Daniel Kalal
Cruisin' Guzzisti
I've been to the Springfield Mile many times; I know what to expect. The Indy Mile is a bit different. As you can tell in the photographs below, the track is longer, but narrower. Mainly, though, Indy has a cushion; Springfield has a broad blue line.
Indy Mile
Springfield Mile
Perhaps from a spectators standpoint, the biggest difference is that Indy is run at night under lights (by the time of the final race) while Springfield is strictly a daytime race. I arrived well in time for the qualification and heat races.
The Lloyd Brothers team supports an Aprilia and two Ducatis. This night, the Aprilia is ridden by Aaron King and the Ducatis by Joe Kopp and Larry Pegram.
The sun is going down. We've just stood up for the national anthem.
The head of Ducati used this time to announce that Nicky Hayden was being signed for an additional two year contract for the MotoGP team. Hayden used to race flat track and remains one of the more popular riders. That's Nicky, wearing the red cap.
Nicky surprised the crowd by running a few laps on the Ducati flat track bike. Certainly, the crowd was cheering the whole time.
Here are th Pro Singles lining up for one of their heat races (hyper-bright lights combined with a dark night background confuse a point-and-shoot camera, so I didn't bother shooting when the sun went down)
Indy Mile
Springfield Mile
Perhaps from a spectators standpoint, the biggest difference is that Indy is run at night under lights (by the time of the final race) while Springfield is strictly a daytime race. I arrived well in time for the qualification and heat races.
The Lloyd Brothers team supports an Aprilia and two Ducatis. This night, the Aprilia is ridden by Aaron King and the Ducatis by Joe Kopp and Larry Pegram.
The sun is going down. We've just stood up for the national anthem.
The head of Ducati used this time to announce that Nicky Hayden was being signed for an additional two year contract for the MotoGP team. Hayden used to race flat track and remains one of the more popular riders. That's Nicky, wearing the red cap.
Nicky surprised the crowd by running a few laps on the Ducati flat track bike. Certainly, the crowd was cheering the whole time.
Here are th Pro Singles lining up for one of their heat races (hyper-bright lights combined with a dark night background confuse a point-and-shoot camera, so I didn't bother shooting when the sun went down)