There was the national road race held on the parking lot of the Fairplex in Pomona, the ill-fated road races at both Phoenix and Charlotte, the Miami street race, and the scary fast half-mile banked flat track race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Those races will go down in AMA racing infamy. But of all the radical places promoters have dreamed up to put on AMA nationals, perhaps the craziest of them all was the Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster race held on the Milwaukee Mile in June of 1993.

It must have sounded like a good concept – as part of Harley-Davidson’s 90th anniversary celebration; a round of what was then called the Harley-Davidson Twin Sport Series (popularly known as the 883 series) was to be held on the Milwaukee Mile. In truth, racing motorcycles on the paved historic old Mile, it turns out, proved out to be a scary proposition at best.

The Milwaukee Mile, situated just four miles from Harley-Davidson’s home on Juneau Avenue, had a storied history of hosting AMA national races dating back to the 1920s. Motorcycling greats such as Jim Davis, Gene Walker, Joe Petrali, Floyd Emde and Bobby Hill had all won on the track when it was still a dirt horse racing oval. In the mid-1950s the track was paved over and it looked as if the venerable old mile had seen the last of motorcycle racing.

Eyebrows were raised when the Milwaukee Mile was put on the AMA Twin Sport schedule in 1993. The idea of pitching a 500 pound motorcycle around a mile oval at 125 miles per hour was a daunting task to even the bravest of riders.

With an estimated 100,000 Harley enthusiasts in town for the Motor Company’s 90th anniversary celebration, filling up the Milwaukee Mile’s grandstand was almost a foregone conclusion. What the massive crowd saw that day was one of the most unique races ever held in the history of AMA racing. The event brought together the top 883 flat track and road racers. Practice was a chaotic contrast of road racing and flat track riding styles on the sweeping corners.

“That was a big problem when we took to the track together,” remembers road racer Andy Fenwick. “The flat trackers had their lines and the road racers had completely different ones, so it got pretty interesting.”

In addition to varying racing lines, the race featured an interesting mix of riders to say the least. It pitted flat track legends such as Jay Springsteen and Ricky Graham against top road racers like Scott Zampach and Nigel Gale.

“I remember coming in after the first practice and the scared look a lot of the guys had,” said Springsteen. “It was pretty much flat out all the way around on those 883s and we were all running in a pack and some people had their foot out and others were dragging their knees. I had road raced and flat tracked a lot in my career and I decided to go with the knee-dragging style.

“It was nuts. You hardly lifted and just racing so bunched up on a paved track with the walls right there was not something we should have been doing. I was going around telling the guys to keep their cool. And then it got worse when water started seeping up through the cracks in the track.”

Even though it was dry in Milwaukee on race day, heavy rains in the days before the race caused water to start flowing up through the cracks.

Mike Hale was a young up-and-coming racer who recalls hitting the water the first time.

“I had my 883 fully leaned in one of the turns when all of a sudden it went full-lock sideways,” Hale said. “That got my attention real fast.”

Hale easily won his heat race and was the fast qualifier for the race. A great battle for the lead developed in the second heat between Scott Zampach, Ricky Graham, Jay Springsteen and Shawn Higbee. At the checkered flag it was Zampach with a popular win in front of his hometown crowd.

A big battle was anticipated for the final, but Hale wanted no part of it.

“Part of the credit goes to my dad for building a fast 883,” Hale said. “But the other part was I was so scared of running in a pack and possible crashing into the wall on that track, I did everything I could to get a good start and clear out as fast as possible.”

Hale went to the front and had to do it a couple of times after the race was red flagged.

The first red came out when Matt Wait crashed, possibly due to the seeping water, in Turn Three. On the restart Hale again jumped to the front with Zampach, Higbee and Graham locked in a fierce battle for second when, on lap six, Canadian Chuck Downie went down bringing out the second red flag.

Hale pulled away a third time on the next restart. By lap 12, Hale had a solid five second lead over Graham. Higbee held off Zampach and five other riders in the run for third.

The wind picked up in the afternoon heat and it was pushing riders into Turn Three nearly 15 miles per hour faster than they’d gone into the turn earlier in the day. That increase in speed led to the final red flag.

Pushed by the heavy tailwind, Richard Koehler got in too hot into three and slid on his bike’s engine case while trying to make the turn. Koehler crashed and slid into Nigel Gale causing a big pileup into the hay bale lined concrete wall of Turn Three.

Officials mercifully put an end to the race. Gale ended up being the worst injured and was never able to regain the speed that earned him the AMA Twin Sport 883 road racing championship in 1990.

Twin Sports Champion Scott Zampach summed it up when after the race he stated, “I’m happy just to be standing after this race.”

It was that kind of day.

For Hale the victory on the Milwaukee Mile remains one of mixed emotions.

“I was happy to win the race in front of all those people,” said the Texan. “It helped launch my career, but then I think about Nigel, who was my teammate on Bartel’s Harley-Davidson, getting hurt and it leaves a bad taste. Nigel was one of the best 883 road racers ever and he really taught me a lot about road racing when I first got into it.”

The Milwaukee Mile remains today, but thankfully it hears only the roar of car engines. While the grand old track holds the memories of many of motorcycle racing’s immortal legends, it too leaves a bittersweet taste.