Langtown!
LANGTOWN!
RACE WATCH
Cycle World's own Backyard Supercross Champion reigns again!
YOU WON'T FIND BOB LANGIN's PLACE IN BETTER HOMES & Gardens. That's not surprising, considering that the backyard of his typical Southern California tract house is home to a shrink-to-fit Supercross track.
Langin was a pro BMXer in the early 1980s. After buying the house, he turned the backyard into a place to practice. After a few laps on a Honda XR75, though, the landscape began to change. Some 15 years later, what started out as a house party with helmet-donning pals spinning three motos on minibikes has evolved into the World Championship of Backyard Supercross.
JIMMY LEWIS
Right from the get-go, "Langtown," as the track came to be known, was spectacular, featuring an over/under bridge, wooden jumps and a then-big double-jump that spanned all of 12 feet. Today, a lap includes a cement
starting pad, with a wide (by backyard standards) first turn. Riders then face “The Cooper Catapult,” a step-up jump named for former AMA 125cc National champ Guy Cooper. During his heyday, Cooper was banned from racing Langin’s event by Honda bigwigs, but he’s vowed to return.
A tight, 180-degree turn leads to “Congo,” a nasty whoop section that makes you the endangered species. That’s followed by a 180-degree, highbanked corner appropriately named
“Daytona,” which heads riders toward the 35-foot, fence-line triple. Next, riders fly over the “Bridge Jump” and down along the side of the house, past the gas meter to the 180-degree “Parking Lot,” named for all the aggressive passing that occurs there. That’s followed by a climb up to the “Bus Jump," a wooden, dirt-covered erec tion that lines the south side of the complex and sets riders up for "To boggan Run," the right-to-left chute where you build speed for the "Snake River Double." As for the latter, the name speaks for itself, and only pros jump it. And did we mention the an nouncing tower in the infield?
The racing was such a hit that the event quickly gained cult status. But while few knew about the annual af fair, no one knew where it was held. Langtown's tightly knit group of fourstroke minibike racers kept the details secret, but the disease that is Back yard Supercross spread nonetheless. These days, just getting into the back yard is a struggle. Tickets, though, are free. "I don't invite people to my house, and then make them pay to get in," proclaims Langin. Still, scalping is not unheard of.
Neighbors typically throw small parties of their own, and erect scaf folding along adjoining fences. Ca pacity is so limited that Langin and some of his contractor friends in stalled an industrial-strength patio cover that serves as VII, seating. Racer entries are becoming just as hard to come by. This year, the 60rider field was filled before race day.
The bikes are special, too. The Stock class is filled with everything from brand-new XRIOOs to pre-1980 twin-shockers. As for the Modified class, though, rules only require that the bikes be four-stroke-powered and have "quiet" mufflers. That's it. As a result, there is every imaginable combination of XR8O/XR 100 engine in a Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha or Suzuki minibike frame.
The fun, family atmosphere that Langtown promotes is evidenced by the crowd, which is made up mostly of Langin's friends, co-workers and their children. The front yard is canopied into a makeshift pit area with auto graph-seeking kids treating XR8O rac ers as if they were Jeremy McGrath or Doug Henry. And just like the last sta dium Supercross you attended, there's an opening ceremony, where a local youth sings the national anthem and the top riders are introduced.
As for me, I'm an XR8Oaholic and a Langtown regular. This was my 13th year of competition, and going in, I was the only five-time winner. Don’t take me for a sandbagger, though, looking to collect what usually turns out to be a healthy Pro purse. Langin, 39 years young, is always a threat, and with four race wins to his credit, he’s one of the fastest guys on the track. Can you say “home-court advantage?” “Real” racers often make appearances, too. Supercross titlist Johnny O’Mara
and long-time Yamaha test rider Jim Hol ley both went away without away Pro-class wins-O’Mara even tried twice. And last year, Kawasaki factory rider Ryan Hughes came out to try to dethrone the Langtown locals only to go home with a third-place finish.
This year, the Pro class boast-
ed Mike Healey, a former World MX racer who holds three national minicycle championships, and Rich Taylor, a regular top-15 guy on the national MX circuit. Taylor was equipped with an exotic, aluminumframed XR100 built by Brown Brothers Racing from Washington state. A couple of up-and-coming Pros filled out the starting gate. There were also full gates for the Amateurs, plus a Vet class, which means most of the Langtown originals made the cut.
Racing was fast and furious in the qualifiers, semis and main, just like the big time. In my qualifier, I was lucky enough to grab the holeshot. I was able to fend off Healey for the entire moto, and avoided teaching him too many "local lines" in the process. Langin also made quick work of his qualifier, and Andy Anaia held off Taylor for final transfer to the main. That left two
places in the six-rider main event (that's all that will fit across the starting gate) to be decided in the semi. Taylor and up-and-corner Michael Young waged war, with Taylor taking the win over Young on his Spike Racing XR/KX. -
(loing into the main, I knew anything could happen. Consid ering Backyard Supercross' contact nature and the six ultrafast riders on the line, the track would be a battlefield, with the only safe place being the VIP seating section. At the start, Langin snagged the holeshot. Then, Healey came out of nowhere to blitz by in the whoops and take the lead, demoting Langin to second and me to third.
Formation flying was a rush of deci sion-making: Do you go outside, and hope someone doesn't go inside of you? One slip, and you go backward!
Shifts on 8-horsepower bikes were never so important. I was looking for a line past Langin, but I didn't want to be overly aggressive right off the bat. I held third for the first lap, all 25 sec onds of it. As soon as we hit the whoops for the second time, Langin bobbled and I swept by, glued to Hea ley's back fender and worried Langin was going to come back around.
Healey was setting a fast pace, and although 15 laps takes just about 7 minutes, it seemed like a lifetime. I was riding in slow motion, with my mind going warp speed thinking of all the scenarios, analyzing Healey's every move, anticipating a mistake. It wasn't going to happen. A rider of Healey's ability blocks the lines and rides fast at the same time. I had to fluster him.
About halfway through the race, I started sticking my front tire into his line. We even connected a couple of times. Occasionally, I got better drives and slipped up the inside only to have Healey blast past on the outside. I got more aggressive, but still didn't have a clear shot. I even hit the ground once to avoid a serious takeout in the "Parking Lot" turn. I jumped right back up and was on his tail before the next lap was complete, but there wasn't much time left.
On the penultimate lap, I paced Healey through the whoops, pulled alongside over the Triple, lined up over the “Bridge Jump” and squaredoff the “Parking Lot” turn like I’d done so many times before. Bull’s-eye! I was on top, in the lead for the final lap. Healey went for me again at the top of “Toboggan Run,” but I slithered past with enough speed to clear the double, which Healey didn’t. I won the race, my sixth Langtown victory and
one of the best races I’d ever run. Healey was second, with Young third.
I did the victory-lap thing, sprayed the champagne and kissed the trophy girl, then adjourned to the pits as the King of Backyard Supercross. It may not hold much weight to say that I can come to your backyard with my XR100 and whip you, but I can. All I want to know is, who sent out the invitations to the U.S. Open of Supercross at Las Vegas’ tiny MGM Grand and left four-stroke mini-SXers off the program? □
