Motorcycle Racing: December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

plus 4, Leap Year! - ESPN.com

Leap Year! - ESPN.com
Pastrana jumps rally car 269 feet - ESPN.com
Pastrana breaks world record for jump in rally car - Philadelphia Inquirer
Florida Tech knows winning conference games is tough - Florida Today
TOP 10: 2009 brings national, worldwide spotlight to Nevada County ... - Union

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 10:02 PM PST

He did it. And he made it look so easy.

A few minutes after the clock struck 2010 (on the east coast, that is), Travis Pastrana jumped his Subaru Impreza 269 feet, smashing the previous record of 171 feet set by DC Shoes co-founder Ken Block in November 2006. And, just for added flare, he did it under the first blue moon in 19 years and in front a live television audience. Then he landed on a barge floating 200 feet off the Long Beach pier, flew into the tire wall and jumped out of the car to celebrate with the tens of thousands of folks lining the pier. Then, reminiscent of his 1999 jump into the San Francisco Bay, he backflipped off the pier and into the chilly water below. But he's come a long way from having his gold medal and prize winnings stripped for that stunt. "Yep," he says. "A long way."

The thing is, it was hard to find anyone in Long Beach who was surprised by his success — or nervous in the hours leading up to the jump. "When I used to say I was going to do something, everyone would say, 'Don't do it. That's crazy! That's dumb! And they'd try to talk me out of it," Pastrana says. "Now, I say I'm going to do something like jump a car onto a barge and they say, 'Cool. You'll be fine. You're Travis Pastrana. It will work.' Somehow I've built this reputation as being better than I actually am. It's an amazing position to be in, because when I have an idea, people are willing to take a risk to help me make it possible. But it's also very scary, because I have to think things through a lot more now."

But if his friends weren't offering their usual last-minute advice or trying to talk him out of yet another possibility-bending stunt, perhaps it was because, in the days leading up to New Year's Eve, there were signs.

Like when, at lunch during two of the final practice sessions in Lake Elsinore, Calif., Subaru rally team manager Clint Fast was handed his order number — 43, Ken Block's rally number — printed in black on a white, plastic card from Carl's Junior. "They were a sign," he says, showing Pastrana the two identical cards, the day before the final jump. "That Ken's record is going down tomorrow night!"

And there was the Target omen. "Check this out, Trav," says Mario Panagiotopoulos of Red Bull, a few minutes later, while pulling a rather lengthy receipt from his wallet. "I spent more than $200 and bought a ton of stuff and, after all of that &" He points to the "change due" line, which reads, "$1.99." Pastrana's number since he was a kid. "That's a sign if I've ever seen one," he says. "That's good luck."

And, of course, there were the signs. Plastered all over the city of Long Beach, posters announcing that, "On New Year's Eve, Travis Pastrana will make a car fly." The city, its firefighters and police force embraced the event. So Pastrana didn't want to let them down. "If I could sit down tonight and write about this experience," he says, "I would write about this town. How cool everyone has been, and how fun it's been to get to work with the fire marshals and the law enforcement. I get to do so many things that have nothing to do with racing cars or motorcycles. I am so fortunate to be in these situations. And I don't know how it keeps happening to me."

Lately, his sponsors have a lot to do with that. Last New Year's Eve, Pastrana watched his friend and Red Bull teammate Robbie Maddison jumped his bike onto a replica of the Arch de Triumph in Las Vegas. While he wasn't interested in swapping places with Maddo — "I was scared to death for Robbie last year," he says. — he decided he was interested in getting in on the New Year's Eve action. "It sounds cliché, but it's so cool to be a part of No Limits," he says. "They shut down the whole city and thousands of people are out here just having a lot of fun." So tomorrow, once the party is over, will he start 2010 with any resolutions?

"I've never made a New Year's resolution," Pastrana says. "I don't need the extra motivation. I live my life every day as best I can." And if he wants to change something, he doesn't wait until January 1. "I get that from my dad," he says. "If he bought me a cool Christmas gift, he'd give it to me that day. He'd say, 'What if I waited to give you this bike and it snowed the day after Christmas and you couldn't ride it? Why wait for Christmas?"

But if he were to make a resolution today? "It would be to do less," he says. "Lately, I'm always tired and sore and hurt." So, less is more? "I couldn't do it," he says, rethinking his resolution. "I'd be bored by next week."

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Pastrana jumps rally car 269 feet - ESPN.com

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 10:23 PM PST

Pastrana Sets New Record

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Travis Pastrana ended up in the water again.

The daredevil shattered the world record for the longest jump in a rally car on Thursday night, making a nearly perfect flight of 269 feet from the Pine Street Pier onto a barge anchored in the harbor.

"It was a wild ride," said the wild man of action sports.

His Subaru skidded sideways after landing and slammed into a safety wall at the end of the barge, but Pastrana emerged unscathed. He ran up the landing ramp and did a backflip into the water in front of a crowd estimated at 20,000.

In 1999, Pastrana announced himself to the action sports world when at age 15 he celebrated an X Games gold medal by jumping his motorcycle into San Francisco Bay. That stunt got him into a fair bit of trouble, and he lost his prize money and medal.

This time, his splashdown was well-received.

"It's soft," Pastrana joked about his penchant for jumping into the water. "It was a lot colder than I anticipated."

He broke the old record by 98 feet.

"The flight was awesome," the 26-year-old daredevil said. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."

After teasing the crowd of several thousand with a warmup run down the 1,000-foot run-in and up the takeoff ramp, Pastrana did it for real, flying across approximately 220 feet of water to the landing ramp on the barge just a few minutes after midnight EST.

Pastrana said he skidded at the end because the dew had set in about 10 minutes before he took off. Had he landed straight and stopped before the wall, he planned to spin doughnuts in celebration.

Asked about the condition of his car, he laughed and said, "Good-ish. It's not a submarine, so I think that's good."

The old record was 171 feet set by Pastrana's Subaru teammate, Ken Block, in a rally car in November 2006. Pastrana wanted to break that mark by more than 100 feet.

He came close.

"There's a 40-foot window where I wasn't going to break or die," he said, "and I hit it right in the middle."

The stunt was the latest in Red Bull's New Year, No Limits series.

Pastrana was the first to do a double backflip on a motorcycle, and he's gone on to win four straight Rally America championships.

As part of his Nitro Circus TV show, he's done such crazy stunts as riding dirt bikes off a ramp into the Grand Canyon and parachuting the rest of the way down; and jumping out of a plane without a parachute, confident that a fellow skydiver with a parachute who jumped out at the same time would catch up to him and guide him to earth.

"This is one of the cooler feelings, just to be part of something so huge," he said. "It was kind of pass or fail. It was just a really good time and trying to push the envelope of what's possible in a car."

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Pastrana breaks world record for jump in rally car - Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 10:16 PM PST

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Travis Pastrana shattered the world record for the longest jump in a rally car on Thursday night, making a nearly perfect flight from the Pine Street Pier onto a barge anchored in the harbor.

His jump was unofficially measured at 274 feet, which would smash the old record by 103 feet.

After teasing the crowd of several thousand with a warmup run down the 1,000-foot run-in and up the takeoff ramp, Pastrana did it for real, flying across approximately 200 feet of water to the landing ramp on the barge just a few minutes after midnight EST.

His Subaru skidded sideways after landing and slammed into a wall at the end of the barge, but Pastrana emerged unscathed, ran to the end of the barge and did a backflip into the water.

The old record was 171 feet set by Pastrana's Subaru teammate, Ken Block, in a rally car in November 2006. Pastrana wanted to break that mark by more than 100 feet.

The stunt was the latest in Red Bull's New Years, No Limits series.

Pastrana was the first to do a double backflip on a motorcycle.

A decade ago, he announced himself to the action sports world when at age 15 he celebrated an X Games gold medal by jumping his motorcycle into San Francisco Bay in 1999. That stunt got him into a fair bit of trouble, and he lost his prize money and medal.

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Florida Tech knows winning conference games is tough - Florida Today

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 10:02 PM PST

Asking Florida Tech men's and women's basketball coaches Billy Mims and John Reynolds what their teams have to do to win in the rugged Sunshine State Conference and then having the players do it falls into the easier said than done category.

Tech's men, 10-2, and its women, 7-4, kick off the 2010 SSC schedule Saturday at Florida Southern in Lakeland. Waiting will be Southern's men, undefeated, 11-0, and ranked second nationally, and Southern's women, 10-1.

The games, crucial enough as they are, have more significance since the Panthers stumbled in their December conference games against Tampa. The men fell 77-70 and the women lost 75-57.

So, that being said, here's Mims' and Reynolds' thinking on the 15 remaining SSC games.

The five things Mims said the men must do to win in the conference.

1. Remain healthy. Tech won five SSC games last season playing without star forward Justin Sedlak, who missed 2008-2009 with an ankle injury, and standout guard Donovan Woodson, who missed appreciable time with multiple injuries. Now, with Cocoa High graduate and freshman backup point guard Julius Reid out for the season with a broken bone in his right foot and junior transfer Mark Caviness out for at least two weeks with a sprained ankle, Tech is suddenly thin.

2. Execute the offense with good shot selection and minimize turnovers.

3. Rebound. "You can't give your opponent two and three chances to score," Mims said. "It's hard enough to stop teams in our league one time."

4. Free throws. Shoot and make more free throws than the opponent.

5. Have swagger and confidence. "In this league, you cannot turn up with a B or a C performance and win," Mims said. "You've got to bring your A game every night. That's the swagger I'm talking about."

Players who must step up: Woodson, a senior, will shoulder increased responsibility in both starting at shooting guard and backing up Cummings at the point. Also, sophomore Edgars Eglitis will see increased time at forward replacing Caviness.

The five things Reynolds said the women must do.

1. Improve field goal percentage. Improve shot selection and ensure shots are in the flow and tempo of the game and within the offense. Tech has shot under 40 percent for seven straight games.

2. Increase and maintain defensive intensity. Continue to be aggressive without fouling.

3. Take less 3-pointers and attack the basket and get to the free-throw line. A Reynolds goal is always making more free throws than an opponent takes.

4. Rebound. Be relentless. Limit opponent's second-chance opportunities.

5. Expect to win. Have confidence on the road since SSC home teams are so confident.

Step up: "You need the entire team to be consistent," Reynolds said. "There's things we can't afford. (Lynisha) Nelson can't get in foul trouble early in games. She's our on the floor leader."

"(Ashton) McClairen, (Amanda) Allen and (Emi) McCullough have to be consistent from the perimeter. Our post players have got to finish inside."

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TOP 10: 2009 brings national, worldwide spotlight to Nevada County ... - Union

Posted: 31 Dec 2009 09:05 PM PST

Seventh-inning heroics lifts Lady Bruins to third-straight Division IV title

The Union, May 16, 2009

STOCKTON — As the foul ball bounced from the Oakdale catcher's glove, falling harmlessly to the ground behind home plate, Bear River senior Tori Humbard looked up to the sky and said, "Thank you Jesus!"

"I just knew we were going to win the game right there," said Humbard, pointing out that giving Bear River junior Courtney Ceo a second chance was not the best course of action for the Oakdale Mustangs in a section championship game knotted up 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Given another shot, Ceo drove the ball to deep right-center field and sped around the bases so fast that she had nearly caught up with her little sister, Stephanie, who picked up the pace to score the game-winning run Saturday afternoon.

By virtue of the 2-1 win over Oakdale, the Bruins (25-4) became the first Division IV softball program to win three consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section championships.

"I just knew I had to either get on the ground or get a hit to bring Steph in," Courtney Ceo said. "I needed to do what I was I supposed to do, instead of popping out.

Driving the ball to the wall afforded Courtney Ceo, who led the bruins with a .583 batting average and 44 runs scored, enough time to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run. But in the scorebook, the round-tripper went down as a double due to her little sister scoring the only run the Bruins needed.

— Brian Hamilton, sports editor

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

plus 4, Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor

Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor
The Drill: Q&A With Travis Pastrana - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Former officers say leadership has been missing from Bermuda Police ... - the Royal Gazette
Rapid City Journal top 10 sports stories of 2009 - Rapid City Journal
This Weekend in Kansas City | Options abound on New Year's Eve - Kansas City Star

Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 08:52 PM PST

The Loudon speedway isn't the only place local snocross enthusiasts can get their kicks this winter. The Belmont Planning Board has approved the use of the dog racing track at the Lodge at Belmont for two days of snowmobile racing next month that organizers say will draw at least 2,000 daily spectators.

The event, an official points race for the Derry-based snocross circuit Rock Maple Racing, is scheduled for Jan. 23 and 24. The Lodge hopes it will be the first of many year-round motorsport events at the now-unused dog track, general manager Rick Newman said.

Earlier this month, rookie racing promoter Craig Harmon of Deerfield inked a deal with Newman to hold events at the track for the next three years.

"When I heard that they weren't running live dogs anymore, I approached the owners and gave them a proposal to use the land in other ways," Harmon said. Harmon shut down a trucking company about two years ago to start a promotion company, Haulass Powersports, and January's event will be the first race he has organized.

The Legislature removed a provision this year that required dog tracks in the state to hold a minimum of 50 live racing days. With public interest turning in recent years to simulcast racing and table gambling, Newman said the live races were an "enormous economic burden." The legislation now allows the Lodge to essentially act as an off-track betting parlor.

After the legislation passed, the Lodge announced it would not hold live dog races in 2009 and has not scheduled any for 2010. On Monday, the town's planning board gave unanimous approval for the January snocross event.

"This will be the first time in the history of the property that anything like this will take place," Newman said. "It's really the first step in what could be looked at as a new philosophy."

Harmon said the indoor grandstand at the track would be a draw for spectators, a unique feature for a snowmobile event shared by Rockingham Park in Salem, a horse racing track that has hosted snocross in recent years.

Tara Saxton, president of Rock Maple Racing, said the race in Belmont will likely be "more technical," and possibly more competitive, since the track will not be as large as others used on the circuit.

The planning board approved the January event without needing to change the site plan for the track. But Chairman Peter Harris said the board will pay attention to see if any complaints arise before allowing future events.

"A lot of what continues to happen there is based on their performance at that time," he said.

Newman and Harmon hope to eventually host multiple snowmobile races in the winter and then become a destination for all-terrain motorcycle events in the spring and summer. Harmon said he is already working on bringing in at least three races during the summer, including a June 18 supercross event during Laconia Motorcycle Week.

The Belmont snocross race now joins the Sno Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 outside New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the second major snowmobile event in the area in as many months.

The Loudon Planning Board approved the event at the speedway, which anticipates a turnout of 5,000 people per day, on Dec. 17. Residents in nearby Canterbury were concerned about the noise generated by the machines, and the board had agreed in 1999 that the track would not hold races in the winter.

Previously, the biggest snowmobile events each winter in Merrimack and Belknap counties were annual affairs hosted by local clubs that drew maybe a few hundred people, organizers said.

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The Drill: Q&A With Travis Pastrana - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 08:23 PM PST

Posted: Dec. 30, 2009 10:23 p.m.

As the headline act for "Red Bull: New Year. No Limits." (10 p.m. Thursday on ESPN), the 26-year-old extreme sports star will send himself airborne over the Pacific Ocean in a rally car. Pastrana will attempt to break the distance mark of 171 feet for a ramp-to-ramp jump, taking off from a pier and landing on a barge off Long Beach, Calif. Pastrana chatted with motorsports writer Dave Kallmann this week.

Q. I know you work with a company that likes to push boundaries, but whose crazy idea was this?

A. Man, this looked a lot better on paper. Absolutely it is ridiculous. The ramps are so huge, and this barge with the landing, I'm thinking, wow, this is way farther than I was thinking. You always come up with these ideas, and then it actually comes to fruition and you're like, holy crap, this I didn't expect. But this was actually my brainchild, unfortunately.

At the beginning of the year, Red Bull asked all its athletes to come up with something for New Years . . . and I thought, 'You know what? Nobody's really tried to push the boundaries of jumping a car since back in the early '80s. I said, why don't we do it off a pier. OK, what do we land on. A floating barge was kind of Red Bull's idea, the final icing on the cake.

Q. If it's your idea, you pretty much can't say no at that point.

A. That's the thing. They said come up with the craziest thing you think you can do. I thought somebody would come up with something crazier . . . or dumber.

Q. How's (dry land) practice gone?

A. At first (the car) flew like a motorcycle. The world record at this point was 171 feet. At around 190 feet, we found the wind affects it more than a dirt bike. The car actually acts like a sail almost, where a dirt bike slices through the wind. We did a jump, had lunch and came back out and did another jump at the same speed, the same everything and landed 45 feet shorter because of a 6 mph headwind, which shocked us and just completely destroyed the car. A 17 mph side wind blew the car 55 feet left to right, and the ramp's 55 feet wide. So if that's the case, I'll actually have to aim off the ramp and at the water to hit it straight.

Q. Have you considered the possibility of failure?

A. Oh, of course. Everything we do, especially in action sports, is a calculated risk. People take a risk when they get on the freeway after work. Not as much as we do. But that's the excitement. If there wasn't any chance of failure, there wouldn't be any thrill of victory. It's not crossing the finish line first in this case, but it's figuring out all the variables and having to do it live, which if it's raining, if it's windy, whatever and to have to figure it out on the fly, that's what I love about my job. You can do everything with math, you can figure it out the best you can, but the bottom line, it comes down to a gut feeling. A lot of people say, 'It's a matter of life and death.' Most people just use it as a metaphor. My life is that on a daily basis, and I love that thrill.

Q. Do you consider yourself a racer? An athlete? A daredevil?

A. My whole life I was always an athlete with motocross. It's a very athletic sport, very physical. With the car racing, more of a racer, and now the "Nitro Circus" shows (on MTV) and I'm doing these kind of stunts, it's more of a stuntman. It's a progression. You can only be on the top of your sport if it's athletic for a certain amount of time. I was pretty beat up. So with age, get a cage.

I did more racing, shorter events like X Games. You can show up with a broken ankle and make it last for one jump as opposed to lasting a full season. They're all different. It's all about having fun. There's just a huge smile on my face.

Q. Is there anything that scares you?

A. Oh, yeah. Most people in our field are very overconfident, so you always believe you can do more than you can. But the fear is what makes it exciting, what keeps you on your toes. People that are truly fearless, they'll be hurt before they ever get good enough to do it. People that have a lot of fear or over-rationalize things will never push themselves far enough.

Q. Assuming everything goes right, have you given any thought to what's next?

A. No. That's the beauty of my life. It's kind of one day at a time. Everything can change in a heartbeat. Definitely we'll try to do this stunt right, and then we'll figure it out.

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Former officers say leadership has been missing from Bermuda Police ... - the Royal Gazette

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 07:54 PM PST

Former officers say leadership has been missing from Bermuda Police Service

Bermuda has the third largest per capita police force in the world but several former Police officers say leadership failings in the past few years have put the criminals in the driving seat. Matthew Taylor reports.

New senior Police officers need to get a grip on their vast manpower and crack down on criminals say angry former officers.

With Bermuda now boasting 29 police personnel per square mile and an officer for every 142 Islanders they expressed frustration criminals were getting the upper hand in the third most densely Policed country in the world.

One Bermudian former senior Policeman, who like everyone in this story was interviewed prior to new Police Commissioner Mike DeSilva taking over, said: "You hear the Police saying they are going to take back the streets — when?"

At his swearing in ceremony Mr. DeSilva pledged to empty the offices at Prospect to give reassurance to the public and relief to front-line officers.

Mr. DeSilva added: "We will take back our community one house at a time, one street at a time, one neighbourhood at a time."

Those sentiments are likely to be welcomed by former Bermuda Police officers who are frustrated resources have not been targeted better in recent years.

The former officer said: "People are doing what they like, wherever they want to whenever they want to – without any fear of Police. It stems right from the management."

The ex-officer said he didn't understand why there was the need for overtime given the high staffing levels with a budget for 477 uniformed officers plus 136 civilian staff, making a total of 613 people.

"The extra civilian staff were supposed to free up officers for community policing — I don't see it taking place. Where are they?

"They might talk about it, start it, but there is no follow up. Police should be made to get out of their cars and go to certain neighbourhoods, knock on doors and introduce themselves.

"Now they are waiting for a major crime, then pleading for the public to come forward — well they have to go to the public first. People take you in confidence and give information."

The former senior officer said he felt the rot started under former Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay and was never righted under leaders who had worked under him.

"People say Policing in Bermuda is difficult, it's as difficult as people want to make it.

"Thousands of people have had a successful career in it, you make more friends than you lose when you join a disciplined service."

The Bermudian former Policeman said the leadership needed to lead officers at football matches. "This is what leadership is all about — you get stuck in yourself.

"You can't be successful working nine to five, you have to come out at all hours to make sure guys are doing what they are supposed to be doing."

And former Police Commissioner Colin Coxall said it was important that the Government and the Governor ensured their most senior officers have extensive off-island experience in major Police forces around the world which then equips them with abilities to run a Police force.

In England it is impossible to work your way up the ranks to the top in one location, said Mr. Coxall, as moving was part of the rules for those wanting top Police jobs, to help encourage applicants to get a wide range of experience and contacts.

Concerns are often raised about expat policemen not understanding the culture and Bermudian policemen being soft on relatives and friends.

But Mr Coxall said there had been excellent officers from both the local and overseas contingent.

"Providing they are properly led and properly controlled there are no problems.

"What they are really crying out for I found was leadership, someone they had confidence in, who knew what he was doing."

And a Bermudian former senior Policeman, speaking to The Royal Gazette on conditions of anonymity and before the appointment of Commissioner Michael DeSilva, said standards had slipped lamentably — uniform codes had gone out the window, indicating a lack of pride.

Despite leaving the force many years ago he said people were forever stopping him in the street to tell him horror stories about policing. And he was also seeing it with his own eyes.

"You see Police racing down the street in patrol cars and bikes, overtaking recklessly, a quarter of a mile down the street they are sitting up, talking with their ace boys, putting on a show.

"You see them double parked, holding up traffic. Where is the discipline and pride and accountability?"

Some officers were in it for all the wrong reasons — as an easy life with good money, said the source.

"These guys are getting paid handsomely for doing nothing. Some of them are making so much money in overtime, they are boasting about how much money they rake in. It seems they are mercenaries, more interested in the money than the job."

Despite this he said Police officers were moonlighting with taxis and water trucks and other hustles — sometimes while claiming to be sick. "Policing is like a hobby, secondary.

"How can you give a full day's work when you are exhausted because you have been out driving for ten or 12 hours?"

Despite his criticisms, the former top Policeman had some sympathy with today's officers.

"Sometimes Police bust their backside to put a case together but the jury is finding the suspect not guilty before they have heard the second witness.

"Certain cases I think should not go to a jury but be dealt with by a panel of judges, some of these big narcotic cases."

Similar views were expressed by one retired expat policeman who joined in the mid-1970s.

He said Bermuda had some "very, very good Police officers." But he said acquiring proof and getting it on paper was their failing, not helped by a weak DPP's office so work should instead to be farmed out to better private practice lawyers.

The ex-officer said things started to go downhill when it became a Police service rather than Police force and officers had lacked a decent Commissioner for 20 years.

And he said guarding duties such as Government House security had turned a lot of officers off.

"It deadens your brain, officers came from overseas to do Police work, they get sent to Government House. They start to resent it and get an attitude which doesn't sit well with their supervisors and so they go back home."

The source also said there were too many women in the ranks and recalled one WPC who refused to patrol Dockyard because she was scared.

"You need Police to get more proactive and physical, like the old motorcycle section or Harold Moniz's marauders. So when criminals see them they think they had better watch it.

"But it's a society problem. There is no problem for people going to Westgate, they go out on a truck to go shopping at Christmas and you see them waving at everyone. There is no shame in it.

"What the hell do kid's look up to today?"

A fourth former Policeman, who also would only speak to The Royal Gazette on conditions of anonymity, said that reduction of crime was not a Bermuda Police Service strategy, only the management of crime.

"This is most readily evident in the haphazard tactical decisions made on a yearly basis including unit creation, personnel transfer and statistics management.

"The Service is guided by responding to highest priority matters as dictated by the Governor or Minister or front page of the newspaper and providing quantifying data that supports those decisions."

The former policeman, a Bermudian, added: "Thus the problem with the Police 'curbing' crime has nothing to do with the amount of officers but more so with the complete lack of systematic, structured application of resources to identified and quantified factors leading to crime.

"The Police must realise they have lost the war for the public trust and there is absolutely no point being coy, ambiguous or unclear about it anymore.

"The best place to murder someone in Bermuda is in front of a crowd of people, the war's over, Police lost."

The next step in the battle is to use more than words to reassure the people that the Police remain a legitimate social institution. But statistics and high-visibility policing are not going to cut it, said the ex-officer.

"I don't think a single person driving into work at 8.15 a.m. thinks that a dozen cops along East Broadway is a good idea given the amount of violent, drug-induced crime not occurring there."

"Inversely, the inevitable presence of gangsters at football games and the complete absence of Police, I'm sure goes a long way to telling the public the Police don't care or if they do care, their competence is certainly in doubt."

The only way for Police to regain the confidence of the people is for them to protect the people using more than traffic stops, quarterly statistics and random enforcement actions, said the source.

"I'd like to see the body of analysed information that lead to deploying a dozen cops at 8.15 a.m. to East Broadway, we know it's not accident statistics nor violent crime.

"It must be because that's where you can deploy the fewest amount of cops for the least amount of time and the most amount of people will see them.

"Intelligence-led policing means using resources to produce results. Visibility is not a result, it's a method."

Government is now pushing to get control of the Police from the Governor.

But our source said the notion that Government currently had no role to play in the deployment of Police was "a bold but a smart lie".

He added: "Certain politicians are frequently, more than weekly, briefed by the Police.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to imagine new orders, or maybe we should call them 'ideas' or 'recommendations', are issued subsequent to the briefings, be they written documents or verbal.

"How much the Government controls the Police is evident when, during a spike in crime, the Police budget is lowered yet the (former) Commissioner doesn't oppose it."

Police have chosen not to respond to concerns raised in this article.

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Rapid City Journal top 10 sports stories of 2009 - Rapid City Journal

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 08:37 PM PST

Central ends rival's run

Go ahead and add another chapter to the Rapid City Central-Rapid City Stevens rivalry lore.

Rapid City Stevens' run as South Dakota's Class AA girls track and field champions ended in 2009 and, fittingly, it was cross-town rival Rapid City Central that put an end to it. The Cobblers got individual titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes from Jasmyne King and strong showings from five different hurdlers to win their first state title since 1994 and end a phenomenal 13-year run by the Raiders.

"I'm so proud of these girls that I don't even know how to put it into words," Central head coach Dave Dolan said. "They had a goal all season long and they worked and worked and worked for it. They ran into some difficulties along the way but they never gave up, and now they're state champs. Obviously, Jasmyne did what she does for us, but I thought the hurdles were really the key."

The hurdling corps of Anna Gagliano, Jacqee Jasinski, Tessa Gorsuch, Rachel Hellekson and eighth-grader McKinsey Kost finished 2-3-4 in the 100- and 2-4-6 in the 300-meter hurdles to help the Cobblers to 35 huge points.

King's two wins at O'Harra Stadium were one fewer than she was expected to get but it was still enough for the Cobblers, who still ran away from second-place Sioux Falls Lincoln, which scored 80 points to narrowly edge Yankton at 79-1/2. King, the 11-time individual state champ, was forced to sit out the 400-meter dash — arguably her best event — after reaggravating a hamstring injury in the 100. With the team race close early in the day and the Cobbler coaching staff worried about it going right down to the wire, it was decided that the best idea was to let King rest and run in the 200 later in the afternoon.

"I figured I was going to have to pick one of the two," King said of the 400 and 200, her last two events of the meet, "so I picked the one that I thought would hurt the least."

King started slowly in the 200, but managed to pull away from Sioux Falls Roosevelt's Megan Bren to win the race in a time of 25.54 seconds.

The Rapid City Stevens boys ended Pierre's three-year run atop the Class AA boys track and field ranks with a dominant performance in the sprint relays and a win from Drew Iddings in the high jump.

The Raiders won the 4-by-100- and

4-by-200-meter relays in addition to second-place finishes from Mike Hanley in the 300-meter hurdles and Zak Prpich in the 100-meter dash in racking up 119-1/2 points to better second-place Sioux Falls Washington at 93 and Pierre at 83.

-- Padraic Duffy

Sturgis, West River wrestlers shine at state

What a year for West River wrestling as Sturgis returned to the top of the podium, and several West River individuals brought home individual titles.

The Sturgis wrestling team had seven semifinalists and got individual titles from Tanner Bothwell (103 pounds), Josh Keszler (119) and Seth Lange (125) to help rack up 169-1/2 points and win the Class A team crown over Rapid City Stevens, which finished second with 150 points.

"I'm not going to lie," Sturgis head coach Steve Keszler said. "It feels great. What these kids accomplished this year is incredible. To come in here with only 10 (wrestlers) and get seven into the semis says a lot about these kids."

Two individual champions — Lange and Stevens' Jarrett Jensen (152) — finished the season with perfect 50-0 records, believed to be the first time that has ever happened. Lange's victory gave him three state titles in his career and a chance to become just the fourth wrestler to win four in Class A.

Stevens' Morgan Russell repeated as the 112-pound state champ, and Rapid City Central got an individual champion in James Wilson at 145 pounds. Hot Springs' Cole Romey, a 135-pounder, won his second straight state title to lead the Bison to eighth place, topping Sturgis' Nate Wilson in overtime.

In addition to Bothwell, Russell, Keszler, Lange, Romey, Wilson and Jensen, Douglas' Damon Lappe completed his one-loss season with a state title at 215 pounds.

Winner's Jayd Docken was another West River wrestler to pick up a state title, topping Rapid City Central's Chapman Ham 3-1 in the semifinals before beating Canton's Charles Fox 3-1 in the finals.

— Jeff Budlong

BHSU men's basketball makes national semis

The Black Hills State men's basketball team made an impressive run to the NAIA Division II national semifinals before falling 85-72 to Oklahoma Wesleyan. It was the school's first appearance in the Final Four.

The 2009 season saw BHSU set school records with 30 wins and a 15-game win streak in addition to holding a lead over eventual national champion Oklahoma Wesleyan,

46-45, at the half of their national championship semifinal.

The entire starting five of Luke Enos, Cain Atkinson, Will John Johnson, Clay Pottorff and Spencer Childress were just sophomores as they made this incredible run.

"Going into the season we really believed we could win the conference this year and get to the national tournament," said Black Hills State head coach Paul Sather as he looked back on the year. "I thought if we could get this young group to the national tournament and get the feel for what it was about, what a season that would have been. So for us to end up the way we did I'm just ecstatic."

The Yellow Jackets won the Dakota Athletic Conference regular season title with a conference record of 13-1. They went on to win the conference tournament by going 3-0 with a championship-game victory over Minot State 93-77.

Along the way, Enos, Atkinson and Johnson were each named to the DAC all-conference first team, and Enos was named DAC Player of the Year. Sather also got in on the postseason awards when he was named conference Coach of the Year. Enos was also named to the national all-tournament team and was named a second-team all-American.

The Yellow Jackets opened the 2009-2010 season ranked second in the preseason poll.

— Jeff Budlong

Black Hills teams dominate state soccer

The final year of the decade was a banner year for Black Hills soccer as area clubs claimed three of the four South Dakota high school championship trophies in 2009. The Rapid City Stevens girls won the Class AA crown, the St. Thomas More girls claimed the Class A title and the Sturgis boys earned their first state Class A title.

All three teams won in exciting fashion, perhaps none more dramatically than St. Thomas More, which won its third consecutive state title by defeating Harrisburg in a two-overtime match on a shootout goal by Maria Gonzales. Her goal — the all-time state record 104th of Gonzales' distinguished career — climaxed a third straight undefeated season for the Doug Noyes-coached Cavaliers.

Rapid City Stevens concluded the Rapid City sweep of state girls' championships by winning the State Class AA title with a 1-0 win over another Black Hills area team, Spearfish. The 2009 title was the second under coach Troy Anderson's tutelage, and it capped an undefeated 14-0-1 season.

Senior goalie Felicia Reimann provided the spark for an outstanding Stevens' defense that posted 10 shutouts during the season. Riemann's sterling play earned her a spot on the all-state first team, where she was joined by teammates Megan Anderson and Stephanie Qualm. The Raiders' outstanding team depth was exemplified by the selections of Rachel Eisenbraun, Shannon Keller and Carly Borr to the all-state second team.

On the boys' side, an outstanding senior class provided the leadership as Sturgis won its first state Class A title. In the championship game, the Scoopers upended two-time defending champion Sioux Falls Christian in an overtime shootout. Coach Booj Mumm's Scoopers (12-1-1 overall) used a late season loss to a good Custer team as a wake-up call and impetus toward a state championship drive. Four Scoopers gained first-team all-state recognition: Luke Erfman, Kurt Wilson, Nate Wilson and Leif Halverson.

– Joe Kavanaugh

Pine Ridge girls earn state basketball title

Pine Ridge coach Dusty LeBeau led the Lady Thorpes to their second girls' Class A title with a 63-57 win over previously undefeated Dell Rapids. The last title came in 1989 under coach Charles Zimiga.

The state title was LeBeau's second. He led the Red Cloud boys to a Class A championship in 1994.

Christian Janis scored 26 points, and Lacey Weston added 17 points and 10 rebounds, in the win. Weston came out on fire in the first half to help the Thorpes to an 18-5 lead after one quarter.

"I really wanted to have a great game, being this was my last game," Weston said.

Pine Ridge stunned the Lady Quarriers, who came into the tournament at 23-0, by stretching the lead to 10 and then 18 in the second quarter before ending the first half up 39-23.

LeBeau had some strong advice for Alliey Janis and her teammates before the championship game.

"He told us not to let them come in and take our dream," she said.

— Padraic Duffy

Takahashi stands alone at state cross country

Madeleine Takahashi had a score to settle at the girls state Class AA cross country meet.

Takahashi, of Sturgis, won the Class AA cross-country title as a freshman in 2007, but ran into a sophomore slump in 2008, finishing a disappointing 21st at Huron's Broadland Creek Golf Course.

The setback motivated the Sturgis junior to greater efforts. She had a strong spring track season and a return to the top of the podium at the 2009 state meet at the Elks Golf Course in Rapid City.

Takahashi pulled away from defending champion Megan Hilson of Yankton to win the 4,000-meter race in 14:57.60.

Takahashi told the Journal she was overwhelmed by the comeback win.

"This means a lot because it shows that you can do anything if you just have faith and are willing to work hard," she said.

— Jim Holland

Primal Quest adventure comes to South Dakota

When it was announced more than a year ago that the Primal Quest adventure race was to be in South Dakota, there was one goal for the host team: To finish the race.

It was a feat that no host team had accomplished in the six-year history of the elite outdoors race. But Team South Dakota, consisting of Lisa Gustin, Gary Haven, Eric Hansen and Andrew Busse, placed 14th out of 32 teams, and fourth in the Adventure Class, to become the first home team to complete one of North America's premier adventure races.

They had to go through plenty to do so.

The Primal Quest: Badlands course — which covered about 600 miles of the Black Hills, plains and Badlands of western South Dakota — had plenty of challenges for the competitors from throughout the world when it started at daybreak on Aug. 14. Through the August heat and some tough terrain, competitors were required to hike, mountain bike, rock climb, swim and spelunk, among other activities. They were also being timed through the various stages, which required the teams — all consisting of male and female competitors — to go without sleep and other comforts. The competitors also did not know the course of the race until hours before the race.

Team South Dakota had added challenges. The team had to replace two of its original members before the race, the last less than a month before the race.

Primal Quest was introduced in 2002 and quickly earned worldwide recognition as the sport's premier event. By 2003, Primal Quest became the first Expedition Adventure Race to ever be shown on network television. Since then, the event has received more than

$20 million dollars in media coverage and has been professionally filmed and distributed each year. Media and TV exposure has documented the drama and excitement of traveling non-stop, day and night.

Team OrionHealth.com of New Zealand was first to finish the 600-mile race after more than six days on the course. The Salomon/Crested Butte and Merrell/Zanfel Adventure teams came in second and third, respectively.

— Joshua R. Russo

Hermosa land speed racer sets two records

What land speed racer Joe Amo of Hermosa accomplished at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2009 was impressive enough. But the best may be yet to come.

Amo, of Hermosa, added two new marks to his handful of 1,000cc motorcycle speed records with a two-way average of 230.711 miles per hour, setting a gas class record for turbocharged, partially streamlined motorcycles during the Southern California Timing Association's Speed Weeks at the famed Utah Salt Flats in August.

The run, an average of a two-way pass on a seven-mile-long course, eclipsed the 210 mph standard set by Canadian Carl Francis in 2004.

Amo's top speed at the end of his record-setting return run was an eyebrow raising 252.988 mph.

"We've been doing this a while and we've made lots of friends all over the world who follow us. In their eyes we did a lot this year. When we ran the 252, that pretty much flabbergasted a lot of people," he said in August.

In September, Amo reset another mark at the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association-sanctioned World of Speed finals, where he set a new standard of 251.716 mph for 1000cc motorcycles running any type of fuel, beating his own mark of 219.954 from August of 2006.

Amo could be poised for even higher numbers in 2010. He topped 280 miles per hour during a return run at the World of Speed finals, a pass aborted when his bike's engine failed.

— Jim Holland

Stars get elusive first win over Post 22

It was a long time coming for Rapid City Post 320 — 11 years to be exact.

That's how long it took for the Stars to get the program's first win over rival Rapid City Post 22 in July. Post 320 beat the Hardhats, 10-9, in the semifinal of the South Dakota American Legion state baseball tournament at Fitzgerald Stadium.

"I was just hoping we could stay around, regardless of who won. I was hoping for a great game, and it was," Post 320 head coach Jim Brandt said after the game. "There is no doubt this is a great day for our program, and this is a game these kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives."

The win was the first in 16 chances for Post 320 over Post 22 and moved the Stars into the championship game against Post 22.

"Unbelievable, just unbelievable," Rapid City Post 320 assistant coach Mitch Johnson said after the game.

Brandon Kiewel put the Stars ahead with a three-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the eighth inning, and held Post 22 to one run in four innings of relief.

Kiewel came to the plate with two on and two out in the eighth and hit a high flyball to deep left center. Post 22 center fielder Parker Sullivan collided with the wall as the ball landed just above his glove and bounced away. Kiewel beat the throw home, giving Post 320 the lead.

"I was guessing fastball first pitch and I got it," Kiewel said after the game. "I got to third and I was tired, but he was waving me, so I just kept going and when I hit home the feeling was indescribable."

On the mound, he allowed one run and five hits in four innings, striking out four while walking only one.

Tommy Berg had three of Post 320's 11 hits, going 3-for-3 with a double. Dylan Striebel, Brandon Rainford and Zach Cimburek all added two hits for the Stars.

— Andrew Cutler

Spearfish, Red Cloud join Black Hills Conference

A former Black Hills Conference power is back.

Spearfish was voted back into the BHC effective for the 2011-2012 school year at an activities directors meeting. The Spartans were not the only school to gain admittance to the conference as Red Cloud was also added.

"We had a meeting on our own at the end of September where we kept the BHC ADs after a middle school meeting and just talked about it," Hill City activities director and acting BHC chairperson Shawn Woodward said. "We knew with Newell leaving this seemed like a good time to expand."

The schools were voted in by a two-thirds majority by the activities directors.

The Spartans, members of the Greater Dakota Conference since 1998 after leaving the BHC, sent a letter dated Aug. 25 to the member schools in the BHC to request consideration for acceptance into the conference.

Spearfish cited enrollment as the main reason for wanting to get back into the BHC.

"We are having a difficult time competing, we are a small school, and we're only getting smaller," Spearfish activities director Karen Hahn said. "It's all projection, but we're projecting that by 2013 we're going to be below that ADM figure of 450 to even be a (Class) AA school. We're anticipating being reclassified and going to Class A at that time."

The eight current members of the BHC are Belle Fourche, Custer, Douglas, Hill City, Hot Springs, Lead-Deadwood, Newell and St. Thomas More, however, Newell is in its final year as a member.

— Padraic Duffy

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This Weekend in Kansas City | Options abound on New Year's Eve - Kansas City Star

Posted: 30 Dec 2009 08:52 PM PST

Happy New Year! Almost. If you're looking for something to do tonight, there are events all over town, here are a few highlights. Find more on Pages 5, 8 and 25.

today

Don't have plans yet? Not to worry, there are tickets available for the Hyatt Regency hotel's New Year's Eve bash. Admission is $85 a person and includes two drink tickets and a champagne toast. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., will feature five local bands, four entertainment areas, food and a midnight balloon drop. Details, 816-398-4770, www.hyattnye .com.

The Power & Light District takes on a "Times Square" theme at 8 p.m. complete with a ball drop at Kansas City's Biggest New Year Bash. The event is free and you can make money — more than $5,000 in cash will be blown out to the crowd. There will also be heaters, fire pits and music by Retro Active and Pomeroy. No RSVP needed. The district's restaurants and bars will have their own parties, too, where cover charges may apply. Details, 816-842-1045, www.power andlightdistrict.com.

Have a Ball at the Biggest Ball of the New Year at the Kansas City Convention Center Grand Ballroom offers a balloon drop, gaming tables, dinner and a champagne toast for $89. The event also includes entertainment by Atlantic Express and Hal Wakes. Hotel packages are available through the Marriott Kansas City Downtown (marriott.com/mcidt or 816-421-6800). Details, janet_ohagan @kcmo.org or 816-513-5015. Tickets, www.ticketmaster.com.

Go hear the music play at a cabaret New Year's Eve party by Musical Theater Heritage. The party at the Off Center Theatre in Crown Center starts at 9 p.m. and includes the cabaret show with local performers Karen Errington, Jessalyn Kincaid, Tim Scott and Jerry Jay Cranford. The event also will have an appetizer and dessert buffet, a champagne toast, music and dancing. Admission is $75 a couple. Details, 816-221-6987, www.mthkc.com.

all weekend

Check out "Run for Your Wife" at the New Theatre Restaurant, 9229 Foster St. in Overland Park. The show, starring Garrett Morris, has performances today, Saturday and Sunday. The lobby opens at 6:30 for today's special show, which costs $93-$133 and includes cocktails and champagne all night, dessert, live music, midnight, dancing and a midnight breakfast. Details, 913-649-7469, www.new theatre.com.

saturday

I remember watching the cartoon Harlem Globetrotters on TV. This weekend, the live action team is coming to town, the Sprint Center to be exact. The Globetrotters show off their tricks and agility at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets, $22-$130 at Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.com (800-745-3000). Details, 816-949-7050, www.sprint center.com.

saturday and sunday

Extreme ice racing, with metal-studded-tires, no-brakes motorcycles and ATVs, comes to the Independence Events Center. The action is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $13-$28 at www.get tix.net, 866-443-8849 or at the center box office.

friday and saturday

Shudder is among the bands performing in the Kansas City Rock & Metal Fest on Friday and Saturday at the Uptown Theater. There'll be 20 bands starting at 5 p.m. each night. $10 a night (advance); $15 at the door. Details, www.uptowntheater .com, 816-753-8665.

friday

Dig into the new year at the third annual Tulips on Troost planting day at 11 a.m. Friday. Volunteers who want to unleash their inner gardeners don't need equipment, just meet at 18th Street and Troost Avenue to plant 3,000 tulips. Details, maureen @tulipsontroost.com or 816-523-5553.

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

plus 4, 2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor
Daytona Int'l Speedway news ... - Motorsport.com
It was a memorable year at the race track - Spectrum
Richard and Judy - Daily Express

2 buddies die day after Thanksgiving - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:04 PM PST

Posted: Dec. 29, 2009 11:59 p.m.

Scott Shallcross may spend decades in prison if convicted of killing two young men while driving drunk the morning after Thanksgiving.

He may spend a lifetime burdened with the guilt of his actions: allegedly joy riding at more than 80 mph and causing an explosive crash.

It won't match the suffering Lori Williams believes he inflicted.

Her son, Jeremy Neuenfeldt, 20, was burned to death in the pickup truck that Shallcross crashed into while racing up S. Howell Ave. shortly after midnight. His friend, Thomas Ballman, 22, was thrown from the pickup and died from massive injuries, less than a block from his home on E. Plainfield St.

After rushing from their house, Ballman's mother and sisters saw the flames engulfing the familiar GMC Sonoma truck. Williams later struggled with police to gain a glimpse of her son.

"When I think of him, I mainly think of the crash," said Sharon Witek, Ballman's sister. "It makes it a lot harder, obviously, to think about him.

"It was very horrible realizing that the person in the truck is your brother."

The Ballman family has expressed their thoughts in two signs posted outside their home: The message: Your fun took my life. Thomas Ballman & Jeremy Neuenfeldt.

"I'm never going to get over it," said Williams. "Jeremy is never going to be able to walk in the house and smell his ma's cooking. His niece will never get a hug from him. His brother won't get to play Frisbee with him."

The circumstances of the crash haunt her.

Shallcross, 26, had been charged with a second offense of operating while intoxicated in September, online court records show, and has a long record of ignoring traffic laws and court orders.

He has been fined for reckless driving/endangering safety, operating a motorcycle without a valid license, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license and speeding more than 25 mph over the posted limit.

Without a valid license, he drove with a friend to a number of bars on the night of Thanksgiving, after admittedly sharing two bottles of wine over dinner. That information is included in a criminal complaint that lists his blood-alcohol level at 0.158%, three hours after the crash.

The level considered evidence of intoxication in Wisconsin is 0.08.

"When I go down to the courthouse, I just want to shake that guy," Williams said.

According to the complaint, Shallcross and a friend left the City Lounge in Cudahy, drove west on Layton Ave., then accelerated northbound on Howell, pulling away from a police officer who had begun to follow the racing Honda Civic. The car plowed into the passenger side of Ballman's truck, which was turning east from Howell onto Plainfield and home.

The truck burst into flames, and the first officer on the scene was unable to reach Neuenfeldt, who was sprawled over the front seat.

Ballman and Neuenfeldt had been friends since their days at Greenfield High School and had been visiting friends after a Thanksgiving of food and football. Relatives described both as hard workers: Ballman hanging garage doors in the family business; and Neuenfeldt at the River Bend Shoe Center.

Witek, Ballman's sister, said the two cared about family, "they would have given us their last dime if they knew we needed it."

Such thoughts of them, memories of their laughter and devotion to their siblings, have been overshadowed by the circumstances and the mental images of their deaths.

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Lodge open to snowmobile races - Concord Monitor

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 10:19 PM PST

The Loudon speedway isn't the only place local snocross enthusiasts can get their kicks this winter.

The Belmont Planning Board has approved the use of the dog racing track at the Lodge at Belmont for two days of snowmobile racing next month that organizers say will draw at least 2,000 daily spectators.

Earlier this month, rookie racing promoter Craig Harmon of Deerfield inked a deal with Newman to hold events at the track for the next three years.

"This will be the first time in the history of the property that anything like this will take place," Newman said. "It's really the first step in what could be looked at as a new philosophy."

"A lot of what continues to happen there is based on their performance at that time," he said.

The Belmont snocross race now joins the Sno Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 outside New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the second major snowmobile event in the area in as many months.

Single page | 1 | 2 |

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Daytona Int'l Speedway news ... - Motorsport.com

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 03:38 PM PST

Day 2 of Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket: Russell, Wheldon Getting A Taste Of Daytona's Sprint Track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Scott Russell made his mark at Daytona International Speedway winning five Daytona 200 By Honda motorcycle classics.

After retirement from motorcycle racing, he went from two wheels to four wheels with sports cars from the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and competed for the first time in the 2009 Rolex 24 At Daytona, the prestigious sports car classic.

Now, the Conyers, Ga., native is trying his hand at another form of racing at Daytona International Speedway -- karting in the annual Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket.

The three-day event, which began Monday, showcases the World Karting Association on three courses -- the 3.56-mile Daytona road course, the Sprint track in turns 3 and 4 and the newly constructed quarter-mile dirt track outside turns 1 and 2.

"It's Daytona for me, it's a great place to me," said Russell, who is behind the wheel of a No. 4 kart on the Sprint track. "It's a new experience. I want to come out here and see where I stand up against some of the top guys in karting, more or less having fun with it."

Russell just took karting up a few months ago and is using it as a way to ease the transition between motorcycles and sports cars.

"What a great tool this is," Russell said. "We're learning everyday with the setup of this thing, just learning how to drive. Going from two wheels to four wheels, there wasn't a whole lot of crossover there, just the track knowledge that I had in the past. It's a whole different animal.

"This is definitely going to help me. I'm back in the GT class (in the Rolex Series) with Paul Edwards and a Corvette. I think this will apply to that. Anything that I can do to make it better on that end, that's what I'm doing."

Russell is also feeling out a new course at Daytona. He has plenty of laps on the 3.56-mile road course and the 2.9-mile motorcycle course, but he has never turned a lap on the half-mile Sprint course.

"What a neat little course that they made out here," Russell said. "It's really a lot of fun with the way it's set up. It's tough. It's slippery out here. Daytona is typically slippery in the infield and it has transferred into this as well. Getting the kart set up right and learning a new track is great experience."

Open-wheel star Wheldon in attendance:

Like Russell and NASCAR stars Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger, IZOD IndyCar Series star Dan Wheldon is also competing on the half-mile Sprint track during Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket.

Wheldon, who drives for Panther Racing and lives in nearby St. Petersburg, loves racing karts whenever he gets the opportunity in his schedule.

"I just love it," said Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion. "Any kart race that I can do, I will try to do and when you've got one going on at Daytona, that's certainly one that you want to compete in. It's like all of these kart races, it's very competitive.

"It's very nice to spend Christmas with my wife and my son but she knows that if I sit at home too long, that I will probably drive her mad. You don't get the time to do this as much as you would like. Anytime that you do get time, you definitely want to utilize it."

Wheldon, who began karting at the age of 4, has been behind the wheel at Daytona before turning laps in both IZOD IndyCar Series testing as well as competing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

He has a strong passion for karting and believes it's a great developmental series for anybody interested in racing.

"I think it is the only way that people start nowadays," Wheldon said. "Whether it's on a road course in a go-kart or whether they race on some dirt, I think karting is the stepping stone to any form of motorsport. It's very competitive in America. I think America is a great place to start a karting career.

"From what I've seen, there's huge competition but there's also a very nice atmosphere. I think that it's a great environment for children to grow up in but also where they can learn the fundamentals of racing and learn how to respect people and share great family time."

TICKETS

Tickets for Daytona KartWeek By Cometic Gasket can be purchased at Ticket Booth E located above the Turn 1 tunnel. Single-day passes are $15 and children under seven are $10.

-source: dis

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It was a memorable year at the race track - Spectrum

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 04:57 PM PST

With the thoroughbred racing season fading like a holiday summer tan, it's time to reflect on a terrific and memorable year of racing. And, what a year it was — a season full of sensations, setbacks and surprises.

The year 2009 left us a lot of highs and lows. Join me as we journey back through racing's rear view mirror. Hang on tight, it's a long and bumpy ride.

Everything unfolded with Kentucky Derby preps in January and culminated on that first Saturday in May. That was the first stage. It always is. It's where Run for the Roses begins. It's when immense and intense interest perks and peaks.

Spring brought with it the highs and lows. The early bird blossoms were Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Old Fashioned, Midshipman, Vineyard Haven, Pioneer of the Nile and I Want Revenge. Then the setbacks hit with the punch of an epidemic. All but Rachel Alexandra had triple crown aspirants sidetracked by injury.

Off Derby trail

Oldtimers have told me that they couldn't remember when so many promising horses were knocked off the Derby road by injury. Week after week from January to April these prized colts and fillies fell like 10-pins at the Virgin River bowling center.

It was a spring that left most of us shaking our heads and ripping tickets after watching an unbelieveable rail run in the Derby. The come-from-behind inside route brought instant fame for a small stable, an overlooked 50-1 shot and a nearly unknown trainer.

Mine That Bird — a colt that couldn't win against a rag-a-tag group of second rates at second rate tracks close to his stable in his sunny southwest — won at Churchill. The son of Belmont winner Birdstone had won the world's most prestigious, if not the richest, race. And he did it against the odds.

Jockey Calvin Borel, not exactly a household name, won with a perfect inside ride and a last fulong burst of jet-like speed that left us blinking in disbelief. We all watched the replay at least three times. It was that good a ride. It was perhaps the ride of the century. Lucky? The rail stayed open all the way. Good? Yes. But I'd rather be lucky than good. Calvin was both that first Saturday in May.

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Richard and Judy - Daily Express

Posted: 29 Dec 2009 03:59 PM PST

Jake Wilson had won trophies for racing four-wheeled quad bikes and was trying his first two-wheeled vehicle after being given it by his parents.

But as he practised in a deserted car park at a showground with his father Robert, he lost control and crashed at speed, suffering fatal head injuries.

Mr Wilson, a motorbike enthusiast, has been interviewed by police but officers said that they were treating the death as "a tragic accident". Investigators were examining the £2,000 orange and black KTM 50 SX bike.

The makers describe it as "the ultimate weapon for budding professional motocross racers".

Police say that Jake was wearing a crash helmet when he crashed on Sunday in a car park near the Nantyci showground in Carmarthen, West Wales.

Jake, who lived with his mother Tracey, father, older sister and nine-year-old brother Connor, was described as "a beacon of joy" by his family.

They said: "He was a loveable, affectionate and fun-loving boy who packed so much into his short life. We are struggling to come to terms with our tragic and heartbreaking loss."

Quad bike rider Jake won all three club championships in the Welsh grasstrack calendar in 2009. He was also named most improved rider of 2009 by the Bancyfelin Grasstrack Club, near Carmarthen.

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