IN
THE
WIND
P22
SUPERPRESTIGIO:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?
T
hey said it couldn't be done,
but Chris Carr and Dennis
Pearson did it—and that's build a
flat track course inside the small
Orleans Arena for the GNC final
and Superprestigio events in
Las Vegas, November 20-21.
Seven-time AMA Grand National
Champion Carr designed a track
that was 100 meters long on
the wide line that managed to
allow great racing with plenty of
lines and racing opportunities.
Long-time track builder Dennis
Pearson made sure the track
was in great condition all night.
Even when it would occasionally
rut up in the turns, most rid-
ers still reported it being a very
good track to race.
The track featured unique
diamond-shaped turns. That
made the turns broad and often
riders went in three and even
four wide.
"The way the track was con-
figured, the way it was dug up,
it made it racy," said Superpres-
tigio winner Jared Mees. "You
could stick somebody hard and
set somebody up. It was like,
'All right, you're going to pass
me that way, I'm going to turn
around and pass you the same
way.' It felt like I was riding 100s
with my buddies in my back
yard. It was a racy little short
track. We were banging and bat-
tling and bouncing off each oth-
er. I don't think they could have
come up with a better design
of a racetrack for more chaos. I
think that's what they were after.
Hats off to Chris [Carr]. They got
what they wanted."
For the Prestigio, a motocross
starting gate was used.
"We've all grown up doing
some motocross, so this wasn't
our first trial run at a gate start,"
said Brad Baker. "I like it."
The crowd was, unfortunately,
also small and not what the
promoter Steve McLaughlin had
hoped for, but he said they had
a lot of things working against
them in the first Superprestigio
event in America, most notably
the date of the event. Next year
they hope to move the race to
late November, after Thanks-
giving, or early in December.
In spite of the challenges of
bringing in a big crowd to the
first race, for a first-year event
SOTA had excellent sponsorship
support, a television package
on NBC Sports Network and a
solid roster of riders. McLaugh-
lin seemed confident the event
would grow and be a successful
race in future years. He said,
"People will go home and tell
their friends how great this show
was and the Superprestigio of
the Americas will become a race
you can't miss."
