Mama Tried’s Flat Out Friday

February 17, 2017

By: Leticia Cline

Grassroots racing gets sticky and brings out over 10,000 fans to watch a bunch of motorcycles turn left and beat themselves up for bragging rights at the biannual Flat Out Friday races.

This indoor Dr. Pepper syrup soaked oval concrete track is in the heart of blue collar America, Milwaukee, and this year at a new location, The BMO Harris Bradley Center, home of the pro Basketball team, The Milwaukee Bucks. Holding a race in the middle of the Mama Tried show and one of the biggest drinking towns in the country means good times are in no shortage, but it also means things can get pretty wild. The city hosts a number of kickoff parties leading up to the event and even goes as far as having a punk band in the pits alongside the racers and mechanics and a Mad Max Halftime show. The fans love it and the racers must get pretty excited about it too because this year the event promoters had to turn entries away from people wanting to participate.

Over 220 racers showed up from as far as Tokyo to compete in 11 classes which included the AMA 450 Pro class that had over $15,000 in prize money up for grabs in the Charlotte Kainz Memorial Race. The 10 other classes included Super Hooligan, Open Amateur, Four Stroke, Brakeless, Youth 85, Open Vintage, Inappropriate, Boonies, Bultaco and two new race classes including Women’s and Z125 / Grom. That’s all impressive but perhaps what’s even more impressive is that fact that the ages of the racers ranged from 7 years old to 75 years old, making this sport the only one of its kind, bridging the gap between type and age of motorcycle rider all in one event.

Seven PM dropped and the eight Super Hooligan heat races kicked off the event by storming onto the track but not without a little drama. In heat one, racer number 46, Arron Guardado from Suicide Machine Co. pulled the holeshot but got caught up in a concrete tango and lost his footing to go down and be out for the rest of the event. And that set the precedent for what this type of racing is all about, pushing the limits to get the fans excited about the sport. Everyone loves to see a good battle and a clean fall where no one gets hurt. The fans love it and so do the racers. For example, Jordan Graham, number 47 on the RSD Indian Motorcycle Super Hooligan team crashed and slid 30 feet, then stood up and encouraged the fans to cheer for his crash and the rest of the riders before picking up his Scout and going back out to join them for the rest of the race.

To not bore you with every single detail, let’s whiskey throttle this two and a half hour show and bring you the action from the main events starting with the 450 Pro. This year things got serious and a lot of money was on the line which meant the battle was on for this 35 lap main and the best guys to do that was the number 65, Cory Texter and number 9, Jared Mees who fought it out from the start. At times it was hard to tell there were two bikes instead of one and their handle bars seems to be attached making their movements seem in unison. Even though Texter pulled the holeshot it was ultimately Mees who took top honors, getting the checkered flag in first place. Texter wasn’t without a win for the night, he took home gold in the Grom class and won a new Kawasaki z125 in the process. Rounding out the top three on the Pro class podium was Jake Mataya, riding Charlotte Kainz’ Honda and running her number 35L in her memory. Charlotte’s dad Jack was there wrenching for Mataya and having a good time. They were all smiles enjoying a fun day racing motorcycles for a packed house of fans. 

Other winners included Louie Lauters, on a H-D Sprint, winning the Brakeless Class, Dominic Cameron winning the Amateur final on his Honda, Eric Mischler getting the checkered flag on his Triumph in the Vintage Class, and Elijah Tetzlaff took home the honors in the Youth class on his KTM.

Another new addition this year was the Super Hooligan DUNLOP Dash 4 Cash. Six winners from each of the eight Super Hooligan heat races competed for a chance to win 1,000 bucks from Dunlop Tires. Four laps. Winner-take-all. See See Motorcycle sponsored rider, Andy Dibrino took home the cash, a sweet custom painted tire trophy, to pile up next to his $300 and another trophy for earning second in the Hooligan Main. Jeff Riedel from Uke’s H-D in Kenosha, WI took home the Motul Cleanest Hooligan Bike trophy, $300 and a goodie bag full of Motul’s new motorcycle detailing products.   

Women’s winner was Zara Martens on her KTM, but there was a scare in the middle of the race. Brooke Chromy crashed with another bike and went face-down on the concrete. She reminded still as rescue workers attended to her before getting up and walking off the track under her own power and a deafening cheer of fans from the crowd. The Boonie class was taken by J.J. Flairity and the Bultaco class was won by Rober Smith.

RSD Indian Super Hooligan Wrecking Crew for the weekend was made up of team riders Cameron Brewer (#24), Jordan Graham (#47), Troy Hoff (#23) and the east side boys, Justin Bender (#35) from Maryland [Cory Texter’s grand national mechanic] and GNC1 pro Jake Mataya (#29) from Minnesota.

This year everyone wondered who was set to claim the Hooligan Class win. There are two Flat Out Friday races per year and Benny Carlson won last February and Mark Atkins won it in October. This year it was Benny Carlson again who took home the top spot aboard his XR1200, with some serious bar banging action to keep it up front against Andy DiBrino (#14) and Terry Vestal (#27). Carlson definitely had a target on his back and competitors looking to dethrone him but he kept it together for the win. He took home $500 from Bell and Dunlop, plus a custom-painted Bell helmet trophy by Airtrix. Sort of ironic because Benny is a Bell sales rep for Wisconsin and Illinois and the helmet was painted by fellow Indian Super Hooligan racer, Jordan Graham!

Rounding out the evening was Marko Lazarevic who took home the win in the Inappropriate class on his Honda. A class where having no class is better, the crazier the bike, the more outlandish the costume and the more inappropriate you can be can just land you a top spot on the podium and a photo on everyone’s Instagram feed.

SuperHooligan Round #2 Official Results

Dunlop Dash 4 Cash - $1000 winner-take-all

Andy DiBrino

Main Event (payouts by Dunlop & Bell Helmets)

1. Benny Carlson $500

2. Andy DiBrino $300

3. Terry Vestal $175

4. Jeremy DeRuyter

5. Mark Atkins

6. Danny Mischler

7. Jake Mataya

8. Rich Heverly

9. Chris Wiggins

10. Mikey Virus

12. Nick Hansen

K&N Holeshot Award

Terry Vestal $300

Motul Cleanest Bike Award

Jeff Riedel $300

+ $2500 Hooligan purse by @flatoutfriday & @mamatriedshow for first to twelfth place (except for AMA GNC pro card carrier - Jake Mataya)

Thanks to MTFOF for hosting us to a packed arena with 10k roaring fans, live streaming online coverage by @leticiacline @christice49 & @lancecoury and insanely great concrete racing action.

Next race of the @superhooligans National Championship Series is round #3 - Atlanta Short Track on March 25th. Our first East Coast round of the season in conjunction with @americanflattrack & @nbcsports at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA.

Flat Out Friday is the perfect way to kick off the weekend of fun, which included the Mama Tried invitational bike show and the Slippery Sunday Ice Racing. Warm temperatures caused officials to cancel the ice racing but it takes a lot more than the threat of falling through some ice to slow Hooligans down. A few of the Super Hooligans, Cameron Brewer, Jordan Graham, Troy Hoff, Aaron Guardado and Leticia Cline took their chances and headed north the next morning after FOF to rip around on lake Sinissippi (like Mississippi but for Sinners) on their Indian Scouts with Fredette Racing, studded ice tires mounted up. It was 55 degrees, felt like spring and a bit slushy. There were many crashes, a bike that went swimming and the only trophy taken home that day was the soreness from smiling to hard knowing that this you get to get up and do this all again in October.

REGISTERED RIDERS 

Ryan Van Wey/23/ XG 750/ Jamestown, ND/ Vanilla Cycles, Stuntsman Harley Davidson

Jeff Riedel/38/ Harley/ Racine, WI/ Uke’s Harley Davidson

Kyle Weise/13/ Harley/ Green Bay, WI/ Dels Cycle, Brandon's Bike Worx, BRB Motorsports, APE Racing, Icky Ricky’s, Bay Exhaust

James R Ulinski/42/ Sportster/ Racine,WI/ Uke’s Harley-Davidson

Craig Johnson/41/ KTM 950 SMR/ Mukwonago, WI/ CJ Designs, Envision Metalworks, Mom & Dad

Dan Mischler/77/ BMW/ Beaver Dam, WI/ Mischler’s H-D, BMW, Steffes Const, Beaver Cycle Club, Bell Helmets, 77k Racing

J.J. Flairity/101/Harley/Waukesha, WI

Wyatt Feaster/53/Harley/Black River Falls, WI/Al Muth Harley-Davidson, Steven’s Point Brewery, FatDog Vintage Salvage, WTF Racing

John Lapczynski/66L/Harley Davidson/Madison, WI

Carey Hart/7/Indian Santa Yaez, CA/Indian, Dualigan, Fox Racing, Bel Ray Dunlop, Fox Shocks, Big B

Nick Hansen/97/HD XR-1200 Cedarburg, WI/Nergia, K&N, Spectro, Suburban Speed,

Southeast Sales, H&S Distribution, Renthal

Scott Jones/ 3x/HD Street/ 750/Westminster, CA/Harley Davidson, Guyamundo, Tucker Rocky Twinpo, Biker’s Choice, SS Cycle, Bell Helmets Stance Socks, Alpine Stars, Cavas MX, Todiefor Ryan Evan Designs, TrackeDie, Progressive Suspension, Analog Holiday, Roland Sands Design

Todd Canavan/37/H-D XL/Lakewood, CA/Roland Sands Design, Noise Cycles, FXT Motul

Chris Hansen/44/Harley-Davidson/Grafton, WI/Nergia, Mitas Tires, Specto Oil, Beadr Guyz Ogio, Klim, NJK Leathers, Regena, MotionPro, Rentnal, Bell Helmets

Terry Vestal/27/Harley-Davidson/Twin Lakes, WI/Redline Cycles Kenosha Wisconsin

Rich Heverly/69/HD 1200 Sportster/Seuderton, PA /Hung Loose Racing, Brad Woodrick

Jeff Hogan/21/H-D Sportster Pipersville, PA/Diawolo Speed

Patrick Garvin/18/Harley Davidson/Viola, WI/S&S Cycle, Biltwell

Jordan Baber/19/Harley-Davidson/Viola, WI/S&S Cycle, FTWCo

Hunter Klee/182/Harley-Davidson/Vioila, WI/S&S Cycle, Rusty Butcher, Speed Merchants,Twin Power, Lyndal Brakes

Benny Carlson/45/Harley-Davidson/West Bend, WI/Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson, Bell Helmets, Klim, Spectro Oil

Alexis Fortin Robitaille\Montreal, QC\Mathias Marine Sport, Clockwork Motorcycles

Shaun Guardado/66\Harley-Davidson\Long Beach, CA\Suicide Machines Company, Bell Power Sports, Wienerschnitzel, Dainese

Aaron Gurdado/46/Harley-Davidson/Long Beach, CASuicide Machines Company, Bell Power Sports, Wienerschnitzel, Dainese

Mark Atkins/22\Harley Davidson\Corona, CA\Harley-Davidson, Biltwell, S&S Cycles, Lowbrow Customs, Rusty Butcher, Full Throttle PC, Full Throttle, Topline Tubes, Lyndall Brakes, Blessed Indy, Cone Engineering, Quaid

Vince Gelling/59\Harley Davidson\Chino, CA\Harley-Davidson, Biltwell, S&S Cycles, Lowbrow Customs, Topline Tubes, Lyndall Brakes, Blessed Indy, Cone Engineering, Replica, Alloy Art, Full Throttle PC

Mikey Virus/963\Harley Davidson\Oakland, CA\Harley-Davidson, Biltwell, S&S Cycles, Lowbrow Customs, Rusty Butcher, Full Throttle PC, Full Throttle, Topline Tubes, Lyndall Brakes, Blessed Indy, Cone Engineering, Quaid

Marcel Nunes/25\Harley Davidson\Long Beach, CA\Harley-Davidson, Biltwell, S&S Cycles, Lowbrow Customs, Rusty Butcher, Full Throttle PC, Full Throttle, Topline Tubes, Lyndall Brakes, Blessed Indy, Cone Engineering, Quaid

Jason Klements/911\Harley Davidson\Huntington Beach, CA Harley-Davidson, Speed Merchants, Lyndell Brakes, Hell on Wheels, Fast J’s Cycle, Outcaste

Chris Wiggins\Harley Davidson\Huntington Beach, CA

Taylor Cunanun/69\Harley- Davidson\Pateluma, CA\Harley-Davidson, Biltwell, S&S Cycles, Lowbrow Customs, Topline Tubes, Lyndall Brakes, Blessed Indy, Cone Engineering, Replica, Alloy Art, Full Throttle PC

Josh Johnson\Harley Davidson\Los Angeles, CA\Broken Homme

Casey Jones/Harley-Davidson East Chicago, IN

Justin Bender/35/Indian/Elkridge, MD/Roland Sands Designs

Kissa Von Addams/27/Harley-Davidson Greenfield, WI/Hal’s Harley-Davidson, K&N Filters, WOrk FamousBargain Barn, Shoral Batteries

Sam Fischer/17/HD SPortster Hartford, WI/Vance & Hines, FOX, Suicide Machine CO, Speed Merchant, West Bend Harley-Davidson

Patrick Patterson/937/Harley/Dayton, OH

Troy Hoff/23/Indian Scout/Huntington Beach, CA/Roland Sands Design, Indian Motorcycle, Bell Dunlop, Motul, K&N, TBR, Progressive Suspension, J Star

Jordan Graham/47/Indian Scout/Los Alamos, CA/Roland Sands Design, Indian Motorcycle, Bell Dunlop, Motul, K&N, Fox Racing, Von Zipper, Saddleman, JRI, GP Suspension, Dualigans

Cameron Brewer/24 /Indian Scout/Corona, CA/Roland Sands Design, Indian Motorcycle, Bell Dunlop, Motul, K&N,

Jake Mataya/29/Indian Scout Blaine, MN/Roland Sands Design, Indian Motorcycle, Bell Go-Moto, Highpoint Sales, Motion Pro, Ben Knight Racing, EME, Lightshoe, Diamonds Coffee Shop, Heroic Leathers