Josh Hayes

Elena Myers

The fastest men and women on two wheels had a chance this week to test out the new 2.75-mile AMA Pro Road Racing Track at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale.

The test laps were in preparation for the final race of the American Motorcycle Association’s (AMA) Pro season in October, 2012, to be held at the newly-opened $162.4 million facility, which is located 14 miles from downtown New Orleans, and a brief four miles from Mosca's.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, pro motorcycle riders, their teams and trailers arrived to test the new flat track for the first time. NoDef asked two-time champ Josh Hayes if he is going to make this his home track.

“Well it kind of is,” Hayes said while loading up his gear in his trailer. “I’m originally from Gulfport, [Mississippi]. I’ve been here for a long time, and a lot of family and friends, some of who will make it out to the event. Being the last race of the year, that’s really cool for me, if I can wrap up the championship here in front of all of them. How awesome would that be?”

Hayes checked the AMA Pro Racing app on his phone to confirm that no one else beat his record of the day (1:39:282), which he set on his first lap in the morning. No one did.

“It’s still a long season to get to here,” he said. “But I’m glad we go to come here and test prior to the race. I think conditions will be a bit better [in October]. It’s so hot on this brand new racetrack that its kind of playing havoc on the equipment,” Hayes said as he wiped sweat from his scarred elbows.

“The layout is a lot of fun, its very scary in a few areas because it’s just so fast. But the cool thing is, honestly a lot of the guys like elevation in racetracks, but a flat racetrack like this is going to be great for spectators. When they park their RVs along the backside of the racetrack, they can stand on top and see a lot of racing.”

Hayes races in the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class, the fastest class on R1 bikes with 1000cc engines. Even though he will race against his nemesis, Blake Young, Hayes is expected to win the 2012 Triumph Big Kahuna Nationals in New Orleans (October 5-7). The championship is expected to draw more than 20,000 spectators.

The brand new 650-acre motorsports complex operates year-round with the 2.75-mile road coarse with three configurations, a 7.5-acre autocross pad, and a 1.5-mile kart track. A 34,000-sq. foot activity center with a capacity for 1,500 people sits on the North Track. The activity center has a second-floor balcony with a wide view of the North Track, where the AMA championship will take place. There are also 60 storage garages and a shop with extensive car tuning, fabrication and repair facilities.

Another racer to keep an eye on is 18-year-old Elena Myers from Discovery Bay, Calif. When she was 16 (the minimum age to get an AMA Pro license), Myers became the first woman to win an AMA Pro Racing professional motorcycle road race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. In March 2010, she raced in Daytona. She ran in the top five and finished seventh in both races of the AMA SuperSport double-header. In the second round of the AMA Series at Fontana, CA’s Auto Club Speedway, she crashed in a starting-grid collision (not her fault), receiving a badly bruised elbow. She rebounded overnight and finished a strong fourth place the next day.

That wasn’t her only crash before a rebounding win. At Braselton, Georgia’s Road Atlanta, a competitor’s motorcycle spewed out coolant on the parade lap, causing Elena and several others to crash. She received a severely bruised foot. The next day, she finished in the top five.

The foot injury followed her throughout the rest of that season. In the fourth round of the series at Sonoma, CA’s Infineon Raceway, she took a pain-killing local injection and won in first place on Saturday. The next day, she was in third place on the last lap when a competitor knocked her off the track. She finished fifth. That weekend changed her life, though, as fans stood and cheered for the promising young woman.

She now competes in the AMA Pro Motorcycle-SuperStore.com SuperSport class, a younger class of riders on R6 bikes with 600cc engines.

She posted on Facebook this morning, “Had a good test at the brand new track out here in New Orleans. Cool [place] for sure and looking forward to going back in the fall when it isnt 1000 degrees!"

The 2012 Triumph Big Kahuna will be held at NOLA Motorsports Park (11075 Nicolle Blvd., Avondale, LA 70094) on October 5-7.