Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Jack Mil ne re t urning fr om E u ro pe and Australia with tales of speedway racing, th at sport was born in America. Tauser wrote in the january, 1934 ed ition of MOTORCYCLISTS: "Now th at Nite Speed way h as gained its fir st fo oth o ld in th is country, the sp o rt has pos sib ilit ies o f becom ing o ne o f the maj o r enter tainmen t s of th e Am erican sports lo vers ." E.C . Smi t h agreed. " In 1932 it (Night . Spe edway) was a real small child," Smith wrote. "But in 1933 it gre w and grew plenty. The future p o ssib ili te s are so great. . ,It ' In 1938. Smith rep o rted that the previous y ear the AMA had sanctioned 72 race meets, 370 nigh t speedway race s, 145 hillclirnbs, 142 road eve nts includin g enduros and reliability trials, 208 11 races, 114 fiel d m ee t s , two po lo gam es and three speed record attem pts . The 193 8 25·mile n ati onal race at Sprin gfi eld, ill in oi s, p aid a p ur-se o f $2 ,800, princel v fo r th e t ime and pro o f tn at competruo n had n ot b een ign ored during Sm ith' s all-o ut charge to "build up th e cl ubs ." T he re were seve ral h ighligh ts of that fir st decad e of th e E.C. Smi th era . In 19 34, the m emb ership pin co ncep t was expanded to in cl ude se rvice pins. T hus , each year th at a mem b er re newed hi s m em b e r sh ip , h e receive d his m emb ership car d and a pin showing the n umber of years that he had belon ged to Al\; A. Fo rty ye ars later, the p rac t ice I of issuing service pins continues . In 1935 , t he first n a t i on a l ch ampionship for club activities was awa r ded to Frit zie 's R o am e rs o f Springfield , Massachuse tts. Led by the ind omit able Fritzie Baer , the 78-member Roame rs were an E.C. Smith favorite, h avin g gen erated 2,100 column in ches of "favorable p ub liciry " and staged two charity races in a single year. In 1936 , Smith established activity contests for AMA cl ubs . Points were awarded for vario us activities, m an y of wh ich refl ect ed E.C.'s pench an t fo r public relations . At the end o f th e year. th e AMA donated trophies to the hi gh -point members o f ' various clubs ac ros s th e c o u n try, thus crea ting ' in cen t ive to b elong t o a motorcycle group and to be an active member . Safe t y was an o t he r maj or thrust during the Smith ye ars an d in 1936, a nationwide safety program was initi ated in cooperation with the National Safety Council. Prestigious AMA awards we re the prizes, presen ted to individuals and clubs who re corded the most miles o f accident-free motorcycling. It was during the early years of E.C . Smith 's work with the M IA th at Americ a won its only World Ch ampionship title in international motorcycle competition. Speedway racing had been br~ught ' to the states by a co u ple of brothers, J ack and Cordy Milne, and the spectacular excitement of the sport took the nation by storm. As already indicated, it was the m o st freq uently sanctioned form of AMA competitio n, with tracks and stars coast-to-coast, The height of speedway raci ng in America came in Sep tembe r , 1937 when , before 50,000 fans at We mb ley Stadium in We mbley, En gl and, American Jack Milne of Pas adena , Cal ifo rnia, won th e Worl d Speedway Ch am pionsh ip. E .C. Smi th 's sk ill as an organizer and the enthusiasm with which the d ealer network ar ound the country supported the AM A ar e evi d enc e d in a 19 3 6 Smi th co up wherein dealer meet in gs wer e sanctio ne d b y the Am erican Motorcycle Associ a tio n . H arl e y -Davidson and Indian were the d omin an t forces in American m o t o rcy cling a nd in order .t o at t en d o ne o f th eir annual deale r me e t in gs, th e co m pa nies m a d e m e mb ersh ip in the AMA a pre-requisite ! Smith als o p layed a major part in the organization o f two major American mot or c ycling classics, Laconia and Daytona . T he former w as the dream o f Fritzie Baer, fonnerlv an executive in the In d ian Motorcycle Co mpan y and t he organizer of Fritzie's . Roamers. MOTORCY CLE IN CO:VIPETITION by Han k Wieand Bowman says , "Witho ut Frit z ie Ba e r , hi s canary -yellow tw o -wh eeler , h is re d -felt mi lli ne ry. h is genial boomi ng-voiced e nth us ias m , t he 100 -mil e ro ad grind mi ght well have bee n a co lossal flop : "To get 15,000 cycle fan s to hau l up into the ru gged m o un t ain regio n (near Lo udon , New Hamp sh ire ) tak es a bit o f pro m o ti o n al skill. Fritzie h as that to spare, but no t th e Broadway sh ill type of conning . Fritzie's stock in trade is a love of cycling an d whe n he offers cyclists a racing event . you can bet y o u r last kidney-bel t rivet the race will be a real go." Bultaco congratulates the AMA on their first 50 years! T he fir st Laconia National in 19 38 was a " go" indeed with Ed Kretz , the fa med "Iron Man" fr om Monterey Park, California , jo u rney i n g across th e country to t ake th e inaugural runn in g. Daytona on the o th e r hand was the realization of a dream of E.C. Smi th . The Florida classic finds its ro o ts a t the Ca m p Foster co urse at Jacksonville, Florida, in 19 34 when Bremen Sy kes of Sa van n ah , Georgia, won the inaugural 2 00-m ile road race in a time of 3 h o u rs, 39.03 secon ds on a Harley- Davi dson. The '35 eve nt again ran at Jac ksonville; Savannah , Ge orgia was th e site in 19 3 6 an d in 1937 " Iro n Man " Ed Kr etz won the first Daytona 200 o n th e sands of th e " World 's Mo st Fam ous Beac h ." It w as he re ,th at Smi th realized h is dream , as Da ytona quickly develo ped in to a week-long mo t orcy cle happening e nco m p assing nearl y every type" o f two-wheeled fu n from professional and a ma te u r co m p et itio n through club event s an d a motorcycle show to a gala _ aw ard s cere mo ny . Smith is proud th at , w hile th e Daytona 200 has b ecome o ne , . o f the singular motorcycle race s in the world, the spirit of Dayton a Motorcycle Speed Week remains one of go od fun for motorcyclists of all types an d all in terests, . THE SECOND DECADE The second ten years o f E.C. Smith's work for the , American Motorcycle Associ ation was marked by a continuation of the program of club involvement and public relations . By World War 11 and the implementation of lessons learned b y Smith during the fall of the FAl\1, an d by the doubling o f th e AMA's f ull-time staff, (from one man t o two) with the addition of another o f Jack Pine organizer Oscar Lenz wheels his hac k to an observation point. Bultaco Motorcycles and Miura Productsfor the serious rider! EAST : WEST: Bultaco International Ltd. Bultaco International Ltd. P. O.Box 62 457 Virginia Beach, VA 234 62 P.O . Box 101 Santa Clara, CA 95052 15

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