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Daytona 2005
Curse of the Buckeye Boys
By Wes Orloff
Its hard to believe now, but it was over 14 years ago that
this motorcycle journey that put me on the start line of Daytona
began. It was 1991, and I was a struggling college intern
at Wiseco Piston Company trying to find a direction in life..
I think it was safe to say I was a car guy at the time, and
drag racing was my sport. Through the summer, I worked closely
and started hanging out with one of the owner’s kids
who was messing around with road racing motorcycles. We were
the same age, and more importantly, about the same mentality
at the time (I’ll wait for the statute of limitations
to expire before I go into any more detail…). That kid
was Tommy Kipp, future AMA and World superbike star. My interest
in cars quickly faded as I got assigned to the R&D group
and was exposed to Tommy’s exotic Yamaha OWO1 privateer
superbike. The old 1974 Dodge suddenly didn’t seem nearly
as interesting after drooling over the 14,000 rpm, titanium
valved 5 valve Yamaha…I was hooked for a lifetime.
Tom Kipp, Circa 1990
Tommy was a rising superbike star in 1991, often embarrassing
the factory guys on his privateer Yamaha. If anyone had doubted
Tommy’s talent, they wouldn’t after the 1991 Daytona
200. The Daytona 200 that year was loaded with talent, including
a contingency of World superbike riders who had crossed the
pond. Carl Fogarty, Scott Russell, Doug Polen, Miguell Duhamel,
Pascal Picotte, Freddie Spencer, Jamie James, Neil Hodgson…and
my drinking buddy from the neighborhood, Tommy. To make a
long story short, Tommy went out in that 200 and smoked them
all. On a privateer bike. It boggles the mind today to think
that a privateer could do that to all those current and future
factory backed champions. Unfortunately, Tommy’s time
at the front was limited to 8 laps due to a blown head gasket,
but he had raised his stock enough in the eyes of the those
watching that a factory ride was guaranteed. Duhammel would
go on to card his first Daytona victory that year. Tommy success
after that 200 was swift, and an incredible carreer and multiple
championships quickly followed. I could say I was friends
with the fastest guy ever out of Mentor-on-the-lake, Ohio.
The effect on me was probably more far reaching than I realized
at the time. Here was guy from the neighborhood making good
on the world stage. It seemed anything might be possible in
those days. All those dreams and goals became a little closer,
a little more attainable…it effects me to this day. So
much so, that the very OWO1 Yamaha that lit Tommy’s stellar
career at Daytona, that Tommy won a World superbike race on
as a privateer, now sits in my basement, awaiting the restoration
it deserves. My most prized possesion. My old boss Dave Fusner
from Wiseco recently sent a tape of the 1991 Daytona 200,
and I watched it about 80 times the week prior to heading
down to Daytona myself for the AHRMA national…Now there
is no way I would ever try to compare myself to Tommy, as
about the only thing I have over him racing motorcycles is
weight, but in the back of my mind, I wondered what it must
have been like to lead that race at Daytona 14 years ago…I
would soon find out, more accurately than I would have cared
for.
The warm up race the week before Daytona this year was in
Kershaw, South Carolina….a track I had never been to.
I would be riding Dale Coffmans 1967 CR450 replica in the
500 premiere class, and my new Buell XB9R Firebolt in the
modern bike Battle of the Twins Formula 2 class. I was going
to fly to Atlanta to meet Dale, and drive the rest of the
way to Kershaw, and then Daytona. My Firebolt was being hauled
down by Randy and Karsten Illg of Framecrafters in nearby
Union, Illinois. Things started off auspiciously enough, the
Illg’s, with my Firebolt in their trailer, got into an
accident on the treacherous ice covered hiway near Cincinatti
and actually totaled their tow vehicle. My friend Leah, who
was kind enough to bring my pit bike down for me, was also
rear ended at a toll booth. Both bikes ‘crashed’
before ever seeing a track. Maybe somebody was trying to tell
me something …
Dale managed to make it to Atlanta in one piece, and we headed
over to Kershaw for Practice first thing Wednesday morning.
Unfortunately, I didn’t notice much of a climate change
between Kershaw and my adopted Milwaukee home. We woke up
to a breezy 26 degree morning, with a forecasted high of only
42. Obviously, the track conditions were dicey at best, and
a total of 35 crashes happened that day in turn 1 alone. I
was lucky enough to not count myself among those unfortunate
and kept both our ‘A’ and ‘B’ 500 GP bikes
and my late arriving, and poor running, Buell on two wheels.
(special thanks to the Illgs for still managing to deliver
my Buell….in a rental van). A little work on the Buell,
and it seemed we were ready for race day.
Race day dawned slightly warmer, but the high was still only
expected to be in the low 50’s. I spent the morning in
practice shaking off the rust and slowly warming up to the
new Buell racebike. Things were looking good, although I was
a little concerned about pushing too hard on the still cold
track.
First race up was 500 premiere, which is always a challenging
race as we were up against some very well developed Norton
Manxes. To make it even more challenging, we had some visitors
from Holland on a shit-serious full European spec Manx…I
can’t pronounce the riders name, but he was referred
to as ‘Dutch Boy’ for the remainder of the event.
The race itself went pretty well, and we ended up finishing
in a safe 3rd spot after a good race long battle with Dutch
boy. Dave Roper checked out on us on his Manx, but I can’t
say that was unexpected….Next up was Formula 2 twins
on the Buell, which would be the first time I would turn a
wheel in anger on the Firebolt. My main competition would
be multi AHRMA champion Johnny ‘the jet’ Staska.
Cold tire, slick track, hamfisted rider
= crash damage.
The Formula 2 race started out great, as I took the lead
for the first two laps despite the dicey conditions. Staska
and I made a break from everybody else, and were having a
great dice when my bike suddenly died on lap 6 of 8. I pulled
off the track and sat there dejected. For kicks, I tried starting
it and it fired right back up! I re-joined the race, still
in 2nd position thanks to a pretty good lead, thinking I might
still be able to salvage a decent finish…until I lost
the front on my now cold front tire in turn 1.
I hate even calling it a crash, it was more of a spin out.
I actually kept the bike running the entire time and immediately
re-joined the race and still finished second on the track
despite most of my shifter missing, but was later disqualified
(I guess your out if your handlebars touch the ground). A
little disappointing, but I was thrilled that the bike was
so competitive right out of the box. I looked forward to seeing
what it would do at Daytona with warmer weather and a little
more practice time.
We booked it down to Daytona the next day and set up camp
outside the Holiday inn in Deland (Thanks to Bruce Yoximer
for the gracious accommodations in his motorhome…). I
went on a parts hunt trying to find the pieces to repair the
crash damage on the Firebolt. Thanks to Marc Pomerance at
the Harley demo trailer , and the Buell demo guys for the
help. The Buell guys actually let me borrow a clutch cover
off of a marketing display engine! Only request was that I
return it before Wednesday when the marketing guys were scheduled
to showed up…
Sunday Tech at Deland went well. It was at tech that we noticed
these Japanese magazine guys were going nuts over Dale’s
CR450 I am lucky enough to race, taking all sorts of pictures
of the bike and Dale. They asked me to be in a picture, and
I'm thinking 'about time! get a good studley shot of the racer
on the race bike! I started to get on the CR and they told
me no, they wanted to get a picture of me...on my little (and
very un-studley) Honda C70 passport pit bike. I wonder if
Tommy ever had this type of demeaning request…
What-ever….
Monday practice was my first exposure to the new Daytona
infield layout, which turned out to be a riot. The track was
a blast to ride and the speed of the Firebolt on the banking
was shocking (I had only ever been around Daytona on a vintage
bike…). I slowly warmed up to the Firebolt, while the
500 felt like an old friend. First race up was the 500 premier
race on the Honda. Realistically, with the competition and
fast Norton’s at the track, a 5th place finish was about
the best we thought we could do. Our Honda was down 15mph
to the Manxes on the banking, which even with the new infield
layout, would be difficult to make up on the brakes and in
the corners. The race was fairly uneventful, as I rode as
hard as I could, but watched the leading 5 Norton’s pull
away into the distance. I finished a lonely 6th position behind
Dutch boy, but took a little solace in the fact that we were
the first non-Nortan Manx to finish.
Dale Coffmans Beautiful Honda CR450
Next up Was Formula 2 Twins on the Buell, my first shot at
a Tommy Kipp imitation! I was gridded on the second row and
got a decent start, moving into 4th place in turn 1. Derek
Key’s took the lead and started checking out, as I got
involved with a 3 way battle for second. I found my Buell
was just a bullet on the banking, and just bid my time, passing
for 3rd position in the draft on the white flag lap, and draft
passing Jan Svenson on his Ducati on the banking in the final
turn for a 2nd place finish (and more importantly, about $200
in prize money…). Derek had checked out on us, but I
wasn’t going to complain about a 2nd at Daytona in only
the 2nd race on the bike.
Some had worse Daytona experiences than
me….(Andrew Cowell’s fried Guzzi)
The final day of racing started off in a monsoon and a very
wet track in practice. I still took the Buell out on full
slicks just to get a little more seat time and bond a little
more with the bike. A lot of people skipped practice so it
was only me and another Ducati on the track. It was very surreal
circulating Daytona by myself, and I began to think of Tommy’s
1991 race. I wanted that Daytona win badly, and even though
I didn’t have Tommy’s talent, I was prepared to
ride with the same amount of heart…
First up however was the race on the vintage bike. Again,
the plan was to get out of Daytona with as many points as
possible. I felt pretty good on the vintage bike during the
race, and moved up a position to finish in 5th spot. The extended
practice on the Buell really helped figuring out the fast
lines through the infield on the CR500, and It was a much
closer 5th place finish than the day before. Again, we were
the first non-Norton Manx finisher. Although finishing 5th
was a little disappointing, just being there riding such a
beautifully prepared bike was a riot. I was ready to go for
my Formula 2 race on the Buell.
5th gear, 6500rpm, 158mph. Doesn’t
look like it, But I assure you it feels like it…
I was digging as deep as I could in preparation for my final
F2 race of the day on the Buell. At the start, things were
going great, as I pulled a holeshot from the second row and
led the first lap as I put my head down and tried to make
a break. The bike was running and handling great as I led
lap two with a clear track ahead of me…so this is what
it must have been like for Tommy! Well, not quite, as I looked
behind me and got a face full of numberplate from two pursuing
bikes. The next two laps were a riot, with the 3 of us exchanging
the lead a few times per lap. My Buell was a rocket on the
banking though and I planned on hanging back slightly and
doing the draft pass again on the last lap. It was not to
be however, as on the 5th lap through the infield, I went
to downshift only to find the recently repaired shift lever
missing. What I wouldn’t have done for twenty five cents
worth of loctite and safety wire…I think it was at that
point that I finally did understand how it felt for Tommy
when his head gasket blew leading the Daytona 200 14 years
earlier. Someday I will win this one…for the Kipper.
I’d like to thank the following for all the help and
support:
Fuel Café, Milwaukee http://www.fuelcafe.com
Comet Coffe Shop
Advanced Sleeve http://www.advancedsleeve.com
Cometic Gasket http:/ /www.cometic.com
Wiseco Piston http://www.wiseco.com
Spider Grips http://www.spidergrips.com/
Champion Spark plugs
Hal’s Harley-Davidson
Eagle Harley-Davidson
Frame Crafters http://www.framecrafters.net/
Glenn Veatch
Brian Griffin
Josh Wilson
Bill Pari
Dan Hurda
Kemp Asbeck
Andy Wagner
Dale Buerger
Marc Pomerance
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