Since a motor was first paired with a set of wheels
and handlebars, riders have felt compelled to race. Down dirt country roads,
hard-packed sandy beaches, on board track ovals and race circuits, and
especially drag strips, the thrill of top-end speed has always held a firm grip
on motorcycling. With the resurgence of American road and flat track racing,
renewed attention has returned to motorcycle drag racing, arguably among the
oldest forms of motorcycle racing.
For a recent evaluation article I wrote on the
Triumph Street Triple R (Dec. 2017 Born to Ride), we borrowed a bike from
Freewheeling Powersports. Imagine my surprise when entering general manager
Ricky Patterson’s office, to find trophies, photos, and memorabilia adorning
the place, testifying to Ricky’s motorcycle drag racing years! I had to
dialogue with him about it, fascinated by this soft-spoken, gentle giant of a
man with a slow Southern drawl, who spent years roaring down a drag strip in
excess of 100mph on motorcycles.
Mainly running local motorcycle bracket racing,
Ricky started racing back in 1985 while working at a dealership. As Ricky tells
it, “A guy came by the dealership with a drag bike on the back of his truck,
and I thought, ‘Man, that is so cool!’. He invited me to a race night nearby,
and I was hooked.” At the time, Ricky owned a 1982 Honda CB750, so he took it
to Paradise Drag Strip in Calhoun one Sunday, entered in the ET open bracket,
and ended up winning. Ricky reflects, “I kept going back, realized I was pretty
good at it, and really enjoyed it. I kept progressing, moving up to larger
dedicated drag bikes, racing every Saturday and Sunday. I couldn’t get enough
of it.”
The main track Ricky ran was the Southeastern
Dragway in Dallas, Georgia, an NHRA sanctioned strip. A typical racing season
ran from March to October, and competitors in the top 10 points standings were
invited to the NHRA Bracket Finals, running against racers from across the
Southeast. In 1993, Ricky won the track championship at Southeastern Dragway,
moving on to the NHRA Bracket Finals in Atlanta. Ricky took 2nd
place in the “Race of Champions”, a competition of the points winners from all
the regional tracks. “That was a huge thrill for me”, Ricky recalls.
And then, Ricky won the coveted “Wally”, an NHRA
National event trophy. The Wally is only won at national events, either by
winning in Pro Stock or in Bracket Finals. In 2005, National Dragstrip, NHRA’s
official publication, sponsored a grass-roots level, bracket racing series of
events, awarding the winners a Wally. “I had stopped racing by 2000,” Ricky
shares, “and the Dallas strip was closing up. That was going to be Dallas’ last
race, and they were putting a Wally up for winning. I didn’t have a bike, but a
buddy of mine loaned me one. I arrived too late to get in a couple of practice
runs and times.” Ricky advanced up through his bracket, winning runs across the
evening. Inclement weather threatened the rest of the weekend, so at 4:45am
(yes, you read that right), amidst Pro Stock, Funny Car, and other category
finals, Ricky won his final run, taking home the prized Wally trophy, in the
last race at the legendary Dallas Southeastern Dragway. “I’ll always treasure
that, always be grateful to the friend who made it possible,” Ricky declares.
“We went out and celebrated with breakfast at a local Waffle House.” Of course!
With a racing career spanning 20 years, Ricky names
the Gainesville, Florida ¼ Mile and Atlanta Dragway as among his favorites. “We
ran a lot of AMA Pro Star events, went on that national circuit, all ¼ mile
tracks.” Ricky recalls a weekend he broke a crank in the final round at Dallas,
losing the race, drove home, pulled the motor and replaced the crank, drove to
Calhoun, and won the race on Sunday. “On no sleep, I might add,” Ricky
chuckles.
After literally thousands of runs across two
decades, Ricky hung up the leathers after the Wally win in 2005. “Motorcycle
drag racing was a little different than other forms of motorcycle racing,”
Ricky says. “You didn’t have to spend a lot of money to be competitive in
bracket racing, and there were strips all over the South.”
Ricky is the co-owner/general manager of
Freewheeling Powersports in Douglasville, Georgia, along with his business
partner and long-time friend, John Feckoury. These pals go back to 1985, when
John hired a young 16 year old Ricky at Honda of Cartersville, only to be
reunited decades later when they went in together to buy Freewheeling, itself a
Triumph, Honda, and Suzuki dealership. The establishment is one of the oldest
Triumph dealers in the nation, and one of the most decorated and respected by
Triumph North America. Ricky’s racing legacy only adds to the mystique here.
When in North
Georgia, east of Atlanta, stop by Freewheeling Powersports. Browse the bikes,
talk with the great staff, and look up Ricky, whose office is back in the
Triumph section. His easy-going, laid-back friendliness belies a great love of
motorcycles and racing, of sound and fury.
