Sports
Road-Weary Racer Returns Home with Big Win
Tyler O'Hara's five-week trip yields big win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's first Harley race in 102 years.
When Tyler O’Hara looks back on his five-week tour with American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) Pro Road Racing, he’ll always remember the brickyard.
That’s the Brickyard, with a capital ‘B,’ where O’Hara took the checkered flag in the first race of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in over 102 years at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The win doubled as O’Hara’s first AMA Pro win in his career as well.
“The whole experience was once in lifetime,” said O’Hara. “To be there and ride motorcycles…it was pretty cool.”
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The Brickyard is known as a car track, rather than one built for motorcycles, and one made famous by the Indianapolis 500, held every year on Memorial Day Weekend. Lining up against 40 racers at world famous raceway is the type of thing that would intimidate a normal person, but O’Hara thrives on it.
“There are nerves, but having the excitement gets you going.”
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Six weeks ago, the Petaluma-native O’Hara, 24, set off for points East with AMA, financing this excursion and his bike on his own dime. He raced under his own banner, bringing along a Harley XR1200-class bike, a Yahama 600 and 18 years of experience behind the bars of bike. O'Hara even slept out of his van for the trip.
“I did things on my own this year. I went out and financed my own motorcycle.”
With local support from a fundraiser and a little change from his , O’Hara headed to Daytona, Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana. On top of his Indianapolis win on Saturday, Aug. 27, O’Hara placed third the next day and finished No. 3 in points for the AMA Championship Series.
O’Hara learned the tricks of his trade on the back roads—both dirt and paved—in Sonoma County and Petaluma. He credits nearby Infineon Raceway as inspiring him and helping develop his ability to ride, and he praises his years playing sports in Petaluma schools for giving him the mental tools to prepare for races.
With Indianapolis in the rearview mirror, O’Hara hopes for bigger stakes. Talks of racing in Europe or perhaps an eventual leap to MotoGP, the world’s premier motorcycling class, in the far future. Next up, though, for O’Hara will be a dirt track in Calistoga in October.
“I get to race for a living,” said O”Hara. “I want to make the most of this, and make good decisions to keep me going in the right direction. My future is in road racing.”
