Tommy Byars | |
---|---|
![]() Byars on a 1952 K model Harley-Davidson | |
Born | Jesse Tommy Byars, Sr. December 28, 1928 |
Died | February 22, 2017 |
Bike number | 63 |
Jesse Tommy Byars, Sr., known as Tommy Byars (December 27, 1928 - February 22, 2017) [1] was an American professional motorcycle racer and motorcycle dealer.
Byars was the son of Katy Elphám Cole and Henry Raymond Byars, also known as Ray Byars. He was a resident of Beaumont, Texas, where he owned and operated the Harley Davidson and Suzuki Dealerships. Byars' father, Ray Byars, opened his first business in 1918 where it evolved over three years into the first Harley-Davidson dealership of East Texas. [2] Byars grew up in the motorcycle business, spending his youth in his father's bicycle/motorcycle shop. Byars began racing bicycles at 12 years old and advanced to racing motorcycle in his teens. [3] [4]
Byars began his racing career in the mid-1940s. By 1944, Byars was assisting his father in refereeing and time keeping for motorcycle races. [5]
Byars earned his Expert license, #63, through the American Motorcycle Association early in his racing career, during the heyday of Flat Track and TT Steeplechase dirt racing, riding alongside Caroll Resweber, [6] [7] [8] Joe Leonard [9] and Bobby Hill. [10] [11]
Byars started attending Harley Davidson schools for mechanics when he was about 17 years old. When the new Harley Davidson K model was introduced, Byars, being a factory-sponsored Harley rider, was issued one of the new models. He was one of the first six riders to be issued the new K model in 1951 before it was released on the market in 1952. Byars raced in numerous events and won several state and national titles, such as the Southwestern Championship, [12] the Texas State Championship, [13] [14] and the Milwaukee National 5-mile race. Byars became known as the "Beaumont Hornet" after winning the Texas State Championship of the Houston Hornets. [15] [16] After winning the Southwest flat track motorcycle title in Houston, Byars respectively became the "Man to Beat". [17]
Byars was ranked among the most popular men riders in the United States, rated top in numerous articles nationwide. If he was not winning the race, he was placing in the top 5 most of the time. [18] [19] [20] He was unceasingly racing throughout the nation in state and national events and constantly making news. Such events included: Nashville, Tennessee; [21] Shreveport, Louisiana; [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] Sturgis, South Dakota; [27] Springfield, Illinois; [28] and Daytona Beach, Florida. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]
By 1957, Byars' Harley Davidson dealership required his undivided attention. Although his racing career ended, he continued in the racing industry by mentoring both of his sons, Tommy Byars,Jr. [36] [37] and Robert "Bubba" Byars, [38] in road racing, drag racing and flat track racing in the 1970s. [39]
Byars was the heir of his father’s business where he owned and operated the Harley Davidson dealership in Beaumont, TX. Byars literally grew up in the business, spending his youth repairing, riding and racing bicycles and motorcycles. [40] [41]
In the 40s, while working in his father’s shop, Byars was seriously burned in an explosion. When he went to clean the grease from his hands, he grabbed a bucket of what he thought was kerosene that had been accidentally replaced with gasoline by his mother. Byars carried the bucket with him to the bathroom and poured the fluid on his hands where the fumes from the gasoline ignited by a pilot light on a nearby hot water heater causing an explosion. He was taken to Hotel Dieu Hospital in Beaumont, TX where he was treated and hospitalized for his burns. [42] [43]
Byars was at the height of his racing career in 1952 when his father died. [44] After inheriting the business from his father, the dealership became more demanding of Byars’ attention; however, Byars continued to share his time between operating the dealership and professionally racing throughout the nation for several years. In 1957, the business was legally transferred into Byars’ name after his father's estate was settled. [45] [46] Byars’ business demanded his undivided attention; therefore, Byars was forced to retire from his racing career. Byars continued to sell Harley Davidson motorcycles throughout the 50s, 60s and early 70s and later adding Suzuki motorcycles to his business, advertising as Byars Harley Davidson-Suzuki.
In 1973, Byars invested in a new enterprise in the marketing of his motorcycles. Since Suzuki motorcycles were more equitable and becoming more popular for marketing, Byars relinquished his entire assets of the Harley Davidson dealership and contracted with the Suzuki manufacturers, organizing a new cooperation, Suzuki, INC., of Beaumont. Byars continued to own and operate his business until he retired in the late 80s. [47]
In 1999, Byars was inducted into the Daytona Motorcycle Hall of Fame. In his latter years, he was invited for autograph signings to many racing events in recognition of former state and national champions. [48] [49] In March 2002, the Daytona 200 monument was built and presented to the City of Daytona Beach by the people and various companies to preserve the memories of the original riders that raced on the beach at Daytona. Byars' name is carved in stone at this monument. [50]
Byars married Joyce Ratcliff, the daughter of Viola Walsh and Midlredge B. Ratcliff; they had two sons, Jessie Thomas Byars, Jr., born September 30, 1949, [51] in Beaumont and Robert Wayne "Bubba" Byars, born October 3, 1951, in Beaumont. [52] Byars left 5 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. [1]
Besides his main occupation of racing and selling motorcycles, Byars was interested in other competitions, such as boat racing [53] and big game hunting. [1]
After a long illness, Byars died at Harbor Hospice on February 22, 2017, in his home town of Beaumont. [54] [1]
The Loudon Classic, originally named the Laconia Classic, is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held during the Laconia Motorcycle Week at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Founded in 1934 when it was originally sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), the race is one of the oldest motorcycle competitions in the United States. The competition changed locations over the years, starting as a dirt track race before evolving into a road race. From the late 1930s until the early 2000s, the Loudon Classic was one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the United States, second only to the Daytona 200.
Buell Motorcycles is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1983 by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik Buell. Harley-Davidson acquired 49 percent of Buell in 1993, and Buell became a wholly owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson by 2003. On November 17, 2006, Buell announced that it had produced and shipped its 100,000th motorcycle.
Paul Edward Goldsmith is a retired American racing driver. During his career he raced motorcycles, stock cars, and Indianapolis cars, achieving success in each discipline.
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.
Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Since 2021, events have been added in DeLeon Springs. Approximately 500,000 people make their way to the rally area for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. The event is usually held on the first full week of March and contends with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as the most popular motorcycle rally in the United States.
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.
Jay Springsteen is an American former professional motorcycle dirt track racer.
Steve Baker is an American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle roadracer. He is notable for being the first American to win a road racing world championship when he won the 1977 Formula 750 title. Baker was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
Yvon Duhamel was a French Canadian professional motorcycle and snowmobile racer. A six-time winner of the White Trophy, the highest award in Canadian motorcycle racing, he was one of the most accomplished motorcycle racers in Canadian motorsports history. His motorcycle racing career spanned the transition from the 60 horsepower four-stroke motorcycles of the 1960s, to the 100 horsepower two-stroke motorcycles of the 1970s. Duhamel was a versatile rider competing in numerous motorcycle racing disciplines including; trials, motocross, ice racing, drag racing, flat track racing and most prominently in road racing as a member of the Kawasaki factory racing team.
Calvin Rayborn II was a top American professional motorcycle road racer in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Buzz Kanter is the editor-in-chief and publisher of American Iron Magazine, American Iron Garage and American Iron Salute magazine, and was inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame in 2002. Buzz was also inducted into the National Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Elena Myers Court is an American professional motorcycle racer. She made history in 2010 as the first female to win an AMA Pro Racing sprint road race. She is also the first woman to win a professional motorsports race of any kind at Daytona International Speedway, on March 17, 2012.
American Flat Track is an American motorcycle racing series. The racing 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.
Dudley B. Perkins was an American champion motorcycle hillclimb competitor and Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer. The American Motorcyclist Association's highest award, the AMA Dud Perkins Lifetime Achievement Award, was named after him in 1970, and he was its first recipient.
Ed Kretz, Jr., was an American professional motorcycle racer in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the son of well known rider Ed Kretz. He was known primarily as a TT and roadracing specialist, but he also was a leading off-road rider in the 1950s.
Devin Battley is an American businessman known for his involvement with motorcycles as a racer and as a dealer. From an early age, Battley enjoyed racing motorcycles and participated in many national championships. He helped to orchestrate Harley-Davidson's interest in Buell motorcycles, and he sold motorcycles to King Hussein of Jordan and Mike Tyson. In early 2022, Battley announced that he would run for County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland.
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.
Harley and the Davidsons is a 2016 American television miniseries directed by Ciarán Donnelly and Stephen Kay, and co-written by Nick Schenk, Evan Wright and Seth Fisher which dramatizes the origins of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, and how Arthur Davidson founded the company together with his brothers Walter Davidson, Sr. and William A. Davidson, along with their childhood friend William S. Harley.
The Transatlantic Trophy was an annual series of motorcycle races between the United Kingdom and America held from 1971 to 1988 and again in 1991. They were mostly held over the Easter weekend at Brands Hatch, Mallory Park and Oulton Park, although some races were held at Donington Park and Snetterton. Three different specifications of motorcycles were used in the series at various times: AMA/F750, Superbike and GP.
Ray Byars was an American professional motorcycle racer and Harley Davidson dealer from Beaumont, Texas.