Actually, Red's fascination with motorcycles began even earlier than his interest in hot rods when his brother let him ride his 1929 Indian. In fact, Red got so interested in motorcycle he acquiredan 1948 Norton ES2 and began rding the foothills and cow trails.

By June of 1950 the Korean War had begun and Red and Jerry (now good buddies) decided they better do something before the draft and the Army got them so, in December of 1950, they enlisted in the Navy.

Following boot camp, Machinist Mate school at Great Lakes, and ship assignment Red and Jerry still managed to stay together and were assigned to Pearl Harbor as their home port.

Red, feeling he'd have a better time in the Islands with some transportation and something to do, asked his father to ship him his Norton. When the crate arrived they opened it to find a brand new ES2 Norton. Now Red could spend his liberties tearing up the mountain roads around O'ahu.

In October, 1954, after being discharged (two months early) from the Navy, Red went to work at 

the Navy, Red went to work at the Hall-Burdette Norton dealership on Bell Avenue. It was a perfect fit. There was a group of would-be racers, known as "the Norton Gang" who hung out at the shop and, like Red, most of them were Korean War Veterans. Most of these guys belonged to the Fort Sutter Motorcycle Club but were getting dissatisfied with the fact that the Fort Sutter group was getting more involved in  promoting than racing and riding. So, in June of 1954 some of the Norton Gang broke away from Fort Sutter and formed the "Polka Dots"-a 100% competition motorcycle club. Red joined the club in October of that year (he missed being a charter member by just a few months) and spent, as it turned out,    the rest of his life riding and racing with the club. He rode mostly sportsman's events: Enduros, hare and hounds, scrambles, and even an occasional observed trials but threw in enough short track and TTs to rack up

It was a great day when Red's competition license finally arrived. Over a year of work had finally paid off.

points to earn his national number.

Hall-Burdette offered to let him race the shop bike, a twin cylinder 500cc Norton Dominator. He rode the Dominator in May, 1956 in his first GP at Catalina, a r ace the promoters were trying to fashion after the famous Isle of Mann TT.

At this point it should be pointed out that Red had obviously been busy (and quite successful) racing locally because in those days if you wanted to enter the Catalina race you didn't just ride up to the officials and say, "Here I am, where's the starting line." You had to submit your qualifications in advance, list what events you had ridden and how you finished. If you met the qualification requirements you were entered in the race and assigned a number.

Later that year he bought his first BSA twin, a 650cc from Harold Ball and Elmer Graves who
sweetened the deal with a partial sponsorship which allowed him to buy parts at the shop's
cost. They also had a 500cc twin all set up for the ¼ mile races at Belmont which Red rode for
one season. Then, in 1957, Harold Ball suggested they needed more horse power to get Red's 225
lbs. around the track. So, they bored and stroked Red's 650cc twin to make it 750cc. Suddenly
Red was going faster and people were wondering where all the extra power was coming from. 

But Red still had an affinity for the BSA Goldstar. He had bought one in 1956 and, in 1958 bought another one and soon became a regular at Belmont, a track he considered the most fun to ride. Belmont didn't require a lot of horsepower but Red took the wrenches to it just the same.

In an article on Gold Stars in Motorcycle Classics magazine Red was quoted as saying, "I raised the compression and put in better cams.

	July 1960 - Red taking a practice lap at the Sacramento Mile on the old fairgrounds on Stockton Blvd.

 There was a guy in Southern California who made cams, and Harold Ball in Sacramento was the local dealer. He had a knack for getting the most out of whatever motorcycle he was working on. He helped me with the machine work but I did all the engine work myself. My main competition was Dick Dorresteyn, a fast Triumph rider from Richmond. I only beat him once and that was happenstance. It was a great experience and a great motorcycle although it was underpowered for my six-foot four-inch frame-especially on longer tracks." Red continued the dirt track racing into the mid-sixties but during the fall and winter months, which was off-season for the dirt tracks, he continued to ride scrambles, hare and hounds, and enduros. Taking on, and finishing, the fabled 500 mile, two day Greenhorn Enduro three times as well as the Big Bear Hare and Hound.

1957 At the Vallejo Half-Mile

He was doing so well that in June of 1964 he received a letter from the AMA advising him that he was "advanced to Class 'A' or Expert in all future Endurance and Reliability Runs." In 1969 he became the AMA's National Hare and Hound Champion (500cc class) in their Sportsman Championship Program.

As the sixties came to an end Red was racing less and less flat track although he did make appearances at local venues such as Roseville, Hughes Stadium, and even the old Edmond's Field baseball diamond. His concentration on scrambles was paying off as he won the Orangevale Championship. The only down side was that scrambles paid off in trophies not money.

So he slowly brought he active racing career to a close and devoted his time to his family and working with the Polka Dots helping, to promote and organize events.

He joined the Fort Sutter Chapter, AMCA and, probably with a lot of encouragement from (AMCA member) Jerry Cordy who had become very involved in motorcycle restoration, began to restore a 1915 Indian with side car which he rode on pre-16 runs and even took a first place trophy at the Autorama.

He and his wife Kay bought a 5th wheel travel trailer and, with Jerry Cordy and his wife, took four of trips across the country being sure to stop at every motorcycle museum along the way.

As the attendance at his services would attest, Red had many friends both in and out of the motorcycle community. He was always ready to offer a helping hand to anyone who needed it while Kay volunteered at a local hospital. If a friend (especially a Polka Dot) was ill or on the mend you could count on Red to be on the phone passing the word

	Like two proud parents. Red and his wife_ Kay with the freshly restored 1915 Indian.

. He was so active in his church that, at his services, he was posthumously presented an award from the National Office of the Knights of Columbus for his humanitarian efforts.

He was an accomplished racer but above all he was a husband and father; a man of utmost integrity and generosity and he was our friend. Who among us is not better for having known him? - Tom Green