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1966 Article: King of the Flat Tracks Gene Walker - 3-Page Vintage Article

$ 7.89

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    Description

    1966 Article: King of the Flat Tracks Gene Walker - 3-Page Vintage Article
    Original, vintage magazine article
    Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
    Condition: Good
    Since the beginning of organized mo-
    torcycle competition in the United
    States, outstanding performers and great
    champions have appeared in all fields, and
    most of them were great on the mile and
    half-mile dirt tracks too; but on flat
    tracks there was one who was immortal.
    When the pro riders turned loose real
    horsepower on the horse tracks, it sparked
    unforgettable duels of daredevil speed —
    meets that were epics of two-wheel sport —
    and in this savage competition among the
    stars of professional racing, Gene Walker
    rode out his spectacular career.
    In his day Eugene E. “Gene” Walker
    knew no peer as a dirt track sprinter. He
    outrode the all-time greats on nearly every
    major track in the country, and set scores
    of national and local records on the cham-
    pionship trail. Walker was a dirt track
    “specialist” and rarely rode in any other
    events, though he did score wins on both
    the board auto speedways and road race
    courses.
    He had a knack of analyzing any track
    after a few practice laps, and on a skill-
    fully-tuned machine he murdered the op-
    position. If the groove was on the inside
    he would barrel into the turns with his
    head skimming the top rail of the fence;
    or perhaps it would be on the straights
    that Walker would pour on the coal and
    shake off pursuit. Riders who followed him
    every foot of the entire circuit never
    found his secret. They could have saved
    this effort though; there’s no way of fig-
    uring out genius.
    Gene Walker, a born race rider, first
    saw daylight on November 17, 1893, at
    Birmingham, Alabama. At 17 he owned
    his first belt-driven motorcycle, but soon
    traded it for a new Indian machine. In
    1912, he found an excuse to be in the
    saddle constantly by becoming a Special
    Delivery messenger for the Post Office.
    When Walker roared up to someone’s door
    with popping exhausts and a letter, all the
    neighbors knew it; but every bit of this
    practice was useful. That same year he en-
    tered a 5-mile race at the Alabama State
    Fair and won it easily. After that he was
    hooked by the speed bug.
    One of the south’s largest Indian motor-
    cycle dealers, Bob Stubbs, gave him a job,
    and being a red-hot race fan, Stubbs
    coached Walker and supplied him with a
    new 8-valve Indian race job direct from
    the factory. Eventually, Gene reached the
    professional ranks when he entered a one-
    hour race at Birmingham in 1914. On his
    first lap he broke the track record, but he
    didn’t win the race. Even with his natural
    ability, Walker had a lot to learn, and the
    Hendee Manufacturing Company, builders
    of the famous Indian machines at Spring-
    field, Mass., accepted him in their testing
    department in 1915, where a liberal educa-
    tion in mechanics was given him.
    After basic training in how the Indian
    race jobs were designed and built, Walker
    was picked as the jockey to ride these
    steel thoroughbreds in the acid test of rac-
    ing competition, where reputations were
    won and lost — but the results were terrific
    both for Walker and the Indian.
    Gene Walker’s career was launched at
    an F.A.M. championship meet on July 10,
    1915, at Saratoga, New York, where big-
    name riders attracted a crowd from all
    over New England. The huge throng was
    amazed to see rookie Gene take the lead
    in the 5-mile National, hotly pursued by
    Teddy Carroll (Indian), with Excelsior
    stars, Glen Stokes and Bob Perry, right
    behind. Walker lost the lead momentarily
    but with a sensational burst took over
    again and finished on top in 4:28 3/5, the
    fastest five miles ever seen on this track.
    He scored a second and a third in other
    events there.
    He was not very active in 1916, and
    went into special army ordnance work
    when the first World War had to be
    fought and won. But in the great racing
    boom following the war’s end, Gene soar-
    ed to national fame on the nation’s dirt
    tracks. In 1919 he won four out of the
    nine National Championships, at one, five,
    ten and 15 miles, and shattered the mile
    circular track record three times.
    One of his biggest days was June 8, at
    the Lakewood Park mile in Atlanta, Geor-
    gia, where he defeated local favorites Nemo
    Lancaster and Tex Richards for the South-
    ern Dirt Track Championship. So great an
    upset was his victory that it had to be re-
    run later before the Dixie speed fans
    could believe it! For three months the
    Georgia motorcycle race fans had been
    debating Walker’s upset of their local fa-
    vorites, and when the Lakewood Park of-
    ficials scheduled another Southern Cham-
    pionship meet on September 13, 1919,
    over 9000 flocked to the track — some
    from points 700 miles distant.
    When Walker, Lancaster and Richards
    roared into the 5-mile race for the title,
    every fan was on his feet and cheering.
    Lancaster got away in front and Walker
    stalked him for three laps, waiting for the
    right spot, and in the home stretch on the
    third round he shot ahead with a tremen-
    dous burst of speed, directly in front of...
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