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REVIEWED: Grand National:  America’s Golden Age Of Motorcycle Racing
Written by: Gregg Leary   
11/07/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
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Joe Scalzo is one of my favorite writers. I have reviewed two of his books: “The American Dirt Track Racer” and “City of Speed: Los Angeles and the Rise of American Racing.” “Grand National” rightly takes its place in the triumvirate.

“Joe Scalzo, a survivor of the lost Grand National culture, colorfully recaptures the golden era of American motorcycle life, when racing wasn’t a business but a lifestyle. ‘Grand National’ covers the series’ early days in the 1950s, the heydays of the 1960s, the high-end bikes of the 1970s, and the changes that brought Grand National into the twenty-first century. Scalzo’s firsthand stories, along with two hundred photos, capture the bikes, the characters, and the races that made Grand National fast, roughhouse, and a little crazy-both on and off the track.” So says the dust jacket.

“A LITTLE crazy?” Screaming around rutted mile dirt tracks with a rocket between your legs? A LITTLE crazy? With nicknames like “Ax,” “Assassin,” “Hammer Dick,” “Digger,” “Iron Man,” “Bad Bart,” “Burritto,” “Godfather,” “Great White Father,” “King,” “Mooch,” “Swede,” and “Willie,” the cast of characters could
be stars of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, a John Wayne shoot ‘em up or a Marlon Brando gangster film. The action and violence may have been very similar to what took place on the silver screen. The big difference? The riders were their own stunt doubles.

Scalzo writes:

“If adventure was your deal, and risk-taker your mentality, Grand National was almost too good to be true. Rider, scooter, and slave-labor pit crew came away from a typical Grand National weekend raced-out, partied-out, and doll-babied out-if they’d been lucky! Aboard their ‘Hogs,’ ‘Lime Juicers,’ and ‘Rice Burners,’ the celebrity nicknames fought it out in a fiendishly difficult gypsy tournament demanding five entirely different speed disciplines, everything from dirt mile-tracking to road racing.”

The cast of characters would fill any movie marquee…Brad Andres, C.R. Axtell, Bob Bailey, Don Butler, Chris Carr, Dick Hammer, John Hately, Ed Kretz, Mert Lawwill, Joe Leonard, Dick Mann, Bart Markel, Gary Nixon, Jan Opperman, Kenny Roberts, Gene Romero, Barry Sheene, Jay Springsteen and many more.

The locations…Ascot Park, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Daytona, Del Mar, DuQuoin, Indianapolis, Laconia, Peoria, Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Springfield, and others.

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