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/1542398
Happ€nings in Motorc Ucl ing \ I VIP the Kawasaki Wag Contesl winner Steve Boumon (right) ond MX hero Jeff Emig. Kawasaki recently put on a reader contest in which one Cycle News reader won an all- expenses-paid trip to Sonoma, California, to be a motoiournalist for the weekend at the AMA Superbike races at lnfineon Raceway. Readers submitted a 3 l8-word essay describing a fictional race report of the upcominB races at lnflneon, which was judged by the Cycle News staff for originality and iournalistic qualiq/. We had loads ofgreat entries (many of which were of publishable quality), but - as in the race all the entrants wrote about - there could only be one winner. And that win- ninS story s(ood a head above the rest, as it put a new twist on things and included some humor (which we hinted at in the contest details) to what can otherwise be a cut- and-dried topic to write about. That story was written by I'4innesota's Steve Bauman - who was then off to lnfineon Raceway for a VIP weekend courtesy of Kawasaki. Yours truly was on hand as a representative for Cycle News, and Kawasaki made sure it was a weekend Bauman would not forget. Kawi staned by taking all the winners (from Cycle News and various other magazines) on a street ride through the beautiful Nonhern California wine country and after that there was a mini-moto event on KLXI l0s. Due to some adverse weathe; everTone was slippinS and sliding around in a KLX mudfest- "lt was raining, and the track was way muddy. But it was awesome! I love the mud," said Bauman, "My usual overconfidence kicked in, and considering myself somewhat of a decent mud rider, lwent for it right away. ldidtwo practice laps, and lwas just exhausted. lt was super hard to keep the bikes up in the slippery mud that the constant rain produced. I loved it, thou8h." Kawasaki also invited a host of former champions to the event, including road-race and flat-track legend Gary Nixon, champion drag racer Ricky Gadson, and former motocross champion Jeff Emig - who gets around the road-race track surprisinSly well for a "dirt" guy. Bauman and the rest of the other winners, as well as a host of,ournalists, were then invited to a VIP suite to watch the racing action for the remain- der of the weekend. Kawasaki flnished off the event by hosting a track day the l*4onday after the weekend- Everyone got loads of tiack time as well as a few passes on the drag strip at the end ofthe day. "lt was a great day - the weather was nice, and I spent the majority of rhe day ripping around on a ZX- 10, having a blast," Bauman said. "We got a couple passes on a ZX- 14 at the drag strip at the end of the day, and that was a hoot. The day was over all too quickly, as was the whole weekend. Like all good things, it had to come to an end, but it all seemed to fly by so fast. I guess it's easy to get used to VIP treat- ment! All the Kawasaki and other representatives were really cool, and I can't thank them enough for the great weekend." (Above) The mini- moto evenl wo5 o KLx mudfest. (Selowl Atlos lokes Rood Rocer Xl Loursl Allan for q two-up ride oround lnlineon. s ! I L \ I I t ?o- Gory Nixon wor on hond for the Koworoki weekend. {r+, Gb -. r.- - i+trt- ff : rr\t FT * - (R W I a I "4^i- <6a l,--\ B Kawrrsari ' t9rrocrer +b - , t k V: {t ,G .L 82 JUNE 21,2006 . CYCLE NEWS SteYe Atlos $ \ N ai sl ra \ e- 7 t I ?@/ \ _! ,/ o- StGve Atlor tokes to the trsck ot lnfineon, a n lr- -1 F*t I a L- -'/