lt opl and far away l abovel. IBelowl Two of the men beh ind MRAN. Casey Folks lIeft) and Bill Putman. "We origi nally organized strictly to . improv.. ~~ desert racing. W e wan ted better races," say~~~ Casey Folks , one of the founders of the Motor- ~ cycle Racing Association of Nevada and still., .. _ . . . the gUldmg Spirit behind desert rac ing in Southern Nevada . Folks, co -owner of Sportsman Cycle in La s Vegas, is a m ember 16 '1 C h i b o f G ro u n d s h a k e rs " . . , I I' C U hi h i ' hOP I M C w IC , a o ~g w it ese r t eo I'. e . . . gOI MRAN off the grou nd In 1969. T hey want ed better ~a ce~ , a ~d Ihey gOI th em . Deser t ra cing IS a live a nd well in Southern Nevada . . . From the o n g.m a l t": o clubs, MRA.N ha s grown .10 rune . with IW~ more 10 th e for'!'allve sta ge . MRAN offer~ a full ra cmg s.che?ule each yea r : with each club doing II~ share b y pUlling o n as many ra ces as It ca n handle . Hare and Hound , Europea,:, Scram~I<"S..-' H are SC ,rambl e s , POI~I .t o ' POIn ,t , Gran~ Prix - you name II, a~d y.ou II find It on th e s~hedule. No hillc lirnbs yet : bUI M RAN has sp o nso red a .few mOl<~crosse.s . and would. do more If a quality fa cility were available . Some of the ,annua l events , like the Gr~lUndshaker s Moapa t,o Vegas , which has run for th e pa st e ig h t years , have developed su ch ~ood ~epulalions th ey arc :,OW .a ll r ac ll ng. riders from Utah . California and Ari zona , Beatty 10 Veg~s , by the Oa.sis M .C.. is a fun if harrowmg ra ce to ride . and the Clover Creek Grand Prix. co. s ponso re~ by Chargers W<"St M .C . and the Caliente l • •• • l . I .•a Volunt eer Fire O e panmenl . haslirl become a high point of th e ra cin g vea r. ' . MRAN e ncom passes a ll of Southern 'I Ne vad a , but is ce nte ~" d 'p r i m ~ ri ly in li La s Veg as. Membership . including t he .) Y h O' . . b h ou t IV1Slon , num crs so mew ere betw een 500 .600 mem be rs, din " For th e size o f th e a rea ," Case 01 Folk s not es, " we put ou t so me of the 1 b I 'd . rh U . d S .. M ,. ~ n ers In I' rut e ra tes . j a x SWItzer , J ackJohnso n and Sco t H ard en all rid e MRAN . Swi tzer , with 24 y" ars of rid in g e xper ience beh ind h im , ha s won p ra c ticall yeveryth ing there is to win , J ohnson and Harden , at th is 1 point , a re two of th e m ost o u rsra nd ing r' ra cers in th e co u n try . ~ There are ot he r Nevada ra ccrs;sco rnpe ririve wirh th e best a nywhe re. ' who haven 't done enough our -of-state V ra cing for th eir reput ati ons 10 11<" ;" esta b lishe d yet , LeRoy Kyger , for q ) e xa m p le. is fa st . Radi cal maybe . but ' fast . Fr ed Hanson and Kevin Davi s recentl y took fir st 250c c class ho nor s at ' > Mexi cali in their first try at th e n Mexi can desert . Sid Tarbell , 19 ~ ' sh ows a lot of promise . There art' r man y more . ' J One reason Nevada turns nut ~ st ro ng. co nsiste nt ra cers is the terrain . Any rider wh o ever fini shed Barstow tn Veg as knows t hat near Stateline . ttw i desert turns into a rocky obsta cle " .It