LEXINGTON — Mark Junge wasn’t deterred by rain on Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days began.

The Ashland resident, chief motorcycle instructor and car instructor for the Mid-Ohio School, had no plans for prep laps before his races on Saturday and Sunday — rain or not.

As one might suspect, Junge knows the permanent road course pretty well.

A Wisconsin native who raced at tracks around the country since 1989, it’s ironic Junge never raced Mid-Ohio before moving here in 2013.

That’s because his primary race specialty was motorcycle endurance racing, a type of race not featured at the hilly course.

“Once I moved here, obviously now being a car instructor and running the motorcycle school, I (now) have a lot of laps around here. And its one of my favorite tracks,” Junge said Friday afternoon. “I have the best job in the world.”

Even with that experience, Junge will take nothing for granted once the green flag drops this weekend during his races.

“There are always fast people out there,” he said. “You have to be prepared no matter what. Sometimes you can know a track too well and someone will show up and do something different and you’re like, ‘whoa, that worked.'”

A huge crowd poured into Mid-Ohio on Friday, despite thunderstorms, strong winds and plenty of rain. Junge said the Vintage Race Days event is a draw unlike any other he has seen.

“I pulled in today around noon. The weather was coming in and the people were still coming in … it didn’t even bother them,” he said. “You don’t see this number of people at a motorcycle race, even the AMA these days .. this crowd is huge. You don’t see that anywhere else in the country. It’s definitely cool event to be a part of.”

The bikes this weekend are vintage, like the 1989 GSX-R750 Suzuki will use in one race, but the competition will be no different for Junge.

“It will be the same,” he said. “Sometimes when you slow down, you make mistakes. I tend to do everything the same.”

For a man who has raced motorcycles for almost three decades, it’s working with young people Junge now enjoys most.

“The teen (driving) school is actually the most rewarding. You actually see someone who is an early driver go from being timid and nervous about driving to by the end of the day he or she is confident and can control the car. Its very rewarding,” Junge said.

Junge never rode a motorcycle until he was studying aviation at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

“I couldn’t have a car in college, but I could have a motorcycle. I walked into a dealership and rode a motorcycle out. I bought it and rode it out and that was it.”

Junge ended up quitting school after three years to pursue a motorcycle racing career. His father, a corporate pilot and mechanic, was not pleased.

“He didn’t talk to me for about three years,” Junge said. “But I got him to come a race and he didn’t miss any of my races for the next 12 years until he passed away. Once I introduced him to it, he was hooked.”

And Junge has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

“My name is Junge, but it’s pronounced Y-O-U-N-G … so I am forever young.”