Milwaukee

I've had Milwaukee, WI on my travel bucket list for a few years now, and an opportunity came up to hitch a ride this past weekend that I could not resist. Riders Dan Bromley & Jeremy Orr were heading in a race van to the Flat Out Friday race happening during the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show, and they picked me up on the way last Thursday morning. We drove all day, making it to Wisconsin that night after making some stops along the way. 

We stayed with Dan's legendary tuner Bill Werner in Wisconsin and headed to the track Friday morning. We started to pit outside, the sun was shining and it was 50+ degrees in Milwaukee in February, who would have thought. 

Eventually we moved inside and were set up for the day. Eventually more and more riders and people showed up to the event. Racing had begun and the crowd started filing in.

While there was big money tossed in for the Charlotte Kainz Memorial Race that the pro's would compete in, the main event was the show put on by the Hooligans. I have to say my favorite Hooligan rider was Carey Hart, hands down. I had to have a fan girl moment and get my photo with him in the pits, too, of course.

The pro race shook out to be a good one with Jared Mees dominating the field. Jake Mataya road the #35L bike and surely did it justice. Bronson Bauman and Dan Bromley were scored 3rd and 4th. As usual it was great to see familiar faces of the race family from around the country. It's been a long off-season, but Daytona is right around the corner, and this trip to Milwaukee helped break up the racing drought.

The road home was as long as the trip out there, but I was so stoked to have been able to make the trip. It was a short one, and I'll have to go back sometime to explore the city a bit more and check out the Harley Museum. Until next time!

The Helmet Reveal

Here's a quick shot of the painted 6D helmet Dan Bromley will rock tomorrow at Flat Out Friday at the Mama Tried Show. Additional photos to come.

6D Helmet

Below is a time lapse GoPro video of me adding a clear coat to flat track motorcycle racer Dan Bromley's 6D helmet. I am customizing his helmet for the upcoming race season with a variety of paint pens, 1shot and vinyl. Stay tuned for the final product!

TDSC Tear Off Talk: Charlotte Kainz

Last Tuesday Throttle Down Speed Co. launched the second video in the new Tear Off Talk series (view original blog post). This video features Emma of TDSC interviewing Charlotte Kainz at Rolling Wheels Raceway flat track national on August 20, 2016. Emma crafted her own fun questions and asked them to a bunch of riders that day during open pits. Not only was it Emma's first interview experience, but it was also her first motorcycle race she attended. Emma was one of Charlotte's biggest little fans, and we are grateful to have this footage and share it with everyone. 

See the video on the Throttle Down Speed Co. blog, and stay tuned for more Tear Off Talk!

Tear Off Talk - Presented by Throttle Down Speed Co.

It's been one of Throttle Down Speed Co.'s missions to create more videos and generate more content. Some of our first footage taken has finally taken form and was released on the blog today under the name of "Tear Off Talk".

Define: Tear Off
A tear off is a key product that nearly every racer needs to bring with them in their gear bag to the race track. A tear off is a thin piece of plastic that is attached to a motorcycle racer's helmet visor or goggles. Based on the surface of the track and the weather conditions, the amount of tear off's added to the racer's helmet or goggles varies. The bigger the roost, the more tear off's a rider will need for each time they are out on the track. While racing a rider will reach up, pull the tear off tab across their line of vision and release the single tear off and continue on racing, restoring crystal clear vision. A tear off is essential for every dirt tracker and motocross racer.

The name Tear Off Talk originated after a brief brainstorm session between Brian and I. We tossed names back and forth several times until one caught our attention. From there I designed a logo, which also took a few versions to get it to a solid point.

I believe down the line this logo could evolve into something more, however, it does the job well and works well for video intros. 

Brian got down to editing our footage of his 8 year old daughter Emma interviewing various flat track motorcycle racers. On race day, Emma came prepared with a list of questions and when it came to time for the open pits, the Throttle Down Speed Co. got behind the scenes to get Emma's questions answered. The entire process was a blast, and seeing the interviews pieced together takes on a whole new form. 

Throttle Down Speed Co.'s Tear Off Talk: What Do Professional Racers Eat On Race Day has now been released. Check it out on the Throttle Down Speed Co. Blog!

Stay tuned to see the second Tear Off Talk video next week.

Bromley: New Year, New Number, New Logo

Last season Throttle Down Speed Co. rider Dan Bromley qualified and raced in several GNC1 national flat track races. In 2017 he is rewarded with a new national number for this year and he chose the historic #62. It will be really cool to see him rocking the new digits and to go along with that will be a new logo for his shirts. Above are two versions and the logo needed to be slightly tweaked to accommodate for our vinyl cutting process. TDSC looks forward to 2017, and supporting the Throttle Down Team. Not too much longer until Daytona...

Flat Track Racing Stickers!

Find me tomorrow at the Timonium Indoor Flat Track Motorcycle Races at the Maryland State Fairgrounds to purchase these stickers I will be selling on behalf of the Aid to Injured Riders. Need event info? Practice 4:30, Racing 7, more details here. Not able to attend and still want stickers? Send AIR a message on Facebook and we will get an order sent out to you. Hope to see you tomorrow night!

1,600 Miles Later

Friday morning at 6am my co-pilot/best friend Nicole and I began to head west to start a very full weekend in the state of Michigan. Ten hours later we arrived in Kalamazoo, MI at our first stop: Bell's Brewery. Perhaps it was just because our lunch consisted of only SunChips, but everything tasted delicious. We scored some cool souvenirs and then were on our way to stop #2. About an hour north we arrived in Grand Rapids and found a cheap hotel before heading to Founder's Brewery. Founder's has been a destination on my list for a bit now, and it surely did not disappoint. People weren't kidding when they recommend I visit Grand Rapids-what a cool city. Of course we met some really nice locals throughout the evening at various places we explored which made the long day better yet. 

Saturday we woke up and we're back on the road by 9am to travel three hours east to make Caro, MI our first stop of the day. We pulled up at Cass Tavern to be welcomed by some of the friendliest motorcycle guys my dad and I have met at the races. The menu of only hamburgers, cheeseburgers and fries made for an easy lunch choice. After having a good meal with our six friends we made our way to Caro to begin our bike tour. Have you ever seen 500 motorcycles at one house? It began with the "museum" followed by an additional barn and garage full of bikes, however, the absolute coolest part of our tour was the motorcycle graveyard. "Oh my goodness" was the PG phrase of the whole tour. "Want to see more bikes?" was what our friends kept asking and soon enough we were heading to another house to see more, and then again to another house. We met a few new people along the way, including a few bike builders, and their hospitality was unreal. Needless to say, it was really, really great to see my "Caro Friends."

This whole weekend plan started around a trip to Lapeer for Miss Morgan Monroe. You could say we saved the best event for last, as it was really great to see everyone from all around gather to help out a very special injured flat track rider. Good food, killer raffle items and genuine, generous people are what made the benefit a huge success. I have to admit I was a bit emotional, partially because I was unable to attend the benefit for Kyle and Charlotte. I'd like to think this trip counts for them as well. I am so grateful to have attended and meet a lot of really wonderful people within the racing family. Even the custom 10J Throttle Down Speed Co. pillow I made for a raffle prize went to a good home to a new friend of mine. I look forward to watching Morgan Monroe progress and get back to 100%. She is no doubt a fighter, and I am honored to have been a small part in the fundraising for her and her family. 

The "afterparty" solely consisted of girl talk on a couch in Flint Saturday night with my friend Kara because Nicole and I felt like we were running on fumes the whole day from traveling. At 8am Sunday morning we hit the road again, this time heading East. About 9.5 hours later we finally made it to the homeland where we divided up our weekend treasures we picked up along the way. We reminisced the whole ride home, but the last 100 miles was no doubt the longest of the entire trip. 

I probably could ramble on and on but to keep it short and sweet: I am forever grateful to be apart of this motorcycle community. I've met amazing people and continue to meet more everyday. I have a lot of thank you's to give out including being apart of the Aid to Injured Riders. The opportunities that have come up because of AIR and Throttle Down Speed Co., are overwhelmingly wonderful and I look forward to many more in the future. I couldn't imagine my life differently, and I surely wouldn't want to. To think, it all began when my dad took me to the race track...

Anyways, so long, Michigan. I'll see you when I see you. 

Morgan Monroe's Sticker

The flat track community is now facing yet another serious injury by another young, up-and-coming racer. Morgan Monroe had a scary high-side at Savannah this past weekend, which has left her with many serious injuries and a long road to recovery. It's been very alarming and heartbreaking to experience so many racing injuries as well as fatalities in such a short amount of time this season. No doubt has this made the importance of fundraising and supporting riders been more apparent. I have proudly been apart of the Aid to Injured Riders for over two years, and I can't say enough how wonderful it is to see the flat track family come together week after week to lean on each other and generously donate to organizations helping the riders and families.

To help in the fundraising efforts, I have designed a sticker for AIR to sell where all proceeds will go directly to Morgan and her family. The design features a shooting star and the color pink, two of her favorites. This sticker and two other very different designs are available for a $3 donation through AIR. If interested, please send a message to AIR on Facebook to get your order in. Heal up soon, 10J!

Charlotte Kainz 2006-2016

A post about Charlotte Kainz is surely overdue. I officially met Charlotte earlier this year on March 10th in Daytona Beach, Florida. Throttle Down Speed Co. had added her to the newly three-racer team and I was officially meeting her in person. Throughout the season I got to know her more each race, making sure to stop by at her pit at each one. Charlotte even joined the Aid to Injured Riders fundraiser in Oklahoma City. 

On Sunday, September 25, 2016, Charlotte Kainz lost her life racing in her heat in a nasty crash at the Santa Rosa Mile. It will probably be impossible to forget those minutes from the very first text where I asked what the hold up was in the timing, hearing that Charlotte was involved in the crash, receiving phone calls in the moment and simply waiting for the next update stunned and hopeful. My hope was quickly released, she was gone. 

Time has passed for a month and a half and I still have some very sad moments. One of the most satisfying conversations I had was with Nicalee where she suggested that maybe I channel my emotions into a memorial sticker design for Charlotte. We could sell them easily through the Aid to Injured Riders and send the funds to Charlotte's dad. I was already sketching some things, I had an idea instantly, and then news broke that another rider was in very serious condition from a separate race at the very same track: Kyle McGrane. 

A 20 year old girl from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a 17 year old guy from Gap, Pennsylvania both lost their lives in the season finale AMA Pro Flat Track motorcycle race. My flat track family was broken. Nothing made sense. Everyone was hurting. Somehow we managed to lean on each other's broken shoulders and pull together for various fundraisers and memorial services the following month. 

Brent Riley of Access Media Labs designed a beautiful sticker for Kyle and he had helped AIR by printing and donating the stickers for Charlotte that I had designed. Sunday, October 16th the Piston Poppers Raceway held their last race of the season that included a memorial service for Kyle and Charlotte. It was one of the most beautiful things I have experienced. All of the riders lined up with their bikes in the center of the track as Kyle's closest friends and family made a few memorial laps around the track. After a few laps 99 red and blue balloons were released in honor of Kyle and 35 pink and white balloons were released in honor of Charlotte. Even just typing this brings back vivid memories and a wave of shivers. As beautiful as the whole ceremony was, I have to say I was hit the hardest the very first moment I got to the track. I walked up to see who was out there and it was the little ones on their PW50s. One of the kids was sporting a memorial shirt with photos of Kyle and Charlotte, and seeing that broke my heart. The support that day was moving, and I was so grateful to be able to spend the day with my racing family.

I cannot explain how overwhelming the support has been within the motorcycle community. So many people are kind and so many have made generous donations to each of these families and to AIR to support everyone. The entire process is humbling and I am forever grateful to have grown into this racing family and to have met the racers, pit crews, families, friends, fans, everyone. Not only do I get to be apart of such a wonderful group of people, I also get to make art for the sport I've loved my entire life. It doesn't get any better than this, I will tell you that.

Below is my design I had made for Charlotte. I hope you all have at least one of these stickers by now, but if you do not, be sure to send a message to AIR on Facebook. Each sticker is a $3 donation and all of the money goes to Charlotte's family. It's the same deal for Kyle's stickers as well. I hope you represent these stickers with nothing but pride. 

Above is the initial sketch. The 35L was made in Illustrator and printed. I sketched both sides of the wing in pencil and used microns to complete the right side. I only did one side in pen, planning to vectorize that and mirror it on the other side.

Above are the final designs. The one with her name was the one that got printed and sold by AIR. I'm so happy with how it came out, and I hope everyone else is too. RIP 35L & 99A.

"You will always be remembered, you will be celebrated. You will never be forgotten, these tears still haven't faded" - Flatliners - Eulogy 

Aid to Injured Riders (AIR)'s Charlotte Snapchat Filter

Last weekend was the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship race in Charlotte, NC. The race was held at the Dirt Track in Charlotte and was a really great event from start to finish. I personally love that area, it's booming, a well-kept city and is centered around racing. This year Nicalee of Aid to Injured Riders (AIR) came to me with an idea for the non-profit. Since it was such a success in OKC, she proposed designing another Snapchat filter for this racing event. Charlotte has a bit of history within the flat track community and is home to one of the greats, the late Will Davis. Not only was Winkin' Will Davis extremely well-known within the flat track community, he was by far my favorite racer to watch growing up as a kid going to races with my dad. His life was taken at a race in 2001 at Sedalia, MO, and the flat track family took a huge loss that day. The following year Davis' number plate and boot print were added to the grounds at the Charlotte Dirt Track and his legacy lives on. With all of that, Nicalee's goal was to have the Snapchat filter link to Will Davis in some form.

That direction was simple enough, it was finding time to come up with something great that was more of a challenge. One evening I took a pen to paper and sketched and image of Will Davis racing from a quick online photo search. From there I tossed it into Illustrator and then Photoshop using the Adobe Shape. I cleaned up the line work and got the image below:

From there I added the AIR logo in the "dust" and added a subtle gradient in the background of the filter so that the image would be more visible on a variety of different backgrounds, colors and times of the day. Below is the email from Snapchat after I submitted it and it was approved.

The filter was live during race day from 2pm-11pm while all of the action was happening. I used it several times and according to the statistics, it got a solid amount of usage that evening. It is surely a design I'm proud of, and it's always great to add something to the flat track community that I've grown up loving. The only thing I would do differently would be to include a larger location fence where the Snapchat filter could be used because I underestimated the size and dimensions of the racing pits, so most areas of the pits were out of reach for the filter. It did however cover the stands so fans could enjoy it. Below is one of several shots that I had taken with the filter, I personally think it looks pretty rad!

Throttle Down Speed Co. Tracker Sticker

I've mentioned it before, well it's officially for sale! Get yours: https://www.throttledownspeedco.com/products/tracker-sticker

AIR Snapchat Filter

As I posted before, the Aid to Injured Riders fundraising event in Oklahoma City last weekend was a complete success. It required a lot of creative and promotional materials that all came together to aid in the success of the event. One element AIR wanted to have was a sponsored Snapchat filter during the event Friday at the go kart track and also on race day Saturday. This required some research on my part to see how it all works and if it would be attainable. As it turns out, the on-demand Snapchat filters are very simple to create and easy to purchase. I took on this task and created the filter below:

The design included elements such as the OKC city skyline from the autograph poster I had designed for the fundraising event. I wanted to include a simple graphic of tire tread to appeal to the motorcycle racing community, and of course I included the AIR logo to brand the filter and have it come all together. It has a subtle gradient behind the overall design at the top so it is visible on a variety of backgrounds and colors depending on what the user takes a photo of. I could have experimented with the location of the graphic but chose to keep it at the top based on conversations with the AIR members' preferences.

After uploading it, choosing the time and location that the filter would be displayed and giving payment information, I waited for the filter to be approved by Snapchat. When it was the next step was to wait and see if it would work at the location and be successful.

When the event time came, we all anxiously opened our Snapchats to see if the filter would be available, and sure enough it was! I have to say that it was a fairly exciting moment since it was the first attempt at creating a filter and having the public be able to use it. Overall it was an additional way that AIR was able to brand the event and get their logo out to the public. AIR then repeated the process for Saturday's race day and below are some snaps we saw with the filter during the two events:

In total, the two filters were used 119 times and viewed 5,840 times within the 11 total hours the filters were live. Those are pretty impressive statistics considering the sizes of each event. In doing this twice now I have found some learnings and best practices that can be applied to future On-Demand Snapchat Filters for various upcoming events.

#67 Flat Track Trading Card

I've shown the two series of Aid to Injured Riders Flat Track Trading Cards in previous posts and they continue to be a successful fundraiser for AIR. Ever since we launched the first set of the 2014 series, we've been getting some heat from one rider in particular that was not included in the initial set. When we chose who was included in the 2014 set, we based it off of who currently held a national number (along with a few additional rules such as if the rider made a main event in 2014, etc.). Again, unfortunately this one rider was not included in those rules, so a card was never made. It took a solid year of hearing the disappointment from this rider until we decided to surprise him at the OKC AIR event with, in fact, his very own "special edition" card below:

The ladies of AIR were really excited to present this "special edition" Mike Hacker card for many reasons. Personally, I was excited because I grew up watching and rooting for Hacker. Since retiring from racing, he is still very much involved with the flat track community and is currently wrenching for the Harley-Davidson Factory Team. It has been an honor to make the card and have it printed for the OKC event. Nicalee and Jodi presented the card to him as I took a shaky poor-quality cell phone video of the action, it was a great moment. I would like to shout out again to Flat Trak Fotos for providing the photography to make this project possible. So here you go, be sure to get your very special #67 Mike Hacker card, he is more than ready to sign them!

Bret Sowders #81G

Last month I had the opportunity to design AMA Pro Flat Track motorcycle racer, Bret Sowders' autograph sheets. It was decided to go with an 8x10 and we used a photo from flattrakfotos.com, a very talented photographer within the flat track racing scene. From there I chose a bold italic typeface that was similar to Bret Sowders' number plate.  I was given the several sponsor logos to include on the autograph sheet and incorporated some vector elements in the right corner to really make those logos pop. The vector elements added some dimension and a graphic feel to the overall design. On race day in Oklahoma City I had Bret sign one in the pits.

mrsjjfive

One of the greatest things that has come out of being a part of the Aid to Injured Riders nonprofit has been the friendships I've developed with the other girls involved. I am proud to call them my friends and work on personal projects with them as well. Jodi Johnson has been a rock star behind the camera this season snapping some really awesome candids of racers and their teams. Because she was snapping more and more photos, she came to me wanting a logo for "mrsjjfive". I was happy to take on the project and sketched up some hand drawn logos one evening. After only one round of revisions we landed on one that she could use to make stickers, use it on autograph cards and, most importantly, as a watermark on her images she shares. Below are the various sketches that had been turned to vector and the final logo Jodi chose. 

 Above are the initial unorganized logo sketches on paper. Most times I sketch first to brainstorm various ideas.

 Above are those initial sketches in vector form. These are fairly rough vectors and I later cleaned up the line work on them. These are what I presented to Jodi for round one.

 The logos shown above are round two based on Jodi's feedback from round one. She wanted to incorporate some dots within the one logo so I provided various options to choose from.

Eventually she settled on the above logo that I had cleaned up, yet still allowed for the handwritten feel to remain. I look forward to seeing it around the flat track community!

Dan Bromley Loses His "A"

Today at the AMA Pro Flat Track Arizona Mile, Throttle Down Speed Co. rider Dan Bromley made the GNC1 main event. This is a huge accomplishment for any rookie rider and it means next year Bromley will no longer have a letter on his number plate. Not only did Bromley make the main event early in the season, but he finished the race 11th out of 18, which is also an impressive statistic. I couldn't be more proud of Dan Bromley for representing TDSC in quality fashion. Below is a photo taken by mrsjjfive (Jodi Johnson).

Logistically speaking, now that Dan Bromley will be rocking a new number without his "A", I will have to revise his logo that has the 54A incorporated. It was definitely something I had recognized would eventually become out of date, in fact I hoped for it. I'm positive I can handle the revision, well worth it! Much congratulations to Bromley on losing that "A".

Aid to Injured Riders 2015 Flat Track Trading Cards

In 2014 I joined the Aid to Injured Riders to design projects for their fundraising efforts to support injured flat track motorcycle racers. We designed a 76-card deck, that was a successful project to say the least, that included the national numbered racers of the 2014 season. When the following season ended, there was a need to design a set for the 2015 season. This season saw several new riders make the main event to earn a new national number for the future 2016 season. There were also a set of rookies all gunning for The Saddlemen Rookie of the Year award, riders with X-Games medal stats and also a brand new national #1. With all of these riders with new accomplishments, we brainstormed to find the most efficient way to include the new riders in a 2015 set. I had thought of an idea of an "expansion pack" that could be included with the original 2014 set. We still had some unsold 2014 decks, so to make a full new deck in 2015 seemed like it would waste the 2014 set. Therefore, the additional 2015 "expansion pack" could be sold individually or alongside the 2014 set. The 2015 set included 17 riders with new statistics and is shown in a flyer design below:

The 2015 and the 2014 sets are available for sale at the race track typically in Jake Johnson & Chad Cose's pits. They are also available online at mkt.com/aid-to-injured-riders. Check them out and get yourself a full set. Also follow AIR on Facebook because we're all working very hard to put on several exciting events this year while supporting the sport of Flat Track. Another huge thank you to FlatTrakFotos for providing the killer action shots for the fronts of the cards.

NEW Throttle Down Speed Co. Sticker

A fresh new flat track sticker has been designed and printed for Throttle Down Speed Co. Look for it on our website soon! 

The Brintlinger Foundation

About a month ago or so Throttle Down Speed Co. was asked to create something special for The Brintlinger Foundation. The Brintlinger Foundation was created to honor the lives of two very important people within the Flat Track community, Dave and Tyler Brintlinger. Without any hesitation, we took on this project to design a t-shirt that the Foundation could sell as an additional way to raise money. Despite the fact that the Brintlinger Foundation is fairly new, it has made great strides to raise money and pump that money back into the racer's pockets in the Flat Track racing scene. It's proving to be a truly great organization that is focusing its efforts into supporting riders of the sport that has been a love of mine for a lifetime. Needless to say, I wanted this design to be spot on. I wanted it to be something I would be extremely proud of, so I put a lot of time into the concept phase to get it right.

I began with a design of a vectorized colored image of two hands fist bumping based on the initial design direction from the Foundation. At first, I particularly liked it, however, when we received additional design direction to have one of the hands be wearing a glove, I knew the initial design did not quite hit the mark. I let the idea "simmer" as I tend to say, for a few days to visualize a strong design that could be easily transferred to a screen printed design. Eventually that idea was turned into a sketch on paper:

From there I took the drawing into Illustrator to convert the line work into vector shapes and paired it with the initial hand drawn text, "forever remember", that I had written when working on the first version of the idea. When adding the text I realized the image would be better flipped horizontally since the glove hand was larger than the bare hand as shown below.

Once it was all placed together I was happily surprised to see how it worked as a whole. The design was ready to be shown to the Brintlinger Foundation to see the response and if any additional revisions were to be made. The design was well received to say the least and is now currently being screen printed in brite blue like shown below.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these shirts help raise money for this positive organization that is benefitting the Flat Track community. It's an honor to be a small component of their fundraising efforts, and I look forward to seeing what else the organization brings to the dirt track world. Be sure to check out their Facebook and Instagram accounts to stay up to date with what the Brintlinger Foundation is up to next. And be sure to order your shirt either online or at the race track.