Adrenalin does wonders for you -- for a while -- then it wears off! hehe!Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team
Geo
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Adrenalin does wonders for you -- for a while -- then it wears off! hehe!
Geo
Crashing Motorcycles
I'm back at it again - remembering my "past". But this "past" is not all that old when you consider how long I raced.
Fact this "crash" happened in 1997 at Daytona as I was trying to qualify for a position in the starting field for the AMA Pro 600 Super Sport race.
I had failed to qualify for this race for two years running. And I was really "bummed out". There were always 80 starting positions available. But the problem was, there were always over a hundred entry's trying to qualify for the race.
And they were all "crazy young'ns" who didn't mind "throwing it down the road" in their quest to qualify.
Qualify or CRASH trying - that was their motto!
Unfortunately for me, at 58 years old, I was thinking like a "28" year old.
And when the TV interviewers came around to chat with me since I was so "old", it really "pumped me up" just a "tad" more.
Being a "poor boy" racer and not having the "latest" equipment in my previous attempts at making the field, 1997 was a totally different deal for me!
I had a close friend that I had helped out when he was a kid just getting started in roadracing back in the '70s. Now he was a Honda dealer and he supplied me with a brand new race bike to take to Daytona.
I was "over the moon".!! What a chance for me! I could make history being the oldest "stupid person" to ever qualify for the final of a professional 600 Super Sport AMA race.
On Thursday qualifying time rolled around. And I was "in the zone". Fact I was "in the zone" just a "bit" over my head, as it turned out.
Ever had that feeling that you were gonna "win" or crash trying? In this case, for me, it was "qualify" or crash trying.
We rolled out for the first of two 30 minute qualifying sessions. The 80 fastest times of the two sessions would make the final.
Every one else goes home.
On the first lap I warmed up the tyres. Then at the beginning of the second lap I started "pushing" really hard! Got down to turn 5 in the infield and headed to turn six, which dumped you back up on the west banking of the NASCAR oval.
That is the last I remember. Everything else was permanently erased from my memory.
My next memory was hearing my son, Chuck, asking "Dad - wake up"!
I was in the track hospital. And I didn't have a "clue" as to what had happened -- other than remembering that the last thing I recalled was coming out of turn 5 and heading for turn six and the banking.
I don't remember much for the next couple of days. They had me set up so I could punch a button and get a "boost" of pain killers. And Boy did I ever push that button a LOT over the next few days.
This was by far the WORST crash of my entire racing life! I broke my shoulder, 4 ribs and my ankle in this crash.
But believe it or not, I was back on the track in just two months! Was I
stupid? Yea, you bet! "Possesed" with the desire to win at Daytona on a Motorcycle, as I had already done with a boat and a car.
My life was not complete yet.
I didn't fulfill that dream until 2000.
But my dream finally DID come true in 2000!!!
Oh, by the way. I don't remember anything about that crash. But the corner workers told me that I got sidways, then the bike snapped back and I got the typical "high side" get off you get when that happens.
They said that I flew into the air at least 15 feet before I came down on
the pavement.
My bike continued on up the banking and hit the wall, totally destroying it.
I had another crash that was almost that bad back in '76. But I was younger then and I only missed one race due to a collapsed lung and a broken collarbone.
Was I "crazy" most of my life? You BET!
But now I'm retired --- Finally figured out my type A problem!! hehe
EZ (stupid)
George, you were just working on a bucket list.
So how exactly did that dream go down in 2000 George?
Daytona 2000
Hi Wayne,
I've attached my "Daytona Report 2000". You can read all about it. A VERY special day for me! In fact by FAR my MOST special Day of my entire racing career!!!!
I wrote the report the day after the win -- and believe me I was still on a "high" for another three weeks after the race!
Surprising when you consider that I was the APBA A alky Hydro National champion in '58. And set the A hydro 5 mile competition world record in '59 along with the NOA A hydro straightaway record in '59.
You would have thought that those achomplishments would have had more meaning. But they didn't.
I think the reason why was the fact that I've known from the beginning that I was always a much better boat racer than I ever was as a m/c racer. I was a "natural" in boats. Not on motorcycles though. I really had to work hard to become truly competitive in cycle racing. In boats it came easy for me.
I became obsessed with winning a m/c race at Daytona back in the 70's, but could never make it happen, although I made it up on the podium a number of times.
But I just refused to give up! And here I was, in 2000, with a chance to win a m/c race at Daytona at 60 years old. And I did!
That's why it was my "DREAM COME TRUE"!!!
Here's a side note -- once you finally "break through" it takes the pressure off. Up until 2000 I had finished second at Daytona in a m/c race a total of 7 times.
Then, after 2000, I won two more 250 races at Daytona before I retired.
My last win was when I was 67 years old.
More than you probably wanted to know --- but then, you just "had" to
ask, didn't you!!! hehehehe
And I'm going to keep on asking George. What a great story. How fast did those bikes run on the straights and what speeds through chicanes and hairpin?
Hi Wayne,
My 250cc Yamaha TD3 GP bike was capable of around 148 mph on the "walls". The slowest speed on the entire track was through the international horseshoe as it is called. That was at around 65mph.
After the international horseshoe was what was called the "dogleg" turn to the left. The speed through the "dogleg" if you had HUGE balls was WFO.
Of course the "walls" were WFO all the way through.
Our average lap times were over 100 mph in all categories.
In short, we were "truck'n"!
Back in the middle seventies I road a Yamaha TZ 750 GP bike in the 200 race a couple of years.
The TZ was capable of 185mph on the banks, even back in those days -- if you had the "balls"! And it truly took HUGE balls to do it because the HP of the TZ 750's far out stripped the ability of the chassis to handle it.
The first time I roda a TZ 750 on the walls, it scared the living **** outa me! I wasn't willing to even hold it wide open because the bike was shaking so bad.
I came in and asked my much more experienced friend about the problem. And this is what he said:
"Just hold it WFO" and "hold on tight".
So I went back out and tried it. It worked! We had to put knee pads on and turn them sidways to absorb all the banging that the fuel tank was hitting our knees with.
Oh, and by the way, don't "pop up" from behind the fairing at 180 unless you have a "death grip" on the clip on's. And that might not even
be enough!
When we rode the walls of Daytona with our TZ 750's and right on through to this day, you really can not see where you are headed very clearly. For one thing, due to the walls banking it limits how far ahead you can see. Then, there is so much shaking going on that everything is a huge blur.
Crazy?? Yea, big time!!! But we all had the same disease -- Type A personalities that require living on the "edge".
Like I said earlier, I don't have a clue as to why I'm still around???
EZ
Your "from the pits" photos
Hi Wayne,
I spent around an hour today looking at your photo posts on "in the pits". I've been there a lot of late.
I'm so happy that you took so many pictures back then. Especially the ones from the 60's and 70's.
It's really filling a huge void in my boat racing past. A past that I would have LOVED to have been a part of!
My mother gave me a choice. Quit racing boats, or move out.
I was 18 at the time and decided to honor her wishes.
To this day, I wonder if I made the right decision?
I had full sponsorship from Konig and Walt Blankenstein. And they made it clear that the choice was mine.
I continued to race boats up into the early sixties. But it was carried out in the "stealth" mode and all I could do was race occasionally in stock outboard races under an assumed name - and with no support.
Over my lifetime of racing I've come to two different "forks in the road" where I had to make a decision. Now you know of my first decision.
Down the road I'll tell you about my next "fork in the road".
EZ
Dan Pigott's thread
I was reading through the early postings on Dan's thread and it set me to thinking about the SEBA (Southeastern Boating Association)
Here's some comments on my experiences racing SEBA.
Oh, and please remember - I'm 71 and suffer from advancing CRAFT disease, so if I repeat some stories, please cut me some slack!
Hi everyone,
I read some comments on Dannys early thread about SEBA.
So I decided to “update” my thread with information regarding SEBA and Dan’s comments.
To you Dan:
Your Lake Haar photo was so KOOL! Thanks! Raced there MANY times in the 50's with the SEBA guys.
As I recall it was a man made lake. Not very big. Kinda like racing stock cars on a 1/4 mile oval!
That is where I first met Deter Konig. And that led to my association with Deter and the importer, Scott Smith, in Dallas, Ga.
And ending up as a sponsored driver for Konig.
Deter was "spot on" when he said the "tough guys" were in SEBA.
But what a lot of the guys of today didn't know was why SEBA was so competitive.
Very simple answer! They paid damn good money at all their races!
The minimum was $20, 15, 10 and 5 in each heat at most races. And probably 40% of the time the pay out was more like 35,25,20 and 15 per heat.
Meanwhile, the APBA was doing lots of stock outboard races all over the country. But they were amateur, and only gave out trophies. No cash allowed.
Alky races meant paying money, so guess what happened. Pro racing in APBA slowly wilted.
The Florida "citrus circuit" was still around in the winter. but NOA and SEBA was where the money was.
That's the whole reason my Dad and I were racing SEBA. They paid "hard cash"! And we were racing 20 or more weekends a year in Georgia and
Alabama mostly. With a few races in Fla that my dad helped organize.
And making damn good money doing it, if you had competitive equipment.
As a teen during the years 55, 56, 57 and 58 I used to win an average of
100 bucks each race weekend. For those times, that was good money.
I always had cash to chase girls with!
And afford motels and meals too! And not have to sleep in my car at the
race site.
Those were fantastic times!!! But, being a "jerky kid", I never fully realized that until many years later!
In the late 50's I concentrated on APBA alky racing as I wanted a chance at setting some records. And I did.
Won the APBA alky A Hydro championship in '58. Then, in '59 I set the World 5 mile competition record in A Hydro at 60.060mph.
And also set an NOA A hydro straightaway record of 71 mph.
Then my Dad was killed racing on Lake Lloyd at the Daytona International Speedway on June 14, 1959.
That altered my life's path considerably.
Geo (EZ)
More Musings from EZ
Ah, YES! Retirement is great!
Went up to Barber Motorsports last weekend to attend the Vintage motorcycle races.
We sure had a great time! First time I've ever been up to Barber when I was not racing. When your racing, as
you know, you don't get out of the paddock much.
But this time we only spent about an hour in the paddock with Chris and Carl, and other friends.
The rest of the time we were doing the "Barber" thing the way it needs to be done. Lot's o' walking!!
And it wore our asses OUT!
Barber has added LOTS of stuff since I was last in the Museum three years ago.
We had a FANTASTIC time!!
And now he has added outboard racing motors also.
It is the largest motorcycle Museum in the world. ! He has 1500 vintage bikes in his collection. And 750 of them are on display at all times.
And he's up to 75 vintage race cars now too.
I was in "Lotus" heaven with all the Lotus' stuff Barber has added!!!!!
I took over 200 pictures in the Museum.
I've posted some with this posting.
This was the largest Vintage m/c racing gathering in the last decade in the US. Over 600 entrys. As can be seen in the photos, the paddock goes on forever. And that is only ONE row. There are a total of 4 rows.
Over the two day, there were over 60,000 spectators!
The HD mc with sidecar and 50 caliber machine gun is exactly like the one that I have to protect "Hooterville"!! hehe
The Lotus 23 pictured is the same model I drove in the early sixties
The Lotus 11 is the second race car I ever owned.
And the outboard motor pictures -- well, I'm sure everyone recognizes
the ones in the pictures.
The midget racer #18 is powered by an Evenrude 4-60. A very common power plant for midget racers of the 30's and 40's.
Enjoy!!
Oh, on another note -- I was doing some research this morning into my SEBA racing past. And I found some very interesting information about
Lake Haar, up close to Pooler, Ga. We raced there a lot in the 50's.
Follow these links. And Remember. String all the data togather before entering it in your browser:
http://www.goingoutside.com/lake/102...e_Georgia.html
http://maps.google.com/?sll=32.14,-81.495&spn=0.05,0.05
http://www.placenames.com/us/p337203/
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=El...geocode=LATLNG
Geo (EZ)
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