My memory is not so good, so it's hard to say if Dirt Quake USA 2 was the craziest motorcycle event I've ever been to, but looking at this resurfaced 15-second clip, filmed by Sideburn contributor Ed Subias, it makes me think it probably was.
Let me set the scene. This was, as the name suggests, the second Dirt Quake USA. We co-organised the event with our friends at See See Motorcycles and held it at the famous Castle Rock race track in Washington state. The track is an hour from Portland and 4-5 hours from Vancouver, British Columbia, two hot beds of alt.moto culture. Plus the Dirt Quake name had been growing, so people traveled from all over the US for this event that had the stamp of authenticity of both Sideburn and See See.
This is Friday night, the warm-up. The 'serious' racing had just ended with all the local fast guys and assorted fast Colorado, California, Vancouver and UK riders (Co-Built Anthony, if remember rightly), plus a hooligan warm-up class. This would be the first ever hooligan race outside California, I think. The Dirt Quake racing would happen the next day. Sideburn contributor Todd Marella had rustled up a band to do some punk covers and the crowd were itching to cut loose having watched good racing under a clear sky. This super short taster was filmed between 11pm and 1am. Then the boat went over and the cops turned up.
Dirt Quake USA was crazy. To this day I'm amazed, relieved, delighted no one was seriously injured.