Troy Dog
I just got off the phone with my buddy Kevin Kelly, the legendary host of the award winning Winners Take Y’all show on the Vurbmoto Podcast Network. I say legend, because to me he’s one of the main voices of our sport.
Kelly has been one of the voices of Loretta Lynn’s since the early 2000’s, he’s been the voice of Mammoth, Daytona, RCSX, and many other events over the years. He also was a pioneer by launching the first ever podcast in the sport. You may have heard of it, it’s called DMXS Radio. Now 85 million other people have podcasts thanks to Kev Dog.
Kevin informed me more about his incredible race that he has coming up with his partners Nick Blackmon and John Watkins. These guys are putting their hearts and souls into this event to give back to their friend Victoria Dale.
Listen to the Full Episode:
I’ve never met Victoria, but according to Kevin, she is an incredible person, a teacher, and a staple in the Georgia community that would do anything for anyone. Victoria has recently been diagnosed with ALS and it’s not the kind that someone can overcome. All of the profits from The Great Escape will go directly to her and her husband Andy to help pay for the astronomical medical expenses they are all facing at the moment.
This is going to be a community effort, which is amazing. Andy is a firefighter, which is how Kevin and him met (Kevin is a firefighter when he isn’t on the mic).
This is where the story truly gets fascinating to me. Andy and Victoria let Kevin live on their property while his house was getting built. Everyday Kevin would stare out at this beautiful property and think about how cool it would be to hold a race on the land. If you aren’t aware, Kevin is the son of well known and late King Kelly who founded Bremen Race Park in Bremen, Georgia.
During his time staying on the property, Kevin had the chance to truly know the Dale family and what they do for others in the community. When Victoria got diagnosed with ALS, that is when Kevin knew he had to do something. Thus, the Great Escape was born!
The Great Escape will be held next weekend October 18-20th, it’s an all natural grass track to start, with vintage classes on Saturday with modern support classes. Then on Sunday, the track will get a good tilling to get ready for modern classes with vintage support classes. The track layout is being finalized as we speak and Kevin is sending me live updates. Only three man-made jumps will be on the track.
Like I said earlier, it’s all hands on deck and some great companies like Red Bull, Triumph, Dunlop, Fast House, and Yamaha are stepping up big to help out. Kevin has called everyone he knows and a lot of people have stepped up to help in a big way. Yamaha is even going to cover the entry fee for any PW50 that shows up to race. How cool is that?
Triumph will be on hand to have bike demos all day on Saturday and Sunday. You can even take the bikes out on the track while racing is going on…you’ll just take off after the gate drops.
On Saturday the Over 40 125cc Class is going to have a $1,000 purse courtesy of David Sutton. Then on Sunday a special race in honor of King Kelly will be ran for people who have ridden at Bremen and are racing two or more classes each day. That reward will also be $1,000.
Barry Higgins, who helped found the state of Georgia back in 1788 will be the Honorary Grand Marshal. The race will also have a who’s who of Georgia legends hanging out including Tim Ferry, Ezra Lusk, Matt Shue, Billy Liles, Keith Turpin, Shae Bentley, Matt Walker, and more will be in attendance. Riders from GPF are also on the way!
Please note that this race isn’t at an actual track, this is someone’s home. So, please treat it with extra respect and leave it how you found it. The Dale family is going through a lot right now and they don’t need a huge mess, or their property ruined. So, be RESPECTFUL. The firemen will be volunteering immediately after the event to re-seed the ground to get the property back to normal for next year’s event.
We hope that you’ll come out and race for a great cause. We can’t wait to see all of you there. Let’s help out Victoria and the Dale family as much as we can because you know she would do it for us.
