FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Willow Springs Roundup POST EVENT WRAP
WILLOW SPRINGS SPRING ROUNDUP FEB 24 & 25
Walt James Stadium returned to life at dawn on February 24th with the roar of radical flat track machines. To the untrained eye, this patch of banked dirt in the desert might look like a great place to store a bunch of aging vehicles or do some nuclear testing. But to those who know, it’s one of the last of the best dirt tracks in the West. It takes an army to clean up the tumbleweeds, setup the port-a-potties & prep the track for the weekend’s event. Thankfully Larry Earhart & Dalton Trucking have the track prep down. Dalton Trucking supplies the road grader to make the track right. Larry got to work early on Friday digging up the decomposed granite layer and was relieved of his duty by Matt Brown who smoothed the surface to create an excellent racing surface. As the sun went down, we knew it would be an excellent weekend.
Saturday was bustling early in the morning in anticipation of getting out to practice on the freshly graded track. We had over 70 entries join us for multiple class racing on Saturday. While Sunday was down on attendance, we still had nearly 50 racers stay for the second day of fun. Attendance was high from the Dirt Diggers, with most members coming to volunteer as flaggers and scorers. Bad Andy brought two machines and rocked on both! Of course some of the crowds favorites are the Vintage classes: Brakeless, 500cc & 750cc. Our buddy Jack Faria builds and maintains a lot of these bikes, including the B50 his son Kris won a podium on both days! But the showstopper in Vintage 500 & 750 was Brian Filo piloting the only CB350 on the track. Dicing with the big bikes, Brian took home podiums in both classes with exciting races both days. Another name to mention is Tom Horton who came out with a pile of gorgeous bikes, including his Triumphs and his Kawasaki 350 in the 2-Stroke class. Tom showed the way with style and won every race he entered on Saturday. The Ironman award for the weekend goes to Damian Doffo who ran multiple races both days on an array of machines. He almost got Tom on Saturday piloting Dave Ehrhart’s Kawasaki 250, and he gave the kids a run for their money by winning Open Amateur and a second in 450 Amateur, losing by a wheel to Parker Earhart on Sunday. Damian also brought out both of his boys, Luca and Marco who diced it up with Tom Chavira & Isla Ferris in the Youth 50 class…way to go dad! The big winner of the weekend was Kage Tadman who gave a lesson on how to go slideways to anyone who would watch or listen. Taking wins in 450 Expert both days, Kage owned the Open Pro race and made a bunch of prize money for his effort. Kage also took the win in the dash for cash on Saturday, but like a class act he donated a portion of his wins so we could pay out the Youth Classes. Keeping Kage honest and on his game were other fast folks including Dominic Dias, Jaymes Arnaiz, Ken Bitz & Mason Smith. It is always exciting to see the next generation of racers kicking ass on the track.
This wonderful weekend of dirt & rubber could not have been possible without the help of our sponsors and support from our friends. Thank you to Dalton Trucking for being our title sponsor and letting Larry play with your big boy toys. Thank you to Dave Ehrhart of Team Black Sheep Racing for working as hard as Brady both days as the track manager & race starter. And thank you to our class sponsors for a little help with the bills, including Classic British Spares, Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys, Jack Jones Racing & Moto Doffo. Thank you to the Dirt Diggers & Rick Villanueva for helping keep the races running through their volunteering effort. And last, but never least, thank you Nils Davey for killing the Willow Springs Roundup image of Springer trying to outrun the stampede of bulls. Remaining posters & tees are available for purchase by contacting Brady.
The Fall Roundup comes a week before the Caruther’s National on September 21 & 22. The Running of the Bulls is planned along with some other surprises, so save the date! Thank you to the Huth family & Willow Springs Raceway for allowing us to come out and have some fun in the dirt.
EVENT INFO
The Willow Springs Roundup
Willow Springs International Raceway – Walt James Stadium
3500 75th St W, Rosamond, CA 93560
Fall Roundup September 21 & 22, 2024
Two days of flat track racing & camaraderie!
Brady Walker 310-980-7129 info
Brady Walker
