The Rider Files Website Launched

Hello and welcome to my new website. I will be adding photos and stories that go along with them, hopefully on a daily basis.

Right now I’m in the process of scanning two decades worth of negatives and slides. It’s a daunting task and since I have to work for a living my scanning will come along steadily, but it’s still likely to take me months to digitize something like 50,000 images.

I  have a link on the right to a section on this site where you can browse the catalog and even purchase photos if you find one you like.

My trusty Nikon Coolscan V is currently humming along scanning the very first race ever held at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway (or Little Talladega as everyone called it, to differentiate it from the nearby NASCAR superspeedway.

Doug Polen crashed in practice at Talladega, but it didn't hurt him come race time. He charged from behind to win the very first Suzuki Cup race. (Larry Lawrence photo)

This was a WERA Regional event in February of 1986. It also happened to be the very first Suzuki GSXR Cup race. Doug Polen was the B Production race that day in his return from retirement. It was one of the most tension-filled days at a regional club race since it was the debut of the Suzuki Cup. Suzuki’s Hank Ota was on hand, but in the B Production race there were some top guns (like Ron Ewerth, Mike Harth and others) racing Yamaha FZ750s. There was no guarantee a Suzuki rider would win the race against the more established Yamahas.

Doug Polen shakes hands with Suzuki's Hank Ota after winning the very first Suzuki GSXR Cup race in Talladega, Alabama, in Feb. of 1986. (larry Lawrence photo)

Polen was running back in fifth or sixth place with a couple of laps to go. As I recall a relatively unknown rider named Mark Tanner led most of the race on a Suzuki. Anyway, Polen made his move and on the last lap took over and won the race. Happy days for Polen, Suzuki, etc, but not for me! Polen had been running so far back in the pack I hadn’t shot any pics of him. I was covering the race for Cycle News and American Roadracing. I think they had to run a photo of Polen shaking hands with Mr. Ota since that was about all I had.

As far as I know this race marked the US racing debut of the Suzuki GSXR750. We all know of course what that motorcycle has done in the 23 years since – quite simply it’s become the greatest production racing motorcycle of all time.

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to leave comments and check back often for updates.

Larry