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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: How Gary Nixon Saved My Life
The late Gary Nixon may have retired, but he never quit.
Gary Nixon, 1941-2011 (Photo: Evan Williams)
One cool story at the AMA Pro Road Racing season opener in Daytona was the tributes to the late Gary Nixon. Latus Motors Triumph and Jason DiSalvo honored the two-time Grand National champion who died last August at the age of 70 with a bike painted much like the one Nixon used to win the Daytona 200 in 1967. Danny Eslick wore a Nixon replica helmet at Daytona.
Nixon would have gotten a kick out of two dirt-trackers paying tribute. Nixon’s career spanned the time when both flat track and road race events comprised the Grand National calendar, requiring the champion to place well in both disciplines.
Nixon was a great flat tracker and equally talented on the pavement. He won the ’73 National Road Racing Championship on an Erv Kanemoto-tuned Kawasaki and most feel he should have been awarded the '76 FIM Formula 750 title. Nixon appeared to have won a race in Venezuela, but later the officials ruled that Stevie Baker had won. The FIM later disallowed the results of the contest altogether when Venezuelan officials couldn’t produce the timekeeping records at the AMA’s appeal, so Nixon got nothing in the points column and another rider won the championship as a result.
Nixon was a charismatic figure and had many friends among his fellow racers. Former Suzuki teammate Barry Sheene was often photographed in an iconic “Gary Nixon Enterprises t-shirt.
As is often the case, crazy young men become crazy old men and Nixon was no different. After he retired, Nixon was a constant figure in the paddock and served as a mentor to several riders, including the Haydens. He was always friendly and colorful.
Nixon also raced in Moto-ST in recent years as well taking part in promotional work for Kawasaki at bike intros. He might have retired, but he never really quit.
One difference between motorcycle racing and car racing in my view is that our four-wheeled brethren are much more in touch with the history of their sport. I have always thought we should embrace our past much more aggressively.
So, how did Gary Nixon save my life?
It’s Daytona tradition for me to hop down from where I live just outside of Nashville to Atlanta, where I meet up with a mechanic buddy and we head the rest of the way to Daytona, passing the time by talking about everyone we know in the racing industry. Last year, we put my Ducati in the back of his truck so I’d have some independent transpo while down there.
The first afternoon, we unloaded my bike and I took off to the hotel at the end of the day. I left the track and got up to speed on the eight-lane behemoth outside the track.
All the sudden, a vehicle raced up beside me out of nowhere. A man screamed at me, with both hands off the wheel, waving in the air in total panic. He was raving like a madman.
Instead of being alarmed, I thought, ‘What does Gary Nixon want?’ I mean, I’d heard those stories about how racers used to have fun back in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
I flipped up my shield.
“You’re tire’s going flat,” he yelled, like a man who’d had a tire go bad on him more than once.
And it was.
I pulled over and there was an inch-long gash in it. Within a minute, the basted thing hand no air pressure at all.
When I asked Nixon about his warning me, he said he always looked to help a fellow motorcyclist in need.
Maybe we should all adopt that attitude, and in our own way pay tribute to Nixon.
Nixon would have gotten a kick out of two dirt-trackers paying tribute. Nixon’s career spanned the time when both flat track and road race events comprised the Grand National calendar, requiring the champion to place well in both disciplines.
Nixon was a great flat tracker and equally talented on the pavement. He won the ’73 National Road Racing Championship on an Erv Kanemoto-tuned Kawasaki and most feel he should have been awarded the '76 FIM Formula 750 title. Nixon appeared to have won a race in Venezuela, but later the officials ruled that Stevie Baker had won. The FIM later disallowed the results of the contest altogether when Venezuelan officials couldn’t produce the timekeeping records at the AMA’s appeal, so Nixon got nothing in the points column and another rider won the championship as a result.
Nixon was a charismatic figure and had many friends among his fellow racers. Former Suzuki teammate Barry Sheene was often photographed in an iconic “Gary Nixon Enterprises t-shirt.
As is often the case, crazy young men become crazy old men and Nixon was no different. After he retired, Nixon was a constant figure in the paddock and served as a mentor to several riders, including the Haydens. He was always friendly and colorful.
Nixon also raced in Moto-ST in recent years as well taking part in promotional work for Kawasaki at bike intros. He might have retired, but he never really quit.
One difference between motorcycle racing and car racing in my view is that our four-wheeled brethren are much more in touch with the history of their sport. I have always thought we should embrace our past much more aggressively.
So, how did Gary Nixon save my life?
It’s Daytona tradition for me to hop down from where I live just outside of Nashville to Atlanta, where I meet up with a mechanic buddy and we head the rest of the way to Daytona, passing the time by talking about everyone we know in the racing industry. Last year, we put my Ducati in the back of his truck so I’d have some independent transpo while down there.
The first afternoon, we unloaded my bike and I took off to the hotel at the end of the day. I left the track and got up to speed on the eight-lane behemoth outside the track.
All the sudden, a vehicle raced up beside me out of nowhere. A man screamed at me, with both hands off the wheel, waving in the air in total panic. He was raving like a madman.
Instead of being alarmed, I thought, ‘What does Gary Nixon want?’ I mean, I’d heard those stories about how racers used to have fun back in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
I flipped up my shield.
“You’re tire’s going flat,” he yelled, like a man who’d had a tire go bad on him more than once.
And it was.
I pulled over and there was an inch-long gash in it. Within a minute, the basted thing hand no air pressure at all.
When I asked Nixon about his warning me, he said he always looked to help a fellow motorcyclist in need.
Maybe we should all adopt that attitude, and in our own way pay tribute to Nixon.
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