eff that repost stuff. just because it was in general, doesn't mean it can't be posted in vintage. thanks for posting it here dean. brian, lighten up dude. godspeed gary! glad i got to see you a month ago at the hagarstown flattrack! tex
Yeah, fuck your repost. He was was one of us. RIP you old Hardass. Saw him at Indy GP last year during the paddock walk. He was hanging out by the Fiat Yamaha garages and a few people were getting their picture taken with him. Some dude asked me and Chuck who he was. We looked at him slightly off(although, it's understandable if you don't recognize someone like that out of their element.) But then he asked, "Who's Gary Nixon, is he a team manager or something?" Then we wanted to smack him.
RIP Gary,...Gene and I met Gary at the Old Timers Banquet a few years back when it was held near York PA. Al Wilcox had told us about it and was there too. Gary was selling some memorabilia out of the back of his van. We bought an autographed t-shirt for his biggest fan Kevin Aysque. We hung out and talked a while, was very cool.
Nixon was one of a kind, and just a little before his time. He was screwed out of a World Championship in 1976, and never got to be a 'King' or a 'Doctor'. Completely down to earth, he certainly wasn't an 'Alien' either. He was just a brilliant and dedicated motorcycle racer. A tough guy who had a fierce sense of right and wrong...and didn't do things the easy way. He didn't protest another racer at least once when he could have, and to do so would have won him the race, because he knew he'd been beaten fair and square. Having followed his results with interest for several years already, I first met him in his day job in 1964 when he wrenched at the old Free State Triumph location for a time. They had a little practice track out back of the shop where he spent every spare minute thrashing his short track Cub. He'd tolerate us wannabes joining him on the track as long as we didn't do anything too stupid. Although we didn't offer much in the way of competition he seemed to enjoy the company, and didn't mind giving a few pointers. That was instrumental in getting me to start racing myself that year. When I got my Pro license in '66 naturally my dream was to beat him some day, but first Vietnam, and then a career got in the way. We didn't meet again for 40 years, when we pitted with him and Springer at an AHRMA race at Gingerman. Both Nixon and Springer were on Thruxtons, but we were all in the same practice group. He knew Springer and Joyce were faster than he was by then, but he still didn't like getting beaten. When I ran him down on my faster lighter Ducati I thought, ahah! finally I get to beat Nixon. But when I caught him, suddenly I didn't want to beat him anymore, and we just played together for the rest of session. We laughed about it later, and agreed it was the most fun we'd had in a while. I'm glad to know that he was at the races when he got that 'Final Call'. What a life!
man, thats a bummer....thanx Dean for posting. I've met him a couple times in Daytona, great guy. Eric, excellent story sir......in 66 I was 4 and getting my first minibike:wow::wow:
RIP Gary. Never got to meet him but have read about him for a long time over the years. I was 2 years to being born in 66 so he was kicking butt b4 I came along in 68. God Speed to a legend. The widow maker doesnt care who you are when she comes calling. Its not an easy thing to go thru and Im sorry for his suffering.
RIP Gary. Met him for the first time in the mid-late 70s, when I went into his shop in Timonium to buy a can of castor oil - I never expected Gary himself to be the one serving me. Lots of people complain about being "screwed out of a championship" by politics- But he really was. Worst example ever of a racing organization allowing themselves to be bullied into giving the championship to the wrong guy. At one of the Legends "Races" at Daytona, I remember that he was turning times about 10 seconds a lap faster in practice than in the race itself.
