machines. The riders were just
as varied as the bikes, with
racers ranging from 24-year-old
Nick LaPaglia (brother of Mike
LaPaglia) to 77-year-old Lars
Larsson, one of the original pio-
neers of motocross in the United
States.
LaPaglia emerged as one of
the big winners, overalling eight
of the 12 motos on the day, pow-
ering his '74 250 Cross around
the track like Eli Tomac, as he
scrubbed jumps and wheel-
tapped over the dragon-back. All
eyes were on the battle between
Steve Ellis and Chip Howell, for
the 1975 to 1984 50+ class. The
two rivals duked it out with Ellis
taking the win.
Notable competitors include
Nigel Green and Jim Shand who
came all the way from the UK,
and Joe Root from the Philip-
pines. More participants came
from as far away as Alaska,
Texas and New Mexico.
As part of the Husky Champi-
onship, the Bruce Brown Life-
time Achievement Award was
presented on Sunday afternoon,
this year's award going to Lars
Larsson. The Swedish-born San
Diego resident came to the U.S.
in 1967 at the invite of Edison Dye
and was one of the first sales
representatives for the Husqvarna
Motorcycles brand in America.
He revealed he has been rac-
ing motocross for 60 years as of
2019, and doesn't appear to have
any intention of stopping. Gunnar
Lindstrom was also presented
with a Bruce Brown Lifetime
Achievement Award, his from the
2018 event, where he was not on
site to accept it.
"The main thing was for ev-
eryone to have a fun time," said
race founder Brian Catterson.
"And I think we accomplished
that. I think every single guy
there thanked me at one point
over the weekend. We're already
looking ahead to next year's
event where we hope to grow
even more."
Find more info and results at
www.huskywc.com.
Jean Turner
IN
THE
WIND
P48
Lars Larsson (left) and
Gunnar Lindstrom were
the recipients of the
Bruce Brown Lifetime
Achievement Awards
(Lindstrom's from 2018).
