CNIIARCHIVES
P130
BY KENT TAYLOR
ZDENEK VELKY
LAST OF
THE GLORY
YEARS
Zdenek Velky was one of the top motocross
racers from Czechoslovakia in the 1970s.
I
f today's race fans could hitch
a ride in a Chevy van and go all
the way (back to the 1970s), they
might find that old-time moto-
cross is not all right with them.
Race day, even at the profes-
sional level, often seemed to be
more like an amateur affair. Pro-
gram schedules were little more
than rough estimates, with the
forward falling gates frequently
falling hours after the posted
time. Promoters fought losing
battles against the dust, deploy-
ing water trucks that were about
as reliable as the race bikes
themselves, the latter of which
were fouling spark plugs, break
-
ing chains and seizing pistons at
almost every race.
Such a day was July 13, 1975,
in Herman, Nebraska, where an
Inter-Am race was held, an event
which featured many "finals." It
was the final round of the 1975
series, which also turned out to
be the final Inter-Am event ever.
When Czech rider Zdenek Velky
took the checkered flag in the
second moto, it would also be
the final moto victory for CZ mo
-
torcycles in AMA professional
motocross.
Velky's win marked the end
of an era for the Czechoslova
-
kian brand in the U.S. Legend-
ary American riders like Barry
Higgins, Sonny DeFeo, Marty
Tripes, Brad Lackey and Tony
DiStefano had all won races on
CZ motorcycles in the early days
of AMA professional motocross.
Even Bob Hannah got his start in
racing aboard a CZ.
But by 1974, many of the fa
-
mous American CZ riders had ei-
ther retired or moved on to other
brands, so the factory sent Velky
and his teammate Jaroslav Falta
to represent the marque in both
the summer Inter-Am series and
the Superbowl of Motocross,
held at the Los Angeles Coli
-
seum. And a successful summer
