Robert Nutt, on a Honda 500 Interceptor, leads the Kawasaki 600 Ninja of Rob Seneker in a WERA race at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway in August of 1986. Nutt, who was from Knoxville, Tenn., got enthused about sport bike riding by regularly running the famous Deals Gap Highway. He said he and his buddies were taking way too many risks on the public road and finally he decided to go to the safer environs of the racetrack instead. Nutt founded a successful WERA National Endurance team that eventually grew into a Kawasaki-backed Supersport team in the AMA Series called Kinko’s Kawasaki. Nutt’s team was the first to bring in a young WERA charger from the Carolinas named Jamie Hacking to race in the AMA Pro ranks. Nutt was one of the few team owners of that era to bring in outside the industry sponsors.

Robert Nutt leads Rob Seneker in a WERA race at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway in August of 1986. (Larry Lawrence photo)