Racing The Way It Used To Be

Article By: Andy George Photos By: Alex Ripa & Heather Callen

tTucked away in the small town of Hohenwald, Tennessee is a gem of a racetrack called the

“Tennessee National

Raceway.” Run by the

Hibbits family, this dirt track is a throwback to the old-school way of racing. Billy Lane, creator of the Sons of Speed race series, loved this track the first time he stumbled across it. After a late winter testing session on Jason Brooks’ 1929 Harley JAP, Billy knew this was the place to hold the next

Sons of Speed event.

The big question on the day of testing was,

“do we have enough time to pull this off?”

After reaching out to all the Sons of Speed race teams and giving them a quick rundown of our plan, the answer from all was a resounding “yes!”

The first annual “Tenn

Jam” was on!

The date was set for Sunday, May 29th .

Instead of the typical two-day race event,

Billy switched the format to a four-day hangout at the track for all the race teams.

We also added in Big-Twin and Hooligan race classes.

For some, it would be their first time racing on a dirt track on a pre-1950s motorcycle with no brakes. With the help of racers Chris Boone and

Bubba Boswell from Boswell’s Harley-Davidson in Nashville, we were able to field fourteen Hooligans.

We rolled into town on Thursday, May 26th, to load the teams in and get the pits set up. It had been raining for days before our arrival, and we pulled in to find the infield under water. After a couple of quick adjustments, we had to move from the infield to the traditional stock car pits. The weather was not our friend that day, and practice was a washout. The track maintenance staff, led by Chris Hickerson, worked through the night to get the track ready for the next day. We woke up to rain the next morning, but the sun broke through at lunchtime. Michael Lange was the first to take to the track. After running some hard practice laps, he gave it the thumbs up. The highlight of the day was Billy’s debut on his brand new 45 racer that he built just for this event. He called in eBay Jake, several-time Sons of Speed champion, to run the new bike.

The racers spent the next two days running laps, hanging out in the pits, and talking strategy.

On Saturday, Bobby Seeger from Indian Larry Motorcycles rolled into town to host Aidan›s Ride. The ride left Billy›s shop in the morning and ended at the track right as practice was starting for the day. At night it was an old-fashioned hang out in the pits. Cycle Source’s Chris and Heather Callen treated us to a homemade taco fiesta dinner before the racers went out for one last practice session under the lights.

On race day, we woke to sunny skies and temperatures that were expected to get up into the 90s. Hooligans rolled in for a quick practice session, and then it was time to open the gates. Since we were in such a small town, Billy wasn’t sure what kind of crowd we could expect. But boy, did the town of Hohenwald and the surrounding area come out to support the event. Gates opened at noon, and the crowds came rolling in.

The races got underway at 1:00 PM, and it was nonstop action from start to finish. With Chris Callen calling the race, Steve Coe handling pace duties, and Bubba Blackwell flagging, we were ready to go. The 45 class took to the track first and never looked back. The event consisted of several heats of 45, 61, 30 Single, BigTwin, and Hooligan classes. The heat races were straight out, with all teams trying to advance to the main feature. The temperature rose throughout the day, and by the time we reached the finals, we were in the 90s.

The main features started off once again with the 45 class. Joe Orsini #9, part of the Toce Racing team, out of Connecticut, with head mechanic Steve Broyles from Stevenson Cycle, took the checkered flag for his first Sons of Speed win. Next up was the 30 Single class, where Tom Banks #84u edged out Jason Brooks #999 for his second Sons of Speed series win. Michael Lange #21 took the checkered flag in the 61 class and put on a show, as always. That brings us to the Heavyweight Big-Twin class, where first-time Sons racer Vince Perry #4 from VP Cycles out of

New Jersey beat Nick Hunter #88 and Thelma Tomalewicz #20 for the checkered flag. Heavyweight Big-Twin class was a hit with the crowd. This brand-new class is open to 61,” and larger HarleyDavidson and Indian machines from 1930-1957 and will be part of all future Sons events. The last event of the day was the Hooligan class, and boy did they not disappoint. They ran a fourteenracer feature race with Bubba Boswell taking the checkered flag.

Just when we thought that was it for the day, eBay Jake called out the 45 class for an old-fashioned grudge match shootout. Jake, along with Randy «Detroit” Hayward, Michael Lange, Luke Atkinson, Jake Smallwood, Erik Lund, and Thelma Tomalewicz took the track for one final contest and brought the crowd back to their feet. Michael Lange, on his 1950 WR, took the checkered flag to wrap up the day.

Just like that, the first-ever “Tenn Jam” was in the books. The week was a blur of good times, wet feet, lots of laughs, awesome racing, and camaraderie in the pits you can only dream about. Huge thanks to the Hibbits family for hosting us at their track; Sarah and her team are top notch. Thank you to all the sponsors, racers, race day staff, photographers, and fans that made this all happen. This was the first of what we hope will be many events at this track for years to come. See y›all next year!