美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Hold Your Breath,' American Flat Track Racing Mounts A Comeback

'Hold Your Breath,' American Flat Track Racing¹ Mounts A Comeback

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This weekend, baseball playoffs, college and pro² football and American Flat Track's season-ending race tonight in New Jersey³. Flat track is the oldest form of motorcycle racing in the country on dirt tracks. And NPR's Tom Goldman says it's staging a comeback.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE⁴: Michael Lock has a challenge for you.

MICHAEL LOCK: Come to a flat track, where you can be within 10 feet of people on dirt, at 130 miles an hour with six abreast⁵. If that doesn't make you stop and hold your breath for a second, I'm not going to be able to reach you at all.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOTORCYCLES REVVING)

GOLDMAN: Breath officially held. For the past three years, it's been Michael Lock's job - no, that's too tame - his mission as the CEO of American Flat Track to spread the word. The sport, born on dirt tracks in rural America, is worth your attention and your money. It was on life support at the pro level. But Lock, whose English accent is decidedly not heartland, saw the potential for revival⁶.

LOCK: What I found was this true grit⁷. It's a blue-collar, all-American sport. And I felt that the time was right that flat track racing could be both heritage and contemporary.

GOLDMAN: In 2016, Lock did a deal with NBCSN. The network broadcast, shown now on a one-week delay, helped total viewership from TV, streaming and ticket-buying rise dramatically this year to more than 3 million people. Lock also has embraced the idea of selling his sport through its athletes.

GARY: Hi, Shayna. Can you write, to Gary?

SHAYNA TEXTER: Sure.

GARY: Gary, G-A-R-Y. Thank you very much.

GOLDMAN: Autograph time is almost as important as race time. This meet and greet session lasted about an hour last weekend at Canterbury Park outside Minneapolis. As usual, the biggest line was for one of flat track's biggest stars, and big is a relative term.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi. You're just a little thing, but you rock.

GOLDMAN: At 5 feet tall, 27-year-old Shayna Texter has been rocking American Flat Track since 2011.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED BROADCASTER: We're looking at history, ladies and gentlemen. We could see it here tonight. One half-mile to go for Miss Shayna Texter. Come on, Shayna.

GOLDMAN: In that race seven years ago, fans did see history. Texter became the first woman to win a professional race in the sport. Since then, her celebrity⁸, as the girl who beats the boys, and her accomplishments⁹ have grown. She won five races last year, two this season, along with three second-place finishes. This wasn't the sporting life she envisioned as a kid growing up in Pennsylvania.

TEXTER: My thing was playing soccer. I wanted to be the next Mia Hamm and go to college and play soccer my entire life.

GOLDMAN: But racing, she says now, was inevitable¹⁰, considering her dad was a pro flat tracker and her family owned a Harley-Davidson shop.

TEXTER: No matter what, going left on dirt was - it's in our blood. We didn't have a choice.

GOLDMAN: Going left on dirt, a reference to the left turns flat trackers make after rocketing down straightaways - Texter does it as well as anyone. Ironically, she has become a Mia Hamm-like figure, paving the way for a next generation of female racers, like these two in that autograph line.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I race a Honda.

TEXTER: Sweet.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: She races a Yamaha.

TEXTER: One day I'll be getting your girls' autographs.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yep.

GOLDMAN: Lest we forget, this is a dangerous sport. A flat tracker died in August. Texter crashed hard this season, flew over her bike's handlebars. Her manager says you could tell it hurt, but she wasn't going to show it - part of being a woman in a male-dominated sport. Texter went to a backup motorcycle and kept riding. American Flat Track hopes she does that for a long time. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

8 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

9 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。