What happen to AFM at Sonoma?

KazMan

2012 Fifty is Nifty Tour!
Staff member
They also opened up T9 I want to say ~5 years ago for Indy I think it was?

That is correct and the various patches never really installed confidence for many after that.

But being from Budman's era, the old track surface was in my opinion worse with only aarmco and tires for runoff if it wasn't just a dirt wall with tires in front of it. You could go fast, but you definitely had to respect your fellow rider and more so the track.
 

Butch

poseur
Staff member
Wow. I feel fortunate to have ridden, driven, so many laps there. Back in the day.
It has been a good run.
 

peterhively

Well-known member
FYI, regarding the track conditions at Sonoma, at the PTT Season Opener this past weekend I was happy to see that they have made some repairs to the track surface at Sonoma.

They have patched the seam on the outside of 6, the bumps just inside the curb at the exit of 7, the outside seam in the braking zone on the entrance to 9, and a few other little things. Are there a few other spots that could use some repairs? Yes, I'd like to see some further attention to the curbing and patching inside of 9a, the cracks in 11, the bumps and cracks in the Turn 7 braking zone and entry apex, and a few other spots.

Would it be nice to have a complete repave? For sure! Given everything Holeshot said, plus the covid situation and NASCAR having to cancel the big moneymaker races, is it likely to happen soon, or ever? I dunno.

But as others have said, I've seen it a hell of lot worse. Just to put things in perspective, let's jump in the wayback machine. It's 1985 and a state of the art bike is a 600 Ninja, 750 Interceptor, Ninja 900 or FJ1200 with 16" front wheels, plus a few grey market GSX-R750s smuggled in from Canada. A very popular bike is an RZ350. You probably have fatter tires, better forks, and a stiffer frame on your mountain bike than those things had! Grids were huge and there was serious contingency money on the line leading to fierce battles.

The track surface is maybe the same, if not much worse than it is today.

There was no bus stop, you came out of the esses and went WFO through 9 into 10 just like NASCAR, with no run off to speak of. No airfence, no haybales, you'd be lucky to hit an old tire wall that had been baking in the sun for years and was just as hard as the concrete wall behind it.

(BTW, when Scott Gray said Hey we need to put some haybales around the track for safety, he had to fight like hell to get AFM to agree to it. There were a bunch of reasons it couldn't be done. Cost, effort, even liability. "Our lawyer says if we put haybales up now, we'll get sued by everybody that has ever gotten hurt before we had them". No shit. Scott said I'll buy the bales, I'll rent the trucks to get them here, I'll hire the crew to put then up and take them down and sweep up the hay when they get exploded. AFM said no no no. Just like 20 years later when John Ulrich, sick of seeing his friends and team riders get hurt and killed hitting unprotected guardrails and hillsides all across the country said we need to get some of this new airfence and AMA Pro Racing said no no no. Luckily they both prevailed, but the energy spent fighting about it could have been put to better use.)

If you made it through Turn 10, you pinned it all the way down to old Turn 11 by the gas pumps, heading right at the wall, no runoff, no escape. Make the turn or eat concrete.

Skimming the bare concrete wall on the exit of 11, you went wide open right across the fucking drag strip which was the same as the front straight, through 1 all the way up the hill to 2, with zero run off. Two time AMA Superbike champion Wes Cooley crashed in 1 at the 85 AMA Superbike race, hit the bridge abutment and nearly died. Ended his career. The same weekend a sidecar crashed there and the driver Michael Parkinson was killed. Luckily his passenger, Frank Mazur who was an AFM overall champion survived.

Before we had the current Turn 1 chicane to slow things down, we had a haybale chicane on the front straight that worked OK until somebody inevitably clipped one and knocked it onto the track, blocking the gap. Big pileups with lots of hay flying were the predictable result.

Imagine going down into 4 with a big dirt bank right in front of you, zero runoff, hope you don't miss your braking marker. Jeff Hagan launched his bike up and over that bank, it went right up over the fence and landed behind the spectators. Turn 5, same, big dirt wall out there right at the edge of the track, zero runoff. Etc Etc. More recently, before the last big repave, there were places where water came up through the cracks all summer, especially at high tide! Sometimes they put cones out in the middle of turn 11 where the water was seeping up and you had to go around them. Massive drainage improvements were made, track was repaved, massive earth was moved, bridge replaced, bridge abutments moved, runoff increased nearly everywhere possible. Overall the track is so much safer for us than it used to be. Most or all of those big improvements were made with the big NASCAR money by the big nasty NASCAR people.

You do need to take track conditions into account any time you get on a bike, anywhere you go. I haven't been to THill for awhile, but last time I was there that place had all kinds of patches, seams, cracks, tar snakes, dips, bumps and shit you had to watch out for. I haven't been to ButtonWillow since they repaved, but the one time I was there before that, it was quite a mess. Willow Springs? Went there for a WERA race in 2017, it looked exactly the same as it looked in the 90s. As a race mechanic I've been to every track on the AMA and Formula USA circuit through the 2000s. Loudon, Mosport, Daytona, Fontana, Road America, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, all had major track surface and/or safety issues. When VIR reopened it was beautiful, all new and shiny, but the curbs were all wrong for bikes and riders were injured and just about ripped off their bikes just dragging a knee. MotoGP was still running at COTA pre-covid, despite the riders complaints that the pavement there was like a motocross track.

Right now I'm looking at 8 more Sonoma track days on the 2021 calendar and I plan to hit every one of them,:ride:party:thumbup and I will really miss racing there for the second year in a row :thumbdown. For this old timer, and with all due respect, AFM without Sears Point just ain't right! :afm199 Now you damn kids man the fuck up, and get off my lawn!!! :laughing:rofl:twofinger
 

massio

once a racer...
What he said!

...let's jump in the wayback machine...no bus stop...WFO through 9 into 10...no run off...no airfence, no haybales...an old tire wall that had been baking in the sun for years and was just as hard as the concrete wall behind it...pin it all the way down to old Turn 11 by the gas pumps...right at the wall, no runoff, no escape...turn or eat concrete...wide open right across the fucking drag strip which was the same as the front straight, through 1 all the way up the hill to 2, with zero run off...a haybale chicane...pileups with lots of hay flying...down into 4 with a big dirt bank right in front of you...zero runoff...Turn 5, same, big dirt wall out there right at the edge of the track, zero runoff...places where water came up through the cracks all summer...cones out in the middle of turn 11 where the water was seeping up...Overall the track is so much safer for us than it used to be.

...For this old timer, and with all due respect, AFM without Sears Point just ain't right! Now you damn kids man the fuck up, and get off my lawn!!! :laughing:rofl:twofinger

That brought back some fond memories, Peter. I'm with you! Who needs billiard table smooth tracks or E-lectronic rider aids? HTFU.

It ain't gonna happen but if the AFM ever brought back multiple race weekends at SEARS POINT then even I could be coaxed out of retirement to show the kids (OK, my kids) how it's done. :p

Phew. I need a nap. And where's my sweater?
 

horsepower

WaterRider/Landsurfer
Damn, what a bummer. I loved that track. It was one of my happy places.
Better than Disneyland that’s for sure.
Thunder hill backwards is fun as hell though.
 

scratchpad

Well-known member
For this old timer, and with all due respect, AFM without Sears Point just ain't right! :afm199 Now you damn kids man the fuck up, and get off my lawn!!! :laughing:rofl:twofinger

Pretty much!

I never had any issues with the track surface at Sears. There were definately things to look out for in a couple areas, one being the crack in the carousal. A couple years ago there with Motoamerica we showed up and they had a couple hundred sheep shitting all over the track. We went out for practice and everybody was pulling off track or coming in thinking they left rear axle loose or something, including me. Put 2 and 2 together after that. Not sure if thats a regular thing there or not.

Just like all the complaints about the bump before going into riverside at Buttonwillow. Yeah theres a bump there, everybody has to go through it or go around it, adapt and overcome and figure out a way to go through there so its less unsettling.
 

TWF

training hard
Pretty much!

I never had any issues with the track surface at Sears. There were definately things to look out for in a couple areas, one being the crack in the carousal..

Back in 90's there was patch on outside of 7 with crack/gap between it and asphalt. I crashed when my front wheel got in that crack :)
Dragging engine in turn 1 was fun as well :)
 

stangmx13

not Stan
Patches just add to the problem of having multiple surfaces and multiple levels of grip throughout the whole track. Tar snakes, concrete, patches, cracks, potholes, etc etc. And it'll be a diff problem when the patches settle and you get new bumps. The majority of the surface is garbage and offers minimal grip in all but perfect conditions. No one likes destroying tires, especially to go slow.

I hate the mentality of "who cares about how bad it is now. remember when it was so much worse". Whatever happened to American exceptionalism where we actually strived to have the best. Now some try to sell us the worst product for the highest price and consumers are brainwashed that they like it.
 

Holeshot

Super Moderator
Staff member
For this old timer, and with all due respect, AFM without Sears Point just ain't right! :afm199 Now you damn kids man the fuck up, and get off my lawn!!! :laughing:rofl:twofinger

I don't think there's one board member (past or present) who would disagree. Sonoma is the AFM's home, but things have changed so much in 15 years on the board. Mainly, the impediment to the club returning to Sonoma is the cost to run an event there matched with lower participation in motorcycle racing (nationwide).

I wil add this into your sleepy dreams though: imagine Sonoma with a new track surface all the way around. HEAVEN.
 
I guess my millennialness is showing :)

Don't get me started on the sub-par coffee offerings...
 
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wankerboy

Well-known member
PUSSIES, any buddy that thinks it's bad, NEVER rode it in the 80's.
Track is the reason AMA had/has LOTS of AFM riders, taught ya skills.
 

jbawden

Well-known member
Personally, I would pay one-off high entry fees to include Sears Point on the season schedule. It's the one place fat-me can ride in front of a gaggle of eager youngsters (and Berto) for a few laps...4 lap races too please, thank you.
 
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Gravisman

Aspiring Racer
Personally, I would pay one-off high entry fees to include Sears Point on the season schedule. It's the one place fat-me can ride in front of a gaggle of eager youngsters (and Berto) for a few laps...4 lap races too please, thank you.

Could be neat to have a special event there, separate from the afm championship. Like the Daytona 200 except not so long.
 

inthewoods

Well-known member
Use to go to the races with Scott. Nice seeing his name mentioned. Thanks. Old AFM #774
 

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horsepower

WaterRider/Landsurfer
I don't think there's one board member (past or present) who would disagree. Sonoma is AFM’s home.

I wil add this into your sleepy dreams though: imagine Sonoma with a new track surface all the way around. HEAVEN.

Couldn’t some rich guys like Michael Jordan just buy it and get it resurfaced ?
Seems like Covid would have been the perfect time to do it- Dow stocks at 32k and the track is empty.
And any rich guys out there , buy Reno-Fernley while you are at it.;p
 
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