Milestones at a Cornerstone

Original text by Mike Law,

Update by Al Webber

 

Contrary to popular belief, the city of Lodi isn’t known just for the Credence Clearwater Revival line “stuck in Lodi again”. Ask the right long-time residents (or most any motorcycle racer) and you will learn that this once sleepy Northern California town has another claim to fame: the Lodi Cycle Bowl. The Lodi Motorcycle Club has been running races at the Bowl continuously since 1953; the Bowl had its 50^th birthday in 2003 and the Club itself, AMA sanction #46, has held that sanction since 1937.

When U.S. Highway 99 was being built in 1947, the contractor chose an area south and east of Lodi to excavate for fill dirt. When the highway was done and the fill dirt had been extracted, what was left was a really big hole or “burrow pit” that has proven perfect for running racing motorcycles and still keeping the sound of the bikes contained and away from the neighbors. The Club paid the sum of $2500 for the pit and the area around the pit, some 12.5 acres in total. Over the years, lights, fences, buildings and other amenities have been built and torn down and built again. The first set of lights was mounted on windmill towers! The track has seen many forms and versions but over the years most racers have expressed a desire for a ¼ mile shorttrack and a TT track and those are the two primary tracks used now.

As you might expect from a race facility that’s been around this long, an awful lot of racers have tried their hands at the Bowl. One of the real pleasures that the current LMC members get is when an “older” fellow comes to the gate, pays his spectator fee and watches the races while talking about how he or his dad or his brother raced here in the 60’s or 70’s. There is a real sense of history here.

The Bowl has provided a venue for countless amateur racers and still does today- on your average Saturday night, 90% of the guys (and some gals!) racing are amateurs who have no interest in “turning pro” or getting anything more than a plastic trophy for beating their pals in the Vet or Vint classes. Those riders are important to the Lodi M/C Club; they make up the backbone of the sport. At the same time, however, the racers who’ve started out at Lodi as amateurs but have gone on to the pro ranks are many and famous.

Probably the most famous racer to learn the art of backing ‘er in at Lodi , and then taking that skill to the professional ranks, is Kenny Roberts Sr. Starting on air-cooled Suzukis it was obvious from the start that Kenny had something special and he proved that first with GNC #1 plates in 1973 and 1974 and then 500cc World Championships in 78, 79 & 80. Roberts is of course still playing a major role in Moto-GP today.

Another Lodi alumnus is Chris Carr. The LMC archives have many pictures of Chris on 50cc bikes (go to Chris’s webpage and look up “my first race”- he’s just turned 6 and he’s running a Lodi TT!), taking the first steps that have lead him to GNC #1 plates in 92, 99, 01, 02, 03, 04 and 05. Chris’s dad still starts the occasional Lodi race.

One of Chris’s main Lodi rivals was Doug Chandler. Doug has left his mark on the sport, being one of only four riders (one of the others was Roberts) ever to score a “Grand Slam” by winning at least one road race, TT, shorttrack, half-mile and mile event in AMA professional racing and Doug has also won 2 AMA Superbike championships.

In addition to these National and World champions, the Cycle Bowl has been the training ground for many other GNC and roadrace champions. They say that once you learn to back a TT500, 650 Triumph or Wood-Rotax into the corner at Lodi , you’re halfway there to doing the same with your Superbike or Moto-GP machine.

Jim Rice raced at Lodi on a regular basis before snagging a factory ride with BSA and winning 12 GNC events during his career. Anyone who saw Alex Jorgenson during his pro career has seen a master at work, Alex has probably younger than Kenny when he first raced at Lodi . Alex is also a member of that small elite group of riders who’ve won at least one GN race in each of the 4 dirttrack events. If you ask nice when you visit Jorgy’s, Alex might tell you about some of those early races.

Some pretty well known brother-brother and father-son teams have started at Lodi . Dave Bostrom started his racing career at Lodi and later introduced Ben and Eric to the Blue Groove. All 3 riders have carried National numbers. Gerry Carr, Chris’s dad, has raced at Lodi . We’ve mentioned Alex Jorgenson, some say his brother Kim was just as fast and Kim’s son, Toby, was a rising young star until his untimely passing. The LMC still hosts an annual Toby memorial with the proceeds going to a scholarship in Toby’s name at Linden High School . National riders Matt and Nate Wait are Lodi regulars dating back to the early 80’s. Kurtis and Kenny Jr. Roberts have both raced at Lodi as did Wayne Rainey, Norifumi Abe and Rich Oliver.

The common recollection of these many racers is that the Lodi track has long been an excellent place to learn the basic skills of racing and to practice and hone those skills into the tools of winning. Jim Rice recalls that “I started racing at Lodi in 1965. Back then, you could race Lodi on Friday night, Hayward on Saturday and Fremont on Sunday. It was grassroots racing at its best. These tracks trained you for the pro level, that’s what’s lacking today. You can’t race two to three times a week in Northern California anymore. I was blackplate #1 in 1967. Without Lodi , I might not have made it to the level I achieved. Lodi is one of those places where moisture in the air makes a difference. There were many times this drove me nuts, but it was a good learning experience. The moisture in the air and track helped me prepare for tracks like Ascot ”. Like other racers, Rice had his heroes and his rivals: “Ray Huff and Jorgy (Alex Jorgenson) were always tough competitors. The Anderson brothers, Lance and Bruce, were tough too. Bruce was my rival. I had two idols: Dick Mann, of course, and Wally Weisler, my mentor. I met so many nice people at Lodi - I really mean it. I will always remember one particular 650 Expert TT. I got too sideways coming out of the turn and went sideways over the jump. I did a big tankslapper and since I was leading the race, everyone ran over either the bike or me. We had to carry that BSA off the track. The only guy who didn’t go down was the one running dead last, if they hadn’t redflagged the race he would have won”. Asked if there would be another generation of Rice racers, Jim talks about his son Kyle who was 3 months old when this interview took place. “I’m going to let him pick his own path. I’m here for whatever he wants. Speaking as a father, I feel that what kids need today is a hobby or sport where they can start out young and continue into adulthood. Dirttrack is one of those sports that offer you that. If he does choose racing, I’d like to teach him smoothness. Less sliding means more traction”.

When asked about his first race at Lodi , Alex Jorgenson leans on the counter at the family-owned shop in Stockton and says “I knew you were going to ask me something I couldn’t remember. Let’s see, my first race at Lodi was on a 100cc Kawasaki and I was about 13 (around 1967). Later, local riders Paul Johnson and Jim Foley were the riders to beat on a regular basis and of course, when Rick Hocking and John Gennai came to town, I really had my work cut out for me. My fondest memory was when I put everything together at the final race of the season and won both the 250 and 650 Expert races one year. I was also highpoint winner in those classes. I walked off with four trophies that were taller than me!” We’ve mentioned earlier Alex’s membership in the elite group of winners of all 4 types of GNC events- ST, TT, ½ mile and miles. Alex advises that “I feel that racing at Lodi helped me to become a very versatile racer. I was able to compete in several different classes ranging from 100cc to 250cc. As I became more experienced, I graduated up to the 650cc bikes and with both ST and TT events, I was able to keep my skills honed. Living near the track, I was fortunate to experiment with different brands, geometries, etc”. Alex’s kids have also done their share of laps at Lodi . “A few years ago my daughter decided to try racing a peewee at Lodi . Unfortunately, we were more interested in teaching her racing than the different flags. While leading the race, she got the white and the checkered flags mixed up and pulled into the pits when she saw the white flag! But that’s OK because she really spanked those boys!”

7-time GNC #1, Chris Carr, seems to have a memory like an elephant when it comes to his Lodi days. “That race track has taught me as much about life as it has racing” Chris says while relaxing in the LMC clubhouse. “I was 6 years and 6 days old when I had my first race at Lodi . I fell off. I didn’t get hurt but I did get mad. If I had gotten up and finished I would have gotten a trophy, instead I got a DNF. That was back in May 73 and I was in the peewee class- I’ll always remember that race”. Chris offers the following hard-earned advice to new racers- “If you fall down like I did, get back up and finish the race if you can. You can never have too much time on the race track. Everyone crashes at one time or another, everyone DNFs at some point. What you need is time and practice in your chosen profession. Not only will this make you a better racer, it’ll also make you a better person”. Carr has also promoted several races at Lodi over the years with one of the biggest ever seen at the Bowl occurring in April 1997, the Burger King/Applebee’s Spring Classic. Nearly 1500 spectators filled the Bowl grounds to watch this event; Chris advises that “I wanted to give something back to the people. We presented a pro-only event on Saturday night. We ran a large peewee class at half-time to give the racers time to prepare for the main. Also, since we’re big on the 100cc class at the track, we ran classes for the 100s. Needless to say, I was really excited about the race. All of the fans and racers have been good to me; this is my way of giving something back and saying “thank you” to them”.

And who were Chris’s heroes at the Cycle Bowl? “The Jorgenson brothers- Alex for his style and Kim for his speed”. Carr also made an observation that you hear again and again- “I always liked the family atmosphere and tradition at the track. My dad raced here. My son is now a year old and I would never push him into the sport which has was been a big part of my life. But if he wants to race, he’s got my support, and he will probably start at Lodi ”.

It seems that rivalries between siblings and between racing families have been a recurrent theme at the Bowl since the early days and you’ll find them today. For example, Matt Wait, who started at Lodi and has since turned pro roadracer, talks about starting racing at Lodi at age 4. He won that first race at the Bowl and says “I was black plate #1, two years in a row. The first year we sewed it up will always be a high point of my career”. Wait went through the ranks in the 80cc class, from Novice to Expert, with the help of some serious competition, and he is quick to name some of his nemesis: “Ben Bostrom, the McDowell brothers and I had some serious dogfights on the track. We were competitors on the track and buddies when we were off. In the summers we would go swimming on Sundays and then hang out at each other’s houses”. While at Lodi , Matt became something of a role model, giving help and advice to younger riders, including his brother (and now fellow pro dirttracker and roadracer Nathan “Gator” Wait. “I wanted to teach my younger brother everything I knew about racing,” Matt states. “As I finished my last season in the 80cc class, Gator was just beginning. He was really tough. I guess that meant I was a good teacher!”

Ben Bostrom is another example of local dirttracker-turned-pro- “I was 12 years old when I had my first race at Lodi- it was horrible! I was in the 80cc Novice class and I got dead last. I got real disappointed and went trail riding instead. I kind of liked that and tried motocross. The next year the Cycle Bowl built a cushion track on the infield- I liked that track and went from Novice to Expert”. As Bostrom and Wait served their apprenticeships at Lodi , a rivalry grew that, at least in intensity, was not at all unlike that of Roberts and Gary Scott in the early 70’s. “We raced the whole season and didn’t miss any races” says Bostrom of his clashes with Wait. “Every race was wheel to wheel, elbow to elbow, handlebar to handlebar. Late in the season I got a 250, crashed and broke my leg. I gave away the title; Matt won it”. The rivalry continued on- “Matt usually got the next bigger bike first” says Ben. “He got a 250, then I got one. We raced in the same classes and we had lots of battles on the track. Matt and I were in our mid-teens when we got our 600cc bikes and had our share of tight races. Looking back, it was a learning year. I think we were both fair starters and the hole shot was everything on that track. Racing on the shorttrack trained me for the Pro circuit; Lodi ’s TT trained me for tracks like Peoria and Castle Rock”.

As did their heroes and predecessors before them, Wait and Bostrom will always be a part of the rich history of the Lodi Cycle Bowl. The track has made many a racer but clearly, each one has added, in his own way, to the history of the Bowl. The future will certainly expand on that history as more young talent of familiar heritage, such as the Jorgensons, Roberts, Waits, Bostroms and other, long term names, as well as those with less famous parentage (but no less ability or determination), such as the Meirings, Souzas, Damrons, Corsettis and so many, many more continue to learn the skills of riding and sliding and racing in the hope of one day joining the ranks of the pros. Much is said and written about how dirttrack racing might survive and grow as a sport in America . However the future is seen, though, all agree that a grassroots, accessible race program is fundamental to the sport- without a venue for new riders to try the sport and to become skilled at it, the sport will simply die. If a retrospective racing philosophy is a key to a track’s survival, then the Lodi Cycle Bowl should produce two things- more great racers and another 53 years of great racing.