Rum Bum Racing Sings the Busted Motor Blues
To a pro stock motorcycle racer a busted motor is as useless and depressing as an empty beer can. It's given its life for posterity's sake, taken one for the team, and it simply cannot be resuscitated. Clearly, the Rum Bum Race Team is more than a tad crestfallen about their fallen soldier. Now, they're running one motor short and will suffer significant setbacks in preparation for the next race in Denver. A new engine could take up to a month to receive, not to mention it will run them about 55 grand.
Even the spunky Rum Bum Racer, Shawn Gann, who's got optimism in his bones, hesitates to confirm that everything is A-OK. "Everything's good.... I think," he says. Gann's father, Blake Gann, explained that there is much more to repair than just the motor. "A lot of circumstances all came together at the same time and created havoc," he said of the race in Norwalk.
Twice now, his son ended up in the sand trap after his bike's brakes failed - once at the last leg of the series in Norwalk, and once at the previous track in Englishtown. Thus, Rum Bum's Race Team is in the hunt for more adequate brakes to shoulder the power of Jupiter, his son's galactically adorned superbike.
"A lot is up in the air," Racer Gann said about the bike's preparation for Denver. And forget about any celebratory 4th of July festivities. They crew could predict hearing any nearby fireworks from the deep innards of the mechanical cave that is "the shop" - the Gann's bike repair and test house in Stoneville, North Carolina - where they will be working on the bikes in anticipation of the arrival of that new engine.
Fingers crossed their tireless efforts will ensure they will be back to 150% come Denver, but as Papa Gann knows from decades of experience in racing, anything could happen. In his words, "It's kinda like rollin' the dice anyways."
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