Monday, August 3, 2009

Tornado Nationals!!

AWESOME weekend! Ron & I took the kids out to the AMA Tornado Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka to see some motorcycle racing (yea, I know, shocking!). Really cool to see friends of ours mix it up with the big boys (and girls, in the case of Melissa Paris). John Deuser, Matt Hall & Jamie Hall raced well. They may not have had the big rig set-ups, but they did have some of the biggest cheering sections out there. Ron will be with them on the grid next season. Can't wait!

LOVED that the big name riders were so accessible and friendly. My son got his new hat signed by Jordan Motorsports riders Geoff May and Aaron Yates, and I snagged pics with my faves, Ducati rider Larry Pegram and Danny Eslick, along with Martin Cardenas, Roger Hayden, and Aaron Yates. Pegram even graciously signed T's hat after he won Sunday's Superbike race.

And check this: when we met Pegram on Saturday morning, I mentioned I worked in radio. He asked which station so he could listen while driving to the airport on Monday. When we saw him on Sunday, right after his second big win of the weekend, I said "Wow! Now I've REALLY got something to talk about on Monday." His reply: "On 98.1, right?" With everything he had on his mind, how in the world did he recall that?? Very cool guy. And I LOVE that he calls his wife right after each race. Gotta love it!

Equally cool: we bumped into racing legend Scott "Mr. Daytona" Russell strolling thru the paddock. Ron and our friend Greg Williams (owner of Cafe Racer, Inc) were a bit starstruck. I'm not as familiar with his racing feats as they are, but his commentary on SPEED TV with Ralph Shaheen is great. Quite a coup for us all.

Pretty great weekend all around. How was yours?

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