25 Years Ago June, 1969

25 YEARS AGO JUNE, 1969

Exotic machines and courageous riders lit up the pages, most notably "Death Wish," a turbine-engined motorcycle, piloted by Larry Carl. CW called the bike a "go-bomb." A volleyball-sized engine produced 200 horsepower at 70,000 rpm. The goal was 350 horsepower at 100,000 rpm and a world record quarter-mile run.

• Going from the space age to the olden days, we told the tales of motordrome racers, men who competed on banked one-quarter-mile wooden bowls. Banks were as steep as 62 degrees, which put extra pressure on the engine, frame and axles. Wells Bennett, who rode the boards for 20 years, said, “If you unloaded, you would hit the hard planks a lot harder than in a flat track spill. Also, a slide to the bottom could put 100 slivers in your anatomy. Even if everything held together, an overheated engine could burst into flames.”

• Also relegated to the history books is the Mint 400 desert race.

AI and Bobby Unser, Mickey Thompson and Parnelli Jones were there to drive, but Mike Patrick, riding a Yamaha 250, obliterated the fourwheelers. He finished more than two hours ahead of the first car.

• Motordromes and the Mint 400 are history, but the Daytona 200 rolls on. The 1969 race was won by Cal Rayborn on a Harley-Davidson. Some racer traits continue, as well. The story noted that, by some mysterious fates, Florida rental cars tended to age rapidly when driven by competitors.

Robert Hough