Motorcycle event eyed for airport

By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-Herald


JOHNSTOWN - A Mechanicville company wants to hold a two-day motorsports "festival" in September at the Fulton County Airport on Route 67, county officials learned Tuesday.

Planning Director James Mraz told the Board of Supervisors' Buildings and Grounds-Highway Committee that a company known as Throttleboy Productions and Management wants to stage the festival Sept. 11 and 12 at the airport. Mraz received an application last week.
The committee voted to support the concept of the event and move the application to the Finance Committee, which meets Thursday.

"I think it's a good idea, myself," Buildings and Grounds-Highway Committee Chairman Lee A. Hollenbeck of Broadalbin said.

Mraz told supervisors his department received an application from Frank Jung III of Throttleboy Productions and Management to use the airport. The proposed two-day event would feature professional freestyle street motorcycle competitions, freestyle motocross exhibitions, a custom motorcycle show, an import car show, an extreme car audio sound-off, motorcycle vendors, auto accessory vendors, food vendors and live music.

There is no public telephone listings for Throttleboy Productions and Management or Jung. The Leader-Herald also couldn't locate a Web site for the company.

Mraz said this will be a non-alcoholic event at the airport, and Jung expects at least 10,000 spectators. He said Jung indicated insurance will be provided for the event. He also said that Jung offered to compensate the county, including 5 percent of all tickets sales, all proceeds from automobile parking and other compensation if agreeable to the county and Throttleboy.

Mraz said the majority of the vendors and sponsors will come from the local area. He said a large 40-foot by 90-foot tent will be set up the Friday night before the Saturday and Sunday event. The tent will be for music, awards and spectators.

About 30 people will serve as security personnel for the event.

Throttleboy Productions and Management, Mraz said, plans to install "snow fencing" to keep spectators away from vital parts of the airport. But he said the runway may have to be closed for a couple hours if Throttleboy attempts an unspecified world record, as the company has indicated it might.

The world record may be for length of time riding a motorcycle on its front wheel, county officials said.

"The event will go on rain or shine," Mraz said.

Supervisors wanted to know Throttleboy's track record for similar events, but Mraz said the company hasn't hosted one yet. He said Fulton County's festival would be the second, with the first being later this month at another unnamed airport.

Mraz said that Lew Petersen of Valley View Aviation - the county's fixed-based operator for the airport - indicated he would be in favor of the event.

But Mraz said Petersen has several stipulations such as location and amount of parking, barricades to prevent people from getting over the taxiway, maintaining safety of planes, keeping the airport open during the event, plane rides during the festival and proper protection of the airfield lighting.

 

thats what im talking about :YEAH lisa's husband is the marketing manager for the leader herald if u guys need anything listed or whatever let me know!

 

Well by the looks of it they want to have another show not move it.

They are having one in June.

And now they want to have one in Sept.

 

u are a quick 1.. i know that sally .. but i had heard of other spots for the fall show.. and g'ville wasnt 1 i heard

 

I was unaware that they were trying to set one up for this fall, Mr. Miagi

 

wax on... i know all... wax off

 

 

Airport event sounds exciting

Motorcycles with only their front wheels on the ground. Motocross riders hovering above their airborne bikes. Street-bike riders driving while perched on their handlebars.


Those are a few of the scenes people likely would see at a motorsports festival proposed for the Fulton County Airport in Johnstown in September.

This week, county officials expressed support for an organizer's proposal to bring such a festival to the airport. If county leaders and residents want to see this area teeming with thousands of visitors for several days, they'll do all they can to accommodate this show.
The organizers say the two-day event could attract 10,000 people, some of whom would spend the night in local hotels and eat at local restaurants. The festival could be an event that gives the Fulton County Airport a reputation as a venue for major outdoor programs.

The county almost became the site of a massive gathering in 1999 when the band Phish considered a concert at the airport. County officials hesitated to support that proposal, and some area residents opposed it. Phish ultimately got away, choosing another upstate site instead because the band said the other location was more suitable.

The motorsports festival would be on a smaller scale, but it could generate a lot of tourism dollars and positive publicity for the area.

The organizers say the event would be ideal for families as well as motorcycle enthusiasts. The show, organized by ThrottleBoy Productions of Mechanicville and Xtreeme Motorsports of Gloversville, would include motorcycle stunt exhibitions as well as amateur and professional competitions. Riders from around the country would come to the airport to perform and compete, said Chris Yates, owner of Xtreeme Motorsports.

The event would include free-style motocross; street-bike free-style competitions; an attempt at a record-breaking "endo" ride, in which the driver rides with only the front wheel on the ground; a custom-car show and a stereo "sound-off" contest, Yates said.

Spectators would come from New York and contiguous states to enjoy the stunts, food, music and bands, Yates said. The event would have a festival atmosphere and also include helicopter and airplane rides, he said.

The organizers would handle all parking supervision, security, necessary facilities such as bathrooms and the cleanup, Yates said.

Competitors would start arriving on a Friday, and some would camp on the grounds. If successful, the promoters would try to bring future motorsports shows to the airport.

Frank Jung, the owner of ThrottleBoy, said he and Yates are "trying to take this sport to the next level."

"Our goal is to take this event regional as far as the East Coast goes," he said.

If people want to get an idea of what the Johnstown event would be like, they can go to a similar one in Gansevoort near Saratoga Springs June 27 at Airway Meadows Golf & Heber Airpark. Yates said that show, which will be for one day only, will be about half the size of Johnstown's. Go to www.stuntrageous.com for more information on the Gansevoort show.

Yates says he's looking for feedback and suggestions, and invites people to call him at 221-4249.

Hopefully, he'll receive a lot of supportive calls.