SPRINGFIELD MILE 2010

Ahh, Memorial Day Weekend, the ‘real’ start of the flat track racing season!

Pam and I headed down I-55 Saturday afternoon, after a short visit with her dad. He is looking pretty well after surgery. The TT race was Saturday evening and the Blackhawks were playing the first game in the Stanley Cup finals, so the ‘Hawks won out. We stopped at Smokey Bones in Springfield for some ribs and to watch the game. The Blackhawks won.

We checked some motels around the restaurant, but they were all full. We tried the State House Inn by the Capitol, and they had a room, even with being packed with contestants for the Miss Illinois Teen pageant.

The next morning we got up and headed to Charlie Parker’s for breakfast. Located in a Quonset hut, it is a pretty popular breakfast spot, well known for ‘horseshoes’ and pizza pan-sized pancakes.

After breakfast, we headed to the fairgrounds for the Mile. On the way, I noticed that Mel-O-Cream had the OPEN sign lit. Mel-O-Cream is a donut place that I have good memories of from childhood, so we stopped in. They only had about six or eight donuts left, all regular old donuts, none of the cream filled long johns! We tried a cake donut anyway and headed for the race.

At the fairgrounds we parked near the Food-O-Rama and strolled toward the grandstands to buy tickets. We saw a couple of these interesting trikes:
With built-in cup holders:
Near the grandstands, there was parking for vintage bikes, with a few old beauties on display.

There was also a ratty-looking Honda chopper that we had seen rolling in. It had some nice touches: an air suspension that lowered it to rest on the frame when parked, and a kinda cool sight-glass for a gas guage.

There were long lines for tickets; it was a good crowd.

The AMA has been trying for years to adjust the rules so there will be some competition for the Harley XR750. This year looks pretty good for the competition: Kopp won the inaugural Arizona Mile on a Ducati, ex-Harley mechanic Bill Werner has been working on Kawasaki flat trackers, the Aprillias have been making a lot of races, and Triumph and Suzuki are still trying hard. The rules and restrictors are having some effect: the Kawasaki, two Ducatis, a Suzuki, and a Triumph are in the main.
After the time trials, heats, and semis, the riders that made the main roll their bikes out to the grid.

Jake Johnson (#5) has the pole on his Harley, with an unknown lined up next to him. PJ Jacobsen, a road racer, is riding in his first Grand National final, and is second fastest through the preliminary races! Next to Jacobsen is Brian Smith (#42), on Werner’s Kawasaki, with Kopp (#3) next to him on the Ducati. This is a pretty unusual front row for a GNC main event!

There is a slight hold-up after they give the riders one lap to check the track condition: Sam Halbert pulls into the hot box and his crew tightens his front end.

The riders get lined up again, and the light goes green.

Johnson jumps out front immediately, followed by Smith and Jacobsen, with Halbert chasing them. After a few laps, Johnson has a sizeable lead on Smith, who is a little in front of the pack. The real racing is from third on back: Smith seems unable to close on Johnson, although he is trying all kinds of different lines through the corners. A pretty exciting race, with the mainly pro-Harley crowd cheering on underdog Smith on the Kaw. At the end of twenty-five laps it’s Johnson, Smith, Coolbeth, Mees, and Kopp. A Kawasaki on the podium and a Ducati in the top five!

We split after the final, and head for the Mississippi to run it back north toward Chicago. On the way out of Springfield, we find this old Maid-Rite, but it is closed on Sunday. Signage tells that it is the first drive-through in the country, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. We’ll have to try a Maid-Rite there another day.

We cross the River at Hannibal and run up the Missouri side, stopping in Burlington, Iowa, for the night.

The next morning we bum around Burlington, an old river/railroad town. Like Grand Rapids, it has an old section full of big beautiful houses, so we roll up and down the streets checking them out.

Then, we take the US 34 bridge back into Illinois and run 34 into Kewanee. I wanted to see Pluto in Kewanee. There is a scale model of the Solar System in Illinois, centered on the Sun in Peoria. Pluto is in Good’s Furniture store in Kewanee.