1951 Billy Huber Harley-Davidson Langhorne - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1951 Billy Huber Harley-Davidson Langhorne - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 9" x 12" (23 cm x 30 cm) each page
Condition: Good
Having copped first spot on Sunday, Huber gets set for practice lap just before re-run
of 100 miler. Is that a confident smile on Billy's face or just good “public relations?"
Billy Huber
HARLEY
Repeats at Langhorne
1950-51 100-Mile Speedway Champ
SETS NEW RECORD
SID SWAN—HARLEY
WINS 50-MILE AMATEUR
MARLIN RISSER—TRIUMPH
TOPS NOVICE EVENT
By ROSEMARY ARCTANDER
Photos by
ERIK ARCTANDER
LANGHORNE, PA., Labor Day 1951
. . . Billy Huber, Reading, Pennsylva-
nia’s, favorite son, today repeated his
1950 triumph by outdistancing 30 chal-
lengers at Langhorne’s famous oval
speedway, setting a new track record of
66 minutes, 17.13 seconds. Bill Miller,
Har-Dav, of Mountville, Pa., was sec-
ond, and Paul Albrecht, Har-Dav, of
Sacramento, Calif., third in this gruel-
ing, surprise-packed championship event.
This year’s Langhorne classic was not
just a 100-miler—the experts raced a
total of 144 miles for the checkered
flag. That’s right, the weather again.
That special Labor Day rain cloud was
back, dropping a few sprinkles during
Saturday’s novice races, and thoroughly
drowning out Sunday’s championship
event at the 44th lap. The expert race
was completely re-run on Monday and
the lucky fans who could stay over
witnessed a bonus third day of racing.
To begin at the beginning, we got to
the track at 8:30 Saturday morning and
found it already buzzing with activity.
Nearly 200 racers were lined up at the
pit gate with their families, mechanics,
machines, and equipment, renewing old
acquaintances and re-riding other races.
There was Jimmy Chann, the 1949 win-
ner; Billy Huber, 1950 champ; Dick
Klamfoth, this year’s Laconia and Day-
tona winner; Bobby Hill, fresh from his
championship victories at Springfield
and Milwaukee; Paul Albrecht, the
California star. Babe Tancrede, the
perennial winner, sat by the gate with
a friendly greeting and a chuckle for
all who passed.
Members of the Middle Atlantic Deal-
ers Association, sponsors of the Lang-
horne weekend, kept things going in a
highly efficient and well-planned man-
ner. Dressed in white coveralls and
wearing pink iridescent caps, they
added a bright spot of color to three
gray (weather wise) days of racing.
“The man in the red hat,” Fritzie Baer,
fully recovered from his Laconia acci-
dent, was on hand to announce all the
events.
NOVICE RACES
Track records fell by the wayside as
well over one hundred novice riders bat-
tled it out in six five-mile heats, two
10-mile semi-finals, and the 15-mile nov-
ice final. First record-breaker was Har-
old Wallman, B.S.A. of Bloomfield, N. J.,
Before loss of oil finished Klamfoth’s chances, he closely challenged Huber early in the race. Here Klamfoth is wheel to wheel for the first and lost
time.Both rode flat out on tank, but Klamfoth took turns close in while Huber went wide. Huber placed first, Klamfoth dropped out with piston sei-
zure about the 80th lap—same time as Jimmy Chann’s blowout...
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