Pinkstaff Racing : Biography

Pinkstaff Racing
Biography

Kevin Pinkstaff

Age: 22
Height: 6'00"
Weight: 165 lbs
Hobbies: Running, cycling, dirt riding
Occupation: Senior at Portland State University, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Physics. Upon completion, I plan to apply to PSU's Graduate School of Education to obtain secondary education certification and become a high school teacher

Background:

From the time I was little, I remember motorcycles being the coolest thing. I’d watch taped AMA and GP races on TV and go to watch my uncle Keith race at PIR. I got my first bicycle when I was three, tossed the training wheels after a day, and spent the majority of my free time on it racing up and down the street. I learned to ride a motorcycle on a hand-me-down from Keith at age five, and rode it on our 5 acre property day after day during the summer.

From elementary school through the completion of high school, I competed in cross-country, wrestling, and track, and went trail riding with Uncle Keith and my dad. Brian and I helped with pit crew duties for Keith, Andrew Cox, and Todd Frey on the Beaverton Honda endurance team as teenagers. At age 17 my grandpa gave me his ’87 Yamaha FZ750 and I got my street license. That season in 2003 I did a few PSSR days on it, riding in the C group at PIR and Pacific Raceways. I also learned what real speed was when Keith gave me a ride on the back of his bike at PIR!

I enrolled at Portland State University in fall of 2003, about the same time I talked my dad into sharing an SV650 we’d found used. I commuted to school on it during the week while track-prepping it for the upcoming OMRRA race season. I enrolled in Novice School at the first race with old-school plastic number plates bolted onto stock plastic, just like Keith ran on his production bikes back in the day. I improved throughout the season, running in the top 10, and finishing 5th and 7th in season points for 650 Supersport Twins and 450 Superbike. The highlight of the season came at the last race when I was drafted to ride the Beaverton Honda Yamaha R1 with Uncle Keith and Dave Salmi. It was my first race on a 1000, and it rained. Somehow, I held my own (actually stretching our lead) and we ended up 1^st place.

   For 2005, I again rode my SV in the OMRRA series. The exciting development of this year was Keith buying Oliver Jervis’s Zlock Racing Kawasaki ZX6-RR to run with Brian, Dave Salmi, and myself in the NW Endurance Cup. After finishing strong at the PIR and Spokane rounds, our engine cases cracked before the final PIR round. Our friend Russ Farmer loaned us his Honda F4i so we could compete, and we ended up winning the Middleweight and Overall divisions for the season. Tragically, Keith was killed a week after the race in a street riding accident. That was a huge loss, but we pulled things together for the final OMRRA race of the year, and I improved upon my season results from 2004 to finish 2^nd and 3^rd in Middleweight Supersport and 450 Superbike. At the awards banquet, Brian and I presented Dave Salmi with the first annual Keith Pinkstaff Memorial Award for Exemplary Sportsmanship.
   For 2006, I decided I needed a faster bike if I was going to fight for wins on my SV. Up to this point, it was bone stock, but for ’06 Zlock Racing built me a motor that was as fast as the new fuel-injected SV’s. I immediately dropped my lap times a second, and battled at the front every race. Our plans to contest the NW Endurance Cup fizzled when the ZX6 blew a head gasket before the first race. With funds running short after that, we decided to just sprint race for the year. We did travel to Spokane for one of the WMRRA races, where I won a good race against Alan Schwen. At season’s end, I had clinched the OMRRA Middleweight Supersport class championship, finished a close 2^nd in 450 Superbike, and claimed the #5 Overall Plate for OMRRA.
   I’m fortunate to be able to pursue motorcycles as a hobby, and appreciate the friends I’ve made through it. I’m lucky to have been brought up to work for something rather than expect it to be given to me, and I appreciate the help of my family, friends, and sponsors for the opportunities they make possible for me.

Brian Pinkstaff

Age: 21
Height: 5’11’’
Weight: 155lbs
Hobbies: Running, cycling, dirt riding.
Occupation: Mechanical Engineering Intern Cummins Northwest, LLC

Motorcycles have been an activity in my life from the beginning. I started riding when I was 3 years old on a little Honda Z-50. I used to ask my dad if I could go ride with my big brother who was already riding at that time. My dad probably thought that I was not ready to ride, but instead of saying no, he would say that if I could touch the ground while sitting on the bike, that I could ride the thing. I was determined to be like my brother, so I would go out to the garage and sit on the motorcycle almost daily. I kept asking if I was getting closer to being able to touch so that I could hold myself up and ride. Well I kept with it, and finally one day my dad gave in and said that I could go ride, but I had to show him that I was able to hold myself up. So I rolled the bike out to the lawn and had him start it. I climbed on the bike with the kickstand still down, then gave the bike throttle and as the bike moved forward the kickstand would fold up. There I was with a big smile, riding my own motorcycle, I thought that was so cool.
   From riding little mini-bikes I progressed to riding trails up near Roger’s Camp in the Tillamook State Forest (also know as the burn area). That was with the help and guidance of my uncle, Keith Pinkstaff. He gave me the opportunity to explore that area, it was an adventure since I was on a little XR 80 and everyone else was on much larger adult dirt bikes. I remember hitting my cases on big rocks, but it was a blast! I continued to progress into racing some part time motocross at Washougal, Woodland, and PIR. Keith took Kevin and I down to Anaheim to help out with Brian Zlock’s racing effort at one of the AMA Supercross races in 2001, where we were able to race the day after the pros during the amateur event.
   Then in 2002 I was able to participate in my first trackday with PSSR at Seattle Raceway on a 1986 FZ600 that I bought from my Uncle Clyde two weeks prior. I talked my brother Kevin into letting me ride his 2002 SV 650 at a PSSR school at PIR later in 2003, and I have been involved with roadracing ever since. I took the novice school at the end of 2004, raced the full season on my SV in 2005 as well as instructing at PSSR trackdays. In 2005 I finished 6^th in Middleweight Supersport and 6^th in 450 Superbike in addition to winning "Top Novice" honors. Tragically near the end of the 2005 season, my Uncle and idol, Keith Pinkstaff was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident while heading home on a street ride near Scappoose. This event came as a shock and it still has not set well with me. Keith was a great guy and my memories of our times together will never be forgotten.
   In 2006 I raced the same SV and classes finishing 5th in Middleweight Supersport and 5th in 450 Superbike. I have continued working with the novice school by volunteering time to work corners and on bike instruction. I have also continued instruction at PSSR trackdays for racers and streetriders.