“Oh, thank God it’s motorcycle club night.”

Mike the bouncer at a well known bar in Tampa said.

“I think that’s the first time I ever heard that in my life.” I said.

He laughed. “I’m serious.”

“How so?”

“You and your friends know how to have a good time. No fights.” He paused.

“You all seem to know how to get along.”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “Tell a Ducati rider that a Gixxer is better in the flat and watch the sparks fly.”

My friend had made an interesting point, though. One that I had never noticed until he pointed it out. Sportbikers and stunters are very tight knit, exclusive groups. But, we are not interested in cliques. We don’t care what your background is. We don’t care what you do for a living. Man, woman, race, color, or creed do not matter. The only price of admission is a love and respect for riding the machine. If only the rest of the world were as open.

I can recall being shunned by many groups. Places where I wasn’t accepted for a variety of reasons. The reasons given don’t matter.The one group where I was never shunned or not invited was amongst sportbikers. Even when I didn’t have one their only concern was how soon till I could ride again. This is a source of pride to me when I speak to people who don’t ride.

Just take a look  at the list of pro stunters featured at Stuntersedgemagazine.com alone: Aaron Colton, Alex Flores, Bill Dixon, Brian Bubash, Britney Schara, Dan Jackson, Dena Sodano, Eric E-Brake Pettit, Graham, Guru Khalsa, Hollywood B, Jesse Toler, Kelly Jennings, Lin Eshalom, Luke Duke Emmons, Mitch Adams, Murdoc, Nick Apex, Rick Hart, Sean Parrish, Shinsuke Kinoshita, Sick Nick Hernandez, and J Beats just to name a few. Stunters of every background imaginable. All brought together in a common passion for riding and stunting. (And that’s not even mentioning all of the pros featured on the site who live to race on dirt or pavement.) If you can ride and you can stunt to their level of expertise-you’re in. No questions asked. The proof is in what you can do on two wheels. (Although, I have it on good authority that pro stunter Nick Apex hates Smooth Jazz with extreme prejudice, so you may have to pass some kind of special initiation with him if that’s also your thing. My apologies to the half dozen fans worldwide of that musical genre for this one exception. But, I digress.)

College degree? Who cares…show me what you can do. CEO of a fortune 500 company? That’s great…can you do a spreader? No. Then hit the bricks. Simple and straightforward.

In 2008, the Motorcycle Industry Council did an industry wide demographic census of new purchases of motorcycles. they found that while the United States population rose 5% from 2003 to 2008, the motorcycle population rose a whopping 19%. Women accounted for 23% of all riders in the same time period. From Gen Y to Gen X to the Boomers, age didn’t matter, they all increased in rider ownership. The total population of two wheelers accounted for more than the entire population of the state of Michigan.

What the report wasn’t able to state was the reason for the dramatic rise in ownership. Why were young and old, men and women, of every race and background taking to two wheels? I believe there are two reasons. One is The Secret Sportbikers Know, and the other is the fraternity of riders. The membership that only cares that you ride or stunt to the best of your ability.

Two years ago, at Clutch Control Reloaded in Philadelphia, pro stunter Jason Britton, wrapped up the events when he looked at a camera and said,

“Remember, two wheels and one love.”

That says it all.

See you on the streets…

~J

Just call him J.

Jaime Valentino is a writer with a wide background and array of experiences that he relates through his most current endeavor, Behind the Visor.

J. has been published by a diverse group of companies. Whether it was fantasy stories (through Raven, LLC a fiction publishing company) to Wine Blogs for Three Thieves Wine, he has always had an intimate knowledge and unique viewpoint that has translated well to his readers who have followed him over the years.

Sportbikes are the one passion in his life he has always returned to no matter what. He rode his first mini-bike at nine years old and has never looked back.

J. lives in New York City. Though he will tell you he thrives there…

Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto Wins Daytona Supercross By Honda

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto put on a dominating performance leading all 20 laps on way to his first career Daytona Supercross victory on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The Seattle, Wash., native took the hole shot in the 20-lap event staged inside the Speedway’s tri-oval and held off a late charge from Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey to secure a 4.445-second victory. Honda’s Trey Canard rounded out the podium.

“I got a great start and was able to get that hole shot,” Villopoto said. “The track was tough.  It’s easy to make little mistakes here.  It’s important to get out front.  I think it’s a lot easier to pass here than in a stadium.  But it doesn’t matter what track it is, a hole shot is 90 percent of the race.

“It’s nice to finally add this race to the list of wins,” Villopoto added.

The win was Villopoto’s fourth of the AMA Supercross season while Dungey maintains a 20-point lead in the AMA Supercross standings.

In the 15-lap Lites East Supercross event, France’s Christophe Pourcel, aboard a Kawasaki, captured his third straight victory of the season. Austin Stroupe and Dean Wilson rounded out the podium.

“Daytona, it’s a huge race,” said Stroupe.  “It would be an honor to win this race but to be on the podium and finish second, it feels just as good.”

Three-time Daytona Supercross By Honda champion Chad Reed sat out Saturday’s event. Reed, coming off surgery for an injured wrist, practiced and qualified but opted not to return to competition just yet.

For the third straight year, the Daytona Supercross By Honda course was designed by five-time Daytona Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael and built by three-time National Champion Mark Burnett.

The course had a couple of new twists such as the relocation of the starting gate to the West end of the tri-oval and the placement of the finish line in the center of the track closer to the fans.

“Ricky did a great job with the course,” Dungey said. “I can’t believe all the people that showed up here tonight.”

Next up at Daytona will be the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross Championship on Sunday and the Ricky Carmichael University on Monday. Tickets are available at the gate or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

Jake Zemke Sweeps American SuperBike Races

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.– Jake Zemke continued his impressive debut with Michael Jordan Motorsports giving the NBA legend his second straight American SuperBike win at Daytona International Speedway.

Zemke charged past fellow Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden at the finish line by a mere 0.009 seconds.

“It was so close,” Zemke said. “I didn’t know who won.  I was riding around on that last lap after the checkered flag and I kept looking at the tower looking at the numbers.  I’m like mine’s on top but when is it going to change.  I couldn’t really celebrate until I got in here (in Gatorade Victory Lane).  I still wasn’t sure.”

Tommy Hayden, who was runner up in Thursday’s race as well, hoped leading the race was the best position to be in coming to the checkered flag after watching Zemke ride away in the closing laps of Thursday’s race.

“I knew Jake was going to be tough again,” Hayden said. “I thought leading was going to be my best bet.  I just didn’t have quite enough speed.  The race was a couple feet too long for me today.”

The top-five motorcycles were separated by less than a second with Ben Bostrom rounding out the podium.  Zemke’s teammate Aaron Yates finished fourth with Larry Pegram on a Ducati finishing fifth.

After barely missing the victory in the SuperSport race Thursday by .001 seconds, 17-year-old Joey Pascarella dominated Friday’s race leading every lap of the 35-mile race.

“We were all riding really good,” Pascarella said.  “I just put my head down and rode as hard as I could.”

LTD Racing swept the podium with Pascarella’s teammates Jake Gagne and Tomas Puerta finishing second and third.

Next up for Daytona 200 Week is the Daytona Supercross By Honda on Saturday. Tickets are available at the gate or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

Graves Motorsports Rider Josh Herrin Wins Daytona 200

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Graves Motorsports’ Josh Herrin held off fellow Yamaha rider Dane Westby to win the 69^th Daytona 200 AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike event on Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.

The 19-year-old rider from Dublin, Ga., received plenty of pressure from the hard-charging Westby, who was riding for Project 1 Atlanta, in the closing laps of the 57-lap event but was able to pull away for a 7.964-second victory.

“I just kept putting in the laps and trying to push as hard as I could just to keep (Westby) back and make it as easy as possible at the end and it all paid off,” said Herrin, who finished second in last year’s Daytona 200 to Ben Bostrom.

“This shows what you can do with a good bike,” Westby said. “I saw the gap open and close.  I thought maybe I had but didn’t want to do something stupid and throw away second.”

For Yamaha, it was the manufacturer’s second straight victory in the Daytona 200 and its 20^th overall in America’s most historic motorcycle race.

Steve Rapp, the 2007 Daytona 200 champion, rounded out the podium on a Ducati.

Los Angeles, CA (March 4, 2010) — 2010 marks a new chapter for the quickly growing XDL Championship Series. With a schedule that includes Round 1 at Daytona and the Finals at Indy, as well as a new TV show called Inside XDL on Versus Network, XDL is poised to make the jump into the big leagues over the next three years. At Daytona, a new format for FMF Cup was introduced, and for the first time ever, women’s sportbike freestyle was presented at the highest level. Yet for all the innovation, some things didn’t change. Factory Yamaha rider Bill Dixon continued his dominance in FMF Cup and put himself on a path to become the first-ever repeat XDL champion. The weather had a negative impact on the competition and attendance all weekend, but the event itself distinguished itself for being well run and entertaining. With a few small changes and better weather, XDL Daytona will turn into a barnburner in 2011.

XDL entered the 2010 season with the intention of raising the bar once again. As part of that approach the FMF Cup national championship format was changed to three runs of two minutes each, versus just one three minute run in the past. The final score is determined by adding the two highest scores together. This creates more drama and excitement for fans and gives the athletes a better opportunity to maximize their scores. Dixon took the win over Luke “Duke” Emmons by a mere 2.5 point with a monster second run that netted him 84.5 points, the highest score of the weekend. Emmons had Dixon beat in the other two runs but it wasn’t enough. The way Emmons has been riding it is only a matter of time before he breaks through for a big win, just like Brian Bubash did at the ‘09 Indy Finals. Red Bull rider Aaron Colton placed a respectable fifth after overcoming a very serious off-season foot injury. The iron man award goes to Dan Jackson who first had to battle through the sudden onset of flu symptoms on Saturday, then suffered a massive high-side in his second run on Sunday. The accident caused hand and foot injuries but Jackson got his bike and himself put back together just in time for the final run and managed a well-deserved 12th place finish.

The new for 2010 Sartso Women’s Cup was an instant hit and is sure to blossom into a major draw for fans. Dena Sodano took the win with a very well executed run and the magnitude of her accomplishment showed in an emotional podium interview. The K&N Circle Challenge saw the return of Jesse Toler who beat out Aaron Colton in a tight come-from-behind battle in very slippery conditions. The Speed and Strength Sickest Trick went to Bill Dixon for his switchback scrape wheelie, a feat so far only he has mastered in competition. The Aprilia All Star Challenge is back in full force in 2010, now as a true all star format, showcasing the best XDL athletes. This competition combines racing with sportbike freestyle elements making it an exciting and demanding format. In 2008 and 2009 it was dominated by Dan Jackson and Bill Dixon, but it looks like this year we have a three-way battle for the top, with dark horse Eric Pettit laying down a scorching 27.72 second run that was almost 1.5 seconds faster than second place Dan Jackson’s 29.06.

Round 2 of the XDL Championship Series takes place April 9 & 10 at Havasu 95 Speedway in Lake Havasu City, AZ, as part of Spring Break Bike Week. XDL can be followed on www.xdlshow.com.

FMF Cup
1st Bill Dixon 159
2nd Luke Emmons 156.5
3rd Rick Hart 148.5
4th Nick Brocha 148
5th Aaron Colton 130

Aprilia All Star Challenge
1st Eric Pettit 27.72 sec.
2nd Dan Jackson 29.06 sec.
3rd Bill Dixon 32.10 sec.

Sartso Women’s Cup
1st Dena Sodano 71.5
2nd Kelly Jennings 56.0
3rd Brittany Shaara 45.0

K&N Circle Challenge
1st Jesse Toler
2nd Aaron Colton
3rd Hollywood B

Speed and Strength Sickest Trick
1st Bill Dixon – Switchback Scrape 29
2nd Nick Hernandez – 2nd Gear Drift 20
3rd Guruardas Khalsa – W 17

Freestyle Burnout
1st Brian Bubash 29
2nd Alex Flores 25
3rd Nick Brocha 20

Team Battle

1st Death Squad – Lin Eshlom, Nick Brocha, Shin Kinoshita 26
2nd Cali Alliance – Rick Hart, Alex Flores, J Beats, Nick Hernandez, Hollywood B 23
3rd Circus Act – Joel Hickman, Jeremy Block, Dave Dalmasso 16

The XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship is the only national stunt riding championship, now in its 5th season. XDL is the leader in reaching the core 20-year old sportbike demographic and has developed into the fastest-growing action sport in America. For more info on XDL, please visit xdlshow.com.

2010 XDL Championship Series FMF Cup Points Standings – Top 10 – 3/4/10

Position 1 - Bill Dixon -  46

Position 2 -Luke Emmons - 42

Position 3 - Rick Hart - 39

Position 4 - Nick Brocha - 36

Position 5 - Aaron Colton - 33

Position 6 - Brian Bubash - 30

Position 7 - Alex Flores - 27

Position 8 - Shinsuke Kinoshita - 24

Position 9 - Lin Eshalom - 21

Position 10 - Jamal Kindred - 18

For complete standings, please visit xdlshow.com.

The XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship is the only national stunt riding championship, now in its 5th season. XDL is the leader in reaching the core 20-year old sportbike demographic and has developed into the fastest-growing action sport in America. For more info on XDL, please visit xdlshow.com.

Honda’s Jake Johnson Wins On Second Night At The Daytona Dirt Track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Honda’s Jake Johnson put on a dominating performance, taking the lead on the first turn and riding onto a victory in the AMA Pro Flat Track Expert Main event on Thursday night at the new Daytona Flat Track located outside Turns 1 and 2 at historic Daytona International Speedway.

Johnson, who started on the pole, led all 25 laps of the main event onto his fifth AMA win at Daytona.

“I got the hole shot and I said, ‘Be smooth, be smooth,’ ” Johnson said. “I knew I had somebody close to me the whole race.”

Kenny Coolbeth Jr. began to put pressure on Johnson in the closing laps of the race but Johnson remained focused and avoided any errors on his way to a 1.397-second victory.

“About four laps to go, I peeked back and saw that No. 2,” Johnson said. “I just tried to stay smooth and try not to make any mistakes.”

Sammy Halbert, who captured the Expert Main on Wednesday night and started second on Thursday, took a spill in Turn 2 on the opening lap on Thursday and ended up finishing 18^th.

Coolbeth Jr. took runner-up honors and Jared Mees completed the Honda sweep of the podium with a third-place finish.

J. D. Beach, riding aboard a Honda, captured the Pro Singles main event. Jeffrey Carver, who captured the Pro Singles event on Wednesday night, took runner-up honors on a Yamaha. Brad Baker, last year’s Pro Singles champion, rounded out the podium on a Honda.

“It was a good race, a lot better than yesterday,” said Beach, who is also participating in the AMA Pro road racing events inside DIS. “It was a lot of fun.”

After being previously held at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium and the old Memorial Stadium, the AMA Pro Racing doubleheader was the first at the new Daytona Flat Track, a quarter-mile lime rock track.

Daytona 200 Week continues on Friday with a second round of SuperSport and American SuperBike events and the historic Daytona 200.

Tickets can be purchased at the gate or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

Jake Zemke Claims SuperBike Victory In Debut With Michael Jordan Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Jake Zemke, making his debut with owner Michael Jordan, won Thursday’s AMA Pro American SuperBike round and delivered the NBA legend his first AMA Pro SuperBike win as an owner.

In a tight five-bike duel, Zemke, who has ridden for Honda for the majority of his career, took the lead for the final time coming to the white flag as he slipped past Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden.

He was able to distance himself on the final lap of the 15-lap event to claim a .0238 second victory.

“My bike was really fast,” said Zemke, who led six laps.  “I’ve been riding on Hondas the last 10 years and been getting beat up by Suzukis for a few of those years.  I’m real happy.  The bike is obviously competitive.”

Zemke’s first SuperBike win at Daytona was also Suzuki’s seventh straight SuperBike triumph at Daytona.

“I purposely gave Jake a little gap off there because I wanted him to pull me most of the way around there, but I just underestimated his speed,” said Hayden, who took runner-up honors.

Not only was the race Zemke’s first with Michael Jordan Motorsports, but it was also his first with sponsor National Guard.

“It’s great to have all these people rooting for you,” Zemke said.  “They’re watching on satellite over in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It’s really cool when you think about it.  There are 360,000 National Guard members serving our country.  I’m really proud to be part of that.”

Rounding out the podium was Larry Pegram on a Ducati.

Earlier in the day, SuperSport rider Cameron Beaubier held off pole sitter Joey Pascarella to win the 35-mile SuperSport race.

The 17-year-old Beaubier worked his way around Pascarella as they were coming to the white flag.  Pascarella, who led six laps of the 12-lap race, battled back only to be beat at the line by .001 seconds in a photo-finish.

“Me and Joey started battling and it went into the last lap,” said Beaubier.  “I had no idea (I won).  I thought he won at first just because he was on the inside.”

Jake Gagne rallied to finish third after missing the chicane earlier in the race with J.D. Beach and Tomas Puerta rounding out the top five.

For tickets to all the Daytona 200 Week events, call 1-800-PITSHOP or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

Stunters Edge attended the XDL Round 1 competition in Daytona and our hats are off to Randy, Thomas and the XDL crew for putting on an outstanding event. Great job guys!

Following are the competition results:

FMF Cup Freestyle

1st place – Bill Dixon
2nd place – Luke “Duke” Emmons
3rd place – Rick Hart
4th place – Nick “Apex” Brocha
5th place – Aaron Colton

Sartso Killer Woman Freestyle

1st place – Dena Sodano
2nd place – Kelly Jennings
3rd place – Britney Schara

Aprilia Allstar Challenge

1st place – Eric “E-Brake” Pettit
2nd place – Dan Jackson
3rd place – Bill Dixon

Speed & Strength Sickest Trick

1st place – Bill Dixon
2nd place – Sick Nick Hernandez
3rd place – Guru Khalsa

Russ Brown Freestyle Burnout

1st place – Brian Bubash
2nd place – Alex Flores
3rd place – Sick Nick Hernandez

K&N Circle Chalenge

1st place – Jesse Toler
2nd place – Aaron Colton
3rd place – Hollywood B

Team battle

1st place – Death Squad
2nd place – Cali Alliance
3rd place – The Circus

Stuntride.com No Hander Circle battle

Alex Flores – 30 circles

Great job to all of the competitors and best of luck in Round 2!

The XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship is the only national stunt riding championship, now in its 5th season. XDL is the leader in reaching the core 20-year old sportbike demographic and has developed into the fastest-growing action sport in America. For more info on XDL, please visit xdlshow.com.

Sammy Halbert Claims Inaugural Win At The New Daytona Flat Track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On a historical night at the “World Center of Racing,” Sammy Halbert won the inaugural 25-lap AMA Pro Racing Flat Track Expert Main event at Daytona International Speedway on the new Daytona Dirt Track.

The AMA Pro Flat Track event, staged on a quarter-mile lime rock track located outside Turns 1 and 2, was the first on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway.

Pole sitter Joe Kopp, on a Honda, took the lead on the start and led the first seven laps before Halbert, on a Yamaha, took the lead on Lap 8 and held on the rest of the way for his first win at Daytona. The margin of victory was 2.008 seconds.

“It means so much,” Halbert said of being the first winner on the Daytona Flat Track. “It’s great to see this dream come true and put Yamaha on top of the box where it belongs.”

Taking second was Kawasaki’s Henry Wiles, who won both rounds at Daytona last year, and Suzuki’s Jake Johnson was third.

“Sammy had his bike set up for this track,” Wiles said. Rounding out the top five was Jethro Halbert on a Yamaha and Kopp. The Flat Track events, which have been held in Daytona Beach for more than 30 years, are being staged for the first time on the grounds of Daytona International Speedway. The Flat Track was first held at Memorial Stadium, which was located near Daytona State College. In the late 1980s, the event moved to the newly constructed Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium.

The final night of the Daytona Flat Track is set for Thursday. Tickets are $25 for reserved seats, $20 for general admission standing room only and can be purchased at the gate or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).