My $25 Ducati Summer | by Larry Fritz | Ducati.net | Ductalk: What's Up In The World Of Ducati | Scoop.it

This picture was taken May 20th, 1964 at Santa Fe Park, professional 1/4 Mile Track, on the South side of Chicago, Illinois……I won 1st place in the Consolation race – I was always much better off if I missed the finals in the heat races because I could usually win the consolation race & take home $15 to $25. If I made the Grand Final I would be lucky if I made anything at all! Expert, Amateur & Novice classes all ran together at the Santa Fe Park quarter mile track and I was a novice at that time. I earned enough points to advance to Amateur on the 250cc Diana that summer. Most of the experts, the “Hot Shoes” , were riding Harley Davidson Sprints, (which were made in Italy) or Parilla’s. I could out run almost all of them on the straights, but could not then handle the corners as well as those with more experience. I remember one rider in particular, George Roeder, was actually able to just stick his front wheel into my left side even as our leathers were flapping on the inside guard posts and just push me out of the way....http://www.ducati.net/2012/05/my-25-00-ducati-summer/