Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 25 JUNE 26, 2018 P133 ing entrepreneur: a tire salesman, champion dog sled racer and Baptist minister named Keith Bryar. Bryar kenneled his dogs on a par- cel of land near Loudon, where he also ran a small amusement park, which included a merry-go-round, a kids roller coaster and a go-kart track. Bryar expanded the kart track, utilizing its front straight and encir- cling the rest of the course with a clay oval. He surrounded the course with bleachers and opened the doors to what became known as 106 Midway Raceway. By 1964, Bryar decided to take the plunge and build a permanent road course on the site. Bryar Motorsports Park was born. The 1.6-mile road course followed the contours of the hillside around a small lake (where crashing bikes occasionally made splash downs). There were excellent spectator facilities for that era, with bleach- ers, seating 5000, that overlooked the pits offering views of almost the whole course. Another 2000 seats were available at the northern end of the site and, in total, crowds of up to 18,000 could be accom- modated legally, but by the early 1970s the race overflowed with estimates of as many as 30,000. The first AMA National was held there in 1965 and it was Californian Ralph White riding a Team Hansen Matchless G50 who rode to vic- tory over Jody Nicholas and Dick Mann. In 1970 the track had been repaved resulting in dozens of crashes from pavement that had not yet cured. In 1971, one the clos- est road race nationals ever took place as Mark Brelsford held off Kel Carruthers by about half a bike length, Carruthers getting balked by a lapped rider in the last corner. It ultimately proved to be Brels- ford's only national road-race win. In 1972, Gary Fisher won the race, following in the footsteps of his father Ed, who'd won the Laconia National in 1953. In '73 Gary Nixon scored his first national win in three years. A year later, Nixon won his last AMA National at the circuit. AMA Superbikes first visited the track in the championship's first year in 1976 and it was local hero Mike Baldwin who dominated the Loudon race on the Reno Leoni- tuned Berliner Moto Guzzi, in one of the largest margins of victory in AMA Superbike history over the factory BMWs of Gary Fisher and Reg Pridmore. John Long lost the AMA Super- bike Championship in the second of two superbike nationals in 1978. Long went out too late for his warm-up lap. When he gridded for the start, officials told him to go to the rear of the grid. Arguments ensued, Long didn't go back and was penalized a lap. He tied Reg Pridmore in the final standings. Had he earned those extra points at Loudon he would have been series champ. It was in 1984 that one of the most famous passes in AMA Superbike history took place when local favorite Dale Quarterley, on a privateer Kawasaki, stuffed factory Honda's Fred Merkel in the final turn of the qualifying heat race to win. The crowd roared and the photo of the pass was featured on the program the next year. Wayne Rainey, Doug Polen, Sam McDonald and Jamie James all won their first AMA Superbike races at Loudon. By the mid-1980s, Bryar Mo- torsport Park was still a popular local venue, but a general lack of investment had meant the course condition had deteriorated somewhat and, by 1989, only motorcycles were using the venue. Bob Bahre, purchased the facil- ity and announced plans for a new superspeedway—the first to be constructed in the USA since 1969. The new circuit, renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway, would feature a distinctive 1.058- mile four-turn oval, and a new road course, which used a mix of the old Bryar course and the new oval. Much like Bryar, the new track produced local specialists, but the combination of walls that were too close and more powerful and faster racing bikes made the track obsolete for AMA Superbike events and the last AMA National was held there in 2001. For nearly 40 years Bryar Motorsports Park was one of the best attended, most exciting and tension-filled road races on the cal- endar. Those who were privileged to attend those wild Loudon events still tell the stories today. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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