Whenever you mention Ricky Campbell's name around a longtime fan of Midwestern pea gravel racing, you get the same reaction... a big smile, a nod of the head, and the question, “Whatever happened to him?”

We decided to find out.

 

I'm not sure what I expected, when Ricky answered the phone. The voice on the other end was gentle, genuine, with a bright laugh. This shouldn't have surprised me... each of the Leftclanking Legends we have been fortunate enough to chat with have possessed the same down-to-Earth, humble, and good-humored personality traits. Still, when we are looking at a lengthy list of flat track racing achievements, remarkable photos, and impressive statistics, it's always nerve-wracking to make that initial phone call.

 

While his friendly demeanor shouldn't have surprised me, some of his replies to our questions were quite unexpected.

For instance, I asked him how he first became interested in trying flat track.

“I never did,” he replied. “My father was the one who loved racing. Growing up, it was pretty much just him, my sister, and me. He loved racing, of any kind. He worked at this park, and it had a Go-Cart track. That's actually where I got started, racing... in Go-Carts.”

 

Eventually, Ricky's father must have decided to let him try his hand at two wheeled-racing. I asked about this transition.

“When I was about nine or ten years old, I rode in my first motorcycle event. It was a Scrambles, and I was on a 120 Suzuki,” he said.

And... how did that go?

“I got run over,” he laughed.

 

At age fifteen (armed with a mysterious birth certificate, giving his birth date as a year earlier), Ricky was entered into his first motocross race.

“You had to have an FIN license, to run it... there were European racers, as well as Americans. You had to be sixteen years old, to get your license. I never knew where the forged birth certificate came from, and I never asked. The race was in LaRue, Ohio, and there was a huge turnout. I was entered in the Support Class. The AMA had, apparently, never heard of this guy named Brad Lackey... he was riding in the Support Class, too!”

Another, extremely talented, entry in the class was a gentleman whose name is well known throughout The Sport, and who would prove to be an integral person in Ricky's flat track future... Skip Eaken.

“As I recall,” Ricky told us, “Skip side-plowed Lackey, that day, and they both went down. Lackey got right back up, and won the thing, though!”

And where did Ricky finish?

“I took third,” he chuckled.

 

Ricky credits many people, for helping him to get started in flat track... so many, in fact, that he admitted he couldn't name them all. Phil Raider, “Gentleman Jim,” Bill Shrimpkin, and many others are credited with helping Ricky out in his early flat track endeavors.

“In those days,” Ricky said, “Flat track was a REALLY big deal... especially in the motorcycle community. Tracks like Louisville Downs and Lima, you couldn't hardly get a car into the parking lot, with all of the motorcycles that were parked there.” According to Ricky, this popularity encouraged motorcycle dealerships to be quite generous with sponsorships. He started his Novice year on an Ossa 250, courtesy of Raiders Honda.

 

“My first race, as a novice, was at Daytona,” Ricky said. “It was a 250 short track event. Over 200 riders were signed up to compete.”

Ricky ran a spectacular race.

“I actually was running first, until the final lap,” he recalled, “And then I saw there was a rider down, up ahead. The flagger came out, and I went up high, and the guy behind me slipped by for the win. I took second.”

 

When he moved up to the Junior Class, he rode a KR750 which Bobby Ho built for him.

“Bobby was a Harley guy,” Ricky laughed, “So it was kind of a hush-hush deal, that he was building me a Yamaha. It was a hardtail... no brakes.”

 

As an Expert, he rode a Bill Kennedy Triumph. The smile was clear in the tone of his voice, as he recalled the times he sat on the line, at the start of a main, on the only Triumph in a field of Harley Davidsons.

“I was no Jay Ridgeway,” he chuckled, “But I definitely felt like an underdog in the sense that I was outnumbered!”

Still, with a crew of great names... Bill Kennedy, Skip Eaken, Carl Patrick, Fergie Ferguson, for instance... behind the wrenches, that Triumph took Ricky to many podium finishes.

 

We asked Ricky to share his greatest flat track racing memory, certain that one of his outstanding victories would take the title. Once again, he surprised us.

His fondest memory wasn't the time at the Greenville Chucky Jordan Memorial Ohio State Championship race, in which he started running on one cylinder, but STILL managed to catch race leader Scott Drake and take the win. It wasn't at his favorite mile, Indy, when he was running in fourth, but passed the three riders ahead of him, by passing them on the draft.

The first thing that Ricky mentioned, as a favorite racing memory, was the old track at Springfield, Ohio.

“It was the first real race of the season, in Ohio,” Ricky said. “There was always a crowd, ready to get out on that Ohio pea gravel. My first year there, as a novice, I was one of 160 riders in the class. I won my heat, and still didn't make the Main. Indy... that was the same way. You had 116 Experts, and if you weren't in the top 48, you went home.”

 

We asked him why he thought there was such a big change, in this aspect. He thought for a moment.

“That's a good question,” he said. “I was thinking about this, just the other day. We were the Baby Boomer generation... I'm sure that played a big part. But...you know... it used to be a 'Poor Man's Sport.' You could just about race anything, and it was affordable... at least, reasonable. Now, well... insurance is so high. Plus, they keep changing the rules, and it gets crazy. For instance, when I was going from a Novice to a Junior, I had a 250 that was all set up for my new class. All of a sudden, they changed the rules, and I found myself grabbing a 360 junk bike, and trying to make it work. Then there were the 883s... I understand that they have been largely dependent on Harley, because Harley has been a primary sponsor, but the constant changes and restrictions make it hard for the average person to keep competing.”

 

He went on to add, “The people in this sport... the racers, the sponsors and tuners, the fans, just EVERYBODY... they are indescribable. They are the greatest people on Earth, and they gave me the time of my life. I couldn't EVER pay enough for that pleasure.”

 

I asked him who his heroes, idols, or mentors were when he was starting out in The Sport. Without hesitation, he said, “All of them.”

“Ronnie Rall, Mert Lawwill, Gary Nixon, Gene Romero... they were ALL great. Most of them were more than willing to offer a new guy, like me, a hand. I remember Nixon, giving me roadracing tips at Daytona. He told me to get on my toes, on the banks...and it worked! Morehead taught me about racing on the groove... some of the best advice I ever got. Oh, and Corky Keener...he's got to be one of the nicest guys on Earth. He had a great sense of humor, too. Once, Corky pulled up beside me...reached over... and hit my kill button. You just had to laugh.”

 

I asked him who his toughest competitors were. Again, without hesitation, he said “all of them.” He added that Steve Morehead was the one he always wanted to beat, the most.

“I always looked at him as both a friend and a challenge,” he explained.

 

What about Kenny Roberts?

Everyone knows about the infamous 1975 Indy Mile. I asked Ricky, “You were in that Main, too, weren't you?”

Ricky laughed.

“Yeah... I got a bad start, and so did Kenny. I was in sixth or seventh, and Kenny was at my rear wheel. For about half of the race, we battled back and forth, switching position. Then, between turns three and four, he got around me. The rest is history.”

That reminded Ricky of another King Kenny moment.

“We were at Syracuse, and it was the first time I'd ridden the Harley at a mile. I shut off the gas too hard, and saw myself heading straight into the haybales. Somehow, I saved it, pulled back out on the track, and... there was Kenny, in the haybales. He had seen me going down, so he had laid HIS bike down, trying to avoid hitting me.”

 

We asked Ricky if he had a funny “it happened on the way to/from a race” story, to share.

“Well, we were at a Trophy Race in Syracuse. On the last lap, between one and two, I crashed and hit the bales. My foot hurt, pretty bad. We had another race, in Ohio, to get to, so I figured I'd skip getting it checked out. However, on the way to Ohio, it kept getting worse. On the turnpike, we stopped at a rest stop. My wife (Sue) and Skip (Eaken) helped me get to the restroom, and they went up to a little restaurant that was nearby...I was just going to meet them there. But, once I got into the bathroom, the pain was so bad... I couldn't get out! I was in so much pain...I finally made my way out to the curb, and was sitting there in pain, when they came back. They took me to a hospital in Cuyahoga County. The doctor there wanted to keep me, schedule me for surgery, put pins in my foot... but I said no. He finally gave me a pain pill... One little black pill. It was supposed to tie me over until we got home, and I could see my doctor. I couldn't wait, the pain was so bad... I took that pill. The whole rest of the way home, I was slobbering and drooling, talking nonsense, totally goofy. By the time we got to the next race, it had worn off. My wife was so mad!”

 

While racing, Ricky also held a job as a line worker for Birdair Structures, the company responsible for installing the silver domes on many familiar structures. He continued working there, after he retired from racing. Eventually, he retired from Birdair Structures, as well. Now, he is enjoying grandparenting.

 

I asked Ricky what advice he would give to his grandchildren... or any other youngster... who was considering pursuing the sport of flat track.

“Be devoted,” he said. “If it takes working out every day, reading up on The Sport, whatever it takes... be prepared to devote yourself 100%.”

 

As for closing thoughts, Ricky says he “can't thank the people who helped me along the way, enough... The mechanics, the sponsors, the spectators... they gave me the time of my life. I can't thank them enough.”

 

And we thank you, Ricky, for taking the time to reminisce with us. Best wishes, from all of us.