Blog: Will Harley-Davidson® be Making a Guest Appearance at the Austin X Games?

In case you didn’t know, Harley-Davidson®’s new motorcycle racing competition at ESPN’s X Games Austin is now official. Starting June 4, 2015, the brand’s flat-track racing tournament will allow fans to watch top athletes do what they do best — “kicking up dirt and carving through corners” — in an adrenaline-charged action-packed event based in Texas. (1)

The Athletes

Harley-Davidson®’s Flat-Track Racing event is by invitation only, which means that our beloved American motorcycle manufacturer will request the attendance of hand-picked pro-athletes from around the world to be a part of the brand’s inaugural race. (1) The invitation includes Champion America flat-trackers Brad Baker and Jared Mees, and other top competitors such as Jake Johnson, Kenny Coolbeth, Sammy Halbert, Johnny Lewis, Wyatt Maguire, Mikey Martin, Henry Wiles, Robert Pearson and more. Plus — according to Cycle World — Australian’s motorcycle racing superstar — Troy Bayliss — might also participate in the event. (2)

Harley®’s race will be great for flat-trackers and the sport as a whole. In fact, H-D®’s team rider Brad Baker says “X Games is about performance, and flat-track racing is the perfect addition to this competition,” as it allows athletes from all over the world to “showcase just how they push the boundaries in their sport.” (2)

Flashback

The iconic bike maker is not exactly new to the whole flat-track racing sport. The company already sponsored two exhibitions last year, (1) has 668 GNC1 main event wins to its name (3) — and based on news from Motorcycle USA — Harley-Davidson® established a dirt track racing team long before the AMA appeared around the mid-1950s. The H-D® group was called “The Wrecking Crew.” (4)

Location & Air Time

Baker and Mees will join the race on a Harley-Davidson® XR750. The Texas-based tournament will take place on a newly-constructed 3/8-mile dirt track at the Circuit of The Americas, and according to Cycle World, the event is open to flat-track motorcycle brands that typically participate in AMA Pro Flat Track GNC1 Twins. The winner of the event will receive a gold medal and a brand-new Harley-Davidson® Street 750 bike (2) — the brand’s liquid-cooled, Dark Custom urban-world conqueror — which you can test-drive at Adamec Harley-Davidson® of Baymeadows, Orange Park, Regency and St.Augustine. (5)

You can catch the adrenaline-charged H-D Flat-Track Racing competition live on ESPN at 9:00 PM (EST) on June 4, 2015. Or attend the event in-person; tickets are available for purchase now. (2)