How fast was mid-1980s WERA racer Lance David? Well check this photo out and you’ll get an idea. Here David is leading the race on his Yamaha XT500-based road racer over a slew of Yamaha RZ350s, Honda 500 Interceptors and other WERA C Superbike machines. David heads the pack just before the old Billy Mitchell Bridge at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. He’s leading Steve Tayler (49), Dean Joas (320), Ed Key (34) and the rest of the field.
Lance David heads the pack just before the old Billy Mitchell Bridge at Road America. He’s leading Steve Tayler (49), Dean Joas (320), Ed Key (34) and the rest of the field in a mid-1980s WERA C Superbike race. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
Even more impressive, he’s ahead of Tayler who is on an RZ500!
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Alan
Good point. I’m not sure how the race ended up. I doubt Lance was able to hold these guys off the entire race, but just to be leading them near the end of the lap at Road America is a major accomplishment.
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Godspeed Dean Joas.
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I would have loved to have watched this lap from the kink. Lance must have absolutely killed there, to still be in the lead after those two enormous straights. It is too bad that the railroad tracks run so close to the kink that they had to remove it. That turn separated the men from the boys. As I raise my hand to be identified as a boy. Greg Esser has a great story about witnessing Gary Gibson losing it in the kink, and thinking that there was no way Gary’s guardian angel could have saved him this time. Only to come around on the next lap and Gary is sitting up on top of the stacked guard rail waving to everybody.
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Is there any chance Dean is on that outrageous XV550 Vision?
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Good question. Can’t tell from this angle.
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Lance was always impressive, but let’s not forget that the RZ500 was one of the worst handling bikes of it’s day. I’m impressed that Steve was anywhere near the lead on that POS. This had to be 1984, as WERA only ran Elkhart till ’85 I think. In the novice group, that’s Ken Davis leading me, and Kurt Hall is 5th in that group. Pretty sure that’s Neil Tolhurst behind me.
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I started racing on a used SR500 Yamaha. Lance was like a “god” who’s XT500 (rumored to be 800cc and supercharged) could run with anyone, anywhere (D-Super C and B).
Lance was almost unbeatable at Blackhawk even against the VFR750’s. I believe he would put on a big plastic “desert tank” and run endurance races by himself.
I spent a ton of money on my SR500 hoping to run like Lance. I finally got a “whole shot” at Indy IRP only to “break the rod and lock solid” while leading at the end of lap one. As I am sliding down the track Lance missed my head and someone else missed my legs as they went by before I hit the dirt.
Luckly I did not take anyone out. I hope Lance is well and enjoying life what a great rider.
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He is! He’s spent the last 20 years or so teaching my sister and I how to ride dirtbikes and street bikes. Now, he goes on lots of trail rides and does as many track days around the midwest (and sometimes trailers his bike out to Miller motorsports park in Utah). This is so cool to see all of these old pics of my pop. It looks like you all had a great time back in the day. I only wish I had a time machine so I could go back and watch the action. Thanks for sharing all of this guys!
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Katie
So happy you all learned to ride with your dad.
There are some home video’s around from back in the day. I know some
of the guys from Terre Haute, IN shot a lot of VHS footage now converted to DVD
Larry took a lot of photos back then and my be able to help you.
Glad to know your dad is well.
I thank him for not running over me at Indy when I blew my engine. (309nv 48ex)
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WOW! I just found this photo and comments. You bet Lance was fast! He had been an AMA dirt tracker before his WERA roadracing days. He was also one of my rider education program instructors and we became WERA endurance racing teammates on his Yam XT500 – “Team Thump.” I never heard the rumors about 800cc and supercharging, that’s pretty funny, LOL! It’s just that Lance was very fast, the bike handled well, and the motor Lance built was quick and reliable. It was also fun to ride, especialy at Grattan in the twisties. Rolling on the throttle coming out of one and heading to the other, that bike felt like it was just leap-frogging over the short straights. It was a blast to ride! And, yes, Lance had a big tank for it and he did ride the shorter endurance races alone.
Hi Kevin! Thanks for remembering me. I can’t tell if that’s me in the photo or not. Your eyes must be better than mine, I know they are younger! 🙂
Katie – if you are Lance & Peggy’s older daughter, your Mom & Dad and my wife Pam and I were good friends back then. We knew your Grandma, Lance’s Mom, too. Does Peggy still have all her frogs? Are they still in Waukegan? I remember Lance taking his first daughter for rides on the back of his street bike and using his bathrobe’s waist belt to tie her to him. That made me us cringe, but we couldn’t talk him out of it. Apparently, it worked out OK.
I have lots of racing and rider ed photos from those days. One is a really nice portrait of Team Thump: Lance, Peggy, Pam, the 500 Yam, and me under the Road America tower. Fortunately, my RZ was reliable and I’d spend time in between races taking race action pictures with my Hasselblad. Lance would amaze us with his ability to lay down in his van and sleep in between races, even if it was parked up against the edge of the track with plenty of noise. Off the track, he was soooooooo calm, low key, and relaxed – on the track he was intense, smooth, and FAST! What a contrast.
Neil Tolhurst
New Hartford, Ct.
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Katie – I checked my copy of the Team Thump photo. It is from 1982 after we took 1st in our class and was at Mid-America Raceway in Wentzville, Mo., not Road America as I wrote earlier today. Lance may have a copy of it somewhere.
BTW – Pam & loved your Grandma, she was a sweetie and very hugable.
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Godspeed Dean! seeing these pictures of the good ole days is awesome.
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Thanks for all this everyone. Thanks to Larry I have a scrap book of articles from back in the day to show my kids, but hearing from all you is really cool. I do some trackdays on my Buell 1125. Man if I had just had that brake on the thumper…
If you ever get a chance to ride Miller in Utah, what a great track. Grattan is still my favorite but Miller is so wide, smooth, and fast!
It was really fun racing thanks to all the great competition I had. You say I was fast but none of the races I won were easy.
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Lance David what a great picture and what a miracle to discover this article….I have been trying to contact You and Peggy since 1977 as well as Greydon. Please if this message reaches you give me a call John Webb at 713-829-9605 or email at JWebb327@comcast.net
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Who are you kidding, Lance? You had such a big lead on me once at Blackhawk, there were reports that you stopped in the middle of the race to have a sandwich, and STILL won by 30 seconds.
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Yeah,there was one time at Blackhawk when the race director (Arland Crump?) was talking about pit stops at the rider’s meeting and said “of course I’m talking about the endurance race, no one can pit in the sprint races” so I decided that in D superbike I would get in the lead, then pit, let 3 or 4 bikes go by, and then see if I could still win. I did. When I got back everybody asked me what happened and I didn’t want to say “Awww, I was just screwing around” so I made up some excuse for stopping.
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Hey, just remember, I’ve got a picture of me leading you at Grattan!
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Who can tell me how to get in touch with Lance and Peggy David formerly from Naperville , Illinois My name is John Webb formerly from Oklahoma City , Oklahoma I met Lance and Peggy and Lance’s wonderful Parents Ken and Gin David in the summer of 1975 and have sought them ever since as well as Greydon Mechtle from Aurora , Illinois wonderful friends of mine that I have long lost contact with….Please I would give anything to make contact with them.
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Hey, Lance’s oldest here. This thread is just so fantastic. My dad is such a badass. And those rumors about his 500 being an 800 are awesome because it means he was (is) literally unbelievably talented, but as some have alluded to, they were just rumors. He was indeed on a 500: That’s just how fast he is and how much later he was braking than everyone else. I still can’t keep up with him, but he’s my favorite riding buddy. By the way, whose photo is this? I want to print a big copy for my office wall. Thanks!
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