Hidden Gem on Flo - American Flat Track Motorcycle Races at Daytona  

I was looking for something to watch on FLO and found the American Flat Track Races at Daytona (Thursday 3/7/24) and (Friday 3/8/24) and glad I did.

I am a big user of the replay section, so I watched the first night yesterday (complete with some fast forwarding where needed), and just finished watching the 2nd night.  Liked the way the show was run, very exciting racing, was surprised at the amount of drivers (riders) that were from the eastern PA area.  Also impressed with the safety that has been added to the sport since the last time I watched, including air walls in the corners, and air suits that the drivers wear that deploy (I guess kind of like an airbag) whenever a driver goes down onto the track.  It's still dangerous, but I think those two things are a big step in the right direction.  The suits also have the turtle hump on the upper back which is something I don't remember seeing on flat trackers before (only on road racers.)

As a yout' (My Cousin Vinnie reference...) I was really into dirt bikes, and first had a Yamaha 175 Enduro, and at some point, I got an almost brand new 1976 KX 250 that looked more like a flat track bike than a motocross bike.

It had two little rear springs, with very little travel, and the bike sat real low, so I got pretty good at handling the thing in a controlled slide,with my foot skimming the surface, whenever I could find a big enough, smooth enough, flat piece of gound/hard sand to give it a shot... (Flat Tracker wannabee....)  Even used to drift around the same way on a frozen pond covered with snow...  Couldn't go as fast, but it was still cool as heck... especially if there was another bike in front, or alongside, with the snow rooster tails kicking up off the back tire.

This is a little embarassing , but when watching the Flat Trackers over the past two nights, I realized that I was using a little body english twisting a little to my left in my recliner whenver the bikes got side by side and the guy on the inside started pushing up a 1/2 groove.  I guess my brain was slipping back to 1977....

Like I said, I really enjoyed watching the Flat Track Races at Daytona, and by watching two nights, back to back, I now know some of the names of the riders, and some of their storylines, and look forward to watching and following the series this year.