New York City's first ever Grasstrack Races!

Last night's grasstrack races were a complete fucking success!

We set up a wonderful oval in a field on Randall's Island and organized the racers into two fields. First up was a 5 lap scratch race. Top three from each field would advance to the final; bottom three of each had one more race to qualify, with the top two advancing.

Field 1:
1 - Dave August
2 - Brantley
3 - Angry Drew
4 - Wilis
5 - Gabe
6 - Daniel L

Field 2:
1 - Dan C.
2 - Kai
3 - Dwayne
4 - Andras
5 - Justin
6 - Crazy Nick

Losers' Race
1 - Wilis
2 - Gabe
3 - Andras
4 - Justin
5 - Crazy Nick
6 - Daniel

FINAL:
1 - Dave August (5 points for the evening)
2 - Dan C. (4 points for the evening)
3 - Brantley (3 points for the evening)
4 - Wilis (2 points for the evening)
5 - Kai (1 point for the evening)
6 - Gabe
7 - Dwayne
8 - Angry Drew

Next up was a miss and out, also known as Swamp Monster Take The Hindmost:

Field 1:
1 - Dave August
2 - Wilis
3 - Brantley
4 - Daniel L
5 - Crazy Nick
6 - Gabe

Field 2:
1 - Dan C.
2 - Kai
3 - Andras
4 - Crazy Nick
5 - Justin

FINAL
1 - Dave August (5 points for the evening)
2 - Brantley (4 points for the evening)
3 - Wilis (3 points for the evening)
4 - Dan C. (2 points for the evening)
5 - Kai (1 point for the evening)
6 - Andras

Finally, we had a Grass Pack Hustle tournament - double elimination, random pairings sprinting uphill on wet grass from a standing start.

GRASS PACK HUSTLE:
1 - Brantley (5 points for the evening)
2 - Angry Drew (4 points for the evening)
3 - Wilis (3 points for the evening)
4 - Dave August (2 points for the evening)

EVENING TOTALS:
1st place - TIE - Dave August and Brantley - 12 points
3rd place - Wilis - 8 points
4th place - Dan C. - 6 points
5th place - Angry Drew - 4 points
6th place - Kai - 2 points

Thanks to all the racers who came out, and again to our much-loved sponsors. Without the sponsors, we'd be giving cash prizes. Which are kinda rad, for one or two people, but just result in a loss for everyone else. With the sponsors, we can give cash, prizes, and t-shirts and swag to a whole bunch of people.

There are some great photos on flickr:
Dave August's camera which was being wielded by Bones and Nick James. Nick James' photos, with this all-star shot of all-star Brantley.

Anyway, I was really impressed at the bike-handling skills that were exhibited. Sure, there were crashes - if we didn't want people to crash, we wouldn't be throwing night-time grasstrack races. But people handled bikes exceptionally, went very fast on terrain that's really hard to go fast on, and pulled some great moves to gain places, grab leads, and hold them. Great job everybody.

(also, thanks to Dwayne for lending his bike when the racers made the organizers get out and race that madness. He rides a totally rad BMW, and it was a pleasure to ride!)