Nearly 150 riders entered round one of the AMA’s National Hot Shoe Series at the Oglethorpe Speedway half-mile in Savannah, Georgia, on March 1. The night’s big winner was Kevin Varnes as he pushed his Memphis Shades / H-D of Frederick sponsored Harley to a convincing win in the 750/1000cc Expert class.
One of the biggest surprises of the night was the dominating performance of Kevin Atherton in the 505 Expert main. The Saddlemen /National Cycle/Dodge Brothers-sponsored Atherton was aboard a Woody Kyle-built Honda CRF450R-powered machine. Paint N Place/Slovene/Grayboy-backed Rob Pearson made his Pro-Sport debut a success by taking the 505 Pro-Sport Main. A.J. Eslick swept the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance main on his Frieze H-D/Airhawk/Max Lindeman backed Sportster.
On March 2, round two of the Daytona Bike Week flat track races pulled into the Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida half-mile under the heavy threat of rain. Despite a couple of light sprinkles all the races were run. Quality Checked Ford Racing/David Liles Ethanol Fuels’ Chris Carr came away the big winner in the 750/1000cc Expert main. BBRP/Circle F-backed Dan Stanley ran away with the 505 Expert feature. Cory McDermitt powered his Dad & Bubba/Auto Brite Racing Rotax to the Pro-Sport win and Merle Scherb topped the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance class on his Widman H-D/Jim Wagner/KK Racing-backed Sportster.
The March 3 Hot Shoe scheduled to run at Volusia Speedway Park was rained out. The event has been rescheduled for Wednesday March 6.
