![]() AMA Pro Racing manages the track and its condition as soon as the event begins, said Michael Lock, AMA Pro Racing's chief executive officer. ![]() The promoter secures the venue and insurance and prepares the track. ![]() Promoted by local race enthusiasts, the event was run by AMA Pro Racing, a Daytona Beach, Florida-based sanctioning body that establishes the rules, runs the race and ensures the riders are qualified and licensed. Tickets were $40 in advance and $50 at the gate for general adult admission. Sunday's event was the AMA Pro Racing Flat Track 2016 season finale. Riders can hit 120 mph on the straightaways and 80 mph on the corners. The sport has evolved to include half- and one-mile dirt tracks as well as the TT Steepchase, an irregular course with jumps and elevation changes. Track racing is America's original adrenaline-fueled two-wheeled motorsport, originating in the early 1920s when a rider pushed a Harley-Davidson to 100 mph. And I just told him to be careful and don't do anything stupid.” It wasn't going to stop him, because he's a racer. “I just basically told him that the track's unsafe,” Mataya said. “In my opinion, there shouldn't even have been a race on that track at all,” said Jake Mataya, 29, of Blaine, Minnnesota, who knew both Kainz and McGrane well.Īfter Kainz crashed, about 12 p.m., Mataya opted to sit out of the race and he said he urged McGrane to do the same. In the aftermath of the tragedy, several riders described the Santa Rosa track as narrow, dusty, bumpy and “treacherous.” The rules of the road don't apply in a closed-track accident at a privately organized race, officials with several Sonoma County law enforcement agencies said.īut the deaths of Kainz, of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area and McGrane, of Gap, Pennsylvania - both on the cusp of promising racing careers - have pushed racers to call for officials to place stricter controls track conditions. So far, no law enforcement agency is investigating the crashes or track conditions for the one-day professional dirt track bike event, which drew about 60 riders, who are paid through sponsorships and earn winnings for top finishes. It was an unprecedented loss for a fairgrounds event and the national AMA Pro Racing flat track circuit. They were taken separately to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where Kainz died Sunday afternoon and McGrane died Monday evening. Just two hours later, another rider and rising star, 17-year-old Kyle McGrane, went down on the same dusty one-mile horse racing track and sustained severe injuries.īoth young riders were competing in the Santa Rosa Mile event before a crowd of about 4,500 people. The green light flashed and the race continued Sunday as paramedics fought to revive Charlotte Kainz, a 20-year-old dynamo in the dirt track motorcycle racing world, who was gravely injured in a crash with other bikers at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
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