Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

didn 't scare th e pants off him. You mi ght say it was rea ll y memorable! T o begin with, it was u nb eli evab ly narrow , abo u t 15 feet across a t mos t and sometimes less; th e first year I rode th ere I co u ld n 't see a ny wa y a stoc k car cou ld race down th ere, becau se I had tro u ble driving my car a long at 60 mph it was so bumpy, a nd yo u had to pull over to let so me one pass yo u in the other directi on. Yet we had to race down the re at 130 mph o n bikes. There were no houses like th er e a re th ere tod ay, just p almetto bush es o n eithe r sid e, and a fter a bo u t a mile it very graduall y ros e up a few feet in elevation . At th e top of thi s rise in the grou nd, th e track turned a littl e bit to th e left th en ran downhill to th e So u th Turn: it was o n thi s stre tch that th e fastest sp eeds were a lway s recorded, because yo u didn't h ave th e drag th at th e san d gav e yo u o n th e bea ch . " T ha t first tr ip down th e ba ck stretch in a race was unfor gett ab le: yo u had to be a little cra zy to hold th e th rottle wide o pen a ll th e wa y do wn in th e middl e o f a gia nt pack o f people, al l el bow to elbo w, wh eel to whee l, wid e o pe n a nd bouncing a nd jumping arou nd. Always on th e first la p a rid er or two wou ld drop do wn o ff th e paveme n t into a bo ut a tw o foo t san d gu lly th at lined th e road either side wh ich wo u ld p u t yo u co m pletely out o f co n tro l. I usuall y ro de fast bikes th ere in lat er yea rs, so peo p le wou ld end u p sli ps trea mi ng me, but tha t first vear f had to dr aft th e fa ster b ikes o n m y BSA si ngle, a nd if a freig ht trai n o f three or four o f yo u a ll tu cked in beh ind a factory H a rley ca me upon a slower rid er in the m idd le of the back stretc h , it was a real test o f yo u r rea cti ons to avo id him as th e ride rs in front o f you sudde n ly ducked out o f th e wa y, a nd to do so withou t running off th e pavem ent. So n o, it was n' t pl ain sa iling! " Was th e beach side a ny less terrifyin g , th en , ma ybe? "Well , I gu ess so, unti l a fter th e fir st few la ps sorted everyo ne o u t and th en yo u had to sta rt your little ritua l o f tr ying to decide how far yo u co u ld run n ex t to the wa ter a nd still not hit a wave! You pl a yed that game all da y, because o f course th e tide ca me in a nd ou t during th e race, yet th e closer yo u co u ld go to th e wa ves, th e faster yo u' d run because th e sa nd was we t-packed a nd th ere was less dr a g. The further to th e left yo u went on th e sa n d stre tch , th e drier it go t a nd so th e m or e speed yo u 'd tak e o ff. Also , dependin g on h ow soon before the race the last stor m had been, th e sa nd woul d be smooth o r layin g in so rt of sa nd humm ocks: if yo u go t too far to the left to pass so mebody , you 'd get into g ia n t whoop-de-dos, but if yo u tri ed to tak e th em o n th e righ t a n d m isjudged th e tid e, yo u mi ght ge t h it by a wa ve wh ich co u ld do yo u a lo t o f n o goo d e i t h er! It to ok a lo t o f judgem ent, bu t o ne. th ing you didn' t do was dra ft so meo ne down th e beach stretch, because o f th e sa nd h e'd be throwing up. Even so , I'd be pi ckin g san d o u t of m v hair for th e next three months a fter Da ytona an d as for th e bike, well, it would need co m p lete rebu ilding. But th e first few la p s, before th e sa nd got too rutted a nd yo u sta rte d la p p ing a lot of p eo pl e, it 'd be pretty ni ce, especia lly co rning into th e North T urn: yo u 'd run wid e o pe n on th e beach and turn left in a bi g , gia nt slide with th e thrott le sti ll wi de o pen at 120 mph, just pulling th e gears back as yo u lo st spe ed . It was q ui te a spec tacl e for th e fan s in th e sort o f mak eshift gra n dsta nd th ey put up on th e o u tside th ere, and a t least th ey wer e sa fer th an th e o nes lining th e bac k stretc h. T he re was no crowd co nt ro l o f any kind , a nd people a nd even dogs used to cross th e ro ad in th e mi ddle o f th e race mor e or less as th ey p lea sed , or else sta nd real close to th e side of th e ro ad w ithou t any kind o f ba rrier. T he way th e spee ds we nt up to wa rds th e end, it was inevitab le th ey h ad to mo ve u s into th e Speed way : I'm jus t surprised it took th em a co u p le o f yea rs a fter th e ca rs d id so to start hold in g Note the sand on the tires of Norto n ri de rs (left to right) Bill Tuman, Dick Kla m foth and Billy Matthews. o u r race th ere to o . " ova l. "The AMA had had a di sastrous experience back in th e 50s o n a ban ked tra ck at Cha r lo tte, " exp la ins Mann , " whe n th ree or fou r rid ers were kill ed in a huge accident. At th e ti me it was co mp leted, Da ytona seemed a wonder o f science, but th e stee p bankin gs made th e AMA even mor e co nce rned ab out ru n ni ng bikes th ere. No -one kn ew wha t it wo u ld be lik e, wha t mi ght happen if they did , so they pl a yed safe for three yea rs till they fina ll y let us loose on th e full circu it in 1964. " r:- Even whe n th e move took p lace event ua ll y for th e 196 1 race , it was o n ly to a sho rt tw o-mil e infield co u rse wh ic h cu t o u t a ll but th e ge n tlybanked fin ishin g section o f the tri - Next weekwe'll present the secondand final part of our interviewwith Dick Mann, "The Daytona 200 On the high banks." : YAMAHA. Motorcycleswith built-in' insurance. Sounds like a pretty radical idea. Doesn 't it?Well , it's real. Every 1991 street-legal motorcyclewe sell comes with insurancebuilt right in! All you have to do is grabtheone that grabs you , show us you r valid driver's license, and you 're fully covered* for ayear. Looking for the catch? Sorry, thereisn't one. Considering the availability and cost of insurance, it's asmart idea. And ,with our financing program, owning aYamaha is easier than ever. So , get on the one motorcyclethat's likeno world .Yamaha. other inthe A j((fft~YAMAHA G?~~tch.y . license required. 'InsuranceP rogramis optional and not available inall states.Ask your local dealer for availability.

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