Breakfast with a star

The famed 1972 Grand National Champion may have left an indelible mark on the sport of AMA Flat Track racing before injuries ended his career in 1974, but his first motorcycle experience, as he told a capacity crowd at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame breakfast in Deland, was much more humble.

"I delivered papers, and my buddy who also delivered papers had a 2.2 horsepower Austrian Puch moped,'' Brelsord said. "I asked my parents if I could buy it, and they said no. So I bought it for $35 and kept it at my buddy's garage.

"Every day, I'd load up the papers on my bike and ride to my buddy's house and transfer them to the motorcycle to do my route,'' he said. "When I was finished, I'd put the motorcycle back in the garage and ride my bicycle home.''

Of course, as he grew up and started racing motorcycles, he went a lot further than such beginnings would suggest. He went on to become a Harley-Davidson factory racer, ultimately winning the top prize in flat track: the Grand National Championship.

Interviewed at the breakfast by Speed TV personality Dave Despain, Brelsford told several stories from his racing days. It was a rare treat to hear from the champion, who has lived in Alaska full-time since a much-remembered fireball crash at Daytona in 1974 and doesn't make it down to the lower 48 very often.

One of the best stories involved the first time Brelsford rode a road-race motorcycle—at Daytona International Speedway.

"Roadracing was something I never wanted to do,'' he said."The speeds frightened me.''

When he was given a Harley-Davidson XR road-racer to ride at Daytona in 1969, he immediately dumped it accidentally in the pits, since the low, clip-on bars restricted the available steering lock much more than he was used to.

Then, Brelsford said, he was following Rayborn around, and was intimidated by the turns on the banking. Still, his bosses encouraged him to race at the track, which Brelsford was slated to do the day after the Daytona AMA Flat Track race—a race that ultimately saw him crash and break several bones.

"I woke up in the hospital, and I had broken bones and a concussion, and I tell you—I was very happy!" Brelsford said. "It meant I didn't have to ride in the road race!"