Thursday, March 7

As with most road trips, we began by getting the setup roadworthy. In this case, we rented a Ford F-250 Super Duty with an impressive amount of room for our four passengers and cargo, all heading 847 miles straight south to Daytona Beach with a dual-axle trailer full of bikes, trophies for RCSX and Daytona Vintage SX, a golf cart, and various supplies. This being a new truck we’d never towed with before, there were a few delays right from the get-go. The first and most important required removing the “no unauthorized towing” strap through the hitch. Then we noticed our hitch receiver was too large. Fortunately, there’s a Tractor Supply just 100 yards away from the Racer X HQ; three trips later, we had the correct hitch adapter for our rig and we were off!

We started the trip only a mere hour behind schedule, on a brisk 26-degree morning in Morgantown, West Virginia. Marketing manager Justin Hale started the drive with online associate editor Mitch Kendra doing navigation in the passenger seat; Justin’s wife, Courtney, and myself took the first shift in the back, so I decided to get some rest in so I was primed for my first driving shift.

Six and a half hours into the drive, KAPAW! Our right rear trailer tire completely exploded. (The car next to us was kind enough to inform us of the damage.) Even better, the next exit had a Love’s Truck Stop with full-service tire center for the big rigs. We relied on Love’s for a proper jack and were able to get our spare on and get back on the road. Next stop: Tread Quarters Discount Tire in Rock Hill, South Carolina for a new spare and a bite to eat. Done and done.

About eight hours and two more driver shifts later, we were entering Gate 40 at Daytona International Speedway at 1:30 a.m. Our Apex trailer awaited at camper space 117. Our week at the World Center of Racing had begun.

Friday, March 8

Groggy and probably as rested as we’d be all trip, we got up and headed to Dunn Avenue to pick up our credentials to actually allow us into the speedway for the duration of our weeklong stay. Daytona is a standalone race, promoted by International Speedway Corporation, not Feld Entertainment, so our standard series credentials were not going to work here. Upon returning to the speedway, the gate attendant asked who was going to win. I shouted “Baggett!” and the guy said I was the first to guess that. Okay, I’ll take it.

A cool thing about the Daytona Supercross is that they attract a lot more riders to press day than a standard supercross, so later that day we got to see the track firsthand with a bunch of the top riders putting in laps—even Ricky Carmichael himself. The idea for shooting press day was also special for this race, as we wanted to recreate a famous Oakley ad from 1997 and then run it as a poster in this issue. That idea got shot down when we received something better: the actual 1997 photo! More on that in “One Hit Wonder,” starting on page 86.

Saturday, March 9

Supercross day, and the real reason we all wanted to be here. We met up with digital sales associate Trent Lopez and got our subscription booth set up in the UNOH Fan Zone with the minty fresh Yamaha YZ450 we’re giving away, as well as a big stack of Jeff Ward posters ready for Wardy himself to sign while meeting with fans.

With practice in the books, we got ready for the night show. Once they started clicking off races, Baggett notched a holeshot and win in his heat race. My prediction was looking solid, especially with a start right up front in the main event. Lap 1, lap 2, lap 3 . . . was Baggett really going to do this? Well, it was the train of Musquin and Tomac who got the better of everyone starting on lap 4, and that was that.

Sunday, March 10

With a lack of sleep and the ever-inconvenient Daylight Saving Time change in effect, it was a very early start to the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross; the first practice was scheduled even before sunrise. The amateurs were all excited, though, and the chance to race on the coveted grounds of Daytona International Speedway is a bucket-list experience.

After a number of practices were off and going, myself, Mitch, and Jason Weigandt and his son Lane all headed to the Wild Boar GNCC race in Palatka, about an hour and a half away. The drive was easy and straightforward. Upon entering and parking, we started walking to the starting line when, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw The Travis Pastrana. It was him, and we headed over to chat him up and see how his morning race went. Turns out it was quite eventful: hands covered in blisters and his body beat up, he’d had a real GNCC experience and even mentioned that he literally stopped on the race course and rested for 45 minutes, then got back in with the WXC women when they came around. Good stuff! We checked out the afternoon Pro race shortly after, and it was pretty cool seeing moto guy Heath Harrison holeshot all the off-roaders in XC1 Open Pro division, followed by a Steward Baylor win. It was then back to Daytona Beach for some food and rest.

Monday, March 11

Main events were off and running at the RCSX on Monday, as Sunday is only for heats. There’s a good group of up-and-coming amateur riders with some real firepower, and the eye test had me locked on Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker, Yamaha’s Jarett Frye, and KTM’s Daxton Bennick. They all looked impressive and took home multiple class titles.

After the final moto clicked off at the Speedway, it was time to hit up Main Street & Atlantic Avenue for the full-on Bike Week experience. This is where it all goes down. The entire street is blocked off for motorcycles only and completely lined with bikes in every single parking spot. It’s really a sight to see, and one of the coolest walks I’ve been on. Vintage Harleys, modern Triumphs, completely custom bikes, and anything else you can imagine were all on display. Main Street has it all. We may or may not have witnessed a wet T-shirt contest at Dirty Harry’s to end the night.

Tuesday, March 12

Tuesday was vintage day at the Speedway, and some of these bikes were absolute things of beauty. It amazes me that some of these riders would take their completely restored Maico masterpieces and actually race them! While the majority of the vintage classes had a few standout riders, it was really impressive to see just how fast some of these riders could manhandle the bikes from the seventies, especially “6 Time” himself, Jeff Stanton.

After the bikes left the track, it was another trip down to Daytona Beach, but this time we met up with old friends Wes Williams, Danny Stuart, Anthony Sansotta, Eli Moore, and Will Posey and friends. We watched The Bachelor (actually a lot more fun than you’d think when drinking games are involved) and ended the night in a Waffle House next to the ocean. Good thing low-man-on-the-totem-pole Mitch DD’d the group. #Success.

Wednesday, March 13

Our day off! We were able to get out and ride, and a friend of ours suggested Hard Rock Motocross in Ocala, so we loaded up a few 250Fs. We were pretty damn rusty, as none of us had ridden a dirt bike in 2019 yet, considering we’d all been snow-covered freezing in West Virginia. It was all good, though, and Justin, Mitch, and I were able to spin laps on Hard Rock’s hare scrambles loop. A few crashes and bent levers later, we were still in one piece, exhausted but with smiles on our faces. Somehow, we all forgot how much fun riding can be. It was no-pressure, go-at-your-own-pace, fun riding—exactly what we needed after being stuck in a camper full of dudes for the last week. And after the quick trip back to the speedway, we checked out the famed Iron Horse Saloon (actually more like the Iron Horse Treehouse).

Thursday, March 14

Next on the docket was something new to a lot of us, the American Flat Track TT race. All I can say is these guys are nuts, especially those in the AFT Twins class. Those bikes are heavy, have a ton of power, and really look like they can pull you in any direction they want. You’ve got to be completely smooth and in control or you’ll end up going for a ride you didn’t plan on taking. Lap times are incredibly competitive, too—in qualifying you’d see the top 30 in the AFT Singles class all within 1.5 seconds of each other. Insane! When the final checkered flag had flown, we zonked out for our three hours of sleep.

Friday, March 15

Some will say the best part of a road trip is leaving early, and that’s exactly what we did on Friday. We got our trailer hooked up the night before and left the speedway at 4:30 a.m., dropped Justin and Trent off at the airport by 4:50, and were headed north on I-95 right after. This time it was just me and Mitch in it for the long haul. First shift in the books, we switched drivers in South Carolina. I could finally nap. But then at about 9 a.m. in Hardeeville, South Carolina, KAPAW! Our right rear trailer tire completely blew out—again—and the car next to us was kind enough—again—to inform us of the damage. A quick call to Butler’s Service Center and we had another new spare and were back on the road within an hour. A few driver switches and endless hours on the road later, we’d made it. Bike Week for this crew was over.