P120
CN
III FRIENDLY FIRE
BY STEVE BAUER
S
addleback Park. It billed
itself as the "world's first
motorcycle playground"
and if you mention it around
anyone who raced motocross
in southern California during
the seventies and eighties it
will probably stir up a flood of
memories and tales of racing
days gone by. "Yeah, I was
there when that guy's brother
broke Rex Staten's nose with a
crescent wrench," or "That was
where I saw Joel Robert and
Roger DeCoster the first time,"
or "Yeah, Banzai Hill! I once
saw Davey Williams go down it
doing a no-hander, with 30 125
pros on his ass!" are some of
the things you might hear. It's
also where we lost the great Jim
West, and where Marty Tripes
lost his works 250 Honda when
it was claimed by John Roeder.
When I think of Saddleback, I
think of long summer days spent
testing prototype Kawasakis with
Goat Breker, trying to break the
frames so we could go home. I
think of looking down the gate
at a CMC race, seeing all the
shitty starts I got when I was
racing 125s and watching Gary
Denton and David Taylor hit the
first turn 20 yards ahead of me.
I remember the feeling of driving
down into the pits and the smell
of burning Castrol in the air. And
when I think of who was the King
of Saddleback, I think of Scott
Gillman.
Scott and his older brother
Mike were a couple of very
talented SoCal racers who were
lucky enough to grow up in a
mansion about a half mile away
CONQUERING CYSTIC FIBROSIS
THE GILLMAN WAY
Dayne and Broc Glover.
