The last vestiges of the famed Harley-Davidson Wrecking Crew posing onboard factory Two Cam racers at Altoona on July 4, 1925.
Straddled triumphantly atop their lightening fast Harley-Davidson Two-Cam racers, these legends of American motorcycle racing represented the last remnants of the Motor Company’s famed Wrecking Crew.
What a doozy this image was to research. For the few online resources where a copy could be uncovered, each claimed it had been taken at the Kansas City Speedway during one of the only four races ever held between 1922 and 1924. It was supposed to be an easy write-up, but as this history continues to remind us, so much has been lost or confused over the decades, and this photo had a quite different story to tell. As a result, there are entirely different stories written up, in just as much detail, about the inaugural race held at the Kansas City Speedway on September 3, 1923, as well as the final motorcycle event held the following summer, though neither bore this image.
The irrefutable evidence is that the machines are exceptional, Harley-Davidson factory Two Cam racers, as rare as they were capable. The other evident facts are that the handsome fella in the Buckeyes M.C. sweater is none-other than racing icon Jim Davis, and the one in white is the incomparable Ralph Hepburn. Both men raced in the events held at the Kansas City Speedway, and Davis’ sweater only seems to shore up the story. But that is where it all begins to fall apart. It is the other gentleman in the center with the stern stare who isn’t as easy to pin down but provided the key to solving this photo’s hidden truth. Instincts pointed to Eddie Brinck, a close friend and protege to another of the Wrecking Crew’s finest, Maldwyn Jones. Brinck had a unique, distinguished face, masculine and dapper, but he also sported a signature mustache that appears to be missing in the photo. Still, a man can easily shave, and light in these old photos tends to play tricks, but there are no records of Brinck racing in Kansas City in 1923—with only two motorcycle events ever having been held at the speedway, his name would have certainly popped up in the papers.
Complicating matters more was the poor state of professional racing in the mid-twenties. Many of the country’s racing heroes had hung up their jerseys, leaving the lionized Golden Age of motorcycle racing behind to work in the industry. Hepburn himself was an aging veteran. Having begun his professional racing career in 1914 he had since conquered all the sport had to offer. By 1924, with his pockets full of national titles and speed records, Hep began exploring an interest in automobile competitions. Beyond a shrinking talent pool, the venues, the massive board track speedways were also dwindling in number. The successors to Jack Prince’s famed circular board track motordromes of the early teens, the larger speedways were falling into disrepair all across America, most having already been demolished by the mid-20s. Finally, racing enthusiasts and manufacturers alike were growing tired of national Class A competitions as high speed was no longer a novelty or a cash cow. For the factories, the high cost of racing programs were not as justifiable given the slumping enthusiasm and publicity, while developing new technologies like the side-valve engine and smaller displacements seemed to be a better use of resources.
As for the race credited for the photo, the inaugural motorcycle event at the Kansas City Speedway held on September 3, 1923, was a sensation from a historical perspective. Both Hep and Davis had returned to racing Harley-Davidson’s after a stint with Indian in 1922 following the Motor Co.’s decision to terminate support for its racing program. The local press also advertised the return of the beloved original captain of the Harley-Davidson Wrecking Crew, Leslie “Red” Parkhurst, who retired at the end of 1921. They were joined by fellow Dodge City alumni Harry Crandall as well as local talent to round out the team. Among the local boys was a young Roland “Rollie” Free, best known for his inappropriately dressed speed antics at Bonneville in 1948. However, legends aside, the big story from the 1923 race in KC was the absence of another of Harley’s former stars, Ray Weishaar, who was also scheduled to appear. A central member of the Wrecking Crew in its heyday, Weishaar had toyed with retirement after 1921 and had all but stopped competing. Though the reason for his absence is unknown, it was sudden as a last-minute substitute rider had to be found. The rider selected was a local boy, just 21 years old, by the name of John Tom Branson, J.T. For short. It would be Branson’s first time competing in the professional class, alongside icons, no less.
Despite the fierce competition from an Indian lineup that included Curly Fredericks, Gene Walker, and Johnny Seymour, Davis, as he did, led the field. After setting record qualifying speeds of 112 MPH, Davis led the 100-mile Championship before engine trouble forced him to pit. Branson had kept a great pace at 100 MPH average speed and, with Davis’ brief withdrawal, found himself being pushed along by destiny itself. Branson edged by Hepburn and Indian’s star Curly Fredericks in the final moments of the race to win the 100-mile Championship, much to the excitement of the 20,000 in attendance, including his exuberant mother. The young Branson had won the day, setting a new speed record for the 100-mile distance at 99.36 MPH. Quite a run for your first professional event against the day’s elite like Hepburn, Davis, Walker, and Fredericks. Still, that mysterious man in the middle of this photo seems a bit well-worn for a man in his early 20s, and as of yet, no images of Branson or mentions of his racing career can be found to compare.
How is that not Eddie Brinck?
Then there are the hills in the background; could they be a simple distortion of the development or time having its way with the film? If they are hills, which it does appear they are, they would have been entirely out of place in Kansas City, regardless of the decade.
Perhaps this wasn’t Kansas City at all. Though the sport was in decline, Hep, Davis, and Brinck were among the usual suspects of the day, alongside an up-and-coming rider named Joe Petrali, sometimes referred to in old papers as Johnny Peltralia. Given that the pair are on Harley Two Cams, the photo dates between 1923 and 1925, as both raced for Indian in 1922, and Davis returned to the Wigwam in 1926. That being the case, the available venues were limited as most of the large board track super speedways, nine in total, had already closed. The final four wooden ovals wouldn’t have been constructed yet, leaving just six open at the time. They were the tracks at Kansas City, Fresno, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Charlotte, and Altoona. For those that know, the hills give it all away.
But the discovery didn’t end there, and with Eddie Brinck’s chiseled chin and austere stare calling from across a century, the story was finally taking shape.
Now California is not without its hills, but in relation to the tracks of the era, which were often built on swamplands, they were typically set far off in the distance. With the hills so close to the venue in this photo, all signs point to Tipton, Pennsylvania, home of the mighty track known simply as Altoona. With a bit more digging through the Archives, finally, an event surfaced that had both Hepburn and Davis, as well as their allusive teammate Brinck onboard Milwaukee’s finest. The race was the AMA National Championships held at Altoona on July 4, 1925. If it sounds familiar, it is because there have been several articles on this site dedicated to it. That particular race represented a watershed moment in the history of motorcycle racing, a changing of the guard, and the birth of one of the sport’s most revered icons, Joe Petrali.
By 1925 Petrali had yet to gain significant notoriety in the sport, though he had been competing since his teens with the occasional ride for Indian beginning in 1921. At the time of the Altoona race, the young Petrali was working for Al Crocker at his shop in Kansas City, of all places, and had been hired again to run for Indian. However, upon arriving at the famed Altoona Speedway just before the race, he found that Springfield had made a mistake, shipping his bike to Pittsburg and leaving him to watch the titans of the sport duke it out from the sidelines. The AMA Championship races at Altoona on July 4, 1925, were reported as races “worthy of the favor of Hermes, god of speed.” The Harley-Davidson squad, including Davis, Hepburn, and Brinck, tore through the record books, raising the speed records in 5 different events. Early in the event, Ralph Hepburn took a spill at nearly 100 MPH, miraculously only suffering a broken wrist yet mustered the strength to stint himself up and place second in the 5-mile Championship despite his injuries. Still, 100 miles on the boards was too tall of an order for Hep and it was then that fate intervened for the disheartened Petrali with an offer. If Smokin’ Joe could tune up his Harley-Davidson Two Cam and agree to split the winnings, Hepburn would toss him his torn Harley-Davidson jersey and let him have a go at the 100-mile. Joe agreed, and when the checkered flag dropped, Joe Petrali had won the 100-mile Championship, half of the $1,000 prize, and set a new record with an average speed of 100.36 MPH. It was a monumental moment for Petrali and reported in the papers across the country and raising the eyebrows back in Milwaukee. Victorious, Petrali soon returned to work at Crocker’s shop before receiving a contract from the Motor Company given his performance at Altoona. Smokin’ Joe Petrali would become one of Harley-Davidson’s most prolific and legendary racers to date, carrying the torch of the professional racer through its darkest days and into the Class C renaissance of the 1930s and 40s.
It is worth noting that the record that Petrali broke in the 100-mile that fateful day at Altoona had been previously held by none other than J.T. Branson, the greenhorn who took the day back in 1923 at the Kansas City Speedway. And so this story has come full circle.
Looking closely, the truth begins to reveal itself. Notice the scoreboard in the background and the two white boards flanking the pit lane; both match with known photos of the Altoona Speedway. When referencing a confirmed photograph of Joe Petrali from the July 4, 1925 race at Altoona, published here in a story titled “Smokin’ Joe’s Big Day,” one will notice that the square number plates also match the event. In that image, Joe is wearing Ralph Hepburn’s torn Harley-Davidson jersey, and in this one, Hep is wearing a fresh white sweater instead. Zoom in, and you will see that Hepburn is also sporting a bandage on his left wrist, the one he broke just prior to the 5-mile race. You can also see, upon further inspection, that the machine Brinck straddles has an auxiliary fuel tank mounted beneath the padding, the same that is visible on Petrali’s 100-mile championship bike. It was Brinck who took the lead from Davis in the 100-mile Championship when Davis’ machine had trouble, only to suffer the same fate and give up the position to Petrali. And with that, Brinck’s stoic, perhaps disappointed gaze comes into frame, and the mystery is solved. Davis’ Buckeye’s M.C. sweater still warrants explanation as it is most likely the source of the historical confusion, but perhaps it was Petrali’s, worn as a nod to the man who had just become a legend.
In this photo, from left to right, are Ralph Hepburn, Eddie Brinck, and Jim Davis, legends of the late Harley-Davidson Wrecking Crew during the AMA 100-Mile National Championship races held July 4, 1925, on the 1.25-mile wooden oval at Altoona.
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