Donald (Dek) Kennedy will once again line up, this Sunday, April 30, in his first return race to the Mideast circuit. Kennedy has raced this type of forum and others, such as Road Atlanta, many times in the past.

His intention on returning to the track was simply to provide sideline support to his nephew, Jeffery Weaver. Jeffrey has definitely benefited from this resource and has taken advantage of the wisdom being handed down. It was not long before Kennedy was hit hard with the fever to teach by example and compete with this group all over again. Within weeks of contracting this particular type of “sickness” he had purchased a bike, gear and graphics, and will race under his original racing name, “Dark Corner Racing.” It is going to be crazy fun to see this lineup on April 30.

Kennedy will lead the group by starting in the 250 two stroke class directly in front of Weaver, who has decided to try his hand at the 125 two stroke lite class. Immediately behind Weaver, Blayde Edwards and Ryan Badger will line up in the four stroke lite class. So, with only 10 seconds separating the classes, all four competitors will hit the trail together.

The last race, at the Antioch Speedway, was tremendous. The track layout began with a series of roped off mazes that would be hard to navigate on foot let alone on a powerful and heavy bike. Right from the start the maze filled up with racers all battling for position and the dust became so thick you could not see one bike or racer through the kicked up dirt. How they saw anything in front of them is beyond me.

Weaver lost the battle early in the second lap with a mechanical breakdown. I won’t try to explain what happened but I did hear the word “piston” if that means anything to anyone.

Edwards and Badger raced on, up vertical hill climbs and back though that arm pump maze for the next two hours to claim their third and fifth place finishes.

Directly after this grueling race, Edwards got a bottle of water and jumped on a quad and finished that race in third place. Edwards normally races quads on the Saturdays before the Sunday bike races but this particular race was on the Easter weekend so all events were scheduled to be completed in one day. I can’t imagine how he did it, but would say that anything this young man puts his mind to do, he will be able to accomplish it.

Because I am obviously a fan of this sport and these amazing competitors, I couldn’t help but think that they needed race names and logos. With inspirational names like Badger, Blayde and Weaver, I came up with some really catchy ideas. These ideas were gently but firmly shot down by the racers who would be directly affected by my good intentions and after a unanimous vote I conceded not to share, with the world or the Tryon Daily Bulletin, my creativity in this area.

Kennedy already had a name but a logo for Dark Corner, even though I understand it is a geographical definition, sounds like something either illegal or sketchy so he did not have personally intervene or intercept any creative logos engineered by me.

In closing I would like to say a big hello to a huge race fan, Darius. Darius is a young motorcycle rider himself and an avid reader of the Tryon Daily Bulletin. I am also glad to let Darius know that Howard with E & H Honda will have Jeffrey’s bike race ready for this weekend so we will be sure to let you know how he does in Winnsboro, S.C. on April 30.

Article submitted by Katie Weaver