Cycle News

VOL. 56 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 15, 2019 P99 Ludlow's popularity was such after Syracuse, that Harley-Davidson employed him to travel the coun- try in a sidecar to host racing film shows to various clubs and other organizations interested in the sport. Throughout the 1920s, Syracuse hosted among the biggest motorcy- cle racing events, where elite riders like Jim Davis, John Seymour, Ralph Hepburn, Gene Walker, Joe Petrali and Curley Fredericks won major titles. It was also the site of some of the most intense battles between the Harley and Indian factory teams. Both squads would bring out all their big guns and often supply factory bikes to additional riders to stack the deck for Syracuse. Joe Petrali was another rider who made his name at Syracuse. Petrali practically owned the track through- out the 1930s, winning dozens of national titles there during that decade. The Syracuse Mile also hap- pened to be one of the final tracks that continued to host Class A races (super-tuned factory bikes) well into the Class C (production bikes) era. The last major Class A Champion- ship event was held at Syracuse in 1938, but by then the factory specials of the early 20s that were still being raced were just about museum pieces by then—with the exception of the British-made JAP- powered machines which won most of the races in the mid-to-late 30s. By that point, Class A was mostly for the old timers hanging on to the memories of the first generation of American motorcycle racing. The real momentum and youthful excite- ment in the motorcycle racing by the late 30s had long since moved to the production bikes of Class C. In 1939, the comparatively big, heavy and slower machines of Class C were finally featured at Syracuse. Reading, Pennsylvania rider Lester Hillbish scored the victory that year on a Sport Scout ahead of fellow Indian riders Stan Witinski and Ed Kretz. Hillbish's run broke an AMA speed record for a 50-mile event and his mark would hold well into the 1950s. Indian swept the first five places at Syracuse in '39, with the top-placing Harley ridden by Babe Tancrede in sixth. The '39 edition of the Syra- cuse Mile was the last one until after World War II. Bobby Hill kept Indian's domination of the track alive with his victories in 1952 and '53. And then the race was bizarrely off the calendar after '53 not to return for over 20 years. Syracuse returned in 1974 to great fanfare and 10,000 fans, in spite of thunderstorms across the region. Rookie Expert Hank Scott took the victory in the return race over fellow Harley riders Rex Beauchamp and Doug Sehl. Promoters of Syracuse were also one of the first to begin the tradition of bringing back old racers to honor them. In 1987, Woodsie Castonguay, a star from the 30s, was honored as Grand Marshall of the Gold Cup Mile National at Syracuse. The Syracuse Mile had some quirks that made it challenging for riders. Turn one was broad and often offered multiple racing lines, but the track tightened up in turn two with riders saying the outside wall closed in on you fast. Turns three and four formed a completely dif- ferent racing line than one and two. And then there was the hump on the front straight that could get the front end of the bikes light and some- times cause a high-speed wobble. Syracuse was the host of back- to-back doubleheader nationals in 1992 and '93. Jay Springsteen got along well with Syracuse and won there four times in the 70s and 80s. Bubba Shobert was also a four-time winner. Ricky Graham scored three, includ- ing sweeping the doubleheader in '93. Surprisingly, all-time AMA Grand National Mile King Scott Parker only managed a single vic- tory there—that came in 1992. Chris Carr won what turned out to be the final national held there in 2005, fol- lowing another lengthy 12-year gap between Syracuse Miles. The Syracuse Mile was one of those races that produced great loy- alty. Faithful fans endured rainouts, cancelations and long days waiting out the weather, but still they came back year after year. Some say it was the aura of the place that won them over. In spite of efforts of pres- ervationists, the track was torn down in 2016, with the old grandstands imploded. You can watch that if you care to on YouTube. While the track is now in the record books, it will live long in the memories of the riders and fans who for decades enjoyed their annual trek to Upstate New York. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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