By Joe Gresh
Sunday morning, the last morning of three at Laguna Seca, was dry. No condensation dripping inside the tent as the moisture stayed in the dense cloud cover. Conditions are perfect here at the Mission Foods, Weathertech, Laguna Seca, Louie’s Fish Fry, Little Billy’s Burpee Seed franchise, in the mall next to the JC Penney racetrack. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Laguna Seca has nice bathrooms. The showers are hot, real flush toilets, and plenty of stalls. And you can fill out most of a story just listing the sponsors and amenities.
I didn’t feel like eating another Turkey sammie, so I burbled down to the paddock where the Bear and Chisel food stand is located. In the past this place was pretty good. Today it was tolerable. The bacon in my bacon burrito was sort of raw. The burrito shrank 33%. There was no salsa. The coffee was good. I guess I can’t complain for only $21.
You always see a guy carrying a wheel or handlebars at the races. Dunlop had at least 5 tire changing machines under a long row of tents. VP race gas had a big semi-trailer full of gas. They saw a steady flow (ha) of customers bringing 5-gallon to 50-gallon containers. Man, it would be a mess if that semi crashed.
Practice started at 9.30 a.m. today. I started out near the booze tent. These are stands that usually stay pretty empty. Practice was uneventful, but I still made an event out of it. We had party balloons, a cash bar and event T-shirts.
Speaking of T-shirts I was going to buy a Moto America T-shirt but the things were $50! I told the chick selling the shirts it was too much. She said I could save some money as they had a special deal going on: if I spent $100 I could get two T-shirts. It’s a racket, like Girl Scout cookies. Man, I’m on Socialist Security! I can’t blow $50 on a damn T-shirt! Years ago, I rode my VT500 from San Diego to Laguna Seca to watch a Moto GP. When I found out the entry ticket was $45, I turned around and rode back to San Diego. That shows you how committed I am at the $50 level.
And another thing: the big glass building where you can watch Turn 3 wanted $45 just to enter. You still had to pay for any drinks. WTF Moto America? What is it with the $50 thing? Ah, but the races were good. I think first place in the Baggers class paid $50.
I met my childhood hero Sir John Burns at the track. We hung out a bit and were thrown out of the VIP lounge above the front straight. I can see them not letting me in, but Burns is moto royalty. Big mistake. You don’t want Burns pissed off at you.
The racers raced and the show ended around 4:30. That was a good time to call it. Around 5:30 cops started patrolling the camp sites. My emotions were mixed: on the one hand I liked that the cops were out there protecting us, on the other I knew if I got one on a bad day, I might get shot.
But I digress…the racing (remember racing?) was pretty good all weekend. JD Beach, one of my favorite riders since Tim Hawks, told me to keep an eye on him and he won both the Superbike races.
The Baggers put on a good show with lots of wiggling and sliding. These bike have to be ridden, not programmed. I’ll put up with the overpriced stuff; nobody twisted my arm to buy a T-shirt. Moto America’s event at Laguna Seca was a success in my book, a book not known for successes.
Now I’m bedded down one last time. The weather is spectacular. It’s cool, almost no breeze, just wonderful. Tomorrow I’ll break camp and start the long journey back to God’s country: New Mexico.