Rick shows he has not lost any of his awesome skills. Here in the Saddlemen Vintage Championship on the Zanotti XR750 at Pomona in 2009.
Wrestling the Honda 750 Four in 1970 at the Sacramento Mile.Rick Hocking the wildman from Fremont ,California passed away this week at 58 years of age. Rick was a hard charger and lived a very full and interesting life. His Dirt Track racing skills were phenomenal and he was wide open, on the gas right up to the end. He never seemed to slow down and was a joy to watch as he took on all competitors with an uncanny ability to haul ass. His natural abilities made him a perfect candidate for developing and fine tuning some of Flat Track's wildest machines. He fought the Honda 750 Four around many Miles and 1/2 Miles until even he had to admit that due to its high RPM and wheel spinning antics, it was not suited for this kind of competition. He did develop the Mother of all Flat Tracker Weapons, the TZ700 Yamaha which he manhandled and throttled into submission at Ascot in preparation for King Kenny Roberts to ride once and win on at the Indy Mile, after which the AMA banned it as a Widow maker. Rick had been racing all kinds of Vintage and modern machines in the recent past and it was obvious he had not lost any of his skill or zeal for flying around Americas Dirt Tracks, Feet Up and Full Lock. Godspeed Hock.
