wheels of thunder february 2013 issue

Vol. 4 Issue 2

FEB/MAR 2013

0

Page 24

Page 6

Front Cover Photo by WholeShotMX.com

Find us on Facebook “Wheels of Thunder” February 2013

Special FeaturesJordon Lokken ..............................................6

Jack Sisemore – Tribute Bike........................16

Next Generation – Sterry Family Racing ......20

Ricekiller – Turbocharged Hayabusa............24

Legends – Jerry Hauck ...............................30

First Drag Race ...........................................36

Youth Movement – Frattalone Racing ...........44

Caleb Moore..............................................54

Rally’s & ShowsRound 4 Grassroots Racing Series................28

ISOC Racing...............................................50

DepartmentsGarage Built ...............................................10

Boiling Point................................................12

On The Calendar - Curtis Wise Jr .................33

Off The Beaten Path ....................................40

ABATE of MN.............................................42

Game On!..................................................56

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6

Page 20

OWNERPRESIDENT – Scott [email protected]

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OFFICE STAFFAR/AP – Stacy Robinson

763-421-4400OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR/AR – Vince Griffith

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EDITORIAL STAFFEDITOR/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Betty [email protected]

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Photographers/WritersBILLY BOYLE DAN JACOBSON SRCEAJA PHILP TOM EDWARDS

BRAD COPLAN JENNA OSTERLUNDMATT PETERSON MYLIE LAVOLDKIM NILES JOHN LENTZKOW

ADVERTISING STAFFSALES – Scott Robinson

[email protected] (CJ) Philp

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www.WheelsofThunder.net Page 3February 2013


JORDAN LOKKEN#13

Motorsports athletes take a beating in theirrespected fields, no matter if they are ontwo wheels, four, tracks, or water, so taking

a breather or doing conditioning training in their'off-season' would make sense. Jordan Lokken, ofLake Vermillon, Minnesota says he took his'breather' from racing after his first two title yearchampionships when he moved to South Dakota.During the three years he was gone the itch tocompete never left.

www.WheelsofThunder.net February 2013

How did he get to that point? Well, at age19 he made a decision he was going to racequads, that simple! He had messed withthe idea of sleds and motocross, but quadsappealed to him more. So during the fall ofhis first year of college he found a 2005Yamaha YFZ 450, and he been to enoughraces and done enough research to knowwhat he needed to do to it in order to haveit ready for its first ice race. He only hadthree months but Jordan had no worries,just dove right in and had it ready by raceday.

Having never raced before, he was still ableto take 3rd place his first go at it. Fromthere it was game on! Jordan won that sea-son's Class C overall points championshipon his 450, which meant the next seasonhe would automatically be bumped up toClass B. Again Lokken was able to comeout on top, winning the Class B overallchampionship. This would again havemoved him up the ranks, but this waswhen he made his move to South Dakota,so that next season Class A would be with-out Jordan.

When the time came for him to move backto Minnesota, he couldn't help but thinkabout getting back to racing. It happenedto be going into summer about the timethey came home, so he figured why not lethis four year old son, Zane take a shot atdirt track. With getting that going he heldoff until mid season to get started himself.Jordan still had his 2005 and with a fewmodifications was able to start all overlearning a new track under his tires in theAMA ProAm D23 series. He made the de-cision quickly to change things up how-ever and found the seat of a 2009 YamahaYFZ, which created the perfect match. Hepulled out a 2nd place win the summer of2011. Turning around the winter of 2012he found himself in 4th overall in the Proclass on ice.

His success has come back quickly, grab-

Written by Ceaja Philp Shaving Ice and Throwing Dirt


bing the overall championship points in2012 for the D23 Flat Track Pro andProAm. Jordan's goal is to help his kidsmake Pro at the National level, and keepthe family experiences with his two chil-dren, 7 year old son Zane, and 5 year olddaughter, Ayla going for years to come.

Zane has already made quite the name forhimself, starting at only 4 years old, win-ning overall his first year out. In 2011 hemoved up to running two classes, the50/70 and 90cc. Again he won overall on

his APEX 70cc. 2012 was another repeatfor Zane, taking the points championshipin the 90cc class. He is also following inhis dad's footsteps racing year around andtake home the hardware, having over 150

trophies already.

As little sister Ayla patiently waited untilshe could get out on the track at age four,she was her dad and brother's biggest fan.Finally she would get her chance, taking2nd in overall her very first summer out inthe 50/70cc stock class. This is her firstwinter racing, but is holding her own beingyoung and the only girl in the class. Jordan

chuckled as he told me about how proudshe was to get a win like her brother hadone weekend and on the ride home turnedaround to see her asleep in the back seatstill holding tightly onto her trophy.

Jordan says the trailer and Lokken TeamRacing are always ready to go racing, ice ordirt! He says it's like a Christmas count-down in their home, only it's counting thedays until they get to race again, and eventhough he has set goals for himself, it's thekids and their happiness that keep hisdrive going.

Jordan would like to give special thanks tothose who help him and the kids continuedoing what they enjoy so much; MotoEx-perts, Hettrick Racing, Glendale Sales &Service, Maximum RPM, Elka Shocks,Rath Racing, Motowoz, and Zups Foods ofCook , Minnesota.

2008 Polaris IQ 800

Owner: Jon Lechner

Stock OriginalThis is where it all started!Stock OriginalThis is where it all started!

Sound Familiar?Do you have a story of your custom ride? [email protected] and you could be

featured with your ride in the next issue!

Written By. Tanner WolfePhotography by: Tanner Wolfe

1970 Chevelle SS “CLONE”

“I wanted a street/strip car that I couldalso drive to work and take to the track,and it has exceeded my expectations

and I'm not done!”~Jon Lechner


This car has undergone quite an exten-sive face lift. Being from Texas every-thing from the doors, rockers and roofwere replaced leaving the floor as oneof the salvageable parts on the car. Inhis garage that has been converted intoa body shop/paint booth Jon installedthe rear quarters, did all the bodywork, installed the racing cage andpainted.

Buying the car off of his brother Joe inBreckenridge, Tx who originally in-tended to restore the but at the timeJon had a 71’ Chevelle SS that was alsoblack but only packing a 402 and de-cided it was time to part with the 71’and move onto a new project with“Power” as the theme. Now finishedthe car runs 11-70’s at 115mph. Andin time will make its way back to thebrother because a new project isaround the corner. Possibly moving onto an A-Body wagon or who knowsChevelle’s are just in his blood.

CAR INFORMATION:Engine: Stock Crate 502c.i/502 HPwith roller rockers addedHooker headers & Mufflers 3” with x-

pipeEeromotive Fuel System w/ sump instock tankTransmission: 700R Transmission3500 stallJegs line-lockQuick Performance 9” Ford rear end &spool w/ Mosier 35 spline axles. Used3.80 to 1 gears from Nascar. Alu-minum Center.3” Drive shaft from fastshaft and asafety loop4 wheel disk brakesAluminum Radiator with twin electricfansAuto meter gauges with simpson beltsRear Supspension-South Side MachineLift bars: Summit adjustable dragshocks442 rear springsFront Suspension: Hotchkis uppercontrol arms. Camaro spindles, AQ-1aluminum coilBillet Specialties “Street Light” 15x6front & 15x10 rearBF Goodrich Radial TA 225-70 Front,275-60 Rear



Written by Billy Boyle

“YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE HEART”

February is the month for lovers and ro-mance and that is symbolized by the Valen-tine heart, but February is also Heartawareness month. Why you ask? Well myfriends’ Heart disease is the leading causeof death in the United States. Bad diets,lack of physical fitness, no health insur-ance, and stress are key factors in shuttingthe heart down.

For the readers that can remember how lifeonce was, let me take you down memorylane and for the young energetic generationhere’s what you missed. Do you recall howsimple life was before all the technology hitthe market place. I remember this in the1960’s, my dad working an 8 hour shift andsitting at the dinner table 20 minutes afterleaving work.

You see in those days we didn’t have thecongested roadways we have today in 2013and my dad didn’t have to deal with thestress of commuting. That was the coursefor the week day, every week. We sat downas a family, we actually talked at the dinnertable about what was going on in eachother’s day, work, school, sports, events,planning summer vacations.

Life was simple; we didn’t have cell phonesat the dinner table texting, Googling, orFacebooking. We didn’t have Xbox, IPads,and IPods. We had good old fashioned con-versation and face to face arguments. Ifsomeone had an issue with you, we put itright there on the table. There was nochicken shit postings on websites, maybean occasionally scribbling on the men’sroom walls, but usually you found outquickly and handled it. We sat andwatched the usual weekly TV programs,Perry Mason, Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke,Mr. Ed, Bonanza, Beverly Hillbillies toname a few. We watched them in the com-fort of our small livingroom, we laughed,winced, we got quiet, but the bottom-linewe sat as family.

On Sundays, at least in Boston, Massachu-setts we had what they called the Blue Laws

that literally dated back to the Pilgrims. Ba-sically everything was closed, Sunday wasconsidered the Lord’s day, what we called aday of rest. The only establishments openwere Taverns that had to serve bar typefood on the bar only, (another law datingback to the Patriots, Tavern owner SamAdams in 1776), and a few restaurants.

On Sundays, my Grandfather dressed in asuit and tie and would pick up our familyand take us on a drive to a park or beachand treat us to an ice cream. Crammed inthe back of the 1954 Pontiac, my motherand father along with my 3 sisters and mybrother, we sat on laps, without seatbelts.‘Without seatbelts you say?!?’, the goodreason they weren’t available in cars thenand we still lived. Another good point toliving a longer life, the drivers of yesteryearactually obeyed the speed limits and re-spected the rules of the road.

Sunday always ended with a big dinner fol-lowed by the Ed Sullivan show and thenbed….school tomorrow. And it started allover again on Monday. I don’t ever recallmy mother or father stressing out over lotsof bills, some bills yes, but not what we are

geared too in 2013. Snap shot ahead to ourcurrent situation, the family structure in alot of cases is long gone. We are moving sofast as a family there isn’t any quality timeto wind down. Here’s an observation to payattention to the next time you are out fordinner, scan the restaurant and focus onany family. Watch what happens, almostimmediately everyone at the table is onan IPhone, Android, or a tablet, headsdown and not bit of eye contact, no con-versation, and no interaction. The meal isusally consumed in a short time and thenthe “can we leave” starts in rapid succes-sion.

That’s family time in 2013, we are movingso fast we can’t even slow down to appre-ciate the moment. Let’s take the financialside of the stress, bill’s piling up, monthlymortgage continues to grow, phone bills,internet service, cable, direct TV, keepingup with the Jones, and medical bills. Howabout the job side of stress working longerhours, no days off, working your well-de-served vacation to supplement your in-come.

Maybe you are one that has a young family,

maybe those kids are in sports,...sportshaha, let the games begin. Let’s run the kidsto hockey, football, soccer, basketball, base-ball, or activities, Church groups, scouts,music or riding lessons, etc. As a parentwhen do you get to shut down? My goshcan you see why stress is the leading causeof heart attack. Coupled with all these ex-amples comes the fast food bad diet, lackof making it to the gym and shutting yourbody down at midnight….if you can. Longgone my friends is the traditional 8 hoursof sleep. How many of you have thosesleepless nights? You know lying with eyesclosed but thinking about all the crap thatgoes in your life. Or the up and downmethod in the middle of what we considerour sleep time. Let’s do that day and dayout, let’s string 5 or 10 years of that lifestyletogether and now we have the recipe forheart disease.

How did we ever get to this point in ourlifetime? I would give anything to have tothose days of old back. I could see thestructured family starting to destructshortly after September 11, 2001. We all re-member that day, but what I was seeing asI coached youth sports was the kids Icoached had parents that had split, di-vorced, remarried, or a significant other.One parent on side of the bench, the otherin the stands and I am talking lots of kidsin this situation. As a kid I remember theone family that was split, the mom wasknown as the neighborhood divorcee. Thatwas life then, divorce was not the first, sec-ond or third option, fixing the problemswas.

I mentioned September 11, 2001 as the

starting of the tipping of the iceberg for thestructured family, the financial impact, andthe level of our health in the United States.Here’s a comment I got from a FederalAgent on the afternoon of September 11,2001 as we worked behind the scenes ofthat horrible day. My comment to him wasthis “we (airline employees) always talkedabout an event lke this, hijacking, but wetalked one, and we talked about it beingcrashed into the ground, We never thoughtthat multiple planes would be flown intobuildings”. The agent comment was this“We have talked about events of this na-ture, but our concern is what it will do toour economy, wait until you see what itwill do to your airline industry”. Was heever so right, in 3 weeks the United States

airlines lost over 200000 employees.

Take a look at the areas where those air-lines were headquartered, Northwest Min-neapolis, United Chicago, AmericanDallas, US Air Pittsburgh, Delta Atlanta toname a few. Those areas were hit hard, thefinancial impact changed the look of theneighborhoods, foreclosure, job loss, di-vorce, suicide, and health issues.

I am confident that if you look at areas ofthe United States where stress is the lead-ing cause of heart disease, some of theseareas might be on the high end of the list.The federal agent made this comment,“that’s what terrorism is all about, killsome, scare people into doing business,crush the economy, and destroy the Amer-ican family”. If that was the intent on Sep-tember 11, 2001, they have succeeded.

So how does this all relate to heart disease?Figure it out, we are a screwed up society,we move too fast, and we don’t focus onthe moment. The entire population hasADD or ADHD or it’s a good excuse to sayit’s not our fault that we are in the situationwe are today. My Wheels of Thunder read-ers, take to this to “Heart” take a breakonce in a while, take the family to one ourWheels of Thunder covered events, put thecell phones a way for a day, eat a real din-ner, and slow down to smell the moment.You will be glad you did, and so will yourfamily.

The views expressed in The Boiling Point aresolely the opinions and research of Billy Boyleand are not necessarily the view point of the

magazine or its’ creators.



“W hen I saw the great work that Bill Hofmeister did on replicatingthe Grand National dirt-track bikes, I thought about all the won-derful times we enjoyed at the races around the country each

weekend, all the great friendships we have had through the years with all theriders; I thought there was no better way to remember those fun times than todesign a tribute bike as a gift for my dad, who had given so freely to the sportof motorcycle racing,” said Trent Sisemore, rolling out the ultimate Jack Sise-more Tribute Street Tracker from the Bloomington, Minnesota headquartersof Grand National Replica’s SHR Enterprises for the long haul delivery toAMA Pro Flat Track legend Jack Sisemore of Amarillo, Texas.


Checking over the last minute details westopped by Faribault Harley-Davidson for arun on the dyno, hitting some comfortablenumbers in the eighties we reloaded aim-ing the van for Amarillo. Duplicating thefeatures on the GNC rides with a singleshock racing frame design with a slight de-gree change on the steering head for roadriding control. The body work (seat andfender) and tank is the same as the XR-750Harley-Davidson. Equipped with powerfulfront and rear hydraulic disc brakes makes

this a fun and comfortable handling per-formance motorcycle.

Owning a custom Grand National Replicaone of a kind motorcycle completes thestatement for Jack Sisemore with his 134AMA Pro Grand National Championship(GNC) wins to his credit; the list of tracksadorn the tail section of the bike. Jack’s rac-ing history with flat track was achievedthrough ten riders over decades chasingthe GNC number one plates with hisfriendship and support.

#18-Terry Poovey fellow Texan ended rac-ing after a life changing racing accident,talking though his brother Teddy Pooveyhe said, “Dan, I talked to Terry, it’s hard forhim to remember things sometimes... Hesaid (Terry) Jack is a good guy and a greatsponsor”.

Timing was everything, to unveil the SHR- Street Tracker at Jack’s annual AmarilloChristmas Party. Hosting over 400 of thewho’s who of business, law, doctors, andhis friends, filled the warm home of JackSisemore to all view the Grand Nationalreplica purchased by Trent Sisemore, Jack’sson. Everyone received a warm welcomeby Jack and Deb as they entered for the fes-tive occasion of foods and Christmas spriteand love.

Former AMA National number 42 and cur-rent AMA Pro Race Director Steve More-

Written and Photographyby Dan Jacobson Sr.


head recalled, “When we traveled west wewould stop by Jack’s, He would fill our vanswith gas and take us to the stockyardrestaurant for the biggest steak on themenu... Then he introduced us to a Texasspecialty, Calf Fries... Little did we knowthey were the sliced up balls. He would getthe biggest kick and laugh from our sur-prise”.

The response from the guests was over thetop as they admired the one of kind mo-torcycle. The 10 grand national numbersproudly placed on the tank were supportedby decades of signed photos of ‘racing’sbest’ that covered the wall of Jack’s six cargarage. Like the new bike, Jack is truly aspecial one of a kind person and his gener-ations of family didn’t fall far from the tree.

Bubba Shobert recalls, “I had a great time

with Jack, he treated me like I was a rock-star! When I was out with a broken arm weflew to the Indy mile in his private plane, itwas great. Those are times in my careerthat put the icing on the cake.”

The motorcycle tail section listed the manytracks across the country where the 134victories were achieved. The message ofJack’s decades of AMA Pro Racing and For-mula USA support is clearly conveyed.Ricky Graham, Hank and Gary Scott, TerryPoovey, Steve Morehead, Bubba Shobert,Mike Hale, Billy Herndon, Scott Drake andBill Brown all had the hand of Jack Sise-more helping them forward.

Hank Scott says, “ I think my best timeswith Jack was our trail ridding to chickencreek & back on the Red River. I had somuch fun cutting up with Jack. He used toget a kick out of riding that route down toand back at the river with the Nationalguys who stopped by Jack’s Amarillo home.He liked to joke about how fast he was.”

Bill Brown left us in 2006, he was killed ina car when a drunken motorcycle rider hithim in the drivers door. His daughterStephanie said, “Jack was a great friend tomy dad and dad was to him too. They hadbeen life long friends and there is nothingthat either of them would not do for theother. We can all hope to have a friendshiplike they did.” Goes to say the flat trackfamily is a very special group.

As in racing, Grand National Replica bikesare a steady work in progress to find per-formance perfection. With the help fromthe XB-1200 Buell / Harley Davidson en-gine for power the light weight chromemolly tube single Penske shock frameslook like the XR’s at the track. The electricstart and lighting package open the magicalexcitement of a light weight big motor VeeTwin on the road. Part of the fun is build-ing your personality into your Grand Na-tional ride. A perfect custom for corporateor personal use from another nationalnumber 67 - Billy Hofmeister, owner ofSHR Enterprises.

Jack Sisemore told us, “There isn’t anyamount of money that would get me to sellthis bike”.


Both boys were riding by the age of 3. Theystarted out driving their little 120’s aroundthe family’s land in Pepin, Wisconsin. Mom(AJ) says they would drive non-stop untilthey ran out of gas. Only when they neededmore gas would they come inside.

Afton’s first race was in Pepin. The townisn’t exactly big. With a population ofabout 800, there were only two kids at therace, 3 year old Afton and a 12-year-oldboy. “Afton was so tiny on his snowmo-bile,” recalls AJ. In his excitement to race,Afton lined up on a drag race between two700’s thinking it was his turn, remembers

Jason. “He didn’t care, he just wanted torace.”

Now at ages 8 ½ and 6 ½ (the boys madesure I didn’t miss the ½ ) each boy has astock Polaris 120 and a champ Polaris 120.Lawson #222 races in the 6-7 year old classand Afton #111 in the 8-12 year class. Bothrace in the 6-12 year old combined classand 120 Champ 6-12.

A little sibling rivalry can sometimes getbrewing in the combined classes. Littlebrother has beaten big brother a couple oftimes. At one race, a bit of bruised ego re-sulted in a drag race back to the pits where

dad arrived just in time to see the helmetsoff, fingers pointing and words being ex-changed. The fact that Lawson was grin-ning from ear to ear didn’t make mattersany better, said Jason.

Where there are boys and sleds, there arebound to be crashes and mishaps. Aftontold me about several including runninginto a huge wipeout, getting so much airthat the landing broke the handlebars offthe sled, flying over the hood and bendinga ski backwards in practice and doing anear back flip.

Believe it or not, there have been no bro-ken bones for either brother but Lawsondid get run over at one of his first races. Ofcourse AJ remembers it clearly. “With onelap to go, Lawson came up to the table top

Sterry Family RacingA Family Tradition of Snocross

Written by Mylie LaVold Photos provided by Wayne Davis & Lissa Marsolek

Imagine finding a snowmobile under yourChristmas tree. That’s exactly what hap-pened at the Sterry house a couple of Christ-

mases ago. Lawson Sterry must have been aREALLY good boy that year! Big brother Aftonalready had a sled so it was only right that Santahelp carry on the family tradition of Snocross.With the Sterry family Snocross is truly a familytradition. Dad (Jason) and his brothers grew upracing Snocross and Motocross.


at the finish line and fell off his sled. As hewas getting up another kid came along andran completely over him.” Lawson says re-members the track being on his leg and notbeing able to get up. The only marks wereon his clothes and the only one who expe-rienced any trauma was mom.

Both parents agree, the one area you can’tspare any expense is safety. You have tohave all the gear. “With the gear they have,their riding style, they’re smooth enough,cautious enough,” says Jason. “I think theydo a good job of keeping out of harmsway.”

All the front yard practicing (dad built amini-track for the boys) and traveling fromrace to race has paid off big this year. The

boys captured three world championshipsat Eagle River in January; two for Aftonand one for Lawson. On the ISOC circuit,the boys are leading in points in threeclasses and at ERX they are leading in twoclasses.

The boys have already gained a pretty im-pressive fan base, including Pro-Snocrossracer Bobby LePage (team Cottew) whotold Jason and AJ that he doesn’t misswatching a race the boys are in. Some ofthe biggest fans are the kids’ school.“When we pull up to get the kids fromschool on Thursdays to head to races, thePrincipal and teachers come out, the highschool kids are giving the boys highfives…it’s such a great feeling,” says AJ.“It’s really the whole town of Pepin.”

Along with practice, a little coaching helpsboys improve. Jason tries to guide andcoach but knows his limits. “I know theyprobably get sick of hearing their dadpreach about taking the inside, going high,going low, doing this or that,” says Jason.The boys also get advice from their unclesand other race dads. Jason realizes thevalue in that. “Having someone else coachthem gives them a different perspective andsometimes they listen better to someoneother than mom and dad.”

The boys like learning from other people,especially the older kids that race. “Bothboys really look up to Cole Cottew of Cot-tew motorsports as both a friend and men-tor,” says AJ. “If the kids are not in ourtrailer, you can find them in Cole’s.” Law-son speaks fondly about his good friendIsaac and all the advice he has given him,including how to “lean back.”

But when it comes right down to it, there’snothing like father and son working to-gether. I asked Afton who the best coach is.His reply, “My dad ‘cuz he’s number 1.”

The family credits their strong Christianfaith to making it all happen. Their raceteam motto is, “Faith, Focus, Finish.” Andthe boys know who their co-pilot is. Beforeevery race the family says a prayer and AJtell the boys, “God is riding on the back ofthe sled with you, give him a good ride!”

The family also credits all the friends theyhave met on the race circuit. The boyslisted so many names I couldn’t keep up.Jason and AJ talk about the other momsand dads and how everyone helps each


other out, like one big extended family.

I asked the family if they had any advice forother kids or parents of race kids.

“Getting sponsors has helped tremen-dously,” says AJ. “And having a good rela-tionship with the teachers is invaluable.We are on the road a lot, so it’s almost likepart-time home schooling, which makes

that relationship so important.”

Afton’s advice to other kids, “Keep practic-ing, keep thinking, never give up and re-member the race isn’t over until you see acheckered flag.”

The future of Sterry Brothers Racing? Lit-tlest brother Sawyer “The Destroyer” hashit the magic age of 3 and will soon be

joining his brothers on the SnoCross trackwearing #333….making it a Sterry BrotherRacing triple threat! Racers beware!

Sterry Brothers Racing Sponsors: River CityWelding, Deppe Tranport, McIntosh Mo-torsports, Oium Well Drilling & Blacktop,Huse Racing, JK Trucking, Julies Fin&Feather, FXR, SPY, Amsoil. Grandmas,Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and Friends ga-lore!


Written and photographedby John Krueger

In the world of sport bikes, nonecome close to the power and per-formance of Suzuki's Hayabusa.

Dubbed the king of sport bikes bysome, the Hayabusa in stock form ishard to tame. However, for Min-nesota resident and sport bike con-noiseur AJ Mehta, a stock Hayabusajust wasn't going to cut it. After hav-ing a string of modified liter bikes,AJ decided to step up to a Hayabusa,and this is what he came up with.

This 2005 Hayabusa has been worked over in everyarea that you can imagine. Nothing was left un-touched, and no expense has been spared. You wantfigures and numbers? There's over $35,000 in re-ceipts and is capable of producing more than 400hpto the tire on race-gas or e85. Currently, the bike istuned on 92-octane pump-gas and runs 8psi of boostmaking 310rwhp which is still impressive consider-ing the bike only displaces 1.4 liters. The bike wasbuilt by Orient Express out of New York, who is oneof the premier turbo bike builders in the country, soyou know this bike has been finished to the highestof standards. Internally, the motor has been workedover and fitted with over-sized pistons and rods tobring the displacement up to 1.4 liters from 1.3. Thehead has also been gone through receiving a host ofgo-fast goodies to help with the assisted-breathingduties. The big power-adder comes in the form of aHahn Race Craft turbo-kit. Centered around a MHIS16g turbocharger and an Orient Express exhaustmanifold the engine is fed copious amounts of com-pressed air. A custom exhaust, intercooler kit, Tialblow-off valve, and upgraded fuel system were alladded as well to handle the extra power.

Speed Freak AJMehta is back forfeature numbertwo, this time witha turbochargedHayabusa!


Of course all the power in the world does-n't mean anything if you can't put it to theground. The stock Hayabusa transmissionis mated to the block with a heavy-dutylock out clutch to cope with the huge

power increase. The bike also features aPingle air-shifter with an on-board com-pressor with reserve tank and digital pres-sure display. Now this is one trick bit ofkit. AJ gave me a working demonstrationof this kit and it definitely had me im-pressed. For those not playing the home

game, an air-shifter does just what itsounds like. Conventionally shifting a mo-torcycle involves depressing the clutchhandle and then moving the selector withyour foot. However, with the air-shifter ac-tivated all you have to do is press a buttonand the bike shifts gears lightning fast.This is obviously extremely helpful whenit comes to drag-racing. Another trickpiece that was installed to help aid withlaunching is a Pingle 2-step launch control.A 2-step will help build boost while waitingfor the start by pulling timing and addingfuel to simulate load on the engine. It alsodoubles as a cool, pyrotechnic show byturning the exhaust into a flame thrower,haha. Like the rest of the bike, the sus-pension was also gone through to insureoptimum performance given the bike'ssetup. The bike was lowered two inchesboth front and rear. Up front, custom forksand re-valved shocks were utilized whileout back lowering links brought the bike

down to the desired level. The swing-armwas also extended eight-inches via exten-sion links to help keep the front tire downwhen AJ decides to grab the throttle. Anextended swing-arm means a new chain soan RK 540 Gold chain was deemed worthyas well as a pair of Vortex steel sprocketson both ends.

The rest of the bike is all business just likethe engine and drive-train. Everything hasa purpose. Of course there are a few tricktouches here and there. The stock fairingsand plastics were all treated to a fresh silverand black paint job (my favorite colorscheme for these bikes) to bring the looksbang up to date. There are also your oblig-atory boost and fuel pressure gauges whicharen't really that obligatory on a bike, but

they're there! There's also a Pingle auxil-iary fan switch and shift light, and storedin the cubby under the rear seat is thePower Commander 3 that controls every-thing. So what's next for AJ and hisHayabusa? Well, if you know AJ like I do,you'll know he gets bored really quickly.The last time AJ was featured here he hada stunning C6 Z06 that he had heavilymodified. Well that car has since beensold, and like the Corvette, this bike is forsale. What's next is anybodies guess whenit comes to AJ and his toys. It could behard to top the blistering, straight line per-formance of this turbocharged Hayabusathough. Regardless, we'll be waiting forAJ's text saying, “hey, come check out thenew toy and bring the camera gear.”

round 4 - Grassroots racing series

Photography byKeith McKenna612-718-6910


snocross races at ERX Motor Park



It's no secret that most pro athletesstart on down the path of week-end events in their early years.

For a farm kid being raised in RiceLake, Wisconsin, you would thinkJerry Hauck would have been no ex-ception. Not the case, he didn't startriding a snowmobile until he wasabout fifteen years old. His brother,Pat was actually on sleds and racingbefore Jerry took on the same interest.

JJeerrrryy HHaauucckk ##2233


It was Pat who had the idea in the early 80sto 'test' Jerry's abilities and nerves as aracer. He was at an event in Chisago City,Minnesota and told Jerry he wanted him totry straight line racing on 750 feet fromstart to finish on the ice. He had a 1979SRX that was set up and ready to go. Jerryhad already become a huge fan of theYamaha sleds, but after that first launchwith the front end high in the air, almostflipping it over and throwing him....he fellin love with their power. Jerry said Pat hada good laugh watching him almost go overonce he knew he was safe. He admittedgoing from trail riding to full throttle offthe line was a completely different world,but also knew he was hooked from thenon. That day he may have went back to thepit a little humbled, but adjusted his wayof thinking and went right back the verynext weekend to try again.

It didn't take long for Jerry to find hisgroove and let people know Hauck Racing

was going to be around a very long time.From 1986-89 he won High Points in theStock Class. He won the World Series titlepoints overall in 1989 and 1990. It wasalso the first and only time brothers hadwon the same title back to back in differentclasses, Jerry in Stock and Pat in ImprovedStock. Jerry would go on to take the titleagain in 1991.

It was also during 1991 that he was win-ning races against riders on the newYamaha V-Max 4s while still setting the barwith his '77 SRX, and the year Yamaha'sGordy Muetz approached Jerry makinghim an offer that was too good to pass up.From that point on the Hauck's andYamaha would be bound in the race world.Jerry admitted it took a couple of years toadjust and get used to the new sleds, butby 1994 he was able to take the 500 V-Maxto the top of the points at Haydays.

Written by Ceaja Philp

1987 - Getting SRX Yamaha ready to race at the 19th annual Hay Day Race in LinoLakes. Jerry and Pat Hauck are driver and mechanic for this machine.


In 1997 Hauck would win the covetedEagle River title on his '97 Yamaha SX.With many titles along the way betweenice, dirt, and blacktop, he finally decidedin 2010 he would pass the reigns to theyounger generation and continue HauckRacing from behind the scenes. As Ilooked through the many photo albumsneatly organized and in chronologicalorder, along with the shelves of trophiesand medals he proudly mentioned that itwas thanks to his wonderful wife, Jan thatso many of the memories he shared withme were made possible. He said it didn'tmatter how cold it was, she was out theremaking sure everyone was fed, coffee wason, and the video camera was rolling. Itwas just as much about family as it wasabout racing. Their son, Paul took part inmaking sure the sleds were at the start lineon time and ready to go, and their daugh-ter Shannon was at every race weekend.

The Hauck name sponsors some great ath-letes today, such as Haydays High Points

Champion, Matt Thies. Jerry is also help-ing get his grandchildren, Joey, Jesse,Rayna, and Madison along their waythrough the race ranks. As we spoke youcould tell his race days will never 'really' beover, and he didn't bat an eye when hementioned he would have no fear bringinghis '77 down off the loft and put it on theline against today's sleds. It was the sledthat tied him to Yamaha for his race careerand still today. Jerry still makes sure his en-tire collection is maintained and ready togo at any time!

These days he also keeps busy helping oth-ers with their sleds at his shop, JerryHauck's Small Engine & PerformanceShop, in Ham Lake, Minnesota. Jerry saysthe days fly by working in the shop, and

laughed when he said he gets little helpfrom his garage sidekick, a German Shep-pard named Max.

For now Jerry may say he is 'retired', butthere is no doubt in my mind that you mayjust see #23 take the line one more time,and maybe even on the '77 that made his-tory!

A first name isn’t all Curtis Wise andhis son Curtis Jr. (CJ) share. Like fa-ther, like son, CJ Wise has a love forice racing. “It’s a blast! It’s the bestthing I’ve ever done,” says Wise. “It’ssomething I can do with my Dad andwe have a great time doing it.”

And Dad fully agrees. After racing for10 years himself, Curtis says “its niceto have something to pass down andshare with your kids.”

At 18, Wise is already a seasonedrider. Starting out at about the age of8, Wise caught the ice racing bugearly. It didn’t take long before he waschallenging himself and others.

“I was about 12 years old but I wasrunning in a “big bike” class (250S orbigger) on my “little bike,” recallsWise. “The white flag was out and Iwas trying to get around another bikeand I just couldn’t do it. With onlyone more lap to go, I kept on it anddidn’t let up. We were almost at thefinish line and went out in the snowand passed him. It was pretty cool.Everyone was cheering because I wasjust a little kid on a little bike. It’s amemory I will never forget.”

Currently, Wise is racing either his’07 or ’08 Yamaha in open or proclasses. The 2008 YZ450F is mostlystock and still has a carburetor, how-ever over the years Wise has triedseveral things such as big bore kitpipes, head work, etc. to get morespeed. “They’re good bikes with a lotof power,” says Wise. “If your goingto win races, power is crucial.”

Wise isn’t kidding around about

power. He was recently clocked com-ing into a curve at 75 mph! At thosespeeds good tires are also crucial. Iceracing tires have approximately1,500 spikes/screws in the rear tireand 1,100 in the front tire. “Evenwith really good tires you can lay itdown and scrape foot pegs and youdon’t even know it,” says Wise.

Winning races also takes practice, oras Wise put it, “lots of seat time.”Wise spends his weekdays attendingMankato State University majoringin automotive engineer technology,but heads home to St. Paul on theweekends to log that seat time. “Weare out there all time,” he says. “Test-ing and trying new things to makethe bike faster.”

“We have made do over the years butnow we are switching to a new bike

with electronic fuel injection formore horsepower,” says Curtis Sr.“The new fuel injection bikes reallyfly!”

Ice racing requires 12 inches of ice sofather and son often travel to North-ern Minnesota where weather condi-tions are more conducive toproducing the needed thickness. Ifyour looking for Wise at race, keepyour eye out for the ‘80s model am-bulance they use to haul the bikes.“Its got all the bells and whistles stillon it,” jokes Wise. “The oxygen linesare still in the back. It’s kind of funnybut it works out great.”

In the off season Wise runs some flat-track and a little Motocross but homeis on the ice. It looks like Wise willhave plenty of that this season.

Curtis Wise Jr. (CJ) Written By Mylie Lavold


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In 1966 my brother-in lawHarry Baker and I droveto Colchester, Connecticut

early one crisp, colorful Fallin New England Sundaymorning. Our destination wasConnecticut Dragway. If I re-member the day correctly, twoof the featured professionalcategories were Top FuelStagecoach and Pro StockCovered Wagon. Parachuteswere not at all necessary. Youguessed it, Harry and I havefollowed the world’s fastestmotor sport for years. Everyrace either of us had seen hadalways been with other long-time fans. Back in the day, theTop Fuel runs that amazed uswith their elapsed times andspeeds wouldn’t qualify forPro Stock now. It didn’t mat-ter; we saw a lot of good oldside by side drag races. I re-member pestering “BigDaddy” Don Garlits when hewas in Connecticut for amatch race with the BountyHunter, Connie Kalitta. Atone point Big must have hadenough and he finally gaveme an autographed card thatis still a part of my collection.Thanks Don!

Written by Tom Edwards

Harry explaining the ‘Tree’ to Gary


For those of you with friends that havenever been to a drag race, allow me to en-courage you to take them with you to yournext race. Harry and I did that with fellowVietnam veteran Gary Norton, my wifeCathy’s Brother-In Law, the last time wewent to The Strip at Las Vegas MotorSpeedway. Gary piloted Huey helicoptersin Vietnam, so he knows all about gettingup and moving right along as quickly aspossible. The Christmas Tree green light isthe signal a drag racer has to get going. InGary’s case, he was frequently being shotat. Trust me, adrenaline is interesting. Itkicks in much faster than nitro methaneand is significantly more powerful. I’venever had the pleasure of piloting a nitropowered car down a track for a 300 MPHcruise, but when bullets are flying, you ab-solutely want to get to the finish line.

As a pilot and builder, Gary is very me-chanically inclined. That said, Las Vegaswas his first drag race so it was all new tohim. Walking through the pits and past thesouvenir trailers with a first timer was a lotof fun. I didn’t count but I’m reasonablycertain Gary had approximately one mil-lion questions. Harry and I enjoyed an-swering all of them. We could tell every pitwe visited was a new experience for Gary.In the Funny Car neighborhood we all hadour photos taken with Melanie Troxel.Cathy and I have followed her career sinceshe drove the Darrien and Meadows A Fueldragster. If it has four wheels, an engineand a steering wheel, Melanie can not onlydrive it; she can find the winners circle ina variety of race cars. As always, she wasvery approachable, posed for photos, an-swered questions, had a few for Gary abouthis first race and autographed our memo-rabilia. Among my all-time favorite cars arethe blue ’41 Willy’s Stone, Woods and

Cook gasser, the twin engine Fright Train,The John Force Superman fuel coupe andMelanie’s Welcome Home Veterans Top

Fuel dragster. Having her sign a pit handout for that car was nice. It is on the wall inthe drag racing section of the sports roomCathy and I enjoy in our home.

I recently had the opportunity to sharesome time with Gary and was interested tohear what his thoughts are on attending hisfirst drag race. Going in, I knew he had agreat time. After the last run of the day, weheaded for the parking lot and a ride backto the other Strip. No surprise here; Garyhad another question. He wanted to knowwhen Harry and I were going to our nextdrag race. Zero to 300 in less than 4 sec-onds. Apparently, that’s about the sameamount of time it takes to become a fan ofdrag racing and the NHRA; the world’slargest sports sanctioning body.

During our conversation, Gary mentionedhe had watched a few races on ESPN to getan idea of how drag racing works. He saidthe activity on the starting lines as the carsare getting set to run “was much morecomplex in person than what I had seen onTV”. “Watching the crews at the startingline, it struck me how well orchestrated itwas”. I know what he means but I’m guess-ing the words “orchestrated” and “drag rac-ing” aren’t used together too frequently. Asa long time fan of the sport, I thought thatwas an interesting observation. There is alot of activity pre and post burn out thatisn’t always covered by the TV crews. As afan, I think that actually speaks well as tohow much is going on a drag race. There’ssomething for everyone. As a Top Fuel fan,I wanted to get Gary’s thoughts on seeinghis first nitro powered run. He remembers“a chest pounding sensation” and quicklycame to see it as “The best racing in theworld”. Given the attendance at NHRA na-tional events around the country, a lot offans agree. Just go straight to the finish line

Melanie Troxel and Gary


at more than 300 MPH in about 4 secondsis fun to see. Of the professional classes,Gary is also a Top Fuel fan after his firstrace. He told me he found “the rocket likespeeds amazing”. They are. Zero to 100MPH in less than a second has to be seen(and felt) to be believed. At the burnout for2 nitro cars, Gary was at the spectator fencea little behind the starting line. It was hisfirst experience with Akron Fallout; thesmall bits of rubber that can land on thosein that part of a drag strip. The Goodyearslicks used by many teams trace their ear-lier days to Akron, Ohio. As a retired engi-neer, I’m impressed with the design andconstruction of a tire capable of 300+ MPHspeed in the blink of an eye. From the burnout area and his seat, Gary also noticed theunmistakable aroma of well spent nitromethane. As Cathy and I have done sinceThe Strip opened, Gary, Harry and I satabout 800 feet from the starting line, row 5.

As a first time fan, I wanted to know whatGary thought of the track, access to thecars and drivers; in short, his whole expe-rience. For Harry and me, we were havinga lot of fun. As mentioned, Gary was a mil-

itary pilot. The Strip at Las Vegas MotorSpeedway isn’t far from Nellis Air ForceBase. Given that, Gary noticed that F16’swere landing at about 120 MPH, far slowerthan the cars we were watching and wasimpressed at the wide variety of aircraft sta-tioned at Nellis. Cathy and I were at TheStrip the week end it opened and we re-member a few planes buzzing it at what ap-peared to be about 99,000 MPH; it wasgreat. Gary enjoyed the access to the driv-ers and getting them to autograph their pithandouts. Of the drivers we interacted withthat day, Gary found John Force to be“bouncy”. It has been my experience that’susually the way it goes in the John ForceRacing pit area.

Having been to his first race and had con-versations with Harry and me, Gary con-siders himself to be “a more knowledgeablefan”; we agree. Being with someone at theirfirst drag race is a lot of fun. Gary now un-derstands how the qualifying processworks, why the #1 qualifier runs the #16in the opening round on race day and howpoints are earned. Helping someone un-derstand those aspects of drag racing and

knowing they’re ready for their next raceclearly has added to the enjoyment of thesport for Harry and me.

After the editor gave me the green light forthis article, I spoke with Harry to get histhoughts on taking someone to their firstdrag race. What he remembered was thatGary was particularly interested in theburn-out and staging areas. A detailed ex-planation of the Christmas Tree and whateach light was for was a part of their start-ing line visit. As I took the photo of Harryexplaining the Tree to Gary, it occurred tome how much I was enjoying having a newfan along for the ride. Harry also recalls thelook “of absolute amazement” the first time2 Top Fuel cars went by side by side pastour seats. Harry and I both remember thatat that point, Gary decided that having earplugs would be a good idea, after all. Ateach NHRA race I go to, one nitro passwithout earplugs is usually my quota forthe day.

It was so nice to hear on the way back tothe other Strip that Gary had “enjoyedeverything about the day”. All 3 of us did.As a collector of a range of sports memora-bilia, it was interesting to see Gary’s inter-est in the rows of driver/souvenir trailersand the array of goodies available. A lot ofsports collectable cards now have small“game used” pieces of a bat, jersey, etc. inthem. Seeing race used spark plugs for salewith the money going to charity in driverspits is a great way to raise money for a va-riety of worthwhile causes. Small thingslike that are among the many aspects ofdrag racing that has me convinced it is notonly the world’s fastest motor sport but,also, the best. I suppose you could sayHarry, Gary and I are fast friends.

When do we get to snowmobile? That myfriends is the big question for those of usliving in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I lookout my front window and I see about 2inches of snow and alot of grass. I know forthose of you living in the twin cities andsurrounding areas, it’s the same thing. Wesit with the snowmobiles in the garage, onthe trailer or in the yard and we patientlywait. Yes, we have recieved snow, and yeswe could ride for a few days and then thewarm weather and rain came and now allthe trails are closed again. The only way togo riding at this point is to load up thesleds, pack the warm clothes and headnorth.

For those of you that can afford the bigthrills then head west to Wyoming, Col-orado, Montana and the Big CountryStates. There you will find excellant snow-mobiling, but it’s gonna cost you a few

more dollars and time. I personally, havebeen checking the snow conditions ofNorthern Wisconsin and Northern Min-nesota. In Minnesota, they have recievedsome snow and more was expected as I waswriting this story, but at this point the trailswere listed as in good condition and thatcovers Grand Rapids, International Falls,and Ely. The only consistant thing is thecold, cold weather. Along the North Shoreyou can also find snowmobiling however,the best location is around the Tofte area.If your going in that direction, then eitherpick up the trail in Tofte or preferably Lut-sen. There are about 60 miles of trails hereand maybe if you get lucky, we will get new,fresh snow and the trails will get even bet-ter.

I am looking at heading to Northern Wis-consin, towards the Hurley area. As of thistime there is approximately 10 inches of

snow, trails are groomed and when I calledup there, I was advised only one trial wasclosed. So this is our destination, out of 35Northern Wisconsin Counties that reporttrail conditions, only five are advising thatthe trails are good. The others are either infair condition or are closed. Not a heck ofalot to choose from for snowmobiling. Ihave snowmobiled the Hurley area beforeso, the good thing is we know the trails andthe places to stop.

From Hurley we will take a short ride outof town on Corridor Trail #17 and headsouth to Trail #8. Once on Trail #8 we willhead north west toward Hwy 77 and pickup Trail #77. Once on Trail #77 this allowsus to again head back to Hurley for thenight. If you have never been to Hurley,you will definately find this a very inter-esting town. The food is great and thedrinks are better. For the groups of guystraveling without the wifes and girlfriends,you will be an adult entertainment estab-lishment and yes, you know what I mean.

Now depending on the number of days wehead up to Hurley the second day is alwaysan all day ride. Normally we will take Cor-ridor Trail #2 and head toward Saxon andthen south to Upson, but they are reportingthat Trail #7 is closed, so this will take thatpart of the trip away from us. Instead we

Written by Brad Coplan



Off the Beaten Path Affordable Winter Fun!

will take Corridor Trail #17 south out ofHurley again and just keep going south to-ward Mercer WI. All I can say at this pointis everything depends on the amount ofsnow we get in the next two weeks for me.But, it beats leaving the sleds on the trailersor in the garages.

Thats my snowmobiling plan for Febuary,and I hope everybody else with sleds, canalso get out and use theirs. I really hopethat we get snow around here, so I can justleave on the sleds from my house, butthat's not looking too good yet. And re-member when riding the trails watch outfor the trail groomers, give them extraroom and give them the right away. Drivesafe, use plenty of caution. Rememberthere is alot of ice under the fresh snow,and this could cause your sled to break freegoing around a corner too fast, or just try-ing to stop. Otherwise have fun and hope-fully enjoy the remainder of thesnowmobile riding season.

For those of us with the motorcycles in thegarage, that time of season is also comingup quickly. The Donnie Smith MotorcycleShow is March 23-24, and Bike Week inDaytona starts March 8th. So lets also start

thinking about an early motorcycle ridingseason. Its never too early to start planningyour summer trip or at least start saving themoney for it.


Did you catch the Vikings playoff gameagainst the Packers? I sure did. It wastough for me and all Minnesota fans towatch. I played school sports from ele-mentary through high school with limitedsuccess (hey, I still have the championshippicture on the wall from my 6th grade foot-ball league!), but could never imagine thecomplexities of guiding an offense or de-fense at the NFL level. After the gamemany people criticized our quarterback forbad plays and poor decisions. While somemay have a better understanding of thegame than me, I couldn’t help but wonderhow they would respond to a football ma-niac like Clay Mathews running full speedat them, knowing he was going to breakyou in two if the ball was held for just onesecond longer. But that’s the way footballis: folks with little to no knowledge of thegame are always the ones offering the mostexpert advice on how things “should bedone”. There are less than 2,000 players onNFL rosters and they are watched by mil-lions of Americans.

And so it is with motorcycling. Only a verytiny percentage of Minnesotans own a mo-torcycle, a slightly larger number have amotorcycle endorsement and only a smallminority of the population has actually rid-den one. Yet almost every person in thestate has an opinion about how we shouldbehave, dress and ride.

Now let’s zoom out to the federal level.There are many agencies of the US govern-ment, with tens of thousands of employees,discussing, advising, crunching numbersand creating “official” policy on motorcy-cling. Do they ride? Have they ever oper-ated a motorcycle? Do they know the bondthat we all share? Again, the percentageswould be slight. But the slanted statisticsthey come up with are often times used bypolicy makers in our state. Most of the datais the result of limited priorities. Juniorstaffers are relegated to using inadequateinformation to come to a quick result forthe boss. There are always “bigger fish tofry”.

Now let’s zoom back into Minnesota. Thereare many similar well-intentioned but un-informed groups, who claim to be experts,advising state policy makers on what theythink is best for others. Do they ride? Havethey ever ridden a motorcycle?

Notice a trend? I have always contendedthat we are the experts when it comes toriding. Only we have a vested interest inthe outcome. The rest are passive ob-servers. They offer opinion but have never“played the game”.

OK, let’s zoom in closer - The motorcycling

community within Minnesota, a very di-verse group with wide ranging opinions.Their level of involvement in protectingmotorcycling in Minnesota varies as well.For some it is a way of life and others onlyan occasional ride. But all who havethrown a leg over the seat know and un-derstand something very special that fewwill ever try. True American freedom!

Now let’s zoom in once again, and then hitzoom another time. To those dedicatedA.B.A.T.E. of Minnesota members whowork tirelessly to preserve your right toride by being legislatively active and im-proving the awareness of all Minnesota mo-torists through our motorist awarenesseducation (Share the Road) and support ofrider training. It takes a lot of work, timeand money for these “players on the field”.And we could use more support from the“fans in the stands”. Please urge all of yourriding friends and family to join and sup-port A.B.A.T.E. of Minnesota. There is al-ways space in the locker room for moreteam members!

Yours in freedom,Mack

AMERICAN BIKERS FOR AWARENESS, TRAINING & EDUCATION


T wo giant FXR banners reach toward the skyfrom the top of Tony Frattalone’s race trailer.They’re beacons that say, “We’re over here,

snocrossers.” The big rig is a hotspot for many atregional snocross races – easily recognizable. Onany given race weekend it swarms with activity.People ask for parts and advice, and dads whodouble as mechanics tear into engines. Kids gatheraround the pits, and moms attempt to keep thingsin order.

Riley Frattalone #308 at a Regional Snocross race.


“There are not too many trailers that havedoors wide open as many times as oursevery single day,” said Tony Frattalone ofStillwater, Minn., who hauls the 48-foot rigwith a half-dozen sleds, fuel, gear, tools,parts and snacks every weekend. It can bea hell of a mess.

Tony and his three sons, Logan, Riley andTaylor, along with Jeremy Bester of PriorLake, Minn., and his son, Ryley, form a big,happy, snocross family. But they’re onlypart of it.

“When I started doing this racing, I waslooking for something to do with my kids,my family and my wife,” Tony said.

That’s exactly what he found. Wives LauraFrattalone and Kerrie Bester are muchneeded on scene, too. After all, they haveto keep people in line. Their dedication tothe sport, Tony said, rivals the kids.’

Juice boxes and candy wrappers lie scat-tered around the trailer while Tony and Je-remy prepare sleds for races. Somewhere,Jeremy’s Dad, Bill, is badgering people forhugs. People not even on the team floodtheir work space and mingle.

“We have 10 kids that don’t even belong toour team that are grabbing beef jerky andGatorade,” Jeremy said. He means that in agood way.

JOINING FORCES

After watching Tony’s semi-pro cousinrace, Taylor, at age 5, wanted to ride. Hestarted racing 120 cc machines at 7, and asone can tell, he liked it. At this point in theseason, the 16-year-old sits third in pointsin the 600 junior novice class while work-ing his way into the sport class. Hisyounger brothers are following the samepath.

Jeremy’s son is following, too. Ryley, 11,was just like Taylor. Racing was cool, hethought.

Like a good dad, Jeremy made it happen,with a brand-new 120, fresh gear and asimple plan: Throw everything in the backof the truck and just do it.

Thanks to a little misfortune at that time,years ago, the two families merged into ateam. It was almost a fluke.

With engine problems and hope for advice,Jeremy set out to get parts for his son’s sled.Tony, as always, lent the helping hand.

Not long after that, the Besters found ahome away from home. People tend to findthe best things when they are not reallylooking.

Written by Matt Peterson

Photography by Trent Maurer

Taylor Frattalone #803, the oldest of the Frattalone boys who is pushing the amateur ranks, talks to his dad, Tony

Ryley Bester #151 with John Daniels, owner of ISOC Racing


Jeremy didn’t know just how hospitable theFrattalone Racing team was. He foundwhat he was looking for, and more.

“Before you know it, my little one and hislittle ones are running around playing, andthey became friends,” Jeremy said.

Neither family looked back. The knowl-edge and resources brought by each sidecouldn’t be more fitting.

Frattalone Racing receives major supportfrom Arctic Cat and sells Arctic Cat partsto other racers. But Tony didn’t know Je-remy brought some serious backing to the

table, too. By chance, they stumbled upona symbiotic endeavor, a team in the mak-ing.

“At the time, I didn’t even know he waswith FXR,” Tony said about Jeremy.

Jeremy brought FXR snocross gear to theregion when he convinced a regionalwholesaler to carry it in the 1990s. Thenhe moved up: He has been a FXR repre-sentative for nearly 17 years, putting gearon the backs of the Frattalone team, and bydefault, doing his own marketing. The or-ange-and-black Frattalone rig can haulplenty of gear and parts, but it showcasesthe matching FXR banners pretty well, too.

The whole Arctic Cat/FXR tradeoff – com-bined with the backing of the Frattalones’excavating company, Speedwerx clutchesand several other sponsors – has built astrong team with an even stronger familytie.

A RACER’S MENTALITY

If anyone on the team wanted to hang it uptoday, he could. However, Frattalones andBesters are serious about racing. So is “thebull rider” and current pro snocrosser MattPiche, from Brainerd, Minn. There may notbe much room in the hauler, but the teamwelcomed Piche, his wife, Jess, and son,Evan, with open arms last summer.

“Arctic Cat just called me and said they

were interested in having me on the teamand that Tony and them were interested inme,” Piche said. “It just blew up fromthere.”

Piche, coming off of a shattered tibia, was-n’t ready to throw in the towel. Doctorssaid he would struggle walking again. He’sback on the sled, though, working his wayback to top speed in Amsoil ChampionshipSnocross. It may seem a little atypical forPiche to join Frattalone Racing. But ArcticCat, Piche and Tony made the right deci-sion.

“I think we’re going to start turning headsagain, and people are going to realize whywe did what we did,” Piche said.

PICHE FEELS AT HOME

“It’s really, really tight-knit,” he added. “It’salmost like they’re a part of my family, orI’m a part of their family. It’s like I’m hang-ing around people that I’ve hung aroundwith for years.”

At 27, Piche isn’t an old dog in the sport,but he’s not young and spry anymore, ei-ther. The husband, father and longtime,top-10 pro is in an era when it’s time topass his skills and knowledge to others.That’s why he is an asset to the team.

“Sometimes it’s hard to tell your own kid,

Matt Piche #51

Logan Frattalone #318


‘You need to do this better,’” Jeremy said.“That’s what’s nice about Matt.”

The Frattalones are soaking up Piche’s ad-vice, especially Taylor, who now works forSpeedwerx and is learning about the ma-chines he rides, too.

“Last year, a switch just went off in him,”Tony said, who added the rigors of highschool football improved Taylor’s en-durance and discipline. Taylor pays atten-tion, which Piche can’t say about someracers he mentored in the past. Taylor un-derstands the importance of being recog-nized, too.

“Hopefully, we will continue to keep win-ning races and stay in the top points and

keep our name known,” he said.

Snocross, like any motorsport, comes withits share of letdowns, tears, broken partsand weekends cut short, though. And it’simpossible to know what any kid will door if he’ll change his mind. The Frattaloneracers are young and promising, but Tonyand Jeremy don’t force snocross uponthem. They can quit snocross altogether. Ifthey stick with it, though, they may have achance to be great – even better than Piche.

“I think that if any one of them has thedrive and really wants to do it and put inthe time and effort at the young age, I thinkany one of them can make it all the way tothe top,” Piche said. “There’s no doubt inmy mind.”

FRAT

TALO

NE R

ACE

TEAM

LOGA

N FR

ATTA

LONE

Age 10 –10-13 Junior Novice

RYLE

Y BE

STER


RILE

Y FR

ATTA

LONE


TAYL

OR F

RATT

ALON

EAge 16 –16-17 Junior Novice

MAT

T PI

CHE

Age 27 –Pro Open

Pro Snocrosser Matt Piche #51 has become a mentor for the team

Ryley Bester #151

It’s about tech and trail...... and spending timewith people who embrace the snowmobilelifestyle.

Each week host Meisha Johnson, former racerPaul Mack and tech expert Jeff Fisher steer youto some of the world’s greatest places toride.....with some of the world’s greatest riders.

"Sledhead 24-7" will check out cutting edgegear and gadgets and ride the latest modelsleds from the major manufactures.

We’ll test the limits of snowmobile perform-ance through a series of ambitious builds atSpeedwerx.

But "Sledhead 24-7 " will always be about folkslike you, the riders, the clubs, and families whocan’t wait to get out on the trail.

From the Firecat, to the Pro Cross chassis, Arc-tic Cat has made big changes in the past decadeand the test riders at " Sledhead 24-7" ride, rateand review.

If you own a Ski-Doo, learn about StraightlinePerformance and find out about the HeartBreaker, a dyno room that hides no secrets.

For more than 2 decades, Straightline Perform-

ance in Forest Lake Minnesota, has been craft-ing the “ how to “ for speed.

Today StraightLine is a worldwide performanceshop, but had humble beginnings in founderJason Houle's garage.

StraightLine creates upgrades for just about allpower sports machines. Today Jason shares 3ways to quickly improve your Ski-Doo, startingwith StraightLine’s exclusive exhaust kit, fuelprogrammer and clutch kit, which are easy,quick ways to upgrade your Ski-Doo.

Snocross super star Robbie Malinowski, racesthe pro circuit on a StraightLine enhanced Ski-Doo, Robbie's proud to race w/ StraightLine.

"If you haven't been to Jackson Hole, you'remissing out. " Sledhead 24-7 " hangs out andhas some fun at the World Championship Hill-climbs.

"The Jackson Hole Hillclimbs are a favorite ofevery snowmobiler." "Jeff Fischer shows us thequickest way down the mountain."

This is just a little of what we have going on,you can catch Sledhead 24-7 Sunday nights onFox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin.

Tune in each week www.Sledhead24-7.com.

SledHead 24/7 TV Show airing on FSN-MN & FSN-WI

Sledhead 24-7 can be seen Sunday nights at 10pm on FSN

Welcome to the wintery world of “Sledhead 24-7”

http://www.sledhead24-7.com/Airtimes/


ISOC BRRP Regional Jan 26-27 2012


ISOC CANterbury NATIONAL Jan 4-6 2013


During Haydays 2011, it was anhonor to have met Caleb and ColtenMoore. It was an intense day as wewaited to see if the wind would dropenough for the duo to do their famoustamed back flip on their sled. As theytested and did some freestyle individ-ually on their quad, sled and dirt bikewe all watched as they made thestunts seem effortless. The close-knitduo pushed each other to become bet-ter athletes.

That couldn't be farther from thetruth. Every athlete trains forstrength, endurance, technique, andsafety. What we see is all the hardwork they dedicate to making it look'easy' as we watch in awe and excite-ment.

That day they took on the wind andlanded the tandem backflip that theyhad done in Aspen at the X Games2011 during Best Trick on Colten'sround, which gained him 0 points, butset the bar higher than any other ath-letes had done.

The Moore brothers have been knownfor their innovation and dedication towork their way to the top. Caleb, aformer ATV racer, and the first to land

a backflip on an ATV and motorcyclewanted to do the same on a snowmo-bile.

He made the transition in a short pe-riod of time and quickly rose to thetop of the sport. Odd for someone liv-ing in Texas and rarely sees snow, somost of his tricks were practiced in afoam pit. In just over a month and avery small about of time on actualsnow in MI, he was ready for thesport's biggest stage, the 2010 WinterX Games attempting his backflip. Hemanaged a bronze in Freestyle and

6th for Best Trick. In just two shortyears they all knew he was on thehunt for the gold and not holdingback.

The Winter X Games have alwaysbeen a huge event for the brothers,and this year Caleb was ready and de-termined to capture the gold in Aspen,Colorado. He had won four otherWinter X Games medals in the past,just not the one he wanted the most.The 25 year old would never havethought it would be his last show. Thecrash happened during the freestyle fi-

CALEB MOORE1987-2013

Ride in PeaceWritten by Ceaja Philp


nals, while Caleb was performing aflip on his sled when his skis happento clip the top of the landing ramp. Heended up going over the handlebarsand the 450lb sled landed on top ofhim.

The initial crash on Jan 24th seemedas though we would be seeing him thenext event as he was assisted off thelanding, with first reports being a con-cussion. It wasn't until later we heardthe crash had led to bleeding aroundCaleb's heart and he would need to betaken to Grand Junction for surgery.The next complication involving hisbrain was announced on a later day.

The family had also been attending toColten who had also crashed within30 minutes after Caleb, and wastaken to the hospital with a separatedpelvis.

There is no doubt Caleb Moore was aninspiration to riders and fans of allages, and lived his life to the fullest.

Beyond all the amazing skill as anathlete, Caleb had a gentle soul. Hehad a passion for his family, friends,and fans that was unprecedented.

You will be greatly missed, but neverforgotten Caleb!

G reetings Wheels fans! GameON! TV is excited tobe back with you again! This issue of Wheels ofThunder continues to excite race fans with its

great pictures, interesting stories and inside informationthat you can only get here. GameON! TV continues togrow & reach so many of you with our sports program-ming and we have expanded to the Dakota’s and west-ern Minnesota via MidCo Sports Network. As you know,GameON! loves sports, from the variety of professional,college & high school sports to all the outdoor eventsthat dot our regional landscape. GameON’s partnershipwith Wheels of Thunder is strong and just like you, wealso enjoy the most comprehensive race magazine andwebsite to be found! Wheels of Thunder magazine getsit and gets you the latest information, amazing picturesand all those terrific stories to the most passionate mo-torsports fans in the country!

Looking ahead, there’s more special events and momentsahead for GameON! Each and every week GameON!comes to you in crystal clear full High Definition and wehave just launched our first APP (it’s free to for Apple &Android phones). GameON! TV is now offering a weeklyPODCAST available @ our show website www.Game-OnTvMN.com. It’s full of bits and pieces of sports fromthe region and what’s ahead on our weekly TV show.GameON! still serves as the lead-in to the award win-ning FOX NFL pre game show on FOX’s MY29 here inthe Twin Cities during the NFL Season.

GameON! does what no other TV sports interview show(in the region) does. We offer a diverse and entertaininghalf hour of TV as we bring you the most visible andpopular Minnesota sports figures. From the Vikings, theNBA Timberwolves, the NHL Wild, the Twins and wevisit with the Lacrosse Swarm. There’s NASCAR andwe’re all over your favorite drivers now that snow racingis in full swing. GameON! has featured your favorites in-cluding up and coming Kody Kamm and X-Games studracer Levi LaVallee.

This show is interactive so we’d love to hear from you!Please visit our Facebook site (friend us @ GameON onfacebook), our website @ www.gameontvmn.com and24/7on twitter #gameontvmn. And we’re always planningbigger and better shows at the best Irish Pubs in theworld, Kierans, The Liffey, The Local and Cooper! Youare always welcome to visit our live tapings and eachweek we list guests and updates on the GameON! web-site as well as our Facebook site. Get upclose and per-sonal with us!!

We also partner with the one of the largest Vikings fansites in the world, www.PurplePride.org. I’ve said it be-fore and I’m saying it again! Get off the couch and getyour GameON! Be a part of the exciting effort we're put-ting on! Here’s to the winter sports season and spring fastapproaching! Hope to see you at an upcoming GameON!taping!!



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