Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson & Buell has announced that they will be a lap sponsor for the Lucas Oil Indy Mile Flat Track Grand National event coming to the legendary Indy Mile track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 13, 2008.
The business, founded by George and Ann Schulteti in 1947, has long been involved in all forms of motorcycle racing. Cash lap prizes will be awarded to the leader on lap 10, 15, and 20 of the feature Lucas Oil Indy Mile Grand National Flat Track race.
Sherry Long, advertising and marketing director of Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson & Buell says: “We are very glad to be a part of the Indy Mile coming back. We’ve been involved in many different forms of motorcycle racing including sponsorships. It goes very deeply in our company. My great-grandpa and my grandpa raced, and they were the founders of our business. We have a history of racing and of supporting racing over the years. We’re certainly looking forward to all the thousands of motorcyclists who will be coming to Indianapolis for the big weekend with the Moto GP and the Indy Mile races. We invite all the visitors to stop by Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson and Buell and say hello.”
Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson & Buell is truly a family business. Four generations of the Schulteti family work at their spacious dealership and service center at 4930 Southport Crossing Place in Indianapolis. Sherry Long says, “My mom is the general manager, my dad is the service manager, my uncle is the sales manager, my sister is the office manager. It’s family across the board.” And it’s a family that has been a part of motorcycle racing since the 1950’s. Sherry Long continues, “My grandpa Bob has raced pretty much every kind of motorcycle racing you can do—hill climbs, flat track, road race, hare scramble, enduros, cross-country—everything when he was a young man. He has national championship trophies. We also have sponsored hill climbers, flat track racers, vintage road racers, etc. for many years. Motorcycle racing has been a part of our family and a part of our business.”
Long says that the news of the revival of the Lucas Oil Indy Mile Flat Track Grand National was welcomed warmly at the dealership. “We were excited, especially on that weekend. We were there at the last Indy Mile and my husband raced in it. He raced Grand National Flat Track at that time, so the family was all there to watch it. We can’t wait; especially because Lucas Oil is the title sponsor of it. That brings a lot of importance and attention to it that may not have otherwise been there. We are very glad to be a part of the Indy Mile coming back,” she says.
The Lucas Oil Indy Mile Flat Track Grand National is being run on the same weekend as the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Sherry Long sees that as a great opportunity to expose the American Harley-Davidson brand to the many races fans expected to come to Indy from around the world. She says, “There is no Harley-Davidson involvement in the Moto GP nor Buell, even though Buell is a sport bike. So, it’s cool that we get to have a more Harley-oriented race when all those people are in town that may have never seen a Flat Track race. Racing has always been important to Harley-Davidson as a company.”
