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/287613
IN THE WIND P24 on," Lewis says. "You know, the bikes sliding, tires squeal- ing, sparks flying… that's the kind of thing we're trying to put together. Something we put in front of fans that've never seen flat track racing before. They can come and see this type of racing and then hopefully they'll get interested and want to come see the real roots of the sport on the dirt ovals." Lewis believes Bike Week at Myrtle Beach provides fertile ground to win new fans to flat track racing. "This is the 75th running of Bike Week down there and there's really been no type of racing for the bikers to see," Lew- is said. "So this brings an exciting racing event to a place where a ton of riders will already be." Lewis sees this way of bring- ing races to where people are is a potential way of expanding the fan base. His background in Su- permoto racing (Lewis was one of the top riders of the old AMA Supermoto Championship) gave Lewis the inspiration to think out- side the box in terms of winning new flat track fans. "My ultimate goal would be to have a little asphalt series where you could take it to a downtown- type environment and get people interested," Lewis explains. "For example take a race to downtown Chicago the week before Spring- field and give people an up-close taste of what flat track racing's all about and then tell them if they want to see what the sport is all about make the two-and-a- half hour trip down the road to Springfield to see the mile." For his race in Myrtle Beach in May, Lewis is hoping to at- tract some of the top pro riders to show the fans the best riders in the country. "We've got a $3000 purse, but we also have 100 percent payback so the purse could be as much as $5000," Lewis said. "That's not bad for a first-time event. A guy could walk out with over 1500 bucks if he wins and the cool thing is you don't get your bike dirty." He's also running eight amateur races alongside and is giving those riders a little extra incentive. "These guys are used to racing for trophies," Lewis said. "I want to spice it up by offering some cool prizes. I'm getting sponsors to give a good amount of product. The winner of one of the amateur classes will win a $650 hel- met. And for the other class- es we've got goodie bags of over $500 worth of product. Kicker Audio is giving away iPod docking stations. They're going to win cool awards, but they're also going to take home some nice swag or parts and services they could use on their bikes. I want to take these prizes to the next level." To keep the racing safe Lewis has opted to race a shorter in- field course instead of taking the bikes out on the Speedway's half-mile paved oval. "They've done motorcycle rac- ing on the big oval in the past," Lewis explained. "In the early '90s I think they ran MARS races there. Obviously, I wanted to do something smaller and safer so we elected to build the track in the infield of the speedway. We're hoping once the rubber gets laid down there will be multiple [rac- ing] lines. With the pavement you really don't have to worry so much about track prep. We think there will be some good racing, 10-second laps and places to set up for passing and things like that. The track has lights that light up the whole place and we're Racer/promoter Johnny Lewis hopes to expand the fan base of flat track by bringing races to the people. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE continued on page 26