In “10 Minutes + 2 Laps with…”, we take the same amount of time required to complete a Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event (give or take a red flag) and use it to catch up with, and hopefully learn a little about, some of the more prominent figures on the Progressive American Flat Track scene. This week, we talked shop with Fastrack Racing Co-Owner Arney Wick.

AmericanFlatTrack.com: I know prior to launching Fastrack Racing as its own independent race team, you and (wife and Fastrack Co-Owner) Amy had a long association with George Latus and Latus Motors Racing. And I also know you were a racer yourself with an extensive history of involvement in motorsports. Can you provide me with the CliffNotes version of where you started, and how you got to where you are now?

Arney Wick: Well, I'll do the best I can. I've been involved in either motorcycle racing, snowmobile racing, or some other form of racing – whether it be motorsports or alpine skiing or whatever – since 1970. I went pro back around ‘78, Novice, and Expert in 1981. That was back in the days when there were 160 riders who showed up just to qualify for the Astrodome. You know, those were obviously different times, but society was different then too.

Then during the late 1990s and early 2000s, my two girls got involved in all kinds of snow skiing, so I kind of took a little bit of a hiatus away from the motorcycles with them. Once they hung up their skis, we rekindled the relationship that we had for many years with George Latus. He sponsored me when I had an XR back in the early ‘80s.

Everything was really good for a long time. After James Rispoli left, we had a year with Bronson Bauman. And then George wanted to take a year off to do some more development work on Harley. Meanwhile, we’d already started working jointly on a venture with the KTM.

So I said, “Well, you're going to take a year off, so we're going to take KTMs and go see what we can do with them.”

After a couple years with Bronson, he decided to take a step back after last year. He's married and a dad now, and that's a different level of responsibility. We understood and said, “Thank you,” and brought Jarod Vanderkooi aboard.

AFT: So, after all those decades in motorsports, was 2023 the first time you actually owned and ran a professional team yourself?

AW: Well, we worked with George, like I said, but yes, that was the first time we were out on our own, at least at an elite level.

AFT: Did that experience match up with your expectations?

AW: I’ve learned throughout life that expectations, if they are too high, can lead to disappointment more than anything. We were very pleased with the way that everything worked with Bronson for the three years we worked with him.

I'm kind of the mindset that no matter where you are, as long as things are moving forward and improving, then it's all good.

AFT: This season the landscape has shifted. The last two years you were racing while developing a race bike while competing against some very well sorted machines in the Indians, which are no longer in the field. Do you feel like all the work you put in while adding a rider of Jarod's caliber means there’s a big opportunity for you this year?

AW: I feel like we're going to keep moving forward for sure with the overall program. Last year, we brought (Crew Chief) Travis Smith on, and it took a little while before everybody started meshing together and moving forward with that.

But it's been really good. Travis has got some great ideas and we're really looking forward to Daytona this year.

We've had a chance to get Jarod out a couple of times, do some riding out of Perris Auto Speedway and at a little track not far from us here in Lake Havasu called the Mohave Valley Raceway. So yeah, we've got a pretty good head start so far.

AFT: I’ve heard that the KTM, while it obviously has a lot of potential, isn’t necessarily the easiest engine to get right for flat track. Now that you’ve had a couple years with it, do you feel like you’ve made some significant gains with the motor and overall package? 

AW: For sure. For sure. Huge gains. Up to this point, really, everybody's been running pretty much a stock KTM engine. We've added some flywheel weight and some other things, but nobody's messed around with cam profiles or some other motor configurations up ‘til this year that we know of.

Briar (Bauman) had a hard time on that thing. But he's such a hell of a rider, he was able to get past that – he just rode past the idiosyncrasies of that engine.

Bronson always said comparing the (Indian) FTR to the KTM was like comparing a John Deere tractor engine versus driving a Porsche – just really, really hard to hang on to.

AFT: Jarod’s premier-class history has primarily been on the Indian, and before that, the Harley and Kawasaki. But he did also put in a bit of time on the Wally Brown Racing KTM. And I noticed Wally Brown Racing is now listed as one of your sponsors, and I don’t think they were in the past. What’s the connection?

AR: Yes. Well, we've always worked with Wally, sharing information and whatnot. He’s behind us, let's just say, a little bit more this year, supplying us with some hardware and parts and pieces. He and Travis talk quite a bit, and I think that Wally has been instrumental in helping us with some of the changes that we've implemented. He's a big part of our effort this year for sure.

AFT: Meanwhile, having a long-time association with Latus Motors Racing also means having a long-time association with the Kopps. I believe you’ve supported Kody Kopp’s career since his amateur days. And now you're teaming up with Kenny Roberts to go roadracing with Kody. How did that come about, and how did you get hooked up with Kenny in the first place?

AW: Well, (Kenny) lives here in Havasu too. We've been friends for probably the last eight years since he moved here. And we’ve got a common interest in motorcycles and whatnot. As a matter of fact, here in Lake Havasu City, every Tuesday, 11:30, all the motorcycle guys meet up at a restaurant. Kenny said this is what they did in England. But we started a small group, a gathering here, and I think two weeks ago we had 23 of us here. All motorcycle guys, from drag race national champions to Eddie (Lawson) and Kenny. You name it. It’s a very colorful group of guys.

But I started hanging around with Kenny. And at the end of last year I was at his house, and he flipped the computer around and said, “Hey, you know anything about this Kramer bike?”

I said, “Yeah, I know all about it. Why?” And he said, “Well, what’s that Kobb kid doing next year?” He called him “Kobb” not “Kopp.”

Anyway, we called up Kody, and he was out testing. Kenny got on the phone and said, “Hey, this is the King.”

And Kody goes, “Who’s the King?” (laughs).

“It’s Kenny.”

“Oh -oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.”

“We’re going to make a world champion out of you.”

AFT: I’ve been in the presence of Kenny a couple times, and on those occasions, it seemed like he had a bottomless well of stories to share. After all your time together, have you come to the end of them or are there always more?

AW: Well, you know he recycles a lot of them, and there are some of them that are really important to him. He'll tell you over and over about the time he won the Spanish Grand Prix and gave the trophy back to the King. The crowd was giving him the “peace sign,” and he told his mechanic, “Hey look at that. See, they love me.”

“That wasn't love man. You've got to get in that motorhome of yours and get out of this country as fast as you can.” (laughs)

But no, he's always got new stories too. And the big thing is, now he's going to be able to start creating some new chapters.

And he's got a real strong affiliation with the Barber Museum, so that’s where we’re going to basically base the team.

AFT: That leads into what I wanted to ask you about next because I heard somewhere that you were a collector and a restorer of vintage racing motorcycles. Is there a personal favorite in your collection or one you hope to add to it?

AW: I just got done restoring a 1912 Harley-Davidson Belt Drive that I've had here for the eight years that it took to finish it. And it sold. I've got a pair of ’72, the original, XR750s – the road racer and the dirt tracker. They only made – from what I hear – ten of the road race bikes.

I restored that one. We had a guy up in Spokane, Washington, that was a dirt track racer, and he had a crane business, named Gary Hite. As a matter of fact, Gary Hite won more national championships for Harley Davidson than Scott Parker, Jay Springsteen, Chris Carr.. any of them. But they were all amateur national championships. He couldn’t ride pro because he had to get back to work to run his crane business.

He died in 2013 and left a hundred motorcycles to his wife. She had no idea what was out in the garage. At his memorial service, we told her, “Hey listen, from this moment on, everybody's going to want to be your best friend.”

We helped her get them loaded up and taken them to auction and whatnot. The 1912 that I had was the last of the hundred that needed to be restored. And the ‘72 XR I put together was all parts. Those come from the Gary Hite collection, so there's some significance to those for sure.

AFT: Okay, time for the two bonus questions. First one: Can you name an interest or hobby of yours that is completely removed from racing, engines, or wheels. 

AW: Boy that's a tough one. That is a really tough one. I mean, because all we've done for the last five or six years is live and breathe motorcycles and preparation and all the rest of that. But, you know, I don't mind the little golf from time to time.

AFT: Last question: What would be your death-row style last meal? 

AW: My last meal? Uh… Beef Stroganoff.