Catching Up With Ken (Ken Hill)

The summer break; it is a mystical and mythical time where we all go on vacation and spend our hours basking on a beach in some exotic location drinking fruity umbrella topped beverages until racing resumes. Ok, that may be the case for some but from what I see, there is plenty of racing going on and no breaks in the forecast! That’s really good to see and before I get cranked up in this week’s contribution, I wanted to wish you all a great summer and good luck at the various races you are attending. Now as for myself, I thought I got somewhat of a break but it isn’t shaping up to be all that as I continue to travel to the ATVMX events. They are a ton of fun so if you are looking for something to do and are fairly close to an event, give them a good look and watch some of the wildest and most intense motocross you’ve ever seen! 

Now I do not have a ton to add this week simply because the series is on vacation but I asked the wife to pick a movie to watch last night and she pulled out the holy grail of motorcycle movies, On Any Sunday. I hadn’t seen it in probably 15 years and it was as good as ever. However, I found myself looking and listening to things and comparing them to what we see today. A few years back at the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National, Davey Coombs asked me to shoot things that I felt have changed over the years. Even though I was dead tired and plum wore out, the request sparked some life in me and I tackled the task. While watching the movie I thought, how cool it would be if someone could remake that movie and basically copy it scene by scene except use todays riders and events. 

Most of the feelings expressed all those years ago remain the same and it was eye opening because I could hear some of your voices repeating word for word what was stated in that movie. The lifestyles are still virtually identical, while the new technology of course has changed. That movie is a legendary classic that was so well done it would really take some talent to recreate it but would be so insane to see done. I found myself laughing as I watched some of the wrecks and I believe I have seen 3/4 of that movie in one lap of GNCC Racing! Since motocross and Flat Track were the most popular racing disciplines at that time, the movie centers more on those but you will enjoy it if you like racing of motorcycling in general that is if you have never seen it, which I wouldn’t admit to! 

So anyway, this is a short addition this week as I decide if I can handle the hump back to Peru, Indiana to go shoot the IXCR race there this weekend. It is just a nine-hour drive that I can do in my sleep but after watching On Any Sunday, I have the real thirst for breaking out my Street Glide and making an adventure out of it. Hey, I know it is a street bike but if you’ve noticed the pot holes out there on the roads you will know its far from a smooth ride. As always, be safe in all you do and may God bless you all! 

#ThrowbackThursday (Jared Bolton)

It returns once again! With the summer break in full swing, now is the perfect time to bring back some classic Throwback Thursday action. This week we’ll talk a little about one of the more popular races in the history of GNCC Racing and that is the legendary 1990 Blackwater 100. This one stands out on the bike side due to Tommy Norton’s win aboard a 125cc motorcycle, the smallest bore bike to ever win Blackwater. However, it’s much more legendary than just the win itself, so let’s take a look. 

This race is also pretty significant on the four-wheeled side of things as well. It would be a hard fought race but Bob Sloan would break through for his first-ever Blackwater 100 win. Bob was already a decorated racer and came into the 1990 season as the defending champion. However, Bob had yet to win the infamous Blackwater and was determined to do so. Of course, this win didn’t come without a challenge as Norm Bish and eventual 1990 champion Chuck Dellulo both put in great performances. 

Similar to today’s two-hour ATV events, back then the ATVs would run a slightly shorter race but it would still take nearly three-hours to complete. Sloan would cross the finish line with the win and a total race time of 2:55:01 and a fairly comfortable margin over Bish in second place. Dellulo would finish third, just a mere 12-seconds behind Bish! Bob would go on to claim Blackwater wins again in 1991 and 1992, along with the 1992 GNCC ATV National Championship. These achievements, along with his “Ironman” moniker given to him for also racing a motorcycle in the same weekend, are the biggest contributing factors to his status as a GNCC legend and the man we pay tribute to with the Ironman GNCC each year. 

Of course, Bob’s incredible performance is just one side of what makes this event so legendary. The 1990 Blackwater stands out in many people’s minds due to the ride of a lifetime put in by Tommy Norton. By now, most of you already know that this was the event where Tommy Norton claimed the Blackwater 100 win aboard a KTM 125. However, what often gets left out of some people’s minds is that the win is even more legendary than that. 

This event is what would put Tommy Norton on the map. Many people remember Tommy’s time spent as part of “Team Mirage” which brought his sponsorship from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But this race was actually a few years before that. Coming into the 1990 Blackwater, Tommy was virtually unknown on the national level. Hailing from Massachusetts, he was a fairly accomplished rider in the New England area and had actually finished a solid second place in the Open-A class at the 1989 Blackwater 100 but other than that, he was just a New Englander out racing with the rest of the field. 

That would all change with his 1990 win, but there’s much more to that win. Coming into the event, Tommy approached it like any other race. He didn’t come in with the idea of winning the whole thing and that was likely the last thing on his mind. With no type of factory support, Tommy was part of New England’s Team FahQ, which was founded by Jerry Bernardo a few years prior. You’ll likely remember Jerry and his epic Massachusetts accent from his TV work on MotoWorld 2, as a pit reporter at Pro Motocross events in the 90s, and his time spent as an announcer at various events across the globe. 

So coming into the 1990 Blackwater 100 on a very low-key note, Tommy ended up drawing a front row starting spot. This would add a bit of motivation to Tommy’s day but a pre-race incident would actually make things even more interesting. A container of delicious potato salad would possibly play the biggest role a food has ever played in the outcome of a race. Apparently some bees had decided that they though the potato salad was also delicious and when Tommy took a bite, he would end up getting stung inside his mouth. 

Last year Tommy did a podcast with Brian Pierce from Seat Time and said that after being stung, he was sitting on the start absolutely fuming. That anger would serve as motivation and when the flag dropped, Tommy blasted out of town on a mission. California’s Larry Roeseler would take the early lead, but he would fry his ignition on the second lap. This would be the break Norton was waiting for as he would cruise by and take the lead. Norton would ride the rest of the race nearly unchallenged by other riders, but he did have a number of crashes, including one early in the race that would destroy the water bottle on his chest protector. Keep in mind, this was before hydration systems were a thing, so destroying your water bottle and riding nearly the entire event with no water is a challenge in itself. 

In the end, Norton would come away with the win with a finish time of 5:11:59, while Blackwater legend Mark Hyde would finish second and Tim Shephard would come away third overall. As for Norton, this would end up being his only GNCC overall win. He would still land numerous podium and top five finishes through the rest of his racing career, and of course land the ride on that cool Ninja Turtles bike. However, the Blackwater win is what he’s most remembered for and to think that a plate of potato salad and a bee played a huge roll in that win is pretty wild. 

Now, I’m not saying that aspiring race winners should place bees in their mouths to serve as motivation and in fact I would encourage you to stay away from bees as much as possible. However, the moral of the story is that you can find motivation from the most unknown places and just because something negative happens before the race, doesn’t mean that you should let it ruin your day. Use it to your advantage and you never know what could happen.