Harley Hooligan
The first time I ever went out onto a Flat Track was December 2015 at Perris Speedway in California. I was there with all the "Pro" SuperHooligan guys, Roland Sands, Cameron Brewer, Suicide Machine Co and Rusty Butcherto name a few. Perris is a half mile oval dirt track and I had four hours to figure out what I was doing. After one lap I was hooked and I stayed until they turned the lights off and that was after I crashed. Even though I suffered a labrum tear in my shoulder from that crash, I still rode and trained superbike for 10 more days after. When I went back home to Florida I signed up at pro racer Johnny Lewis' All Female Flat Track School and thus started my obsession with turning left and going fast.
Six months after that day at Perris I entered my first race at the Lost Highway Festival in California. At that point I had been on my bike for a month and a half solid and covered around eight thousand miles. Roland Sands had a Yamaha Bolt that needed a rider and I jumped at the chance to fill the spot. It was 115 degrees that day and aside from the heat, my nerves were going crazy too. I was the only female on the track and I had never felt that type of pressure before. Suddenly I felt that my performance would reflect on all women riders and racers as a whole. I wasn't the fastest on the track but I wasn't the worst one out there either. I gave it my all and made it to the mains and that was good enough for me. I learned that day that just having the courage to be out on the track and race those bikes with the guys is already representing what women can do and if I encourage at least one person to do something that they thought they couldn't do then I won. It may not be the race but it's much bigger than that.
The next race was Sturgis, the worlds largest Motorcycle Rally. For the first time ever The Buffalo Chip created a space around the main stage for a Super Hooligan Flat Track Race. Once again I rode (1500 miles) to go and race, this time on an old 45 Handshift Harley and the trusty RSD Yamaha Bolt. I wouldn't be the only female this time, Britney Olsen from 20th Century Racing would be out there in the Vintage Class. Between practice and the race was a lot of down time which I filled with amateur drag racing on the main strip of tarmac beside the stage. I will account the hole shot I pulled in my heat race to those drags and practicing my reaction times. I couldn't believe that in my second race ever I had got out front first and actually led a couple laps! The weather (it poured rain before) and the right hand turn made this an ever changing and interesting track to ride mentally. When the race was over I had never been more proud of myself. I wanted to go back out there and see if I could do better, not out of disappointment for not winning but because I had surprised myself how well I did do and I wanted to see what else I could do!
After three months and 15k miles I decided to ride to Milwaukee to race Flat Out Friday, a concreter Dr Pepper syrup track on a bike I had never been on before. Plans quickly changed once I arrived. Harley Davidson asked me to come in for a meeting and that's when I was offered to be the first female Harley Hooligan Racer for 2017. I had a hard time not screaming out loud and peeing my pants with excitement. I hadn't even been racing for a year and I had a factory sponsored contract. Harley wanted me to not race Flat Out Friday and be the pit reporter for the Facebook Live feed in front of 7 million people instead so we could announce to everyone about my new title. I did get a chance to go out on the track before the races started though. I taped up my left boot with a rag I found and went out to see what this track was all about. When I left Milwaukee the next morning I had a 1300 mile ride to process the opportunities that had been given to me. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotions at what this means for women in the industry. It's my goal to involve more women in the sport and to set records for others to achieve to break. See you on the track!
Hooligan Flat Track Racing is 750 cc twin engined motorcycles,, triples or fours, stock street chassis, no front break, no lights and can registrable as a street motorcycle.
Flat track racing has been around for nearly a century in an organized format, and in my opinion it has been around since the very first time a land owner's buddy brought his motorcycle out to the property. Flat track racing is possibly the oldest form of motorcycle racing still in existence.
You can find out more info about flat track racing at :
https://rideapart.com/articles/history-of-ama-pro-flat-track-racing