[theLoper]

Raced Pete’s several times in 1979-1980. Was racing mostly NBA at Stoney Point and Craigmere until the NBA went belly up. I think Pete’s was the first place I ever raced NBL. Good times for sure. Anyone remember the NBL WOS at the Flemington speedway. As I remember it had only 1 turn and was held on a Friday night. It was the first race of an NBL/NBA triple header. Flemington raceway(Fri. night-NBL), Lawerenceville(Sat. NBL), Stoney Point(NBA-Sun.).

[theLoper]

Our uniforms on Blue Max were the bomb. Here are a few to give a better look. We were easy to spot even though we had a small team.

[theLoper]

@CWCCRIDER wrote:

Who is the Action wheels #09 rider in pic 1 ??

Joe Layton

[theLoper]

1st pic-Me Blue Max #92,Brad Dalbec #14-Meridain Conn. 1984-WOS

2nd pic-Farside(Hutch) #3 at Howell-1981-WOS

3rd pic-Franco Perrino#15(Co-GHP) leading the Avalanch at Howell-1984-WOS

4th pic-Farside#5(D.B.) Howell-1984 -WOS

5th pic-Mark Lopez(MCS) Howell-1981 local

As for the bonus question………who is the cycling legend in photo 1.
#64 John Tomac(Mongoose) next to me.

[theLoper]

AHHHHHHHHH…………….Nope sorry. Here’s a hint, the first pic is not in N.J……….but is a east coast track. Also somewhere in that 1st photo is a “CYCLING” legend. Can anyone pick him out and name him?

[theLoper]

Name the rider,year and track…………..

[theLoper]

[theLoper]

Can someone tell me how to post pics here?

[theLoper]

@theLoper wrote:

O.K. old school fans………..if you have photos of any of the following riders in factory gear lets see em. The list is …………………….

Rich Farside-Hutch/Diamond Back

Kathy Shackel-Shimano

Jarrett Justice-CW

Chriss Williams-Torker/Thruster

Dave “SPANKY” Cambell-Vector/Hyper/Cyclecraft/TNT

Mike Lynch-SE/Vector/Cyclecraft

Mark Lopez-MCS/Profile/Scorpion/Blue Max/Cyclecraft

Stefanie Defeo-JMC

Sal Zeuner-Thruster/DG

Dave Dechert-Shimano

Franco Perrino-Thruster

Jenny Zeuner-DG/Torker

Tommy Rubel-Thruster

Frankie Chirlo-Thruster/Profile

Todd Gardner-Profile/Schwinn

Wayne Mcfarcwar-Shimano

Terry Zeuner-Thruster

John Shackel-Columbia/Shimano

Brad Dalbec-Thruster

Tammy Wiliver-Thruster

Here’s a bonus question. What riders on this list had a national or world title to their credit?

O.K., I am counting National #1 plate holders(NBL,NBA,ABA) and World Championships including World Cup’s as we had no world events after 82 except the Murry World Cup.

The results are-

Rich Farside(NBL #1 14 & 15X-81 & 82) and World Champ(82)

Kathy Shakel(NBL #1-81-86) World Champ (79 – 81)

Jarrett Justice (NBL #1 18-24 cruiser -86) World Cup Champ(cruiser-83 & 85).

Mike Lynch (World Cup Champ 82-12X).

Mark Lopez (World Cup Champ 84-16X)

Stefanie Defeo (NBL #1-82)

Sal Zeuner-(NBL # 1 -79)

Tammy Wiliver (World Cup Champ-84-14-15 girls).

[theLoper]

Brad…………….haven’t heard from you in a while. Drop me an e-mail. By the way………how the hell do you post pics on this site?

[theLoper]

I dropped him an e-mail. I should hear back from him soon. Brett……..if you need his contact info again shoot me a p.m.

[theLoper]

Brett………………Hope you still have plans to pin Jarrett down about doing a profile. Jarrett has remained a close friend even 20+ years after we quit racing. He will have some great stories. We had some legendary battles in the day.

[theLoper]

Didnt stop racing pro. Just stopped racing period. After 6 years on the road following the national circuit I was burnt out on the travel. The only reason I turned pro when I did was for more motivation. The sport took a pretty big hit between 84 and 85. By 85 a lot of factory rides had dried up,race participation dropped off and things started to slowly regress. Several guys I raced against the previous year turned b-pro for the exact same reason including Bubba Hayes,John Tomac,Ken Aman(Tomac and Aman were ex teamates),Dave Cambell, and Mike Hibner to name a few.

After those last 3 races I knew I needed some time away. It was always my plan to come back stronger than ever in a couple years. After all I was still only 17 when I quit. By 1988 I was itching to come back. I had been doing a lot of weight training in those off years as well as riding. I was set to make my comeback in early 1989 when I was struck with health issues. Needless to say I never raced again. In the last 5-6 years I have raced and won several road and mountain bike races but never picked up a bmx bike again.

[theLoper]

You can add me to that list(Mark Lopez). The last 3 races of my racing career(1985) were as a pro. I raced 2 nationals in Conn. and 1 national at Egg Harbor. Raced B-Pro and pro open at those races. Made all 6 mains. The last race at Egg Harbor I was the only B-pro to make the pro open main. The line up was- 1.Stu Thompson
2.Tommy Brackens
3.Shawn Texas
4.Harry Leary
5.Richard Zagars
6.Eddy King
7.Matt Harris
8.Mark Lopez

Of course I picked lane 8………………ended up 5th ahead of King,Texas,and Zagars.

Another guy you missed on your list was Ray Hobson. Think he turned pro around late 1983. Was a regular at Howell as a B-pro from 83-85.

[theLoper]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Brett…………you do a great job with the site. Great to see there are still people keeping the history of N.J. BMX alive! I plan to post some stuff in the “OLD SCHOOL” forum soon.

Mark Lopez

[Author]

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