Russ Paulk (15x) leads a pack of very talented riders, Mark Chin, Greg Tysor, John Eidenberger and Mike Smith in the Road Atlanta AMA 750 Supersport race in May of 1988. Paulk finished at the head of this pack. (Larry Lawrence photo)

Russ Paulk (15x) leads a pack of very talented riders in the Road Atlanta AMA 750 Supersport race in May of 1988. Paulk grew up riding a BMW on the mountain roads northeast of Atlanta, so he felt right at home on the twisty and hilly Road Atlanta circuit.

Fellow racer and good friend Deano Swims once said of Paulk’s exploits in the north Georgia mountains – “(Russ) rode and old BMW R90S so fast that no one in their right mind would try to keep up with him. He actually would drag holes in the valve covers quite frequently. He was always prepared with contact cleaner and quick setting epoxy in his tank bag to repair the holes!”

In this photo Paulk is leading Floridian Mark Chin, Greg Tysor, John Eidenberger and Mike Smith. It was one of the most talented group of riders you’d ever see battling for fifth place. At the checkered flag it was Paulk stubbornly holding off of the rest of the riders in this group. Chin was sixth, Scott Zampach (not pictured) moved up to take seventh, while Eidenberger, Tysor and Smith rounded out the top ten.

Racing lost one of its very best a few months later when Paulk crashed at Sears Point and died. Russ was universally like throughout the AMA paddock and his passing cut deep. I believe Russ’ death finally spurred on Sears Point (now Infineon Raceway) to start making dramatic safety improvements. Over the next decade the track made incremental improvements and today is an infinitely safer circuit for motorcycle racing than it was in 1988.