Arena Park Motorcycle Races

I know these race photos were taken at Arena Park, but I don’t know anything else about them. I’m going to guess they date back to 1967, only because I don’t think I had any telephoto lenses long enough to shoot anything like this before that.

Photo gallery of motorcycle racing

Since I don’t have any information, I’ll toss them all into a photo gallery. I’ll let you fill in the blanks. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

12 Replies to “Arena Park Motorcycle Races”

  1. Ken, Do you have any photo’s on the TWIKA Go-Kart facility that was located near the Airport? I seem to remember it was owned by Robert Erlbacker.

    1. That question’s been asked before. If I have, I haven’t run across the film yet.

      For some reason, I don’t think I shot anything down there. (Of course, I didn’t remember shooting these photos, either.)

  2. I THINK THE FELLOW IN THE FIRST PHOTO IS JOHN MEISENHEIMER FROM CAPE. HE WAS INTO MOTORCROSS LATER ON WITH SEVERAL OF THE THROWER BOYS.

  3. Zip Craft abd Rusty Gerhing raced at the park also. Dont know if they was racing that day. But being a betting man. I would bet they did.

  4. I was wondering if you had any vintage photos of my father, Frank Keith Stoffregen, or his first business as the owner of Cape Cycle Kawasaki at 300 N. Kingshighway? He raced a lot at the old Dutchtown track next to I-55.

    1. I’m pretty sure I never shot anything at the Dutchtown track (don’t even remember one being there).

      I vaguely remember the Cape Cycle Kawasaki, but don’t know if I photographed it. I’ll keep my eyes open for it.

      What time period are we talking about?

  5. I believe it was between 1978 and 1994. Not certain on the years. Dad has told me many stories about racing and “the shop”. I used to watch him race at the Dutchtown track and I was born in ’82. The name Zip Craft I think had come up in some of his stories. He had nicknames for almost all of his racing buddies, his was affectionately, “Fall-down Frank”

    1. I’m probably not going to be able to help you much. I left Cape in 1967 and have only come back once or twice a year since then.

      Most of my Cape shooting, except for recently and for family photos, was between about 1962 and 1967.

  6. The bikes shown here were altered street bikes from about 100cc to 250cc in size, fairly small by today’s standards. I saw no professional garb so most of the riders were probably local guys and few sponsors. The few attempts to get racing established here all fell short. The top photo shows an empty bleacher section. As the machines improved in agility and speed the tracks became more complex with more turns and jumps. This made it more exciting but most of the spectators (what few there were) were mostly friends and family of the riders. This didn’t make enough money to sustain an organization or a track or to offer any real prize money. We had races at the Arena Building, at Rolling Hills just North East of Cape, at Highway 61 & 74 and now a track just South of Old Appleton on Highway 61. I wish them luck.

  7. Hi Ken, I run and edit an independent motorcycle magazine in the UK that focuses on this kind of racing. I would like to discuss printing some of these photos in a future edition if you’re interested. I look forward to hearing from you. Gary Inman

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