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Posted July 28, 2006 |
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Opening of SuperMann, the exhibit honoring the legendary Dick Mann, draws a record crowd to the MuseumBy
Bill Kresnak A record crowd flowed into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum July 27 for the official unveiling of the "SuperMann" exhibit that celebrates the stellar racing career of the legendary Dick Mann. An obviously humbled and honored Mann praised the fans of dirt-track racing after cutting the ribbon to open the exhibit.
More than 400 people turned out for the opening ceremonies to honor Mann, bench race with old-timers and view all the Museum exhibits, including "Motocross America," which traces the evolution of the sport in the United States. Among the luminaries at the opening were famed racer Gary Nixon, former world motocross champ Brad Lackey, former Harley-Davidson dirt-track-machine tuner extraordinaire Bill Werner, and racer Jim Rice, who was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2001. Rice was a versatile 1960s and '70s dirt-track star who won six AMA Nationals during the 1970 season alone. Rice was unable to attend the induction ceremony in 2001 to receive his Hall of Fame medallion, so Mann presented it to him during the exhibit opening. "He's been my hero since I began racing," Rice said of Mann. "At races, when the announcer asked if you were a fan of BSA or Dick Mann or whoever, Dick always got the most applause." Mann competed in three different decades and drew laughs when he modestly described his career as going through three stages. The first was tough, he said, because he really didn't know what he was doing on the racetrack. The second was tough, he said, because he knew what he was doing but just couldn't make it work on the track. The third was tough, he said, because "there were seven or eight new riders who could ride fast, but they couldn't change a spark plug," referring to the days when racers were also their own tuners. But Rice, he said, could work on his own bike. The Museum staff passed out straw hats to the crowd in a touching tribute to Mann, who was known for wearing cheap straw hats at his dirt-track races. "They were ladies gardening hats," Mann explained. "They were usually 59 cents at Woolworths. It was usually the only shade we had, and they were cheap. We had to race and work on the bikes." In introducing Mann to the adoring crowd, Museum Executive Director Mark Mederski noted that Mann was the first man in history to win every category of AMA Grand National competition. But Mann humbly noted that it took him 20 years to do it, and legend Kenny Roberts did it in one year. Mederski also noted that Mann was twice AMA Grand National Champion, won the Daytona 200 twice, won at the first AMA professional motocross held in America, earned a bronze medal by completing the International Six Days Trial, was America's team captain at the Trans-Atlantic Match Races in Great Britain in 1971, and held a position among the AMA's top 10 riders for 16 years. Mann was inducted into the Museum Hall of Fame in 1998. Mann got chuckles out of the crowd with tales of Rice rolling a rental car in England, and of how the British thought the American roadracers at the Trans-Atlantic Match races were just "cowboys" but then were awed when they flat-tracked their road-race bikes in the rain. The stories and the chance to meet some legends of the sport were exactly what drew fans to the Museum for the event. Ken McGuire Sr. and his son, Ken, had met Mann before and came to the opening to honor him. "Probably the biggest compliment was that he recognized us by name," Ken Jr. said. "It's like being recognized by God."
© 2006, Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum |
"There were fans watching when I started racing and the
same fans were watching when I left," said Mann (left), recounting his 16-year
career as a dirt-tracker and roadracer. "They're the ones who should be
honored."
