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"I basically had an idea. I started this at the tender age of 52, and I'm not fast. I just have fun with it," Benny White said at the 1st Annual Mike Sciscoe Memorial Half Mile flat track motorcycle races at the Shelby County Fairgrounds.
White was instrumental in bringing flat track racing back to the fairgrounds for the first time in decades, reaching out to fairgrounds staff and Jeff Hires of RPM Promotions, which put on the race.
"These are the finest motorcycle riders in the world. American flat track is ours, right? It's the United States — it started here. And some of the best riders in the world have always come out of American flat track," said White, who raced alongside his childhood friend Scott Pike and his son, Aaron White. "To do what you watch them boys do — slide that motorcycle into basically pea gravel at 140 mile an hour — is insane, right?"
It was a true family affair, with White's mother and other relatives watching from a tent in the pits.
"I was crazy enough at 52 years old to start doing it," he said. "If you look at the number on my bike, it's #137 A/B because I'm 52 years old, one wife, three kids, seven grandkids."
For White, the sport is as much about history as it is about family.
"Do you ever watch MotoGP? You know how the guys drag their knee on the ground? Do you know where that started?" he said. "There was an American flat tracker by the name of Kenny Roberts, and he went to Europe to race MotoGP. Prior to his arrival, the knee dragging — they didn't do that. He was emulating the steel shoe that you see. Them guys got that leg out there. That steel shoe basically tells you where you're at on the track. And Kenny Roberts went over there and just started sliding motorcycles in a corner and just beat the hell out of the Europeans and changed the sport forever."
According to Hires, RPM Promotions plans to return to the fairgrounds for more flat track racing in October 2026.
The race was named in honor of Mike Sciscoe, described in race promotional materials as a loyal "Southside Harley-Davidson customer, friend, father and dedicated member of the local motorcycle racing community."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Flat track racing roars back to Shelby County Fairgrounds for first time in decades
Continue reading...
White was instrumental in bringing flat track racing back to the fairgrounds for the first time in decades, reaching out to fairgrounds staff and Jeff Hires of RPM Promotions, which put on the race.
"These are the finest motorcycle riders in the world. American flat track is ours, right? It's the United States — it started here. And some of the best riders in the world have always come out of American flat track," said White, who raced alongside his childhood friend Scott Pike and his son, Aaron White. "To do what you watch them boys do — slide that motorcycle into basically pea gravel at 140 mile an hour — is insane, right?"
It was a true family affair, with White's mother and other relatives watching from a tent in the pits.
"I was crazy enough at 52 years old to start doing it," he said. "If you look at the number on my bike, it's #137 A/B because I'm 52 years old, one wife, three kids, seven grandkids."
For White, the sport is as much about history as it is about family.
"Do you ever watch MotoGP? You know how the guys drag their knee on the ground? Do you know where that started?" he said. "There was an American flat tracker by the name of Kenny Roberts, and he went to Europe to race MotoGP. Prior to his arrival, the knee dragging — they didn't do that. He was emulating the steel shoe that you see. Them guys got that leg out there. That steel shoe basically tells you where you're at on the track. And Kenny Roberts went over there and just started sliding motorcycles in a corner and just beat the hell out of the Europeans and changed the sport forever."
According to Hires, RPM Promotions plans to return to the fairgrounds for more flat track racing in October 2026.
The race was named in honor of Mike Sciscoe, described in race promotional materials as a loyal "Southside Harley-Davidson customer, friend, father and dedicated member of the local motorcycle racing community."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Flat track racing roars back to Shelby County Fairgrounds for first time in decades
Continue reading...
