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Between the Races
2006
May 17, 2006

Bret Milan
Bret Milan has always been an articulate representative of his employer, Shoei, but these days he’s a walking, talking advertisement for helmet technology, having crashed his brains out in a motocross accident two weeks ago. The crash left him with a fractured C7 vertebra but no permanent damage, which was a huge relief not only to Bret himself, but to his many friends in the road race and motocross communities....
May 10, 2006

John Cardinale
The AMA Superbike series hits its second of three California races next weekend, at Infineon Raceway in the heart of wine country. As has become traditional over the past several years, track officials have made several improvements to the circuit, and they have big plans for the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown. The action on the track has been particularly hot over the first several rounds as well, so the May 20-21 race promises to be a good one....
May 3, 2006

Brian Horton
Have you noticed the increasing presence of Shift in road racing circles lately? The brand may be unfamiliar to readers with strict road racing backgrounds, but those who have also followed motocross will no doubt recognize the logo and style, as they’ve been strong in that market for quite a while....
April 26, 2006

Bob Starr
If you felt something strange over the weekend, it may be because we’re now less than three months away from the 2006 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. Last year marked the first time in over a decade for the Grand Prix series to visit this country, something that was thanks in large part to Yamaha’s funding of $2 million in track improvements. This year, the event is back, and once again, Yamaha should be thanked for that....
April 19, 2006

Sharon Foxworthy
Sharon and Stan Foxworthy are the founders and organizers of Eric Bostrom’s Racing 2 Save Lives, a four-day track event that allowed this year’s participants to tear around the brand-new and stunningly beautiful Miller Motorsports circuit—for a good cause. Riders who participated collected pledges in exchange for track time, and the funds raised went to children’s charities in the Utah and Colorado area....
April 12, 2006

Sara Hood
There’s been a bit of a wait, but it’s almost time for the second round of the AMA Superbike series, which goes down next week at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. To get up to speed on what to expect, we conducted an email interview with Sara Hood, Public Relations Manager for Zoom Motorsports, the track’s exclusive event promoter....
April 5, 2006

Lowell Christensen
A couple weekends ago, our editor had the pleasure of taking part in one of Danny Walker’s American Supercamps riding schools, which was held at the Colton, California, Honda Rider Education Center. Although he’s a Southern California native, he had never visited the facility, and he was so impressed that he sat down with administrator Lowell Christensen to learn more
about it....
March 29, 2006

Ryan Taylor
When Michael Czysz unveiled the groundbreaking, American-built Motoczysz C-1 “proof-of-concept” race bike last year, it got a ton of attention. Many motorcycle magazines published big features on it, and it made an appearance at the Red Bull USGP. Since then, the bike has been off the radar somewhat, but that doesn’t mean the folks at Motoczysz haven’t been busy, as we found out when we spoke with Race Team Manager Ryan Taylor....
March 22, 2006

Davide Brivio
As the MotoGP circus gets situated in Jerez, Spain, for this weekend’s opening round, Davide Brivio is hoping the 2006 season goes as well for his team as did 2005. As the team manager for Camel Yamaha, Brivio oversees the efforts of champ Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards, and he knows the squad has a big target on its collective back....
March 15, 2006

Keith McCarty
Despite the fact that Yamaha rider Jamie Hacking won the Superstock race at Daytona, Keith McCarty was not a happy man when he flew back to California following Bike Week. The way Yamaha’s Racing Manager saw it, several rules had been broken by his competition and several mistakes made by the AMA, and very little had been done about any of it....
March 8, 2006

Gary Van Voorhis
One of the most well known (and nicest) men behind the scenes of American road racing is Daytona International Speedway’s long-time Director of Events, Gary Van Voorhis. For 16 years, Van Voorhis has watched the riders, the machinery, and the track itself evolve....
March 1, 2006

Rockwall Honda's Michael Worrell
If you walk through the pits at an Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross round, one of the first things you’ll notice is the large number of satellite teams compared to an AMA road race paddock. These teams are a sign of a sport’s health, so we were happy when Rockwall Honda came on the scene partway through last season. Based out of a Texas dealership, the team is preparing for their first full season on the circuit....
February 22, 2006

Rick Marlin
If you have the March/April issue of Road Racer X, then you may have noticed a very cool contest that Suomy helmets is putting on in conjunction with the magazine. Participants have the opportunity to design the Suomy Spec 1R helmet that Ducati Marlboro’s Loris Capirossi will wear at the July 22 Red Bull USGP. In addition, the winner will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, where they’ll meet Loris and take home the (autographed) helmet after it’s all over....
February 15, 2006

Stephen Davison
You might not know who Stephen Davison is, but if you read Road Racer X, then his work has probably made an impression on you. Stephen is the guy behind most of the “pure” road racing photos we run in the magazine (aficionados of racing on real street circuits like the Isle of Man’s TT use the adjective “pure” to differentiate their preferred genre from road racing on dedicated circuits).

February 8, 2006

Eric Bostrom
If you’re wondering why Eric Bostrom is making an appearance in Between the Races (typically interviews with industry types) rather than Tuesday Conversation (almost always rider interviews), it’s because E-Boz is now both. Along with this brother Ben, the Team Yamaha rider is now also running Boz, a company that manufactures and sells exhaust systems and casual wear. We spoke with him yesterday while he was taking a welcome break from madly preparing for the Indianapolis trade show by taking part in the AMA test at California Speedway.
February 1, 2006

Erik Buell
If you’re planning to attend the Daytona Bike Week, you’ll be pleased to know that there are some interesting stories heading into the March 11 Daytona 200. Yamaha’s move to the Formula Xtreme class is one, and of course Honda will be fielding both their in-house team and Erion Racing. But another development that has been lighting up the internet lately is Buell’s announcement that they’ve got a new model—the XBRR—that’s specifically intended for the Formula Xtreme class....
January 25, 2006

Myke Schwartz
Last night, the premiere for The World’s Fastest Indian was held in New York, and Senior Editor Jeff Kocan was on hand. We also got an advance DVD of the flick, and we’re all big fans. The movie comes to a theater near you one week from Friday, and we highly recommend you check it out. It stars Tony Hopkins, and although “Sir Anthony” does a great job, most of the riding parts are handled by stuntman Myke Schwartz....
January 18, 2006

Michelle Trueman
It may be called Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but the biggest event on the Lexington, Ohio, racetrack’s calendar is actually its annual AMA Superbike weekend. For this season, you can make that weekends (plural), as the circuit is hosting two stops on the AMA Superbike tour—the August 18-20 event and the September 30-October 1 finale. Yesterday, we had a long talk with track president Michelle Trueman, whose father purchased the now-44-year-old circuit back in 1980, and who is heading up the major improvements that are going hand-in-hand with the ramped-up plans for ’06....
January 4, 2006

Ron Heben
This season, Honda will have a new face in their paddock, as Ron Heben was recently hired as the company’s road racing team manager—a job that was previously handled by Chuck Miller, who also overseas the entire U.S. motorsports program. Actually, Ron’s not really a new face, as he worked with Honda years ago and has worked in various capacities for Kawasaki and KTM in recent years ...