Since it appears they are not doing a formal release about this I will let the cat out.....
Mike Irwin is no longer half owner of Blackhawk Farms. His brother Ray bought him out and they closed the deal a couple of weeks ago. Mike is looking for a new home as we speak.
The track has a new web site up but not all info is complete as to new track manager, etc.
So, what's your take on this, Gordy? A bad thing? Good thing? Business pretty much as usual? Or too early to tell?
To me, that is tragic. Mike was one of the "Grand Old Men" of racing. We all owe him a great debt. Mike has put his heart and soul into helping CCS, and I've always considered him a friend.
Wow!
Ray's a big part of racing, but he worked around the scenes sometimes...
Gordy...
Would you like to tell the story of how the new chicane, 3D, or whatever was made.
Then again, a whole lot of people might not know it was different.
Any contact info for mike? I'd like to send him a card, or a letter, or something....
Too early to tell what this will mean to the cycle folks.
Mike was always on our side for safety changes and so forth. We'll have to wait and see what the new manager is like. Ray seems to be OK in this regard also but he is still a car guy and SCCA brings a bunch O' money into his tracks.
I saw the dream sheets for track improvements when I visisted Mike a couple of weeks ago. If all that happens you won't recognize the track when they're done. The track surface/layout will not change but they are looking at rebuilding just about everything else. Rest rooms and showers...YEA! refreshment stand, med shack, children's play area, guard rails changed to concrete walls, fencing, etc, etc. A lot of changes and improvements but as I said right now it's all an idea.
Mike will be at the track until the end of April. I'm waiting for him to call me with news that he found a new place. My truck will get put into use to help move him.
The turn 3d story..... Mike came to me saying they needed a way to slow down the cars coming into turn 4 since a couple of them had crashed recently and actually came over the retaining wall and almost into the spectator area. Race stuff was getting too fast for that section of the track.
He told me they had a couple of track "experts" there and he and Ray didn't really care for their assesments and ideas. I told him to let me think about it and over two days I did, a little.
Well Saturday night rolls around and we are sitting around having a cold beverage when Mike pulls up in his truck. We talk a bit and he asks me what I thought about the track stuff. I said, "Let's take a ride out there and look at it". So we drove out to the carousel and cruised up and down the track a bit drinking beer and eyeballing the area.
After about three passes I told Mike to turn left off the race track drive around that big oak tree and then turn back onto the track. we did that two or three times and Mike says," I'll be damned Gordy, I think that's it". he took his brother and some others out the next day and showed them my idea and that was the beginning of the "new" Blackhawk Farms Raceway.
Next time you people that didn't know the old track are there take a look on the spectator side of the corner station in 3d and you'll see the remains of the old track surface, right where that mound of dirt is on riders right just before 3d. That went straight into turn 4 and you were hauling arse going in there and then HARD on the brakes. It was the worst turn on the track as far as crashes. Now it's one of the least crashed turns.
Yes, Mike will truly be missed by many of us that attend events at Blackhawk. On a personal note my free place to stay at his house will be gone along with my sight in site for my rifles and his hot pepper garden I used to raid every year. Not to mention the nearly bottomless bottle of beer and plenty of whiskey on the rare occassion the beer did run dry. Going to BHF was a treat because of Mike and I'll miss those great times I shared with him while there. All twenty years of them.
Good thing is he's looking for land in Wisconsin, somewhere near the Wi River in the SE part of the state. So he's not going far and I'll visit him often. It's a nice ride on the BMW out that way..... and I'm sure he would love a visit from the "bikers" from CCS. I'll have to talk him into hosting an overnighter at his new place just for us.
T4 still leaves a LOT to be desired. The fact that the track lips up, and the grass drops down means an instant LAUNCH for anyone going off there.
The one and only time I went down there, I was on my belly and launched at the edge. Spectators said I was still in the air when I hit the tirewall head-first (the airfence wasn't out, but that's another rant which has been resolved).
I took a beating and my bike did too. If this surface was level, or had any gravel/sand, the damage to both would have likely been minimal.
I do hope they take a look at things like this. I understand it's not an easy or cheap fix, but it's a safety issue IMHO...
I went off that launch and came up seeing double !
Good thing the wall was there to stop me !
LOL.. the T4 "launch ramp" - I know it well ;)
2 crashes in T4... 2 trips to the hospital. I can't even begin to imagine coming into that turn full-bore straight out of the carousel though! Nice work on the turn 3d idea... the bus stop is one of my most favorite parts of the race track :)
I'm with Jeff. T4 needs to be leveled out curbing wise. They also could do with moving thar wall back another 20' between T4 and T5. It may require that there wont be any paddock space for teh racers along that wall to accomodate the bleachers though.
Then again, the PA system really needs redoing.
I tucked the front and slid on my belly, hitting that rumble strip ribcage-first. Man, did that hurt! After that I hit the air fence head first, but that wasn't so bad. That crash bent the frame on my Gixxer, and was done right in front of and for the amusment of Team Stumpy! They STILL talk about that one!
Gordy, it sounds like you know Mike better than any of us. How about if we got Trophygal to make us an "Appreciation" trophy for Mike. She'd do it for sure. I got her to make one for my mechanic after I won the Formula 39.5 championship in 2003. ;)
I'd be in for $20 on the trophy. A gold watch is out of the question on my budget!
QuoteLOL.. the T4 "launch ramp" - I know it well Ê;)
2 crashes in T4... 2 trips to the hospital. ÊI can't even begin to imagine coming into that turn full-bore straight out of the carousel though! ÊNice work on the turn 3d idea... the bus stop is one of my most favorite parts of the race track Ê :)
T4 used to quite exciting before the addition of the bus stop. Especially in the rain.
The large curb in 4 is probably there to keep cars on the track. I think that the curb was the same before the addition of the bus stop. Gordy, do you recall?
Curb was there...
Actually some curbing was added after the bus stop was put in but there always was the drop off to the wall.
If they leveled that area it would make that wall only about two feet tall and that would be a huge problem for cars since SCCA has a spec for everything.
I agree the wall should be moved and I believe that may have been addressed on the dream sheet I saw.
I hope to meet the new manager soon and also talk to Ray about some things safety wise. Hopefully they will be as accomodating as Mike was.
As for an appreciation trophy I think a nice plaque would be great for Mike. Let me work on it and get back to you Chris. We can present it to him at one of the Blackhawk events.
That's why I said it would be a large initiative. There would have to be a lot of dirt moved around to keep a decent wall height and keep spectators safe as well as adding safety to the participants...
A plaque would be very cool to honor Mike. 8) Now Gordy, has any one said "Thank you!" to you for all your hard work at BHF?
Thank you! :D :D :D :D :D
Alexa, my thank yous come every time someone walks away from a crash. Not from the rider directly but from my pleasure just knowing they're OK. ;D ;D