DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 17, 2015) - Flat track racing has been around almost as long as motorcycles have. American born and raised and extreme to the core, it’s the basis for all other forms of two-wheel racing.

But the first week of June, the sport will be showcased for an entirely new audience, when it helps kick off the X Games in Austin, Texas, the world-famous exhibition of extreme and action sports.

For two of the 23 invited riders, all of which are AMA Pro Flat Track stalwarts, the X Games experience won’t be completely new.

Stevie Bonsey and Johnny Lewis have both competed in Supermoto at the X Games, Bonsey in 2009 and Lewis in 2008.

“I got invited to the Supermoto, I don’t know how, but I did,” said Bonsey, a full-time flat tracker who also enjoyed a stint as a road racer in the Moto3 class, internationally. “I practiced Supermoto once before I raced it. That was my first race, at the X Games. I was a duck without water. I tried my best. Every time I was on the track, I did better and better.”

So while he’s experienced the thrill and spectacle of the X Games, this time will be different for the Californian and three-time Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines class winner.

“Going to the dirt track, I know what’s going on, that’s my profession,” Bonsey said. “I think I’ll have a better chance at getting a medal.”

Lewis was a Factory KTM rider in 2008 when he raced at the X Games, but a crash kept his hopes of bringing home a medal from being realized.

“The whole experience, being in the X Games, (the athletes) were escalated,” Lewis said. “You were invited, you were put on a platform, it was really neat.”

The X Games originated in 1995 and has become a cultural phenomenon and celebration of extreme and action sports. Its prominence has made winning an X Games medal the goal of many athletes growing up. The winner of the race in Austin will receive a brand new Harley-Davidson Street 750, which is incentive enough, but chasing that medal is what makes the X Games special.

“You don’t care about fourth or fifth or getting a good result,” Lewis said. “You want gold, silver or bronze, that’s what you’re going for.”

Bonsey and Lewis are also well aware of the doors that can open from competing in the X Games and the exposure it provides.

“You get to see a variety of different people,” Bonsey said. “It’s kind of cool, it’s big, and it can open doors for you, meeting new people and new sponsors in the industry. It could be huge.”