Revived Grand Prix revs up Florence
Staff writer
Roars of motorcycles and clouds of dust hung over Florence as thousands of visitors converged Sunday for the Florence Grand Prix.
Observers stood as many as four deep along rails blocking off half of Main St. to watch hoards of motorcycles thunder down the street, headed to unpaved portions of the course.
Crowd members waved, whooped, and hollered as their favorite motorcyclists whooshed past.
Pit crews sat under tents along the route, waiting for when racers needed gas or quick repairs to get back to the competition.
Of 520 racers, two had to be taken to hospitals by ambulances. One was taken to St. Luke Hospital and the other, with fractured bones, to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita.
Chuck Simpson drove 917 miles from Mission, Texas, bringing three restored vintage motorcycles.
“I restore vintage motorcycles for a hobby and I had some friends who wanted me to bring some motorcycles for this,” Simpson said.
His friends, Jon Harvey and Joe Shaffer, both of Wichita, and his nephew, Andrew Simpson of Stillwater, Oklahoma, met him for the races.
Simpson didn’t race this year, but the others did. Sunday was Andrew’s first race.
Simpson is no stranger to the Florence Grand Prix.
“I came here in 1976 for a race,” he said. “I’ve been racing motorcycles since I was 5. I’m 65.”
The friends spent Thursday night at an Airbnb in Durham. They were pleased with the accommodations.
Then on Friday, they finished the trip to Florence and camped at the old Florence football field.
“We’ll be back next year, bigger and better,” Simpson said. “For the other ones, we’ll build new vintage motorcycles.”
Food trucks and merchandise vendors did brisk business Sunday.
Others, like the Christian Motorcyclists Association, set up booths to share information.
“Anything we do, we do for the Lord,” member Bob Warne of Bentley said.
The association gave away coffee, cold water, and an assortment of items with Christian messages, including lighted mirrors and small towels to clean up messes.
A leaflet rolled into each towel gave the recipoient advice that the towel was to clean up small messes, but if they had made a big mess of their lives, help was available.
Warne said the association distributed a film about the life of Jesus around the world and covered transportation for evangelists.
When he joined 45 years ago, there were fewer than 4,000 members. Now there are hundreds of thousands of members, he said.
Top finishers were:
Women — Harlie Hickey, Lexie Vaught, Kirby Bailey.
Pro — Nickolas Brawner, Andrew Judy, Riley Johnson.
Team — Lane Morrison, Jerry Hamilton, Nick Williams.
A — Eric Williams, Ryan Moranz, Andrew Dampler.
B — Andrew Burn, Cole Mavabb, Russell Borden.
C — Joseph Gosch, Josiah Skagen, Dustin Ingalsbe.
40+A — Nick Sanford, Alex Goff, Joe Greenwood.
40+B — Josh Reasoner, Justin Warning, Shawn Smith.
40+C — Brandon Weakley, Aaron McKenzie, Christopher Kastler.
50+A — Fred Hoess, Nathan Looney, Ricky Lambert.
50+B — Nathan Hudson, March Koch, J. Black.
60+A — Jerry Curtis, Scott Sears, Phillip Gentry.
60+B — Daniel Steigerwald, Eddie Parks, Jud Barlow.
60+C — James Simmons, Barry Funk, Bryan Berggren.