Jay Springsteen

Last updated November 12, 2019

Jay Springsteen (born April 15, 1957 in Flint, Michigan) is an American former professional motorcycle dirt track racer.

Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. According to the 2010 census, Flint has a population of 102,434, making it the seventh largest city in Michigan. The Flint metropolitan area is located entirely within Genesee County. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 425,790 in 2010. The city was incorporated in 1855.

Americans are nationals and citizens of the United States of America. Although nationals and citizens make up the majority of Americans, some dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents may also claim American nationality. The United States is home to people of many different ethnic origins. As a result, American culture and law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity, but with citizenship and permanent allegiance.

A motorcycle, often called a bike, motorbike, or cycle, is a two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport including racing, and off-road riding. Motorcycling is riding a motorcycle and related social activity such as joining a motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies.

He began his professional racing career in 1975 by winning the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Rookie of the Year award. As a member of the Harley-Davidson factory race team, he went on to win three consecutive A.M.A. Grand National Championships in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He accumulated 43 Grand National Championship dirt track victories during a career that spanned almost 30 years.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to promote the motorcycling lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling." The organization was founded in 1924 and as of October 2016 had more than 1,100 chartered clubs.

Harley-Davidson, Inc., H-D, or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression, along with Indian. The company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality, and intense global competition to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored, brand-focused museum.

In motorsports, a factory-backed racing team or driver is one sponsored by a vehicle manufacturer in official competitions. As motorsport competition is an expensive endeavor, some degree of factory support is desired and often necessary for success. The lowest form of factory backing comes in the form of contingency awards, based upon performance, which help to defray the cost of competing. Full factory backing can be often seen in the highest forms of international competition, with major motorsport operations often receiving hundreds of millions of euros to represent a particular manufacturer.

According to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame induction, Springsteen earned enough race winnings to live on by age 17 and by age 18, he was signed by the Harley-Davidson team.^[1] He finished fifth in the 2006 Daytona 200.^[1]

The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 200-mile (320 km) race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The original course used the beach itself before moving to a paved closed circuit in 1961. The Daytona 200 reached its zenith of worldwide popularity in the 1970s when the race attracted the largest crowds of any AMA race along with some of the top rated international motorcycle racers.

Race record

Springsteen has a notable race record: four decades as a leading rider, with victories spanning 25 years; three championships in a row;^[2] 43 national wins including every type of dirt track—miles, half-miles, short track and TTs. He was ranked in the top 10 national riders 23 times.^[1]

Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorcycles. Two different types of race cars dominate — open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the Midwest and South. While open wheel race cars are purpose-built racing vehicles, stock cars can be either purpose-built race cars or street vehicles that have been modified to varying degrees.

Referring to Springsteen's "mysterious illness" that caused sudden and debilitating abdominal pain when he was due to race, forcing him to miss many races, Dave Despain asked "one of the great 'what if' questions in dirt track history ... If Springer had stayed healthy, how many would he have won?"^[2]

Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues.

Dave Despain is an American motorsports journalist. He was the host of WindTunnel with Dave Despain on Speed Channel, and NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup, until the former was cancelled during the demise of Speed and the latter underwent a format change at the beginning of the 2008 NASCAR Season. On December 14, 2013 Despain announced on Twitter that he would be moving to MAVTV in 2014 to provide color commentary during races held on the channel and host a show called The Dave Despain Show.

Awards and recognition

In 1994, a panel of 30 motorcycle racing experts convened by American Motorcyclist selected Springsteen as the best dirt-track rider of all time.^[3]

Springsteen was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003, and to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.^[4]

Harley-Davidson's racing manager Dick O'Brien called Springsteen "one of the all-time greats and maybe the best ever."^[5]

Related Research Articles

Wayne Wesley Rainey is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding style.

Kenneth Leroy Roberts is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Roberts is one of only four riders in American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing Grand National wins at a mile, half-mile, short-track, TT Steeplechase and road race events.

Eddie Lawson is an American former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His penchant for not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".

Ralph R. Hepburn was a pioneer American motorcycle racing champion and an Indianapolis 500 racecar driver.

Pat Hennen is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is best known for being the first American to win a 500 cc World Championship race, the 1976 500cc Finnish Grand Prix. Competing as a non-factory rider, he finished third overall in the GP World Championship standings that season, only 2 points behind runner-up Tepi Länsivuori and fellow Suzuki factory rider Barry Sheene.

Mert Lawwill is an American professional motorcycle racer, race team owner and mountain bike designer. He won the 1969 AMA Grand National Championship and, was one of the top competitors on the AMA national racing circuit during 1960s and 1970s. After his motorcycle racing career, Lawwill became one of the top motorcycle racing frame designers and builders. Lawwill then used his experience as a motorcycle frame builder to become an innovative mountain bike designer, developing one of the first bicycle suspensions. He also developed prosthetic limbs for amputees. Lawwill was inducted in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Chris Carr (motorcyclist) American motorcycle racer

Chris Carr is an American motorcycle dirt-track racer and seven-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. He has also competed as a motorcycle road racer at the national level and was a motorcycle land speed world record holder.

Kelvin "Kel" Carruthers is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. After his motorcycle riding career, he became race team manager for world championship winning riders Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson.

John Douglas Chandler is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He earned a reputation as one of the most versatile racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing national wins at a mile, half-mile, short track, TT and road race. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2006.

Marty Tripes is an American former professional motocross racer. He was one of the leading American motocross and supercross racers during the 1970s. Tripes rose to national prominence in 1972 as a teenage prodigy when, he defeated some of the best riders in the world to win the first-ever stadium supercross race in the United States.

Mitchell Nelson Weinert is an American former professional motocross and supercross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1972 to 1980. Weinert won 22 AMA Nationals and three AMA national championships during his racing career. In 1973, Weinert became the first American to defeat international-level riders in the Trans-AMA motocross series. That victory marked a turning point that brought American motocross up to par with the then dominant European riders.

Dick Mann is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He was a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. Mann was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. He was one of the few riders to ride motocross and Observed Trials as well as dirt flat tracks, TT and road racing.

Calvin Rayborn II was a top American professional motorcycle road racer in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Gene Romero was an American professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship from 1966 to 1981 sponsored first by the Triumph factory racing team and then by the Yamaha factory racing team. Proficient on oval dirt tracks as well as paved road racing circuits, Romero won the 1970 A.M.A. Grand National Championship and was the winner of the 1975 Daytona 200. After retiring from competition, he became a successful racing team manager with Honda and, helped the sport of dirt track racing by becoming a race promoter. Romero was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

The Harley-Davidson XR-750 is a racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson since 1970, primarily for dirt track racing, but also for road racing in the XRTT variant. The XR-750 was designed in response to a 1969 change in AMA Grand National Championship rules that leveled the playing field for makes other than Harley-Davidson, allowing Japanese and British motorcycles to outperform the previously dominant Harley-Davidson KR race bike. The XR-750 went on to win the most races in the history of American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) racing.

Gavin Trippe was a motorcycle racing promoter, journalist, and publisher who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005. He died following an automobile accident in California.

The American Flat Track Series, formerly known as the AMA Grand National Championship, is an American motorcycle racing series. The race series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including; mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT steeplechase and road races. The championship was the premier motorcycle racing series in the United States from the 1950s up until the late 1970s when, supercross events held in easily accessible major league stadiums became more popular.

The Harley-Davidson KR or KR750 was a 45.125 cu in (739.47 cc) displacement V-twin engine racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson from 1953 through 1969 for flat track racing. It was also used in road racing in the KRTT faired version. When the KR was first introduced, it dominated motorcycle racing in the United States. In 1970 it was replaced by the long-lived and US race-winning Harley-Davidson XR-750.

Drake McElroy is an X Games competitor from United States who has competed in the Championship since 1993, winning the AMA Pro Grand National Championship in 2000. Bronze Medal Winner in MotoX Freestyle at X Games VIII, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 15–19 August 2002.

"Smokin'" Joe Petrali was an Italian-American motorcycle racer, active in the 1920s and 1930s. Petrali was a Class A racing champion who competed in board-track and dirt-track racing circuits, speed records, and hillclimbs. Petrali won a record 49 American Motorcyclist Association national championship races, with his last coming on August 29, 1937. The record stood for 55 years until broken by Scott Parker in 1992.

References

1 2 3 Motorcycle Hall of Fame
1 2 Dave Despain (January 2009), "Memories of the Mile: A century of Americana played out on horse tracks at fairgrounds around the country", Cycle World: 78
↑ "American Heroes: Who's the best dirt-tracker of all time?", American Motorcyclist: 15, January 1994
↑ Jay Springsteen at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
↑ "Jay Springsteen: The Godfather's Star Pupil", Cycle World: 81, June 1985

External links

This United States biographical article relating to motorcycle sport is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[mhof-1] 1 2 3 Motorcycle Hall of Fame

[despain-2] 1 2 Dave Despain (January 2009), "Memories of the Mile: A century of Americana played out on horse tracks at fairgrounds around the country", Cycle World: 78

[3] "American Heroes: Who's the best dirt-tracker of all time?", American Motorcyclist: 15, January 1994

[MSHoF-4] Jay Springsteen at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

[5] "Jay Springsteen: The Godfather's Star Pupil", Cycle World: 81, June 1985