I have been involved in flat track racing from the early 70’s. I built and maintained several motorcycles for some of the amateur racers in my area. Then I met a guy from Akron, Ohio. We hit it off pretty good and I started to work with his Dad in the pits. He rode several classes and we had to have his bikes ready one after the other. He rode everything: Short Track, Half-mile and Speedway bikes. As the years passed I met a guy who built XR-750s and Short Track bikes for a Harley-Davidson Dealer in Warren, Ohio. I started going to the GNC races which were then Camel Pro Series. He had several GNC riders riding for the shop and from that day forward I was hooked.

As the years passed, I drifted away from motorcycle racing and went into late model stock car racing. I worked in that field for a few years and then on March 18, 1974 I walked away from it.

A few years later, I started looking back into Flat Track and I found out there wasn’t much racing around like it was 4 years earlier.

The time finally came for me to get back into it not as a racer but as a team owner. I spoke with a great motor builder and asked if he would be interested in building my motors until I was able to do it myself. We talked several times on the phone and finally I went to talk in person.

I purchased my first Harley-Davidson XR-750 and before you know it I was a mission. The first few years I started out running a limited program. We were running a few half-miles that were with in 4 or 5 hours of home. I was working out of my home for the first few years in a residential neighborhood so I had to be pretty quiet. No hole shots in the front yard!

From that I have grown to a full working machine shop ( just for my racing bikes) and now have 3 - XR-750’s, 2 Rotax 505s, one C&J frame and one Woods frame. Along with the changing times, I have gotten two Honda CRF 450s. One is set up for the Short Track and the other for the TT’s.

 

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