Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE L arry Headrick was one of AMA racing's most enigmatic champions. Emerging seemingly out of thin air, Headrick had a magical 1950 season that saw him win three of the biggest races of the year, culminating in winning the AMA Grand National Champi- onship at the Springfield Mile. Fans were still thumbing through their race programs trying to figure out who this Headrick character was and suddenly here he was - the National champ. One of the motorcycle magazines of the day even ran a headline that read: "Who Is This Guy Headrick?" Then as quickly as he came, Headrick was gone. The mysterious champion came, saw, conquered and then was never heard from again. Born in Wichita, Kansas, on December 3, 1920, Headrick moved to California and was working for the government-backed Civil- ian Conservation Corps as the country was coming out of economic depression in the late 1930s. When he was 18, he bought his first mo- torcycle from famous San Jose dealer and race tuner Tom Sifton and landed a job riding everyday as a delivery rider. Headrick enjoyed racing as a spectator and became a big fan of Sam Arena, one of the biggest racing stars of the late 1930s. Headrick got married and sold his motorcycle, but he couldn't shake the bug. He still attended area races wishing he could be out there on the track. He eventually got another motorcycle and started cow trailing in the hills around San Jose with an eye on trying to finally become a racer himself. Once he'd honed his skills by trail riding, Head- rick nervously signed up for his first race, a low- key local TT race held by a club on an abandoned baseball diamond in San Rafael, California. He was so nervous at the start for his first race, when the flag dropped Headrick was left sitting on the line. He'd forgotten to put his bike into gear. In spite of his embarrassing start to racing, Headrick loved it. But just when Headrick was starting to get involved in racing, World War II brought a temporary end to the sport. Headrick went to work making radio tubes during the war and was forced to put racing on hold. After the war, Headrick began racing again, working his way through the novice and amateur ranks. In 1948, he moved to Tennessee briefly to race for a dealer there. He might have con- tinued his racing back East, but for his wife's homesickness. Instead, the Headricks made their way back to San Jose. Once back in Cali- fornia, Headrick began racing at a local track in THE MYSTERY CHAMPION P130