Memories of '88 Duncan Amateur National

In 1988 my family and I traveled west to Vancouver Island for the Canadian Amateur National Championships. I was the top 80 rider in Manitoba and thought that I could do pretty well out west. I also rode 125 Novice that same year. We showed up and there was an American there by the name of Danny Ulven, he was a top Team Green kid from Oregon and absolutely laid waste to the field. I remember trying to stay with him in practice and that wasn't happening! Anyways, years later when I was Ty Birdwell's mechanic on the AMA circuit I met one of his buddies who happened to be Danny Ulven!

We laughed and joked about this race and how he actually won the 125 Novice class on his big wheel 105cc but got disqualified for...something. There was also a protest with the 80 moto where all of us in the top ten got DQ'd for...something. That was eventually changed back to the original scores but ten years later, Danny and I laughed about it all.

How did he do with his career? Well, he holeshot his first ever AMA pro race and led for a bit before injuries took their toll and he hung it up. His family runs a very successful company in Oregon and that's where Danny works now with his wife and four kids. Him and I stay in touch via email and he sent me these photos from that day in Duncan BC in 1988.

This is about as close as anyone got to Ulven all weekend. Man, he looked good in that gear! 71 is Steve Bulyovski and after that if you know, leave a comment below.

Ulven checking out in the opening laps. Man, I can remember this race like it was yesterday.

Here's a zoomed in shot of one of Danny's pictures. I'm in ninth back in the corner on the KX80. Number 12 was Manitoba rider Ryan Hiebert. I ended up seventh OA on the day.