Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/762384
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I ndianapolis has always been a center of racing, not only with Indy Car, but also for drag racing, sprint cars and stock cars. Indianapolis was one of the biggest producers of automobiles in the 1910s and '20s, and with the con- struction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, the city has always been on the vanguard of motorsports. In the late 1950s a group of Indianapolis businessmen and racing enthusiasts felt it was time for Indianapolis to not only have a great rac- ing oval, but a world-class road course as well. The group of 15 businessmen pitched in $5000 apiece in 1958 to fund the devel- opment of a 267-acre tract of land on the far western outskirts of the Indianapolis metro area. The original concept was simply to create a 15-turn, 2.5-mile road course, but to increase the moneymaking potential of the facility, they decided to also integrate a quarter- mile dragstrip into the road course. A separate half-mile paved oval was also added to complete the complex and the facility was named Indianapolis Raceway Park. The addition of other tracks in the complex would ultimately prove pivotal in the direc- tion the business would take. By 1961 Indianapolis Raceway Park, or IRP as it became popularly known, was fully up and running. The road course, when it was built, was considered one of the best in the country. The SCCA ran regular races on the course. IRP also holds the distinction of hosting the very first Indy Car race to be held on a road course. It was also the track where Mario Andretti won his first Indy Car race. Motorcycles were part of the races at the IRP road course from the beginning. The first motorcycle race there was held in conjunction with SCCA club races. In 1962 the track hosted its first AMA Road Race National. Tony Murguia, of Key West, Florida, led all but two laps to win in the 120-mile AMA Road Race National. A scant crowd of 3000 fans turned out. Murguia, astride a Harley-Davidson, fought off early challenges, avoided much of the heavy traffic and won by more than a lap from Tom Clark of Knox- ville, Tennessee. Murguia's first national champi- onship victory was done in one hour, 35 minutes and 14.55 seconds. Larry Schafer of Bakersfield, California, was third, making for one of the least known trio of riders ever to occupy the rostrum of an AMA National. Murguia traded the early lead in the national with Ralph White, but got it for keeps on the 10th circuit and held it to the end. It proved to be the only national victory for Murguia. Striking from the photos taken at that 1962 road race at Indy show bikes like Murguia's Harley-David- son KRTT sporting massive eight-gallon gas tanks. Perhaps because of the low turnout, IRP didn't host an AMA national again for five years. In 1967 the race returned to the calendar. Former Cycle Maga- P100 INDY'S FORGOTTEN RACEWAY Indianapolis Raceway Park