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AUGUST 23, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 88 I f you look at old AMA national racing records there is one oddity that immediately catches your eye. On August 8, 1948, Lakewood Park, a one-mile horse-racing track in Atlanta, hosted that year's AMA 10-Mile National and the event listed two first-place finishers - Harley-Davidson-mounted Billy Huber and Indiana's Bobby Hill. No - there weren't two separate races; the 10-Mile National that year was deemed by officials a dead heat - the only one recorded in AMA nationals history. Billy Huber and Bobby Hill were about as differ- ent as two racers could be. Huber was a short, muscular, hard-nosed veteran from Reading, Pennsylvania. A second-generation racer, Huber was one of the first stars of the AMA's Class-C production racing class that launched in the early 1930s, a Depression-era response to the highly specialized factory-backed, fuel-burning Class-A bikes of the teens and '20s. Huber had been racing since the late 1930s, and by 1948 he was a 28- year-old veteran with numerous regional victories to his credit. His style was wide-open through the turns, bars to full lock. Hill, on the other hand, was wiry country gentleman originally from West Virginia. Even though in 1948 he was 26, Hill was just in his second year on the Nationals, having to wait out World War II in the Marines before getting his start as a pro. Hill's racing style was smooth- ness personified - wheels in line and nary a wasted movement in his forward motion. The biggest difference between the two, of course, was the brands they raced. The 1940s marked perhaps the zenith of the Harley-Davidson vs. Indian race battles. Huber's father raced Harley's in the old board-track racing days and the Hubers were faithful to the Milwaukee maker. Hill, while not as dedicated to Indian as Huber to Harley, was nevertheless a factory-backed Indian rider, so fans of the Wigwam were totally behind for the young pro. The one thing Huber and Hill did share was the fact that neither had won a national. Both had come agonizingly close. Huber scored his first podium before the war in the infamous Langhorne (Pennsylvania) 100-Mile National in 1941. He also finished a close runner-up to Leo Anthony just a few months before the Atlanta race in the Three-Mile National held in Spencer, Iowa. Hill nearly scored a huge upset victory in his profes- sional debut at the Daytona 200 in March of 1947. Hill ran second to Johnny Spiegelhoff on the beach course and he was getting corresponding signals from his pit. What they hadn't accounted for, though, was the stag- gered-time starts Daytona used in those days. Hill, while behind Spiegelhoff on the track, was actually in the lead on the clock. With less only 20 miles to go, Hill was rid- ing the wheels off his Indian as he closed in on Spiegelhoff. He sideswiped two riders when he drifted wide in the south turn and it tore off his rear-brake lever. Hill entered the north turn and dabbed his boot only to find no brake lever and, unable to slow enough, he crashed out of the race. The Lakewood Fairground Mile was built around a man-made lake that served as Atlanta's first waterworks. Originally constructed as a horse-racing track in 1915, it hosted motorcycle races as early as 1917. Around the track were a fairgrounds and large amusement park. By the 1930s, however, the park was falling into disrepair. Atlanta Indian dealer and racer Ted Edwards hoped to revive the old fairgrounds by hosting an AMA national. The build up for the Atlanta 10-Mile National dwarfed anything done at races in America today. Leading up to the race, there was a mile-long parade pro- cession featuring floats with bathing beauties, marching bands, race cars and motor- cycles, dressed up touring bikes with riders decked out in all their regalia, complete with a police escorts provid- ed by the Atlanta Police Department and the State Patrol. There was no mistaking that it was motorcycle day in Atlanta and 17,000-strong packed Lakewood on a muggy Sunday afternoon to watch the race. An indication of just how close the National would be came when the qualifying heats saw Hill win his with a time of three minutes, 53.82 seconds. Huber scored the victory in his heat at a time of 3:53.90, less than a tenth of a second off of Hill's qualifying time. With dark clouds gathering on the horizon, referee Glen Rathborn took no chances, skipped over Novice-class races and called the Experts to the line for the National. Starter Jim Davis, of racing fame a generation earlier, lined up the starters for the big race. A more superior field would be hard to find. At least half the field was a current or former nation- al champion. Riders included hometown hero Ted Edwards on an Indian; that year's Daytona winner, Floyd Emde; Indian-mounted multiple-time national winner Leo Anthony riding a Harley; Harley-mounted TT spe- cialist Buck Brigance; and Canadian national champ Billy Mathews on a Norton. Fast-qualifier Hill decided to start from the outside. Huber, with second choice, went for the pole. The crowd rose to its feet as Davis gave the field the green. Huber was first into turn one, but Hill blazed around the outside line to take over the lead down the back- stretch. Emde held second over Huber for a lap, but by lap three it was Hill, and Huber already pulling a small gap on the field. Hill would put a few bikelengths on Huber each lap on the straights, while Huber would gather the leader up in the turns. On the final lap, the fans were again on their feet cheering the hard-battling duo on. Hill led going into the final turn, but he pushed his Indian just a little too hard and went wide. Huber, who'd thought the race was lost, suddenly saw an opening and pulled right behind Hill. Announcer Fritzie Baer roared "It's going to be close!" "Being such a new expert rider I didn't know much about drafting," Hill said. "Billy sure did though and he drafted right behind me and at the last possible moment zipped underneath me and we crossed the fin- ish line side by side." The crowd went nuts as the two crossed the finish line. AMA officials quickly huddled to compare notes to try to determine who came out on top. Heads shook and finally the judges declared the race a dead heat. Mike Benson, president of the fair, announced that both riders would receive first-place money. More cheers greeted the announcement. "We both got the same money, but Billy got the trophy," Hill recalls. "Back then, there was a little prejudice toward Harley riders and they gave it to him. Three or four months later they made up a duplicate trophy and gave it to me. "That race pushed the AMA to get a better system to decide the finishes. Up to then they just had a refer- ee standing at the line to call the finish. I think they eventually got high-speed cameras. After that race, I always looked under my arm a little bit coming out of the last turn." Hill continued his highly successful racing career through 1959. He earned title of National Champion in 1951 and 1952. Tragically, Huber passed out from the heat in triple-digit temperatures and hit a tele- phone pole, killing him during the Dodge City 200 on July 5, 1953. Hill and Huber are now both enshrined in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. The two will forever be linked for the only first-place tie in AMA racing history. CN Dead Heat in Atlanta BY LARRY LAWRENCE