We, as race fans, have seen it before. We, as HUMAN BEINGS, have seen it before. It’s in the recipes of the Cookbook of Life… and, no matter what, it never changes.

We have lost many heroes in the sport of flat track racing. Many were taken from this world far too soon. We have lost some of our up-and-coming Hotshoes before they were ever able to make their grooves in the tracks of flat track history.

Some were young. Some were veterans. Some were in their prime.

To a fan, it’s like having a loss in the family. The flat track community IS a family, in my opinion, and as far as most of us are concerned.

Some of our leftclankers were lost on the racetrack, doing what they loved to do… riding fast, and turning left. Some were lost, AWAY from the racetrack.

While we honor all of those who’ve gone on to cross those final checkers, this is our tribute to one of the greatest motorcycle racers to ever throw dirt through a chainlink fence…

Ricky Graham.

On January 22, 1998, Heaven gained another rider, on the starting lines of eternity.

Trying to pay tribute to everything great about Ricky is like trying to lay tissue paper on a train track, to stop a train. It just can’t be done.

So, I will just list a few things that made me, as a fan, wear chainlink fence marks on my face, from straining and pushing it against the fence from the stands, as he and the rest of the top racers went at it, over the years.

1. His “Over the Peoria jump”… over the handlebars… broken back comeback, to win the championship on the Peel XR750 Harley. That, ALONE, made me go to cheer for him, at the next race. WOW. After seeing that, I feel like a wimp for getting winded, climbing the Peoria hill, after a race.

2. His speed on the miles. Those who saw him ride the mile know exactly what I’m talking about. Those who didn’t? Well, folks, it was like highspeed poetry in motion!

3. The 1993 season. Taking absolutely nothing away from Johnny Goad and company’s Hondas (because, in ‘93, those were some BAD FAST motorcycles!), but… with Ricky in the saddle… they were SPACESHIPS. I remember hearing folks in the stands say things like, “Ricky would have been hard to beat, if he was ridin’ a STICKHORSE!” and, “Ricky coulda been riding a blind three-legged MULE, and won, tonight!”

6 wins in a row, 12 wins for the season. History made! I’m so grateful I was among those who witnessed it.

4. His loyalty, to his fans. If the line to his canopy was 6 miles long, Ricky signed 6 miles worth of autographs…and THEN some. I saw him, once, on his pit bike in Mineral Wells, WV (1992). It was after a race, and he was taking a sprocket back to another rider. The guy must have stopped between 10 and a dozen times, for autographs. With a Sharpie in one hand and the sprocket in the other, he continued twisting that pit bikes throttle on his mission through the pits.

I’ve got a friend, who tells me how Ricky’s kindness extended beyond the track. Every so often, RG would call our friend’s little girl, and ask her how her schoolwork was coming.

“Now, you’d better get those grades up,” he’d scold, “Or I won’t help you with your riding, this summer. School comes first!”

She once gave Ricky a school picture, with her autograph. It meant the world to Ricky, and he kept it on the mantle until his final day.

5. Ricky showed us that he was just like us. He was human. He made mistakes, and he would come forward and admit them. To me, that was far bolder and braver than anything he ever did on two wheels… and he did a LOT of “bold and brave” things, with a throttle in his right hand. Too many of the people we consider “stars,” whether they are actors, athletes, musicians, etc. sweep their errors under the rug. Not Ricky. He challenged the fallible nature of his human existence the way he challenged the black gumbo of the Springfield Mile.

And, he did it just as nobly.

Thank you, Ricky. You are one of the legends who helped make me, and many others, true Fans in the Stands.

Chew

Video Tribute to Ricky Graham:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfbAQdnDabQ