The era of America producing World Championship riders such as Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson by way of flat track racing sort of dried up in the early 1980s, yet the U.S. kept right on producing top riders on the world level.

We never missed a beat with riders like Kevin Schwantz, Doug Polen, Scott Russell and Colin Edwards, who emerged from the club road racing ranks. These guys continued to road race nearly every weekend, even after they turned pro and earned factory rides.

Somewhere in the 1990s the contracts got too big and our elite road racers primarily raced only on pro weekends and testing sessions. The big factory contract era has been gone now for six or seven years now, but our top guys still don’t race nearly as much as their predecessors.

Read about how it was when America’s top road racers would go from racing in front of 60,000 fans on one weekend to maybe 60 fellow racers the next, in order to keep earning money and improve their skills. Read more.