Early American Roadracing

I was organizing my collection of old motorcycle publications the other day and came across this yellowing copy of the October 1983 edition of American Roadracing. American Roadracing was WERA’s newsletter through 1986 when the publication went independent with John Ulrich taking the reins. After Ulrich left to start Roadracing World, American Roadracing went through several ownership changes and continued to publish for several years. The publication is remembered today mainly from of a series of pull-out AR posters (most shot by Tom Riles) some of which still hang on the garage walls of road racing fans across the country.

The cover from the October 1983 edition of American Roadracing, then a newsletter for WERA, covering the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges.

The cover from the October 1983 edition of American Roadracing, then a newsletter for WERA, covering the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges.

8 thoughts on “Early American Roadracing

  1. Somebody post a photo of people inside of the timing and scoring tower during that race.

    Remember. There were no transponders, just loud mouth negotiators. LMAO!

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  2. The 24 hour races were awesome. The smoke from the campfires would get lit up by your headlights. Critters crossing the track in the carousel. Seeing the sun come up coming out of the kink knowing there were still 8 hours to go,was such a great feeling. When the checkered flag came out, it was such a feeling of accomplishment. They were definately the highlight of my racing.

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  3. Now those were the days!
    I first read the headline as “Early Roadracing” with focus on the racing vs on the publication
    Suspect mine are long lost …

    GTRacing ’77 was our year, problems (many) in ’78, then ended up helping Fred Kling (Fritz’s dad) and crew with College Bike entries for years.
    Was just recalling some of the “trick” parts the other night – dump cans (no dry break) flowing gallon a second, my pressure fuel rig (nitrogen) that got outlawed, 2 second oil fill (pressurized fire extinguish with quick disconnect) … sometimes it was about pit-stops and crews as well as riders.

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  4. We were in that race as Team Edgewood, WERA Lightweight endurance champs. Larry Dinmore owned the Suzuki GS 450 that “handled like a waterbed on wheels.” After 24 hours and crazy stuff, Larry passes our opponents, Bi-Wheel Express, in the last turn and goes on to take the win by 2 seconds! That’s one we will never forget.Look inside the magazine Larry.

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