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O'Brien, Tanner to be inducted into Dirt Track Hall of Fame

22 June 2000

     MARIETTA, Georgia -- Dick O'Brien, longtime Harley-Davidson factory

race team manager, and Sammy Tanner, who dominated the weekly half-mile

racing at southern California's Ascot Park in the sixties, have been

selected for induction into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame. The ceremonies

will take place during the September 1-3 Hall of Fame Labor Day Weekend

Classic at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.



     The weekend will offer race fans a first in dirt track racing history,

three back-to-back point-paying rounds of the AMA Progressive Insurance

U.S. Flat Track Championships. Friday night a Grand National Short Track

will take place at a brand new multi-million dollar facility at the

fairgrounds. On Saturday, the 3rd Annual $100,000 Dirt Track Hall of Fame

Race will take place on the legendary mile oval. Then on Sunday the men and

machines of The Rolling Thunder Show will again compete on the fastest dirt

oval of them all.



     Dick O'Brien's induction into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame will no

doubt be witnessed by more than a few riders who are already in the Hall

and who rode on the Harley-Davidson team during his tenure as

Harley-Davidson's team manager from 1958 until his retirement in 1982. A

who's who list of dirt track racers competed under O.B.'s supervision

during that period, including Carroll Resweber, Bart Markel, Roger Reiman,

Mert Lawwill, Mark Brelsford, Gary Scott, Jay Springsteen and Randy Goss.



     Joining O'Brien as a member of the first Hall of Fame class of the new

millennium is Sammy Tanner. Dubbed "The Flying Flea" because of his

diminuitive stature, Tanner, who hailed from Texas, burst onto the dirt

track scene in the late '50s. It's fitting that his induction takes place

at the Springfield Mile, an event he won in 1964. In 1966 Tanner scored

three Grand National victories, winning at Ascot, and on the half-mile

ovals at

     Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, and Elkhorn, Wisconsin. He finished third in

the point standings that year, topped only by fellow Hall of Fame members

Bart Markel and Gary Nixon.



     Four other Dirt Track Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in

upcoming weeks.



     Race fans can obtain tickets for the triple-header Labor Day weekend

of racing now. Weekend VIP packages are limited in number and offer lots of

extras for an all inclusive price of $125. Advance tickets are $20 for each

race. Call 217-753-8866 for tickets and VIP information.