Ienatsch is now at a crossroad. We had fought hard in 1995 and came short of the championship. Nick’s position as top editor at Sport Rider Magazine had suffered because of the demands of racing. And Rich Oliver seemed unbeatable. Nick felt that if we had no chance at the championship then he should sit out the year and get his private and business life back in order. That left Team Zero Gravity without a rider.

They say nature abhors a vacuum. Next thing I know I receive a call from Martin Adams, owner of Commonwealth Racing and spokesman for the new Smokin’ Joe’s Honda racing team. We talk about sponsorship among other things. And then he adds, “We’ve got this new kid we’d like to develop but don’t have room for him on our team. Honda gave him a couple of bikes but I don’t see how he’s going to be able to race the full season.” “Well,” I say, putting two and two together, “we seem to be a team without a rider...And you’ve got a rider without a team...” “Uh-huh”. A meeting was set up that same day with Honda’s Ray Plumb, Ben Bostrom and myself. We came to terms and started work the next day. Biganski was not interested in racing “street bikes” so the hunt was on for a new tuner.

For a while it was “the Ben and Glenn Show”. We participated in several test sessions before the first race at Daytona and quite often found ourselves (Ben and me) doing most of the work. We tried out different tuners at each test in what I called “working interviews”. And Ben spent countless hours setting up the second bike (the first had been set up by Honda the year before for John Kocinski to ride one race at Daytona. It sat out the season after that). Hiring a tuner is a tough proposition. It’s a marriage of personalities between rider and tuner. And it has to be right for things to work. Fortunately our “working interview” at Daytona paid off in the form of Mark Lucas, then ending his stint at Chafong racing. The race went okay considering Ben crashed in the rain and the entire event was postponed for a week due to monsoon conditions. Ben settled for 10th place as we re-grouped for the next race--and rest of the season.

Second place at Pomona? Take a huge parking lot at the county fair grounds complete with ruts, telephone poles and pot holes, add truck loads of hay bales lined up to form a “race track” with lots of left turns, add a few grand stands and Camel banners and what do you have? An AMA race venue that is made for a young flat tracker-turned-roadracer. Ben showed his stuff that week-end when he passed Honda’s Steve Crevier late in the race to finish an easy 2nd place in only his second AMA 600 supersport race ever. “I love this place”, Ben enthused hardly able to constrain the grin that was stretching itself across his face. “The bumps and pot holes are fun--just like a dirt track.” But once Mark and I stopped jumping up and down and came back to earth (we beat every factory guy but one!) it occurred to us that--yeah, we got second, but what about when he has to turn right? So it was off to the Streets of Willow race track out in the Mojave Desert, a small, tight track (fast lap times are less than a minute) with lots of right turns and elevation changes. Eighty laps later he was only a tenth off DuHamel’s best. Okay, we’re off to Laguna Seca.

When a boy becomes a man...The Laguna Seca round proved a turning point in the riding career of Ben Bostrom. Though he talked big before the race, he later confessed to being a bit intimidated by the factory riders. Even so he got off to a great start in the 600 supersport race, riding smooth, effortless...hey, he’s in second place! But it happened so early in the race his brain had a chance to kick in...”Hey Ben, you don’t belong up front with the factory guys. You’re a “B” team rider, remember?” Though the mind chatter ultimately relegated him to a comfortable fifth place position where he cruised to the finish line, the turning point for Ben was the realization that, “these guys (the factory riders) aren’t so fast. In fact I can beat those guys. Well, except Miguel...”. His outlook was indelibly altered from that point on. And it’s off to Homestead to conquer new ground.

The rest of the season was peppered with highs and lows, the lowest had to be the start at Homestead. Ben struggles with the management of time. He claims it’s an inherited family trait. Nonetheless, deep in conversation with Bill Bartels (and nowhere to be found by his team), he realizes that the warm up lap for the 600 race has already started. Dashing to the grid he leaps onto his waiting bike only to be halted by the start official. They would not let him start the race in his front row grid position. “If you don’t complete the warm up lap, you start from the rear”. They came down hard on him for some reason. I later watched the AMA act more leniently with other riders in the same situation. But Ben was never late for a race again! As it happened, he charged from last place to 11th at the checkered flag, putting in lap times that could have won him the race! And the high point of the season? That had to be breaking the lap record at Louden International Raceway by more than a half second and earning the pole position in the process.

But in between high and low was a race season which far exceeded our goals and expectations. As we entered the season we had no aspirations of “running with the big boys.” The factory riders are seasoned pros with the best equipment and unlimited budgets. Our goal was to finish top 10 and to prepare Ben to be picked up by the factory Honda team. By mid-season we had revised our goal to top 5. And after the Louden race we were actually in 5th place. Going into the last race (at the new Las Vegas Speedway) we were in 3rd! No way, is this really happening? Believe it! And we could actually pull this off if we do well in this race. But the points race was very close, at that juncture. Gerald Rothman was breathing down our backs. But even if we finish one position behind him we’ve still got 3rd locked up. And Ben is fast at this track. Real fast. But what’s this? Ben’s hurt? In Harley practice? No way! But, alas, it’s true! He was hurt pretty badly, though thankfully no bones were broken. The swelling in his lower back twisted his torso in violent pain. He could not walk without help. “Ben, don’t worry about the points,” I say, resigning myself to whatever position in the final points standing is dealt us. “You’re in no condition to race.” But, of course, he raced. I almost cried when the lead pack came in view of the signalling area in the first lap. Ben was leading the race! The pain he must be enduring...I couldn’t imagine it. Yet there he was in first place. It wasn’t to last, though. The hard braking necessary to remain up front finally took its toll. The pain was too great. He began to slow. And the fast guys passed him one by one. Ben finished the race in 7th place. Gerald Rothman won. Hey, fourth place in the final points standing ain’t bad--for a rookie, and a fledgling Supersport “B” team that started life with a phone conversation. Hey, this streetbike racing is pretty cool. We just might get the hang of this...       

Results - 600 Supersport: