Sports : Motorcyle Racing in Vinton - 70 years ago

70 years ago today, Benton County Speedway held its first Motorcyle race Bob Kimm on his motorcycle preparing to race - note that there are no brakes!

Bob and Nancy Kimm with their new 1954 Harley Davidson, taken on their honeymoon

Vinton's Motorcycle Club was organized at about the same time as the racing began. Here are some of the members at the time.

He was just 18 at the time, but the motorcycle enthusiast made plans to compete on the Benton County race track. The first motorcycle race on the track was held on Sunday afternoon, July 5, 1953, sponsored by the fair board as part of their 4th of July celebration.

Bob Kimm had been riding motorcycles since he was old enough to get a license. A first-year novice racer, he took part in that event, sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association. Other competitors joined the race with Amateur and Expert rankings from as far away as Rockford, Illinois, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and several from the Blackhawk Club in Waterloo.

Kimm didn't win it all on that day, on his 1948 Harley Davidson, but he did bring in the 4th fastest time of the day at 21:96, with first place rolling in at 21:26. He also won a heat race, placed 2nd in the semi-final and a 5th in the final. "Not too bad for a beginner," he said. He said, "The program was set up to be a two-part event, but after the first final, a thunderstorm came up and rained out the second half."

That year Kimm had also entered five other races in the midwest. His first attempt took him to Amery, Wisconsin, where he brought home second place in his heat and 5th place in the semi-final. His second race was in Tipton, where he placed fourth. In two races, one in Des Moines and the other in Newtown he didn't qualify and in Marshalltown he came in 6th and 8th in the Iowa State T.T Championship.

Tracks at the time, including Vinton's track, were composed of a 1/4 mile oval, with Tipton being the odd size of 1/2 mile. The Vinton track had previously been a 1/2 mile horse race track and turned into the quarter-mile track for stock car racing on Saturdays and on this particular Sunday, motorcycles raced for the first time.

The racing association made the ruling that Kimm's Harley-Davidson racing cycle, like all the other bikes at the time, would have no brakes. Kimm said that when the bikes would go out of control, "you just have to rely on your own skills and the Grace of God to get you through!"

His racing career ended after a year due to more important reasons He married the love of his life, Nancy. The two are still happily married 68 years later. He also joined the Air Force and is also a retired police officer. Kimm went on to ride motorcycles for more than 300,000 miles, before finally putting down his kickstand.

At the same time in Vinton the Motorcycle Club had formed. The group had sponsored some of the "scrambles" during the next few years. Kimm said, but he had moved away by that time.

Other riders from the area at the time included Claude Pollock, Duane Geater, Floyd "Red" Rider, Dick Bridge, Phil Staab. Millard Smock, also rode. He was the son of "Cobb" Smock the Palace projectionist who is honored in "Cobb Alley" next to the Palace Theatre in downtown Vinton.

Thanks to Kimm's memory, pictured left to right the Vinton Motorcycle Club in 1951:

Ike Davis, with Merle Husted's old Indian

Bonnie Hurst, Millard Smock, Harley-Davidson, the two later married.

Lucile Pollock, Claude Pollock, Harley-Davidson. She taught English at the Vinton High School.

Everett Schirm, Harley-Davidson, Real neat WL45

Charlotte Husted, Merle Husted, 4-cylinder Indian, Merle had several bikes.

Mrs. "Toots" Tharp, Red Tharp, Harley-Davidson

Dick Bridge, Harley-Davidson, Beautiful 1939 61.

John Hart, Indian 1951 or so. Last year made

Harvey Rapp, Indian, 1946 or 47

Bob Kimm, Triumph a 1940 British bike

Jim Brown, Harley-Davidson, small 125

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