18 FEB 07: GO SPEED RACERS GO

The big day finally has arrived - and are people around here ever ready for the Daytona 500! I learned that the other day, when a Voyager tried to pass me in a shrinking access lane on Bradley Park Drive. The driver actually stopped at the end of it to let me through -- but I stopped as well. If he wants a victory that badly, let him take it.

A four-time national champion racer was in Columbus last weekend. Did you see him? Did you even know he was in town? Did you even know he was born in Columbus? Probably not on all three counts -- because his family doesn't seem to lobby as hard for coverage as the parents of junior high school cheerleaders.

Drive west on Victory Drive between the two Lumpkin Roads, and you may notice a sign supporting this champion: "GO AARON YATES, WIN DAYTONA." He's a Columbus native, and he ranks among "the best motorcycle racers" in history. But then again, his uncle Aaron might be a little biased when he makes that statement....

The older Aaron Yates works at Yates Transmission and body shop on Victory Drive. The younger one is saluted on the sign outside the shop. He now lives in Milledgeville, as his family has jobs with Georgia Power -- which can be confusing, because the transmission shop does NOT provide his horsepower.

The older Aaron Yates told me Friday afternoon his nephew's racing motorcycles are provided by Suzuki. So it's not quite the family arrangement that Bill Elliott had for years in Dawsonville, Georgia. And I also doubt Yates has "converted" during his career, from a Coors sponsorship to McDonald's.

The racing Aaron Yates came back to Columbus last weekend because several members of his family happen to have mid-February birthdays, including his mother. If he was a NASCAR racer, they might have been able to share a family celebration dinner in the infield at Daytona Beach.

"He's been racing all his life," Uncle Aaron Yates said about his champion nephew. The younger Yates won the AMA motorcycle "Superteens" season title in 1995, then another national title in 2002 and the Superstock crown in 2005. About the only "super" title he hasn't won is Muscogee County Superintendent.

Aaron Yates is on a new racing team this season -- the Jordan Suzuki team. The "Jordan" just happens to be basketball legend Michael Jordan. But Yates's uncle is a Columbusite through and through - pronouncing that last name like the high school.

"Michael Jordan, he's a motorcycle freak," Uncle Aaron told me. So much so that he's now a part-team owner, has his legendary "slam dunk jump" logo on Aaron Yates's bike - and probably will place a bet on at least one race this coming season.

The AMA motorcycle racing season will begin at Daytona, as NASCAR does - but not until early March. Uncle Aaron Yates sounds very confident about the 2007 season, noting his nephew was fourth fastest in recent testing at California Speedway. Of course, if the top three bikes have Toyota motors, Yates may not have much to worry about.

(Those motorcycles are NOT cheap, by the way. Uncle Aaron Yates told me a Suzuki motor can cost $250,000. I don't think there's a shop in Columbus which details large-sized pickup trucks for that much money.)

Uncle Aaron Yates confessed to me he once dreamed of big-time success on the pro motorcycle circuit, but his nephew has accomplished that and more. The uncle attends AMA races in the eastern U.S. such as Road Atlanta, but can't always get to western tracks such as Pikes Peak. Do racing engines at that altitude make global warming that much worse?

The success of Aaron Yates is striking, considering there's no really good place in the Columbus area for motorcyclists to race. Well, unless you count breakaways during poker runs on U.S. 431 or Interstate 185....

Our curiosity about Aaron Yates brought back memories of a related e-mail we received last August. It arrived in the week that we tried to launch Power Frisbee, and we apologize for it falling through the cracks of our brain all this time:

Hi there,

Love your blog. Please check out www.horsepowerandheels.com This local young lady has just become the fastest woman in her drag racing series, running the 1/4 mile from 0-207 mph in just 6.85 seconds. Erica is an up and coming drag racer who is working towards a Professional career in the sport....

Thanks,

Heather Sinks

Heather's talking about Erica Ortiz - who was born in Orlando, but now calls Columbus home. Drag racing around here is much easier than motorcycle racing. In fact, some people probably do it past Yates Transmission on Victory Drive on weekends.

Erica Ortiz hopes to get her first professional drag racing title this year, driving "Pro Modified" cars. She had two second-place finishes last year, in the "Fun Ford Weekend" racing series. I presume none of those races are held around the closed plant in Hapeville....

But thinking about the name of her web site, it must not be easy for Erica Ortiz to race cars while wearing high heels. What if one of them gets caught in the floorboard when the green light comes on?

Erica Ortiz may have more local media coverage than Aaron Yates, considering she works in the advertising department of the Ledger-Enquirer. But then again, does she have a drawing of Tim Chitwood's face on her race car?

By the way, I'm impressed by Erica Ortiz being able to drive from 0 to 207 miles per hour in less than seven seconds. My humble Honda does well getting from 0 to 20.7 in that time.

BLOG UPDATE: Last Sunday we took you behind a convenience store, to meet immigration workers seeking day labor. We've now been given links to two federal web sites related to this topic. One is a page relating to Immigration and Customs Enforcement - the sort of ICE people in the Northeast and Midwest would prefer to see right now.

The link we were given describes a "mutual agreement between government and employers" program, called IMAGE. Companies who volunteer to be part of the program receive training in proper hiring, discrimination rules and "fraudulent document detection." If all the pictures of potential workers actually look alike, it may not be your bias after all.

The other link we received is to a pilot government program called SAVE, developed in part by the Social Security Administration. Amazingly, it has nothing to do with getting people to put money in retirement plans and stop relying on Social Security....

The SAVE Program allows the government to verify whether new employees at a company are eligible for work. It could be a matter of whether or not the worker is a U.S. citizen. And I suppose it could be a matter of whether the worker snuck away from a Muscogee County Prison work crew.

(There could be new job openings for immigrant workers in East Alabama, by the way. Someone is going to have to help Compass Bank employees chat with their new corporate office in Bilbao, Spain.)

Now to other items from a wintry weekend....

+ Which former candidate for Columbus Council is asking his opponent to make a decision NOW, about whether he/she will run for reelection in 2008? These Democrats running for President are setting quite an example for other politicians - of impatience.

+ The Parisian store at Peachtree Mall closed for good, as of 6:00 Saturday night. If you want something Parisian at the mall now - well, maybe FYE has some Charles Aznavour albums hidden away.

+ A "Peace in the Park" candlelight vigil was held in Lakebottom Park, to remember everyone who has died in Iraq in the last four years. I'm assuming this includes the car bombers as well as the U.S. soldiers - and I'm wondering if the organizers think both groups equally died in vain.

+ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution announced it will stop delivering newspapers to Columbus and Albany at the end of March. Isn't this amazing? The Ledger-Enquirer won the circulation war, despite the StreetScape work on Broadway.

+ Congratulations to Glenwood School, which won the AISA Alabama state titles in both boys and girls basketball! In some public schools, some students would be talking now about a breeding program - and they might not be joking.

+ Instant Message to the Spectrum store on South Lumpkin Road: You had me nervous there for a second - but I eventually figured it out. If your electronic sign shows gas selling for $8.88 a gallon, it's really not price gouging.

COMING MONDAY: Could it be the last Hurtsboro Monday? An e-mail hints at it....

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