NW ATV Sand Drag Nationals: The fast and not-so-fast
From: Democrat Herald
By Jake RosenbergAlbany Democrat-Herald
Races at Albany Motorsports Park cover all classes of competition
The years have passed and the lap times have dropped.
Since the 1970s, Albany Motorsports Park has showcased some of the fastest motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles in the nation, and track operator Ryan Leach wants to make sure that tradition of speed continues during this weekend’s Northwest ATV Sand Drag Nationals.
For the last six years, Leach has been running the event and watching the 100-yard track records bested, but he says that speed is not the only reason why he promotes the sport.“A lot of guys here today are well known nationwide and many of them are from here in Oregon,” Leach said. “This is an industry that is really big. We’ve got (sand) dunes which have put our state on the map, but Oregon has kind of fallen off the map as far as drag racing goes. That’s really too bad because we’ve got a ton of local engine builders here. ... the whole goal is to bring a lot of the big-name builders from across the country.”
With the current track record of 3.25 seconds at 94 miles-per-hour set by Sweet Home’s Cameron Sawyer, AMP is one of the premier venues in the northwest. But Leach doesn’t want to scare away the novice riders who just want to have a good old-fashioned grudge race.
“One of the things people are confused about is that they think they have to have a fast quad in order to compete, but you really don’t. That is why we have bracket racing for the lower-level riders,” said Leach regarding the sportsman classes which utilizes handicaps in order to create parity.
“Everybody that has an ATV and goes to the dunes likes to go fast and at some point in time they are going to want to race their buddies. This is a place where they can do that. That is what this sport is all about. It doesn’t matter if you have a stock bike or a slow bike ... you can be competitive.”Sheldon High School student Calvin Gording just likes having fun on his four-wheeler. A regular on the dunes, Gording, 17, won’t be able to compete against the likes of his father, Grant, and other professional riders at AMP. But that doesn’t keep him away from the drag strip and going against his fellow sportsman riders.
“(The dunes) is mainly what mine is used for but all you have to do to race here is buy a quad and bring it out to the track,” says Gording. “That is the great thing about quads... you can go anywhere you want to.”That enthusiasm for racing is what Leach likes to see at his track.
“There is more that goes into this than just dumping money into (a bike),” Leach says. “There are guys with $40,000 bikes that are twice as fast but that doesn’t mean that he is having more fun than the kid on the stock Banshee.”
Racing begins today and continues on Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 7 a.m. with racing going through about 4 p.m.Adult admission to the track off Century Drive is $10, children’s tickets (ages 7-12) are $5, and children under six are admitted for free.
By Jake RosenbergAlbany Democrat-Herald
Races at Albany Motorsports Park cover all classes of competition
The years have passed and the lap times have dropped.
Since the 1970s, Albany Motorsports Park has showcased some of the fastest motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles in the nation, and track operator Ryan Leach wants to make sure that tradition of speed continues during this weekend’s Northwest ATV Sand Drag Nationals.
For the last six years, Leach has been running the event and watching the 100-yard track records bested, but he says that speed is not the only reason why he promotes the sport.“A lot of guys here today are well known nationwide and many of them are from here in Oregon,” Leach said. “This is an industry that is really big. We’ve got (sand) dunes which have put our state on the map, but Oregon has kind of fallen off the map as far as drag racing goes. That’s really too bad because we’ve got a ton of local engine builders here. ... the whole goal is to bring a lot of the big-name builders from across the country.”
With the current track record of 3.25 seconds at 94 miles-per-hour set by Sweet Home’s Cameron Sawyer, AMP is one of the premier venues in the northwest. But Leach doesn’t want to scare away the novice riders who just want to have a good old-fashioned grudge race.
“One of the things people are confused about is that they think they have to have a fast quad in order to compete, but you really don’t. That is why we have bracket racing for the lower-level riders,” said Leach regarding the sportsman classes which utilizes handicaps in order to create parity.
“Everybody that has an ATV and goes to the dunes likes to go fast and at some point in time they are going to want to race their buddies. This is a place where they can do that. That is what this sport is all about. It doesn’t matter if you have a stock bike or a slow bike ... you can be competitive.”Sheldon High School student Calvin Gording just likes having fun on his four-wheeler. A regular on the dunes, Gording, 17, won’t be able to compete against the likes of his father, Grant, and other professional riders at AMP. But that doesn’t keep him away from the drag strip and going against his fellow sportsman riders.
“(The dunes) is mainly what mine is used for but all you have to do to race here is buy a quad and bring it out to the track,” says Gording. “That is the great thing about quads... you can go anywhere you want to.”That enthusiasm for racing is what Leach likes to see at his track.
“There is more that goes into this than just dumping money into (a bike),” Leach says. “There are guys with $40,000 bikes that are twice as fast but that doesn’t mean that he is having more fun than the kid on the stock Banshee.”
Racing begins today and continues on Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 7 a.m. with racing going through about 4 p.m.Adult admission to the track off Century Drive is $10, children’s tickets (ages 7-12) are $5, and children under six are admitted for free.
Labels: Oregon Dunes, Sand Drag Nationals
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