American Iron Magazine December 2017

tech inspectors, Alex and his crew
caught some important issues with
many of the bikes before they
became worse. This included discovering
two missing teeth on the
sprocket on my bike. They must
have broken off during practice
and neither I nor my skilled tuners
noticed. If we hadn't replaced the
broken sprocket it could have had
terrible results at high speeds.
Despite the excellent tech team
and the best efforts of the racers
and tuners, there was plenty of
drama on the track and in the pits.
Countless racers suffered broken
chains and carburetor and ignition
issues, most of which might not
have been obvious to spectators.
But that’s racing. Ken Curtis, the
oldest rider on one of the oldest
bikes, gave it his best effort, but,
after rebuilding several broken
parts in his old Harley more than
once during practice, he made the
tough but correct decision to drop
out of the race rather than risk
catastrophic damage to his valuable
old Harley.
Racers were encouraged to
practice as long as they wanted.
Practice allowed us to trouble-
the high-banked, half-mile asphalt
out how fast the other riders were
going. The presence of a lot of fast
bikes was readily apparent. The
three speed demons were all Harleys,
ridden by Moonshiner Josh,
eBay Jake, and Matt Walksler, all
American Iron Magazine Editor-in-Chief Buzz Kanter laying into the
throttle on the high banks.
Left to right: Announcer Bubba Blackwell, winner Ebay Jake, world
class dirt tracker Kevin Atherton, and Matt Walksler after the race.
And the winner is... left to right: Ebay Jake, Moonshine Josh, Billy
Lane, Matt Harris and Matt Walksler. What a crew!
Ebay Jake (#13) and Matt Walksler (#22) gave
the audience an amazing show during the final
race, hitting speed over 90 mph.
bikes in previous Sons of Speed
races. The second tier of fast racers
included Shelly Rossmeyer, Matt
Harris, Brook James, and me.
I’d like to thank Billy Lane for
building the chassis of my 1915
Harley race bike, as well as John
Dills for painting it. And a big
thank you to Matt Walksler for
rebuilding my engine. Most of the
fastest engines were built by Matt
Walksler or at least with his parts
and guidance. I was stunned by
how much faster my bike went
after Matt worked his magic on
my 100-year-old Harley.
was announced by the amazing
Barry Boone. As always, Barry
did an exceptional job explaining
what was happening on and
off the track. I am saddened to
report we lost Barry after a long
and private battle with cancer.
He embodied the spirit of Sons of
Speed and will always be a part
of it. We were fortunate to have
Bubba Blackwell, stunt rider and
race announcer, step into Barry’s
boots.
The race grid was created with
no more than four riders in each
fastest from each of the four heats
The two fastest riders of each of
62 / American Iron / Issue #358 AIMag.com