THE MECHANIC
Michelle DiSalvo
Photos by Disalvo archives / Scott Hunter
If you ’ ve been to an American Flat Track national in the last couple of years you ’ ve undoubtedly seen her . Find the # 14 motorcycle of Grand National Championship contender Briar Bauman ( arguably the fastest dirt tracker in the world right now ) in the paddock or being pushed out to the racetrack for a heat race or Main Event – and there she ’ ll be .
From dawn to dusk on most days , and from dawn to way past dusk on Saturday nights during any AFT dirt track national , she ’ s been the primary caretaker of that # 14 Indian . That motorcycle has been her baby , her responsibility , and in many ways her life .
And who exactly is this woman ? Michelle DiSalvo , of course .
The professional dirt track circus has traditionally been a male-dominated environment , a loud , dusty and often greasy crucible that is – except for crew and competitor families – unfriendly in most ways to female sensibilities . But that ’ s changing , with women slowly but surely gaining a foothold . Racers such as Nichole Cheza Mees , Shayna Texter and Sandriana Shipman have made their marks – literally – on the racetracks of America , while Michelle DiSalvo has done it impressively on the mechanical and team-management side – helping Bauman and the Indian factory team win a Grand National Championship impressive fashion in 2019 .
But DiSalvo is more than simply a world-class racing mechanic . She ’ s also a racer , and a very good one , her
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I RODE THAT THING EVERY DAY , AND IT BROKE ABOUT EVERY THREE DAYS ! SO FROM THEN ON I FIXED MY OWN BIKES .
experiences in both amateur and professional dirt track competition surely buttressing her wide-ranging abilities as a factory mechanic . DiSalvo , who hails from Montana but who grew up in Salinas , California ( where Briar Bauman is from , ironically ), got her first motorcycle at the age of nine . “ It was a Suzuki TM 125 in a Champion frame ,” she says , “ and looking back , it was a little big for me . But I didn ’ t care . I rode that thing every day , and it broke about every three days !” Her dad told her that if she wanted to ride , she had to work on it , too . “ So from then on ,” she remembers , “ I fixed my own bikes .” A hint of things to come , for sure .
Her dad wasn ’ t all that eager to let her go racing , but in ’ 85 at the age of 11 she rode her first flat track race in Monterey , California . From then on she rarely missed a race , eventually turning expert in ’ 91 . DiSalvo earned her
Michelle launches off the legendary jump at the legendary Peoria TT .
42 | MAY 2020 | THUNDERPRESS . NET