Still....Keeping Track Fall Issue

[firstturn]

Great issue and especially since Ted was able to get a up close interview with Steve Wise.  Having raced against him the only thing I could have wished for was a Christmas Card with a picture of the front of his bike since I never saw it in a race.  Steve was the picture perfect 125 racer and when he moved to the 250 it was a incredible race to watch.  In the article it only mentioned Kent Howerton and Steve Stackable, but I am here to tell you there 10 or more other riders that showed up at races in Texas that were or should have been Pros.  Just ask Donny Smith.  I will share with you that at a normal weekend race at Houston's Rio Bravo track there would be between 300 and 400 125 riders broken down to 40 per class.  It was not uncommon for the 125 Experts(Pros) to turn the fastest lap times off all classes on a long GP track.

  I have always wondered, if Honda would have picked up Steve in 1974 for a factory ride, would History been changed for a lot of other people.  As it turned out he was the first Privateer to win a 125 National and went on to Greatness both on and off the track.  I think to be named AMA Professional Athlete of the Year in 1982 was just reward considering all the people who were making great stides in Racing that year.  Steve has been a great role model for other riders, especially the young upcoming ones, and his Ministries has touched  helped a lot of people and been an inspiration to me as well as a lot of other people that raced against him, or was able to see him race in all forms of motorcycle racing.

  In closing I will have to say that the race in the Astrodome(1982) had to be one of the top 5 races I have ever witnessed and really gave the Class C bunch a eye full of what a Moto Crosser could do on a TT track.  There is something majic about racing in the Astrodome where a lot of riders say their greatest moments and memories happened.  If you don't believe that just ask our own Larry Perkins when he won the School Boy National Championship there on a 100 Penton against all the Fast DG & FMF equipped Hondas, Yamahas and Suzukis.

Again thanks Ted, Reb, Al, Paul and all the other people who contribute to the Still Keeping Track.

Ron Carbaugh

[OUCWBOY]

At many MX's through out Texas in the day, you never knew who would show up at any given event. The big W, always struck fear in many riders. It was not uncommon to look at the starting line and see names like Stackable, Howerton, Wise, Tony Wynn, Wyman Priddy, Mark Harrington, Randy Carthrell (SP). If you just looked at the line up out of Penton Central, any of those guy could win on any day. Even after the CR 125 Honda hit the streets, it would still be either Penton or Monark in the top 3 spots. The guy I tuned for was so impressed by Steve Wise and the W on his number plate that Tommy put a big T on his plates. There were so many great riders from the Texas / Oklahoma area in those days that not only rode MX, but Class C as well. On almost any Saturday night you could see guys battling on the short tract and then see the same guys fighting it out on Sunday, at the MX. Some had great success as a PRO and others had their careers ended due to injury.
Some of the very best 125 racing I have ever seen, was at the 125 Tri State Championship held every year at Amarillo in the fall. In 1971 when the 1st CMF Pentons were out, there were about 40 Pentons, 10 Monarks, a few Yamahas, couple of DKWs one or two tricked out Hodakas, one or two Bultacos, a Maico and the event was won, I'm sad (and was thrilled at the time) by a 125 Montesa that I built. Sure UPSET the Penton Central boys though. The best riders as far away as CA and FL and all points in between would attend only to go home empty handed, because the boys from Oklahoma or Texas would smoke them. Years later when I attended races at Carlsbad or any track in Southern CA, I would see guys that we raced against in Texas. That was a great feeling.

Donny Smith

[Big Mac]

Agree--great issue. Liked Ted's play-by-play on Vintage Days at Mid-Ohio...it would be like 5,000 miles round trip, but I'm now inspired to make it there sooner or later.

On his brief note about meeting Siege, "a British fellow who makes Hodaka shirts"--had to laugh! He only looks British(?) Actually a good old artsy Yank from Seattle, webmaster and racer extrordinaire in our Pac NW parts. And also an occasional post-er on the POG site, as I think a few of us locals inspired him to take the plunge with a 250 HS project.

True, Siege art and shirt-designs are a bit edgy, but underneath is a down-to-earth guy who does things just a bit stranger than most, like applying oddball names to his bikes. A favorite is "Poison Lil".

"Siege" is a shortened morph of his nickname "CJ", which comes from the official government-record, Christopher James. But it does add some Attilla-the-Hun flavor to the mystique.

Mac, in THE Portland (OR)

[OhioTed]

Pardon my gaff for mistaking Seige for an ex-pat Brit.  Either he's adopted an accent, or I'd been breathin' too much 2-stroke exhaust from all them Hodakas.  Thanks for the clarification, Mac, and my apologies to CJ.
                            Ted

[firstturn]

Donny,
  A Montesa may have won, but your rider it was truely a rare talent.  I hope someday you can share some of the pictures you have of Tommy smoking some future National Champions at the tracks in Texas.  He was truely a talent that would have been one of the great ones if he hadn't of had the heat stroke.  There are riders like Steve, Tommy and others that had all the talent of when the "Glory Days of Moto X" was really won by some of the most talented riders of all times.  Thanks for the story and great memories.


Ron Carbaugh