Budman Racing and Early Years HooliganTales

[budman]

I have been writing up stories for my grand kids about my racing days and other moto stuff and figured I would share a briefer version here.

Why?? Well a friend just texted me about one of them and asked if it was true.

Someone mentioned it to him 34 years after it happened.. holy shit! :laughing

**EDIT - Adding the Hooligan shit and moved to general**

So here is FOOT ON FIRE

I had a bad knee from MX racing and always had a hard time stopping my right foot from dragging. I was pretty broke and had to figure out how to make due after I wore out my toe slider.

When it was almost gone I saw little black goobers, which were asphalt sluff off's from when they repaved Sears. So every time I went up to Sears I would peruse the pits looking for the little the rubber like goobers.
They were all over at the time. Cool.

I would pack a few on.. duct tape a couple and add a few more and duct tape again to make layers. They worked really well actually.

One race we showed up and they had cleaned the pits.. no goobers to be found.. anywhere. Oh shit. :nchantr

I searched and searched.. nothing. I finally started searching my truck for anything that might work. I found... a domino! Solid plastic thick enough.. looked perfect...! :thumbup

Anyways.. in the race my foot started to get hot. I thought "dammit the domino fell off but I am in 6th place so deal. (3 laps to go or so - we did 11 back in the day).

With two to go I knew I was grinding away skin and I would be left with a bad looking couple of toes, but dammit I want a top 5.. never had one at that point.

On the last lap it really hurt.. I had a vision of ground down toes ( and Doug Polen :laughing), but I had to keep going. Top 5.. go!

After the flag (still ended up 6th I think - I know it was not a top 5) it was killing me but at least I was not grinding it down more. Just after T7 another racer came up to me and pointed frantically down at my foot.

I looked down and it was billowing smoke :wtf

By then it was hurting even worse. I picked up my pace and hustled as fast as safety would allow back to the pits. I came screaming into the pits and hit the first canopy I found and yelled "My foot it on fire!!!" I looked down and saw a 1" x 3" glowing ember in the smoke.. :wtf

I yelled "Where is your fire extinguisher.. put it out put it out!"

A dude grabbed one as I jumped off the bike.. and continued to jump up and down. I did as he tried to hit my foot with the fire sauce that would put it out. He kept missing.. :laughing

He finally got it and I removed my boot as fast as possible. My toes were still intact with minor burns.:cool

I got back to my pit barefooted and embarrassed. :laughing

Would have been totally worth it if I got 5th. :teeth

There ya go! Foot on Fire.

More to come.

 

[ThinkFast]

Smokin’! :flame :laughing

That’s crazy - on so many levels, starting with your various DIY toe slider repairs.

So do you have a collection posted online somewhere of your scribblings?

 

[budman]

No. I am going to truncate and put them here.

 

[kxmike]

Awesome!:laughing :thumbup

 

[budman]

Got to love a hug at 2AM from a large Tumbleweed

So this one.

24 Hour race at Willow Springs about 2AM. I was not riding but this is so unique and I had to share. I will not name the rider.

This was in '89 - Team was called Bay Area Fast Boys.

A brief background for those that don't know Willow Springs (big track).
Fast as hell. No lighting, so at night you get what you got on your bike. We raced production and the only modification allowed was a brighter bulb.

Not like the Superbike dudes who would add accessory lighting that lit up the apex of the corner. Hell some lit up huge amounts of the track. Sucking up on their rear made for better lap times!

We were stuck hoping the apex was where we thought it was. This incident happened in T-9. The fast right that came off the hauling ass T8 and led you to the start finish.

For me I sang the same song over and over. When I got to the part at T-8 I knew based on the lyrics when to dive into the dark at 80 mph or so (not sure really) and then give thanks to the Lord that the apex was where I thought it was. Repeat for an hour and then again later.

So we were battling with 2 other teams, all one lap behind us (we were leading thanks to an awesome 2 minute tire change). Our rider was just 20 minutes into his stint when he went missing.

The Team was totally :wtf Where is he??

Within 30 seconds this really weird looking bike slowly entered the pits. You could not make out who or what, but the shadow was huge and round. Like 5' round with wheels.

As it go closer we realized that is our guy and as he got really close we saw a giant tumbleweed stuffed between the front wheel and the motor. He parked and the team started pulling weeds. He was visibly shaken and shaking like crazy. Wide eyes and swear words were what I noted. He tried to get off and we said NOOOOO!!! You have to go.

We did not have our next rider suited up and ready.

He was shaking his head swearing "NO FUCKING WAY.. I ALMOST DIED.. I AM NOT GOING". I yelled at the next rider SUIT THE FUCK UP NOW!!!

Then turned back to the rider who just came in. "YOU HAVE TO GO OUT WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE READY!!" he shook his head violently and tried to get off the bike. I held him there and said "YOU HAVE TO GO- We will lose the lead if you don't give me TWO FUCKING LAPS!"

Again "NO". I don't remember exactly what I said but it was probably a non PC Slur..:laughing

At that point he succumbed and went out. We were all doing between 1:40 and 1:52 second laps in the dark depending which one of the 5 was riding.

He went out and did a 2:45 or so.. twice. We lost the lead but were still in the hunt. When he got back in our next rider was on and gone. He was still shaking and cussing me out for making him go out. Took him a bit to calm down to tell the tale.

Evidently he got his lyrics wrong and missed the apex and ran off the track into the darkness (just dirt) knowing a concrete barrier was out there waiting. Then he started to slowly regain control and turn to the direction the track went (probably pooping his pants the whole time).

All of a sudden BAM.. drainage ditch!! He said he jumped into it at about 45 degree angle caught air, hit the other side and berm shot back up not crashing, but collecting one of Willows biggest dust bunnies.

The vision of this round motorcycle in the dark rolling in the pits I will never forget. He prefers not to talk about it :laughing

We went on to win our class and get 10th overall. That was my last race and being on the top step of the Podium with champagne flying was a great way to end my racing career.

 

[budman]

Grandma saw me crash 25 times in one race maybe more..!

This one is about MX Racing.. and one awesome woman.

My grandma was a wonderful woman. After my Grandpa was killed by a drunk driver when my Dad was 12 she raised 4 sons by herself.
They were in Minnesota then and when my Dad joined the Air Force to help put the younger bros through college she brought her family to Sonoma to be close to my Dad.

She was always killer cool. She hunted pheasants with me when I was 12 and was always supportive in what I wanted to do with my life.
She would tell my Dad “Let Dee choose his course and chase what he loves”. That was usually about motorcycles. She called me Dee because my Dad was Dennis and she did not like Bud, which is what my Dad nicknamed me.

I had been Dee for years. I still am to my Uncle, Aunt and cousins.

So when I started racing MX eventually I went to Sears Point for a race and she wanted to come out and watch.

She would call my Uncle and have him bring her out. The first time was monumental in ways.

I had just moved from beginner to Novice and I was super happy she was coming out. No one else in my family gave a crap about me racing.
Most thought it was stupid waste of time and money, with the chance of being seriously hurt. She didn’t.

So that Sunday…

She came out but missed the first moto. I had finished first and I was in it to win it in my first race as a Novice.

Novice’s raced after the pro’s and our 2nd moto was late in the afternoon. The skies clouded up and it began to sprinkle.

Not a big deal for MX racers…right??...except when the hillside is all clay. I came to learn why.

The called us to the line.. and it started raining harder. Most of the 40 rider field bailed. I think there was about 15 of us on the grid.

I did not know it at the time, but the guy who who took second behind me was an ISDE rider for the US and was just out practicing. The only dude on an enduro bike.

I should have recognized the blue with white striped ISDE helmet that represented Team USA.

So.. the announcer was asking the crowd.. “Should we call this thing or do you want to see a race?”. The fans wanted to see a race.. and I would come to find out why. :laughing

I knew within a second I was in no matter what. The course was up in the hills above the road course at Sears and had huge elevation changes. The course was laid out to include a lot of a valley running up the hills on each side.

It was awesome fun in the first moto and it turned out to be… a challenge then.

When the gate dropped I charged to the first turn. A left hander that immediately went down a 150’ into the valley and then did a U turn at the bottom to come back up.

Going into the first turn I was near the front and when I went to turn Holy Shit.. the bike while turned just kept going straightish sliding on the ice rink that the clay was.

I got it under control and charged down the hill in second place. Mr ISDE guy was ahead as he was smart slowing before the turn and in control of his bike on the inside.

When we hit the berm on the bottom he charge up the hill he used the grunt of his enduro bike to easily climb the slippery hill. I was not so lucky. About ½ way up I lost all traction and momentum.

I came to a stop fell over and would have to go back down. Others were coming and they all did the same. Nobody but Mr. ISDE made it up the hill. :nchantr

I got to the bottom and tried again. Nope.. same result. As I was sliding down others were coming up.. havoc. :wow

I tried a third time and this time quickly put it in third gear. The lower RPM’s kept the wheel from spinning as much and I motored by the guys who were coming back down.

Made it.. I was in second place.. !!! I was now pretty muddy but stoked. Two more turns and back down into the valley. Crashed at the bottom sliding out. Fall # 3 at that point.

Remounted with still a big gap. I looked over at the hill and guys were still trying to get up.. :laughing A couple more turns and down again. Even standing was hard on the slippery clay so I would pick up the bike and fall again.

Soon Mr ISDE lapped me. I was only 7 turns into the race and already being lapped, but I was still in SECOND PLACE!! I wanted that 10 dollar trophy bad.. and Grandma, Uncle Wayne and his family were watching. I thought Kobza’s don’t give up!!

I got the bike going again and made it a couple more turns when I came to a right that paralleled the steep hillside and then sharp steep uphill left right below Grandma.

Immediately after the right I slid down off the course and into the orange fence. Damn..! I am up to about 8 crashes now and a total wet muddy mess.

I got going and then needed to make the 180 degree uphill left to keep going. I lost momentum turning fell over and slide down again. Damn! Got up.. and again could not get to the turn. And again.. and again. Each time struggling so hard to find footing on the hillside lift of the bike.

Kick start it with muddy boots on and usually falling over sliding down before I could get it fired up. I was getting exhausted and not making it up and around that left.. but I was still in second place. Looking back only one other dude had made it up the hill!! He finally caught up to me and we both started taking turns trying to make it up the hillside to the left. I looked up at Grandma and thought I can do this. Down.. slide.. get up get on the muddy seat and fall over.. over and over.

Then Mr. ISDE went by me again.. as I finally had made the turn, but again fell and slid into the orange fence the separated the back and forth course. I continued to struggle to try to keep going.. falling a number of times more.
Gloves muddy, smooth soled boot muddy.. sweat pouring down… I was a mess. The dude behind me never made it to me.. nobody else was even trying anymore.

When ISDE man crossed the line again the gave him the checkered flag and I heard the announcer say the race was over. Turn workers pulled out a rope and scaled down the muddy hillside to me. One dude took the bike and another tied the rope to my bike and they pulled it up the hill with a quad at the top. I could not even walk up the hill without falling and had to walk down to a more level area to get back to my Grandma and bike.

I remember coming up to her a total mess. It was hard to walk on flat land for cripes sake!

When I got to her.. She said to me: “So Dee this is what you like to do?”.

OMG.. “No Grandma it is not like this normally I have never done anything like this before!!”

She said “Well Dee. You never gave up. I am proud of you”. She even hugged the muddy me. Man I loved that woman.

Dwayne wearing his hunting boots helped me load up my truck and we then had to go down the hill back to the road I knew it was going to be another challenge. He had a cherry lifted old 4WD Bronco and he was sliding as he led me down the dirt road.

I was in my Toyota SR5 with no grip and was totally lugging it.. hope not to slide off the road.

When I got to the bottom I went to the scoring booth. I still wanted to know what the results were.

When asked about them the lady who was looking at the muddy mess I was and she said “Oh.. you were in that last race? They never should have let you guys start (waving her hand at me like that was stupid). What is your name?”.

After checking she walked back to the trophy counter and brought me a big chrome trophy. First place..! I told her “That other guy won.. he lapped me twice” and she said “Oh.. he is a pro who just was testing his bike before going to Europe. You took first in the first moto and even though you did not finish a lap I show you as first in the second one too”.

I walked back to Grandma with a 3’ tall trophy and said “Grandma I got first place!!!”

She said “Because you fell down the most?”. :rofl Oh my… that was hilarious.
I should have said yes… but I tried to explain.
She did not care. She was just there to see her first born Grandson do what he wanted to do.

She continued to come out when I road raced at Sears. Poor Uncle Dwayne as the chauffeur.

I would bring friends to crash on her floor and she would wake up early to cook us breakfast.

But that is another story.

Man I loved that woman.

 

[kxmike]

Awesome Budman...I have a similar story about my first mx race...it was at the same track on a rainy day! Full gate of 500 beginners. I holeshot both motos but that mud was impossible...I lost count of how many times I went down or stalled it. No trophy for me that day...but I was hooked!:thumbup That was 1983 I remember an ISDE guy screwing around behind the start gate riding slow wheelies and showing incredible bike handling skills:cool....maybe the same guy?

 

[bikeama]

Dennis that is great stuff. I never liked MX, but enduros were fun.

 

[budman]

Probably so... how many can there be at Sears MX Mike?

Dude was an awesome rider. Kind of would have liked to see him ride the course when no one else could.

 

[Smash Allen]

Great stories, and great to have support like that from grandma :ride thanks for sharing I’m looking forward to more!!

The one with your toe reminded me of when I got glued to my seat when my foam pad went mia during a race :wow

 

[TWF]

So this one.


Not like the Superbike dudes who would add accessory lighting that lit up the apex of the corner. Hell some lit up huge amounts of the track.

Guilty

 

[ScottRNelson]

I have to subscribe to this thread. Thanks for sharing these stories, Budman.

:thumbup

 

[CDONA]

All your racing stories in one sticky thread, here? :thumbup

Got to have the "Budman" story too :teeth

 

[budman]

Guilty

Indeed.. man I worked extra hard to hang with the well lit.

My first year (I did 3) I followed Reg Pridmore at god o'clock in the morning and his BMW lit up the country side for cripes sake!.. My bike would lose him on the front straight and I worked hard to catch him in T2 so when I got to the Budweiser balcony I could see where the fuuk I was..! :laughing

Glad you guys like them. More to come.

 

[R3DS!X]

Awesome! i would totally come to your TED talk.

 

[budman]

Hey Son - slide by Hello

So this one is '89.
750 Superstreet (AKA Superbike).

I had been making progress on my first venture into racing 750's and was ready to grab some Suzuki Cup scrilla. I got a great start and was up in 3rd as we exited T -11 on the first lap. The old one.. the real one. :laughing
My son and teammate were hanging on the hot pit wall (allowed back then) as my kid loved to watch the bikes fly by close.

Anyway as I came to the haybale chicane (which sucked because any contact had hay everywhere and a big delay to clean up) the bike in front of me blew his motor viciously with smoke everywhere and oil gushing ot. I was near the wall and as I saw that I saw the glistening stream of oil on the ground to my right. The rider had gone straight understandably and that kept me getting pinched closer to the wall. I was going to have to cross it. I let off the brakes and as soon as my front wheel touched it I went down and was sliding parallel with the wall close enough to touch it.

I looked back and saw havoc. 9 more bike piled up and bikes were now on the ground coming my way.. shit!! I pushed myself a bit to let the first by and that put me flat on my back and then I literally slid right under my son. I was looking up and saw his face flash by at 50MPH or so.. "Hey Son".

As I slowed bikes were still coming and I jumped to my feet at 10MPH or so and leapt over the wall. I was looking back ducked behind the wall like is was a Vietnam trench. I saw bikes stacked three high in a pile with one dude trapped between level two and three. When shit settled I jumped back over and helped take bikes off the dude. There was no flag station close so it was the racers doing the lifting. The dude slid to the ground and I could see his leg was broken. That was the only serious injury. First lap crashes with a pack of 60 bikes are crazy. :loco

I walked back over to my Bud, his new GF who was shaken and showed it as she held my son's hand. She was literally shaking. This was this Gal's first racing experience. My son asked "Dad.. Can I get your seat?" it was a bit away from my bike and I said "Sure Kyle..!" He ran onto the track (never happen today, but all bikes were stopped) and picked it up holding it over his head proudly and yelled "DUCT TAPE DAD?"

I said "Yes K.. we got 20 minutes to fix it before we restart!"

At that point the GF lost it... "Are you guys crazy?? Your going to go back and race again after that??". I nodded yes and she just went further into a tizzy. "What the fuck... I don't believe it!!" etc.

My buddy tried to calm her done but she marched away aggravated as hell.
Pulling her arm away every time he tried to stop her. Finally I noted as they got back to the pits her yelling at him like no tomorrow. He was trying to explain, but quickly she turned a left.

When he came back I said what up with your GF?
He said "She is not my GF anymore she just dumped me".

"Whaaaaaaaat??"

"Yup. She thinks we are bat shit crazy and said if I go race she is leaving and we were done. I told her I am racing what the fuck... that is why I came here for and she just left".

Too bad.. best looking GF he ever had...:laughing

We got ready and raced again, but man those moments...

Sliding under my son's face...
Him with the seat over his head yelling Duct Tape Dad!...
And her railing my bud in the pits....

Will never be forgotten :teeth

Shit happens.. and for people that don't experience a lot of shit I guess it can be pretty traumatic. It was for her.

My bud never saw her again.

At that point the AFM was counting crashes so I had to write Barb an appeal letter to get it removed. I did it tongue in cheek.

"Due to the Exxon Valdez spilling oil on the exit of turn 11 and my affinity for saving ducks I fell in the oil and would request my crash be removed from my record".

I still have a copy of it.. she poked me at the next round saying your crash was removed.. "Nice letter Denny" with a big smile. :laughing

 

[budman]

Awesome! i would totally come to your TED talk.

:laughing :thumbup

 

[afm199]

Great stuff!

 

[budman]

Bees in my Goggles

Lets jump back to MX to keep it random.

I was a regular on Thursday Nights at Baylands Raceway for their racing under the lights. Ricky Ryan was the man back then along with Rodney Smith and Sean MConn (SP?). 237 traffic was still a bitch back then at 4 o'clock just so you know. 2 lanes and stop lights.. OG days bruh.

This story is about a practice deal though. I had graduated from Beginner to Novice and Intermediate at the time of this tale.

The Police Athletic League had a track on 237 at Great America back then that was open on weekends. I was there often and got to know the dudes and I got the combo to the track so I could go practice during the week.

This day I went out with my son DJ in tow because I was on Dad duty.
He was 3 and we brought out a bevy of Tonka Toys along with water and some grub. I set him up on a picnic bench and then ran laps.

I would stop after 20 minutes or sometimes 30 minutes to check in, grab a drink and chat for a minute. He was happy just to play in the dirt.. just like Dad. :teeth

I was railing pretty good and then I had an issue. In a tight right turn I went in hard, bashed the berm but my front wheel slipped over the top and I face planted immediately. I mean a proper face plant where it snaps off your visor and you see the ground attacking your face with force.

BAM!!!... out cold. I have no idea how long I was out.

When I woke I there was something in my goggle flying all around.. I freaked out "I got bees in my goggles" and scrambled laying in the dirt to get them off and get the little fuckers out!...I must have looked so stupid trying to slap the bees with my goggle still on and then realized the were inside and frantically pulled them off.

Well it turned out it was not bees. I had just received a set of Turbo goggles that had a little fan on the eyebrow you could turn on while on the starting line to keep the goggles from fogging. They worked awesome!!

Turns out face plus ground broke the housing and left the little fan only connected by a wire. It was on and flopping all over in front of my eyes.
In my dazed state I thought it was a bee.. and yeah freaked the fuck out. :laughing

Once I got the goggles off I noted pain.. I jacked my knee to. I could not get up. Well I did but it took a bit of time to figure out how with only one good leg and feeling woozy. I did after a few minutes and got the bike up too. I limped over to DJ.

"Hey Deej.." wincing in pain covered in dust.

"Hi Dad.. where were you?"

Well I explained that I crashed and typical kid response "Oh". He kept playing. I sat and took stock of what had happened and perhaps doing this with nobody else around was not smart. Duh..!

Then I thought how the fuck am I going to load my bike.
We headed to the truck and put my ramp up.. and tried. No luck.. fuck.

I picked up a large stick and told DJ I am going to push my bike up the ramp and when I get it up so far I want you to stick the stick here (so it would hold the bike part way up). I added when I say pull it out you pull it out OK?

He did as instructed and when I got it up as high as I could without stepping on the bed he put the stick in. Damn if it didn't work. Then is was a bit figuring out hold the bike steady, how to get up to get it the rest of they way in. I managed to crawl to my feet and pushed the bike forward a bit and said "Pull it out!". He did and I got it in the rest of the way in collapsing on the bike. I was hurting good.

"DJ.. grab the tie down and hand it too me.. help me pull it when I say so".
Then we repeated it on the other side. Me instructing his every move of course.

A 3 yo was my savior... :laughing

We got it loaded and we headed home to tell Mom I have to go to the emergency room (again). :facepalm

I healed and raced again, but the constant injuries from trying to get to the Pro level made me rethink it. I started Road Racing 1/2 way through the next year.

Glad it was not bees and damn glad I had a sidekick to help me out. :cool

 

[chickenfried]

Great stories!