DIRTY RIOT

THE VIEW FROM INSIDE THE PADDOCK

WHO TO WATCH

ANDY DIBRINO

Oregon young gun chasing the $50,000 prize.

JOE KOPP

The 2003 AMA #1 hunting a final big payday.

Hooligan racing started with out-of-shape riders racing out-of-shape streetbikes on short dirt tracks. If this new class of flat track has passed you by, the premise is to race bikes with a minimum of 750cc in a stock main frame—virtually everything else is up for grabs. Hooligan racing caught some traction in Southern California four or five years ago with a hard-core group of blue-collar riders in black leathers.

This was a community of friends and rivals, some backed by small-scale aftermarket suppliers, building and racing tough Harley-Davidson Sportsters on a budget. They’d bang bars at any track that would include a hooligan or Harley class in the program. It was entry-level racing. It was only ever supposed to be entry level, a gateway drug to “serious” flat track. Dog-eared Sportsters can be picked up for peanuts, Harley has built hundreds of thousands of Evo Sportsters since 1986, and they can be stripped in an afternoon by anyone with a $50 tool kit. Add shocks, a 19-inch rear wheel, dirt-track tires, wider bars, and you’re ready to race. Really.