Shawn McDonald
Who am I? I am like all of you reading this.
I have been addicted to racing since my first green flag at age 15 in November 1971. It was at the Monroe MX track in Washington State. I had seen the previous two Trans-Am races in 1970 and 1971 where 6-time World Champion Joel Robert won both years. I got to see a very young Jim Pomeroy from Yakima hold up Washington pride on his Bultaco. At that first race Jim Pomeroy parked his truck in front of my friend Scott Johnson who drove me there. I was only 15 so I needed a ride. Plus they wouldn’t allow me to have a license until age 16 ½ because of a minor traffic occasion. The police car should not have chased a 15 year old over a dirt riding area. They totaled their car following me. And, I am to blame? I have a picture of Jim racing against another Washington legend Gordy Ochs on another Bultaco that day.
But before all that, I was first introduced to motorcycles 3 years earlier by my cousin Steve who was five years older than me. That would have been around 1968 in Torrance, California. My cousins lived there and Steve was the oldest boy. Steve had a 1968 Yamaha DT-1 that he took me for a ride in the nearby open area. Needless to say I’m pretty sure there have been some changes since then. That was eye opening for me. Later on my Uncle Jim moved the family to Sun Valley, Idaho and Steve bought a 1970 AJS 250 Stormer in the snowy winter. When he kicked it over I could feel on my face the gentile back pressure sonic “Puffs” hit my face. Not to mention smelling Castrol “R” Bean oil. Steve came over for the 1970 Trans-Am race in Puyallup and rode my 1971 Suzuki Duster around the track. I just found out a few months ago that he never raced. Just really enjoyed dirt riding. My first motorcycle was a 1968 Honda Trail 90 that my father bought for the family to go camping. I took control of it of course. In my area in Bellevue, Washington there was a large group of kids that had those bikes. So we created our own track at an abandoned shopping project that never got off the ground, that was called 80 acres. Later it was developed into the main campus of Microsoft. Bill Gates owes us something I think.
I have been addicted to racing since my first green flag at age 15 in November 1971. It was at the Monroe MX track in Washington State. I had seen the previous two Trans-Am races in 1970 and 1971 where 6-time World Champion Joel Robert won both years. I got to see a very young Jim Pomeroy from Yakima hold up Washington pride on his Bultaco. At that first race Jim Pomeroy parked his truck in front of my friend Scott Johnson who drove me there. I was only 15 so I needed a ride. Plus they wouldn’t allow me to have a license until age 16 ½ because of a minor traffic occasion. The police car should not have chased a 15 year old over a dirt riding area. They totaled their car following me. And, I am to blame? I have a picture of Jim racing against another Washington legend Gordy Ochs on another Bultaco that day.
But before all that, I was first introduced to motorcycles 3 years earlier by my cousin Steve who was five years older than me. That would have been around 1968 in Torrance, California. My cousins lived there and Steve was the oldest boy. Steve had a 1968 Yamaha DT-1 that he took me for a ride in the nearby open area. Needless to say I’m pretty sure there have been some changes since then. That was eye opening for me. Later on my Uncle Jim moved the family to Sun Valley, Idaho and Steve bought a 1970 AJS 250 Stormer in the snowy winter. When he kicked it over I could feel on my face the gentile back pressure sonic “Puffs” hit my face. Not to mention smelling Castrol “R” Bean oil. Steve came over for the 1970 Trans-Am race in Puyallup and rode my 1971 Suzuki Duster around the track. I just found out a few months ago that he never raced. Just really enjoyed dirt riding. My first motorcycle was a 1968 Honda Trail 90 that my father bought for the family to go camping. I took control of it of course. In my area in Bellevue, Washington there was a large group of kids that had those bikes. So we created our own track at an abandoned shopping project that never got off the ground, that was called 80 acres. Later it was developed into the main campus of Microsoft. Bill Gates owes us something I think.
