For the last 10 Thanksgiving weekends during Fastrack Riders events at Auto Club Speedway, professional road racer Chris Ulrich has given rides on his two-seat Superbike to Roadracing World Action Fund donors, raising money to buy and deploy soft barriers made by Airfence and Alpina.
During those events, Ulrich has typically logged over 200 racetrack miles per day at speed with a passenger on his motorcycle. But this year, Ulrich’s recovery from extensive surgery on his left shoulder took longer than he anticipated and Ulrich did not get medical clearance to resume training in time to properly prepare for the grueling event. Ulrich injured his shoulder–including a 180-degree tear of the labrum and a partially detached bicep tendon–early in the 2016 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
“It has been four months since my surgery and I was working hard to regain strength and fitness in preparation for my return to riding,” said Ulrich, who retired from professional competition mid-season due to the injury. “Unfortunately, getting medical clearance to train and ride again took longer than I anticipated, and as hard as I worked and as much as I wanted to do this event, I finally had to admit that I’m still not ready. I will return to riding solo this weekend, but my left shoulder is not yet up to the physical demands of giving dozens of two-seat Superbike rides for two days straight, and it’s a safety issue. I definitely don’t want to risk our two-up program’s 100% safety record. We have to reschedule, probably in this coming January, and will announce the dates and details once we’ve finalized the replacement event.”
Over the last decade, Ulrich has raised more than $53,000 for the Roadracing World Action Fund by giving rides on his two-seat Superbike. He has also gained positive exposure for motorcycle road racing (and motorcycling in general) by giving rides to journalists, celebrities and VIP’s in conjunction with professional races, most recently with MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series events. In total, Ulrich has given more than 950 individual rides on his two-seat Superbike, without a single incident.
The Roadracing World Action Fund is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to helping prevent rider injuries at racetracks nationwide, including by deploying soft barriers. To learn more or to make a tax-deductible donation to the Roadracing World Action Fund, go to www.roadracingworld.com/actionfund.