Jim Rice loves Flat Track as much today as he did when he was racing and winning. The world got to know Jim as the affable determined racer chronicled in On Any Sunday. After watching the movie for the umpteenth time, you feel like you know all those guys and they are your friends and when you meet Jim he treats you like you are. He is genuinely humbled and honored to be remembered and respected. In this instance we met Jim in the Calistoga pits after the National. Wayne tells him the story of how his Dad took him to San Jose when he was 10 years old and he saw Jim break his collar bone in a freak accident. Jim remembers the race and the incident well. He was racing Gary Scott and Kenny Roberts for the lead in the main and he hit a hole sliding around the corner, the bike dove left and drove his shoulder under the single bar on the inside of the track. It knocked both hands off the bars and broke his left collar bone and flattened him down ,splayed over the tank. He saved it got his throttle hand back on the gas and keep ahead of his two main rivals and won the race. Wayne says its the only time he has seen the Winner collect the trophy and immediately be loaded into the ambulance and hauled off to hospital.
Stylin on the BSA Twin.
Jim is from Nor Cal,District 36 and at Calistoga they celebrated him with some of his bikes and memorobilia. This guy (sorry , dont know your name) put the excellent Bike Show together and went to great lengths to create this giant poster of our hero Mr. Jim Rice.