Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I f you ask most off-road rac- ing fans who the first Ameri- can to earn Gold at the ISDT, many would come back with the answer of Bud Ekins, Malcolm Smith or perhaps Dick Burleson. Overshad- owed by more famous off- road pioneers, the first Amer- ican to actually earn Gold at the prestigious ISDT was New York's Tommy McDer- mott, a rider perhaps better known for his exploits in the Daytona 200 as part of the BSA Wrecking Crew. McDermott's performance in the prestigious internation- al off-road event in 1949 went largely unnoticed in his home country until the United States began participating in the ISDE on a regular basis in the 1970s and the American motorcycling press became interested in the history of the vener- able Olympic-like event. Even then it took a number of years for McDermott to earn proper recognition since he was entered in the ISDT riding under the British ACU banner, as a guest of the BSA factory, and wasn't listed as an American rider in the record books. In addition to his fabled ISDT accomplishment, the versatile McDermott also had a respectable career competing in AMA Nationals during the 1950s. He scored four top-five finishes in the Daytona 200, in- cluding podium results in 1950 and 1954 riding fac- tory BSAs. McDermott was born in Glens Falls, New York, on April 8, 1931. TT racing was the rage in New England motorcycling in the late 1930s, and one of the tracks happened to be about a mile from McDermott's home. "I tore up a lot of my Sun- day clothes going through the brush and sneaking into the track through the back way," McDermott remem- bers. "By the time I was eight or nine years old, I was hooked on racing." When he was 11, McDer- mott began riding a bor- rowed Triumph Tiger in the cow pasture behind his home. During World War II, racing came to a standstill in America, but McDermott's older brother, Paul, and a fel- low local racer occasionally traveled to Canada to race flat track. Young Tom tagged along as his brother's "mechanic." When McDermott was 16, he began racing local New England flat track races on a BSA borrowed from local Glens Falls racing hero Carl Crannel. In the late 1940s, McDermott easily made his way through the novice and amateur ranks. Along the way, he traveled to Michigan to race in the fa- mous Jack Pine Enduro. In his first enduro event, McDermott took third on a 500cc, single-cylinder BSA Gold Star. McDermott earned his AMA expert license in 1949. His first race as an expert was the Daytona 200. Riding on a BSA sponsored by a local dealer- ship, McDermott came out of nowhere to finish a very solid sixth place in the most prestigious race in America. BSA officials visiting from England were very impressed by the 17-year-old McDermott and offered him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to England to race. In April of 1949, McDermott, who'd just turned 18, went to Montreal and boarded an overseas P106 AMERICA'S FIRST ISDT GOLD WINNER

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