Jim Haraughty warms up his Triumph salt bike as Motorcycle Performance owner and Ducati salt Maestro, Bill Whisenant (standing) provides technical input.
Jim Haraughty warms up his Triumph salt bike as Motorcycle Performance owner and Ducati salt Maestro, Bill Whisenant (standing) provides technical input.
Team MS Racing Founder, Jim Haraughty at work on his 1967 Triumph TR6 salt racer at Motorcycle Performance in Madison, WI.
The Team MS Racing colors are on my toolbox and other gear in our tiny pit area at Bonneville.
Team MS RacingFor most racing teams, there are a fairly well defined set of drivers and vehicles. There is also a pretty crisply defined objective: go faster than anybody on the track and be the first to the checkered flag.
However, in the case of Team MS Racing, things are a little more broadly defined. For one thing, the team is more or less open to new members and supporters.To be sure, team founder Jim Haraughty displays the Team MS Racing logo on his land-speed world record holding Triumph partial streamliner, but you may see the Team logo on many other competitors’ machines in a variety of other sports, as well.For example, Bill Whisenant, owner of Motorcycle Performance in Madison, Wis., and pilot of the fastest Ducati in America (212.959 mph), Joe Burke, Rookie of the Year in the Rally America car racing Series, Aaron Frank of Motorcyclist magazine, and Niall McShea of X-games fame to name a few.And, in the spirit of full disclosure, my Hondas and pit gear all bear the Team MS Racing colors, as well.Of course, publicity is an important part of the mission of getting the word out about multiple sclerosis (MS). Haraughty’s core mission is to let people know that the diagnosis is not an end point; an active, full lifestyle is possible and he proves it every day.Diagnosed with MS ten years ago, he decided to reconnect with his passion of the 1980s — motorcycle racing. In the process, he decided to create a charitable foundation with that mission in mind and Team MS Racing was born.Running a 1967 650 Triumph TR6 in American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) events on road courses, then a Suzuki SV650 in WERA endurance racing, and finally entering motorcycle land speed racing at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Haraughty has indeed lived his passion for motorsports — MS notwithstanding.In 2009, Haraughty campaigned a partially streamlined, supercharged vintage Triumph at the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) World Finals at Bonneville and, though he didn’t reach the top speed he was hoping for, he did get enough speed to establish a world record in his class (650cc APS/BP/F) at 122.359 mph.Haraughty has been back to Bonneville each year since, but between bad weather, mechanical gremlins and a family emergency, his efforts to push the record higher have been snake-bit. But 2014 is coming and Jim Haraughty shows no sign of slowing down — literally.Visit Team MS Racing online by clicking here.
