To all of you who do not know Hopetown it was one of the biggest races in the United States back in the 60’s and 70’s. Bob Hope’s movie Ranch aka Corriganville was the place to be. In the early years we rode Honda 4 strokes Triumphs Harley Davidsons and BSA’s stripped of their lights and street tires. In 1967 Edison Dye , Ted Lapadakis and Andy De LaTorre brought over Europe’s best and introduced us to MOTOCROSS. The rest is History. It caught on like wildfire. By 1970 through 1975 1500 to 2000 racers would race on that historic track in front of tens of thousands spectators. It was filmed by Bruce Brown (Endless Summer and On Any Sunday) and aired on Wide World of Sports. This was the race we all trained the whole year to race. Being in my back yard I always tried to excel there but the course and the famous mud-hole and track itself took its toll a couple of times. If you look at my extremesportspioneer.com website you will see a riders demand to bring back this event…..well…
This year there was a reunion of the racers and the public. Heros such as John Rice and Preston Petty (the inventor of the unbreakable plastic fender) were there as well as John DeSoto (the flyin’ Hawaiian) Brad Lackey (first American to win a championship in Europe) . Also there, the legendary Marty Tripes winner of the first two Super-bowl of MOTOCROSS at the LA Coliseum along with Greeves great Jim Wilson. Keith Mashburn , who put on the event, was a motocross racer turned flat-track when Yamaha offered him a ride. Dave Ekins won 2 Gold and 1 bronze at the prestigious ISDT’s in Europe. Eddie Mulder ,Mike Runyard John Hateley as well as Ekins took their Flat-track / MOTOCROSS skills to the big screen in hundreds of movies ; Perfect Storm just one of them.
I learned of the event and got involved. Several of the legends had already been recipients of my Extreme Sports Pioneer recognitions so I asked if I could present the remainder of the heros with them and got the OK. I made many phone calls as everyone did to make this possibly once in a lifetime event successful and guess what It BLEW ME AWAY!!! The site was a European motorcycle museum in Simi Valley. In the parking lot there was at least a thousand feet of high tenting providing shade for all of the bikes and memorabilia people brought to share. I heard 2700 people had signed up for the lunch but there were many more who knew nothing of the signing in process. I would guess that 4000 people showed up.
My friends Scott and
Skip Smith went with me and were invaluable in getting our area set
up. We had trophies and photos of the event as well as ten or
so of my recognitions to set up. Chuck Daly brought the Sachs
DKW he let Preston race at the Catalina GP back in 2010 as well as
an original 3ft. x 4 ft poster. We also did a memorial
display for the late Gene Cannady. He won many races at
Hopetown as well as all of the tracks around So Cal. He was
probably the first cop to be able to catch us riding at the various
unapproved tracks we had around the valley. He discarded the
HD for a Kawasaki. RIP Gene!!!
The entire day was non-stop moto talk. Preston hung out with us the whole day as well as Chuck Daly (mechanic to the stars as well as me). Kenny Ferguson (Champion Helmets and my sponsor back then) brought over many to sign my recipients list as well as to check out the photos and the rest of the display. After lunch a friend came over and said he knew I was there as he had heard my name over the PA. I collected and boxed the recognitions and headed for the podium. All of the legends received something from the host of the event( the Zimmermans) and I saw medals around some necks. I waited ‘til the end and let them get to the autograph line. The recipients that had already signed my list received them with a handshake and brief photo op. Tom White of White Brothers aftermarket performance fame got up and interviewed me as to what my endeavor is all about. I’m getting better at public speaking and several people said I did a good job so there you go. I got former factory Honda rider Willie Simons on stage and Tom let me interview him. At that point Tom said he had something for me and hung a DISTINGUISHED RIDER MEDAL around my neck. I was speechless if you can believe that. I had no idea. When Eddie Mulder saw his Extreme Sports Pioneer award earlier in the day, he remarked how much he liked them and wants to get me involved with some of his endeavors. Anyway I’m rattling a little but there was so much to see and tell I’ll have to absorb it all for a few more days and post a lot on my extreme site.
The event was to wrap up by 4 but as you can imagine it took a while to get everyone gathered up and out of there. There is a rumor that there will be another event next year but we will have to see what happens. When Hopetown quit hosting the event after 1975 it went to several other racing facilities but it never drew the same racers and crowds that it did in Simi. It would be awesome if by some miracle they could revive this event. Most or all of the track is still there. It is now a park with houses around the perimeter. We’ll see if the stars can align. Keep the fingers crossed !!!!!! CB
