Photo: Shane Scott/Facebook
There’s still lots of snow on the ground in much of Canada, but Canucks were busy racing last week, mostly across Florida but also in George. Here’s how the week went:
Alberta’s Mike Scott was back in action in NHRA’s Top Fuel Harley class at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida over the weekend. Alas, he lost out in the first elimination round, and due to the tough nature of NHRA racing, didn’t see much track action. He was also eliminated in the E1 round the weekend before in Arizona, but check out his sweet save below. That’s a bike you certainly don’t want going sideways!
Elsewhere in Florida last week, Canadian flat track hero Brodie Buchan was down from Ontario to take on the Daytona TT for the first time. Buchan didn’t have great luck; in his first heat, he fell and had trouble starting the bike, and he didn’t make the main event. But, given his success at AMA events over the past couple of years, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be back for more in the future.
Speaking of people coming back for more: BC’s Darren James tackled the Daytona 200 again, with mixed results. He qualified in 24th in a field of 70 riders, and managed to work his way all the way up to 13th by race’s end. He’s finished top-10 in his last five Daytona 200 appearances, so this was a disappointment, but still a solid performance, especially when you realize he was having trouble with the left-hand fingers that were “trimmed” after his crash at least year’s IOMTT. But, there was an even worse disappointment ahead, as post-race tech inspection discovered a non-regulation air filter installed on his Yamaha R6, which meant he was disqualified. Bummer. Kyle Wyman took the race win in 57 laps, with a race time of 2:05:39.576, with a best lap of 1:49:288, and won a $25,000 purse for his trouble.
Back to flat track action; Shane Scott took his Honda CRF450R all the way from Moncton, NB, to race in Daytona’s AMA All Star National Flat Track half-mile in the middle of the week, taking the win over an experienced field—see him in the title image with his trophy. He wasn’t done; on the weekend, he tackled the Battle in the Bullring event in Senoia, Georgia, and got second place in the Vet class, and in his words “buried” in the Open Singles event. Not a bad mid-winter break, though, and Scott’s obviously still has what it takes to win, as you can see in his racecraft below …
Finally, Toni Sharpless got herself and her Yamaha R3 down from Ontario to the WERA event at Georgia’s Roebling Road Raceway over the weekend, and had herself a pretty good outing as well. In five races, she earned four podiums, including two wins, a second, and a third. Maybe she’s just warming up for another season in CSBK’s Lightweight Sport Bike?
