SHOWS PRODUCED IN 2007

 #928, Bikes & Beans ’07, February 10-11. This show combines the International Motorcycle Show at Rosemont and ABATE’s Chili Cook-off that takes place the same weekend. We start the show at Rosemont, looking at some of the bikes and the Lander brothers doing their thrill show. Back at the VFW Hall on Canfield Avenue, the judges test the pots of chili. Back at the show, more thrills and then a look at the two Land Speed Record holders, the MV Agusta and Dennis Manning’s streamliner. After we talk to the three top scorers at the Chili Cook-off, we promote the up and coming Team Chicago Film Festival at Full Throttle Motorsports.

#929, WERA Nat’l Roebling Road, Part 1, March 17. Under perfect skies, and the temperature in the mid 60’s the first round of this WERA Series kicks of in Georgia. We watch the first hour as the team battle for the lead. During the second hour, the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera brings the action to the audience.

 #930, WERA Nat’l Roebling Road, Part 2, March 17, With more Team Chicago Helmet-Camera, we continue to look at the track as the second hour ends. During the third hour, more pit stops and action on the track fill the screen. The race ends with more Helmet-Camera footage.

 #931, Spring Set-up ’07, March 22, In this technical show, we show how to install a Pit Bull Steering Damper and the ELKA Rear Shock on the 2006 Yamaha R6. We also show some helmet-camera footage from a few of the racetracks on the WERA National Series. Some footage from the ‘Wheels through Time’ Museum in North Carolina is also shown.

 #932, TC/Grattan Roadrace School, Part 1, April 7, As the temperatures drop into the high 20’s, the brave students take a track walk with Fran Koke and Bo Sporers offering advice. During the classroom instructions, snow begin to fall and the school is delayed. Some more helmet-camera footage is shown from the WERA Nat’l Endurance Series.

 #933, TC/Grattan Roadrace School, Part 2, April 15. On this special Sunday School, Dan Schmitt leads the track walk. Some more instruction are shown and then it is on the track. Phil Young and the Team Bear helmet-camera shows one of the sessions on the track. A few comments from the students and more action on the track round out this show.

 #934, Wheels in Motion, Part 1, April 24, 2007, This is a show about Dale Walksler trying to break or tie a 24-hour record. In this show we show drive to the track and some of the problems facing Dale and his crew. Back at the shop, Wheels through Time Museum, Dale works on this bike

 #935, Wheels in Motion, Part 2, April 24, 2007 At the Talladega NASCAR Track, the bike continues on through the day finishing the 24-hour ride. We show more work in the shop and Dan Schmitt tells the story about the original record and rider.

 #936, WERA Nat’l Barber Motorsports Park, Part 1, May 5. Under clear but threatening sky, the forty-two teams take the start of this 4-Hour National. With Vesrah taking the lead we watch the first hour and then the second hour with the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera.

#937, WERA Nat’l Barber Motorsports Park, Part 2, May 5. The show begins during the second hour and we see this 2-mile roadcourse with the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera. The halfway pit stop puts Team Chicago out as there is water in the fuel tank. Between the various shots of the track and pit-stops, the action continues through the next two hours. During the last few minutes we see some of the classic racing motorcycles in Neal Keen’s collection in St. Louis.

 #938, MEGACROSS ’07, Part 1, May 12, 2007. We look at the heat races (or first motos) at this stadium motocross held at the Tri-County Fairground in Mendota, Illinois. Bill Holt is the announcer.

 #939, MEGACROSS ’07, Part 2, May 12, 2007. The action heats up as the final events take place. A few of the races covered include the 125 and 250 A finals.

#940, Race Teams, Part 1, June, 2007, The show opens at Road America for the AMA National. We flashback to the Friday night in Springfield, Illinois for the T.T. National. As we look at some of the practice and qualifying, we talk to one of the team owners that is associated with 4 & 6 Racing, George Mack. We also talk to Rob Williams, crew chief,  and the riders, Nicky Cummings and Benny Carlson With the rain falling, we return to some action at Road America.

#941, Race Teams, Part 2, June, 2007, At Road America in Wisconsin, we check out the other team associated with 4 & 6 Racing, Safety First.  We talk to the owner of the team, Kevin Hanson, the co-owner of 4 & 6 Racing, Jim Rashid, the mechanics and riders of Safety First. We watch some more of the practice and the Formula Extreme final.

# 942, Old Bikes, On Any Sunday, June 10, 2007. After looking at the vintage racing bike in Neal Keen’s collection, I show footage from the movie, ON ANY SUNDAY, to identify the motorcycles and their riders. Additionally, I interview Jim Kersting as he tells us about his two Kawasaki roadracers.

 #943, WERA National Miller Motorsports Park, Part 1, June 16, 2007. Just thirty miles west of Salt Lake City in Utah is Miller Motorsports Park. The team traveled here to challenge this three-mile roadcourse. This show covers the first three hours of this race.

#944, WERA National Miller Motorsports Park, Part 2, June 16, 2007. The final three hours are covered at this track located in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Pit stop action and interviews with some of the rider along with the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera footage.

#945, WERA National Road Atlanta, Cycle Jam,  Part 1, June 29, 2007. In the first of two trips to Road Atlanta, the start of this 6-hour race is covered as Vesrah Suzuki and Team Moe’s Southwest Grill battle for the lead. 5150 Racing on the MV Agusta is closing fast to join the action. During the second hour, the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera captures the action.

  # 946, WERA National Road Atlanta, Cycle Jam, Part 2, June 29, 2007. The action continues with comments from the riders and action in the pits. Team Chicago is there to cover the action with the onboard camera.

 #947, WERA National Grattan Raceway, Part 1, July 14, 2007. With the rain falling on this two-mile roadcourse in West Michigan, the teams take to the track. Team Chicago has a guest rider, Caleb Fritz. After one hour of racing, the Team Chicago camera records comments from a few of the team members in the pits. With both Team Bear and Brand X crashing during the second hour, there is one restart. The Team Chicago Helmet-camera captures the action during the third hour.

 #948, WERA National Grattan Raceway, Part 2, July 14, 2007. During the fourth hour, the sun finally pops through the clouds and the racing action picks up. We watch the final three hours as Vesrah Suzuki goes on to another overall victory.

 #949, Lake County SuperCross, Part 1, July 24, 2007, We start the coverage of this Tuesday night event by looking at the motocross jumpers and then we look a some of the racing action by the amateurs and the pros on high performance pit bikes.

 #950, Lake County SuperCross, Part 2, July 25 , 2007, We look at some of the heat race action with both the pro and the amateur riders. We then watch a few of the finals at this stadium motocross held in Grayslake, Illinois at the Lake County Fairgrounds.

#951, WERA National Summit Point, Part 1, August 4, 2007. We watch the first three hours of this six hour endurance race. Using the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera, the track is brought to the viewers. Summit Point Raceway is located in the far eastern edge of West Virginia.

 #952, WERA National Summit Point, Part 2, August 4, 2007. In part two, the final three hours are covered. Again the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera bring the action to the viewers. Team Chicago with Josh Smith-Moore and Dan Schmitt finish third in the Middleweight SuperStock class.

 #953, WERA National Talladega GP. Part 1, August 18, 2007. We see the new track at Talladega, Alabama. A few new turns have been added and we run the track in the reverse direction. We catch the first two hours of this four-hour race.

#954, WERA National Talladega GP, Part 2, August 18, 2007, The Team Chicago Helmet Camera bring the action home during the second hour and then the rain begin to fall. Check out the action in the wet. Team Chicago finished second in the Middleweight SuperStock class.

 #955, Walneck’s Swap Meet, August 12, 2007. At the McHenry County Fairgrounds located in Woodstock, Illinois, we look at the buy and selling going on. Starting with setup in the morning, we interview J.A. ‘Buzz’ Christophersen, who restores Triumph Motorcycles (1960-1970). After that, we show a Triumph promotional film produced in 1994 that is just great. We interview the promoter, Buzz Walneck and listen to one of the songs of Black Frogs.  

Dan Schmitt thinks about racing on Sunday in the rain at Nelson Ledges as Nathan Dressman takes a tumble in the 600 SuperStock Expert final. (photos by Greg Nash)

#956, WERA National Nelson Ledges, Part 1, September 8, 2007. Joe Ball, who rode with Team Chicago for the last couple of years, joins Josh Smith-Moore and Dan Schmitt to challenge this 6-hour race. Nelson Ledges is an old track in eastern Ohio, with many new improvements, and twenty-some team challenge this two mile roadcourse. With the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera, we get to see this track up close and personal.

#957, WERA National Nelson Ledges, Part 2, September 8, 2007. Team Chicago run a good and clean race and ends up in third place in the Middleweight SuperStock class. Vesrah continues their winning ways. See some of the new video shots of this classic roadcourse in Ohio.

  #958, WERA National Jennings GP, Part 1, September 29, 2007. This race was cancelled in April due to the forest fires that were burning in the southern Georgia/northern Florida area. Dan Schmitt crashed in practice, so Scott Layman filled in to challenge this 6-hour race. The first three hour of the race are covered in part one.

#959, WERA National Jennings GP, Part 2, September 29, 2007. We look at the exciting conclusion of this 6-hour race. Team Chicago chases down Team Westby in the clash for third place in class, but Josh comes up twenty seconds short as the checkered flag flies. Vesrah wins their eighth race of the season.

 #960, WERA GNF Road Atlanta, Part 1, October 12, 2007, Again, Dan Schmitt decides not to ride, so Phil Young of Team Bear is called up to fill in. Thirty-two teams traveled to Road Atlanta in Georgia to challenge this 2.2 mile roadcourse. Additional footage is provided by Denis Torres, Phil Young and Richard Smith-Moore to show every angle of this track. During the second hour, the Team Chicago Yamaha R6 springs a leak and ends of spending one-hour in the pits.

 #961, WERA GNF Road Atlanta, Part 2, October 12, 2007. The exciting conclusion of this 4-hour race is shown. Vesrah again wins the race and the overall title as the run a perfect race. Westby Racing takes the Middleweight SuperStock championship, bp Concepts takes Middleweight SuperBike and Ghetto Customs again get the Lightweight SuperBike title. Team Chicago captures third in the Middleweight SuperStock class.

#962, GNF Road Atlanta, Part 3, October 14, 2007, After a deliver of my political comments for the year, so far, I interview Steve Brubaker of Race Tire Service, Dunlop. We talk about storing your bike over the winter and the care need for your tires. The we look at one of the vintage races and talk to a couple of vintage racers. I interview Josh Smith-Moore about the Knee sliders or pucks that he has designed. Finally, we watch my speech delivering the Chris Junge Crew Chief Award for 2007 at the annual WERA Awards Banquet.

#963, Dual Sport Ride, November 3, 2007. We take a look at a AMA Dual Sport Ride with the Forest City Rider. This ride takes place around Leaf River, Illinois which is eight miles west of Byron. With comments from the riders and the event chairman and riding action in the woods, this show shows what a dual sport ride is all about.

#964, Final AMA Enduro, Part 1, November 10, 2007. Using Phil Young’s Kawasaki KLX300, Dan Schmitt takes on the challenge of the AMA Enduro held by the Forest City Riders. We look at the start of this event held in Leaf River, Illinois. Come join the ride on this sunny 50 degree Saturday afternoon.

 #965, Final AMA Enduro, Part 2, November 10, 2007. We see the conclusion of this 60-mile enduro. Besides the riding with the Team Chicago Helmet-Camera, we listen to some of the comments from some of the riders. As a special added bonus, we see the greatest road-side historical marker in the USA. This sign tells the story of the Banditti Gang and the Regulators in the wild west of Illinois in the 1830’s and 40’s.

  #966, Legends of Chicagoland Motorcycle Racing Brunch, November 25, 2007, This annual gathering of motorcycle racers and the fans from the ’50’s, ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ’80’s is held in Hillside, Illinois. After Jim Viverito gives the introduction, we recognize and pay tribute to Art Barda and show some of the photos from his life. Bob Goodpaster from AHRMA is one featured guest speaker.

 #967, Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade, Part 1, December 2, 2007. This is the 30^th annual parade and thousands of bikers came out to bring toys to the needy boys and  girls in Chicagoland. Starting with comments at Dan Ryan Woods at 83^rd Street and Western Avenue, we continue with Helmet Camera to show the bikes traveling North on Western Avenue. We cut away to show some of the riders going to the ROCK on Thanksgiving Day to be on Motorsports Unlimited. Additionally, we show the parade going by and receive comments from a few spectators.

#968, Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade, Part 2, December 2, 2007. As the parade continues North, we cut away to show Kouch at the ‘Legends’ Brunch’, John Bartosiewicz provides information at the last Friday Night Meeting and George Gora talks about the new parking at the Marine Depot. Further up on Western Avenue, we receive a few more comments from the fans along the avenue as the parade passes. Finally at the Marine Depot on Foster Avenue and Troy Street, a few of the police officers and riders offer their opinions of the successful parade. Outside, Tommy and Tiger Mark offer their comments along with Charles Trainman, the owner of the Santa Fe SuperChief.

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