One of the races I really miss is the Loudon National. The old Bryar Motorsports Park was a gnarly, scarred old track, but it packed in the crowds as this photo taken in 1986 shows. Don Brymer used to promote the races back in those days and he was a real grass roots, old style promoter. Brymer worked tireless on the event and wasn’t above putting on a pair of overalls and painting a podium backdrop if he needed to. He did whatever it took to make things happen. Don’s after-hours parties at the track were legendary and sometimes included rental cars on the Loudon Short Track. Of course the fans partied even harder, so much so that Brymer actually had to build a buffer join between the fans and the paddock making it tougher for some of the homemade artillery to actually end up in the pits. I tried to sleep in the paddock once in a tent in the very early 1980s. Suffice to say I was bleary eyed the next day and vowed to get a hotel no matter how cheaply I was trying to travel. It was a wild and crazy event for sure, but one of the true classic of the AMA racing calendar.
Motorcycles parked deep in the lot at the old Bryar Motorsports Park during the 1986 Loudon National. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
I’ve been to every AMA National and most other motorcycle races at Loudon since 1975. I remember one year, after I learned how to get into the paddock rather than in the grandstands or on Animal Hill out back, I was talking to one of the EMT’s. A guy staggers up and stammers, “can’t I gesomebody to he’p me out?” He was dirty and still drunk. He’d jumped the fence to get into the paddock. The EMT asked him what his problem was. He turned his other side to us and was covered in dried blood and missing his ear on that side. “They stomped me last night”.
The hill out back looked like a war zone most years until the track was sold in 1990. I miss the road racing tradition that existed there which started up the road in Laconia before I was born. Here’s hoping the latest owners will realize their goal of having an AMA or bigger road race come back to Loudon on a new road course.
LikeLike
I went up Animal Hill with photographer buddy Tom Riles once and we got caught in a full on fireworks war between two camps. You’d see bottle rockets and other assorted small fireworks shooting across this dirt lane in the woods. Then one side broke out the big ammo, firing full on fireworks like you’d see at a Fourth of July show. It was crazy.
LikeLike
Back in 1981 a couple attempted to drive theyre convertible rental car up on animal hill.When the young lady in the front seat wouldnt show her boobs,they were yanked from the car and it was torched.The remains of the car was then dragged around by a chain for the remainder of the weekend!
LikeLike
Loudon was something! If you didn’t experience camping in the gravel pit for yourself-you’d never believe the things that happened. Burning cars, explosions, huge bon fires, fights, folks shooting fireworks at each other’s campsite. When you were in the gravel pit you were on your own. Ironically, many of these guys never went to the races but opted to go to Weirs Beach on Saturday. Unbelievable memories.
LikeLiked by 1 person