VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P137
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Besides Romero, other former
and future champs like Gary
Nixon, Dick Mann, Mert Lawwill
and Mark Brelsford were there,
along with road race aces like
Cal Rayborn, Yvon Duhamel, Art
Baumann and Jody Nicholas.
The grid had four-strokes, two-
strokes, Triumphs, Harley-David
-
sons, Yamahas, Kawasakis and
Suzukis, but the best motorcycle
to ride this day was a BSA. And
on this day, nobody rode one
faster than Aldana.
When the green flag dropped
for the Talladega 200 in May
1970, it was Triumph rider Gary
Nixon with the lead, which he
would hold for the next 22 laps
until gearbox problems cropped
up. Aldana had slipped past
Nixon's teammate Don Castro
and was now closing the gap on
the leader. The gremlins inside
Nixon's Triumph traveled from
the transmission to the throttle
and somehow forced it to stick
wide open, and the two men
collided on the track. Nixon went
down, Aldana stayed upright and
was off to his first-ever National
win. Castro held on to second
until his own Triumph began
having clutch problems, turning
over second place to Suzuki rider
Jody Nicholas. Third was On Any
Sunday hero Jim Rice, with Art
Baumann and Dick Mann round
-
ing out the top five. BSA, Suzuki,
BSA, Suzuki and BSA.
It would be another six years
before Tom Petty and The Heart-
breakers would release their hit
single "Breakdown." Perhaps
he received his inspiration from
AMA road racing, because
mechanical failures were nearly
always a factor in determin
-
ing the outcome of 1970s road
races. By race's end, the broken
Triumphs of Nixon and Castro
were joined by the Harleys of
Rayborn and Brelsford. Cycle
News' results section seems to
indicate that there were at least
20 racers whose day ended with
broken-down motorcycles.
Aldana picked up a cool
$8000 in prize money and con
-
tingencies that day. He would go
on to win two more AMA nation-
al events that season and finish
third in the final points stand-
ings. His career continued on
with rides from Norton, Suzuki
and other manufacturers, before
retiring from professional racing
in the mid-'80s. Today, in his 70s,
Aldana can still be seen sporting
his famous skeleton leathers at
vintage dirt track events around
the country.
CN
(Above) Aldana turned Pro just
five years after learning to ride a
motorcycle at 15. (Left) Aldana rode
for several factory teams, including
Suzuki; however, his first road race
National win came on a BSA in 1970.
