Ups & Downs
UPS & DOWNS
UP: To Harley-Davidson, for doing The Right Thing. The Motor Company has taken the plunge and will sell the XR1 200 street-tracker stateside. The $10,799 ma chine was unveiled domestically at the Long Beach Cycle World International Motor cycle Show last December concurrent with the bike's release to dealerships. Way to go, H-D, but we still haven't forgiven you for shipp~ng it to Europe first...
UP: To motocross, for launching two of NASCAR's best drivers. Both 2008 Nationwide Series Champion Clint Bowyer and 2008 Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson got their starts at age 5 racing mini-MX; each won races and titles before moving on to four wheels. Second-place man in both NASCAR series was Ca~ Edwards, who rides a Victory Vision in his free time. Time to get dirty, Carl, if you want tokeepup.
J~UP: To Ben Bostrom, for being his own motor. Fresh off winning the 2008 AMA Supersport title, "B-Boz," a fitness freak, entered the grueling 24 Hours of Moab mountain-bike race, run on a 15-mile course through Utah's famous red slick rocks. This year's event was made even tougher by 50-mph wind gusts and 35-degree temperatures at night. Competing in the solo class, Bostrom rode 240 miles and climbed 20,800 vertical feet in 24 hours to take an impressive fourth overall in class. Brother Eric was in the race, too, as part of a five-person coed team that took first in their class. Note to AMA racers: You’re probably not going to out-train the Brothers Boz.
To KTM, for calling it quits. After 12 years, the Austrian manufacturer has decided to discontinue the KTM Junior Supercross Challenge. On the up side, more than 3000 young boys and girls have participated in the KJSC program since the first exhibition race at the L.A. Coliseum in 1997. Some of the famous names who have participated in the program include Mike and Jeff Alessi,
Blake and Tyler Wharton, Zach Osborne, Ryan Dungey, Drew Gosselaar, Jacqueline Strong and Michael Hall.
#\UP To Eddie Lawson, for never slowing down. The four-time 500cc Grand Prix world champion piloted his Yamahapowered superkart to his third career victory in the Super Stars of Superkarts event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last October. As was often the case during his two-wheel racing years, the Californian started on pole and led every lap, narrowly beating hard-charging Australian Sam Zavaglia at the invitational event run in conjunction with the American Le Mans racing series.
