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Scotty
Looking for some old results, I stumbled on to this Cycle News with the 1982 Ponca City National write up, here it is.
I like the name of the 250 Int. winner ''Rusty Pipes''
The Shop
Ray Dragoo
I remember when I was told of the tragedy and I took it very hard. Rick Hemme was a great guy as were Bruce and Kyle.
That story still sends chills down my spine.
these great riders and young men who sadly are no longer with us.
Stories and pics were great and can get an idea how good these
riders must have been.
Being the same age somewhat as these riders but living and racing in
UK, I never knew of this story but can see by some of the names that
these guys were beating they were seriously fast riders. Remember
Mike Healey coming to do the GP's and Jimmy Button also along with
Bob Moore and Bader Manneh, none of them 'hung around, that was
for sure!
~
Remember a kind of very similar and sad story with much in common with
this story. Was a really brilliant rider called Andrew Chambers from Ireland, he won 'sort of everything' and was the British National Champion, on possibly a few ocassions even. I think he too also rode for Team Suzuki. Terribly and tragically, he too departed in a road accident, think he was only about 16 also. He was riding a moped on the road and a tractor pulled out or something and this resulted in a tragic accident and also his passing. Ironic as he obviously had some serious skills on a bike, yet it did not save him that day on the moped. Always remembered him and what a fantastic rider he was and how his story is sort of similar to these other great riders, Bruce, Kyle and Rick.
~
May all these great riders be riding the 'track in the sky', if so expect they may well be all racing each other!
R.I.P and is maybe nice to also remember and respect Andrew Chambers along with them.
He was a class act for sure also.
______
Just how damn cool is that?!
I doubt whether too many people passed 'The Bomber' even if they were on a 500cc and he was on 125cc but doing it on an 80cc and a bundle of years younger is really something else..... Presuming 'The Bomber' was on a 125cc that day.
On another note. I can tell you that his R&D racing 105 modified Suzuki was a rocket ship. I could hole shot the 125 pro class 90% of the time so one day Dean Dickerson asked me to do a start with Bruce on his 105 modified to see how it compaired to my 125. Bruce pulled me by a couple of bike lengths up the start hill at saddleback, impressive!
(Sounds like you were a pretty decent rider also Mit12)
[QUOTE=Mit12]I watched Bruce ride about 5 laps at Saddleback with his throttle stuck, he got a big enough lead to stop... [/QUOTE]
It sounds like he rode with the throttle stuck open anyway!! Probably made him go quicker still!
I took this photo of the first turn at Ponca City that year.. I raced the previous year but just spectated that year. My friend Justin Otto had their RV right there at the first turn where I took this picture.
Based on the results posted above, my brother got 3rd that year in modified 125b.. I remember now, he got a bad start and nearly caught the leaders. He was team green, but the guys that finished ahead of him (barely) and the two he passed were all on preproduction bikes. My dad made a little bit of a stink in the pits, that ended up with my brother riding a preproduction bike the next week at Lorreta's. However, fairly sure his own bike was faster! haha
Sorry to get sidetracked... at the time, I read cycle news and MX Action cover to cover, so was well aware of the top mini riders. I raced a little BMX also, so knew Kyle Fleming from those mags too.. We were stuck in the traffic jam at the railroad, as we were going to the trophy presentation. That was a horrible accident, and it really shook me up at the time once I realized it was some of my heroes (although basically my age)...
Pit Row
The photo here is the opening spread of an article being published in an upcoming issue of META. Last October I started the journey of trying to tell the story of what happened in Ponca on August 1, 1982. I spoke with many of you that have commented on this thread, some 2, 3, and 4 times.
Maybe my work will only lead to more questions but the promise I made to the Bunch, Fleming and Hemme families was that everyone would know who their boys were and who they wanted to be.
Over 6 months of reporting went into this article, involving interviews with 50 different individuals, which ended up being 8,000 words, an unheard of length in motorcycle magazines. It was a complicated process and not every detail was able to get to print. I also ran into the issue of one person's account completely contradicting the account of another person's and I knew I could only report the stories that was I able to corroborate from multiple sources.
The family trusted me with this story and that's a very high honor. Word has started to leak about this article's release and I've been getting phone calls from complete strangers, men who were friends of the boys and just wanted to talk about them. I've also been getting messages from young men who are only in their 20s but they want to know more. It let me know that their memory is still very strong and now a younger generation will know who they were as well.
The article (shipping on July 21) will be published in Volume 009 of Meta Magazine and can be ordered from readmeta.com or by visiting a Barnes & Nobles (probably early August). A list of independent stockists can be found on the website.
https://www.readmeta.com/blog/2017/7/19/the-darkest-day-in-motocross
although i didn't personaly know any of them it was a shock when I read about them in minicycle action back in the day.
Any chance to read the Longer version?
Did you read the article or did you read that teaser on META's website? It's not available online and that teaser is only about 5% of the actual article.
You can find the magazine at Barnes & Noble and there is a list of specialty shops HERE.
You can also subscribe HERE
Thanks so much for your support.
brett
Read this thread way back under another user name and had trouble getting through the posts because of the Tragedy of what happened, It left me with many questions which I hope become clearer in your article.
that they actually sent him back is reprehensible .
Glad I never bought their products
Post a reply to: Bruce Bunch, Rick Hemme, Kyle Fleming