Anyone know any of these guys?
Yes.
Elkin in 3rd on 500 production means it was probably the year after he was #1 in that class. He went into 1 at Ontario up front on the first lap, fell off somehow (?) and got run over about ten times. While he was in ICU at Upland, Ed Unini went down in 8 or 9 at Sears, got run over and died. Jerry is now living in Novato, didn't race again except for the one time I stuffed him into my leathers and sent him around Sears on my RR-250 in practice. No, that was
not me going 12 miles an hour. Ed's dad, "Pops" Unini, did tech for the AFM for years. He'd be old by now tho. Ed's sister showed up at the funeral in a see-through mourning dress. That's something you don't see (through) every day ... hey, it was the seventies.
Greg Sachs got killed somewhere ? I don't remember how, and Ed Sachs did engineering on submarines, made a wrong turn into a hot area one day and a few years later died of brain cancer.
Ewen McKechnie and Rich Arian went to the Isle of Man a couple years after this, didn't do all that well but had a great time. Rich should be around somewhere still but no idea where. His obnoxious brat kids should be grown up and out of the house by now
Was Garoutte still riding that 360 Honda twin in 250 GP this year ? That thing was funny. Loudest bike you ever heard, you could tell where he was all the way around Ontario. Twist the throttle and it didn't go any faster, just made more noise
Jack Baker ... was it the next year that he was riding a Willy Striker's 250 ? Typical loudmouth Jack, was working at Willy's shop one night and got Willy's guy so pissed off that the guy put a slag hammer through Jack's head. They took him to the hospital and pulled it out, didn't hit any vital areas on Jack. Willy quit racing tho. Best welder you'll ever know, he moved up to Forestville after that. Jack had a beautiful little 250 Ducati. Why does everyone think they need a 1000 cc superbike ? A 250 lb thumper is more fun.
Rudy Galindo ... the LA guys always came up and kicked ass
They thought nothing of throwing a bike into the wall, take the carcass home and throw it in the dumpster, come back out with a new one next week. Rudy's 250 caught fire and burned to the ground one week, two weeks later he was back with a new one.
That may have been the race where a turn worker found a nest of rattlesnakes on the outside of two. Turn workers said, "Not us, babe. We ain't goin' there." Bill Ralston (race director for years) with the hot wife (Joanne ?) told us at the riders' meeting "No turn workers in two, rattlesnake nest there" and for the rest of the day, you'd see guys who didn't mind 120 mph in ten with that concrete wall on the outside, tippy-toeing through two at about twenty-five mph. Could have made up about ten places there but *no one* was going to mess with rattlesnakes.
Tommy Bright ... he was always hanging around the previously-mentioned hot (and nice) wife with his tongue hanging out. People should remember him, wonder where he went ?
Who was it that
always had a beer bottle in hand ? Had his pit guy standing in seven with a cold one, he'd grab it as he went past ? Ran 500 production and some other classes ? fast, funny. I want to say Gennady Liubimsky but it wasn't. Lipanovich ! take that, Alzheimer's ! Jim Lipanovich. Faster when 'under the influence' than sober. Probably not peecee to say that these days ? but it was the truth.
Rhett and Doak, the Cotter twins. Ran production on Nortons and BSA Victims usually but also had a pair of Kwacker Green Meanies. Would go out and spend the race trying to turn off each other's keys, grab the other guy's rear frame loop and get a tow, generally mess with each other. People used to play around a lot ... Rhet was driving for UPS up in Northern California as of a few years ago. "Few' being less than twenty, I guess.
Rusty and Gilly ... I think Gilly only raced a couple times, he couldn't stand not being first
always but damn, could he ride a bike. Was in the elevator install / maintain / repair business last I heard.
I don't see Marc Salvisberg in the results but there must have been a hundred RD-350's in that class. Marc is Factory Pro now, everyone knows him.
Jimmy Deehan is not in the standings but he was often running something or other, showing everybody how it was done. Or going faster than rational on a Norton, anyhow. 2 o6's were quick then, but it was a different track. I remember the 250 GP race when everyone was running under two minute laps, that was a big deal. Of course Rayborn did 1 52's on a flathead but Sears was new then. You had to account for the weeds and bumps in 1976. It was a real race track, not an asphalt billard table.
Deehan was not entirely sane. Used to have the backing of Motorcyles Unlimited, when Craig was but a wee lad. What was his dad's name ? Super nice guy to racers and a strong accent. Alex ! Alex McLean ... And the parts guy there ran AFM sometimes, similar haircut to Paul Ritter but a dry dry sense of humor. Always gave you a discount. Funny as hell, good rider. Ritter was good but remote. Maybe hanging with the crazies just wasn't his style
Judkins, maybe crazier than Deehan, if that's possible. Picked up a hitch-hiker on the Ride once (now
who is going to accept a ride from a bike on the ride ? Maybe need to redefine crazy ...) and overcooked it into the lagoon. Good guy, fast, didn't put so much emphasis onto the points thing, just rode what he wanted. I mention this because he is black and that wasn't a factor in anything. "Diversity" and "tolerance" are not new-fangled. The new-fangled part is making a big deal out of it. In 1976, at least in Northern California, if you acted like a decent guy you were accepted as a decent guy. And Judkins was. Is ? Where'd he go ?
Pat Hennen on a Suzuki twin showed up a couple times, or maybe a year or two earlier. That thing was the baddest sounding two-stroke ever, sounded like shredding concrete. That was pre-mufflers. Mufflers are actually nice but it's a different experience. San Jose with no mufflers was
baaad !! On a 250 start grid in '76 you had to run IFR - more than one beginner when the flag dropped found that his engine wasn't even running.
Harry Hunt was the Dunlop tire guy, should get some credit. Also sold Krober tachs and ignitions. Of course you know what we all nicknamed him ... Dunlops were THE tire then, this was a year or two before Goodyear had anything. Some Michelins. The very first Michelin slicks were all white, would have been perfect for racing that Hudson Hornet
Treaded tires mostly, maybe right about then the first slicks were showing up.
Chambers is still around, living in Richmond collecting the rents from his unsuspecting commercial tenants. He needs to work on the Snidely Whiplash mustache and round up a Sweet Nell to complete the transition.
I don't see Marty Siegel on here but he always ran up front. Broke his back on the Ride, came back to race again, fell down no big deal at Willow ? Or maybe Ontario, went to get in his van at the end of the day to drive home and fell over dead from a brain clot. Marty was always fun.
Paul Unmacht ! Ran open production or maybe 750 Production on a Laverda triple. The Laverda was really a twin-plus-one, strange idea but Paul ran it pretty hard. Laverdas, Ducatis, Morinis and such were "strange" then, not socially acceptable. Fine at AFM but in general, no one bought Ducatis.
Kari Prager would have been running his BMW single at this time, too. The reason he's not in the standings is that it never lasted more than 3/4 of a race. Kari was well known later in life for touring activities, as was Paul.
Should be some more names, if I get past the Oldtimer's I'll put them up ... a good time was had by all. It seems like it was more fun then, less high-pressure. Definitely less expensive. Motorcycles looked like motorcycles, too. If anyone had ridden what's now a common "sport bike" they'd have been laughed off the planet. Jerry bought a 250 Ninja for his daughter to learn on a couple years ago ... stupid 400 lb p.o.s. She'd have been better off with a Tiger Cub. Some things are not better than they were forty years ago.