Throwback Thursday: AMA Sidecar Champs
Larry Lawrence | March 23, 2017
Cycle News Photo Collection
Driver Pete Essaff and passenger Dennis Cruegar race in the AMA National Sidecar race at Laguna Seca Raceway in July of 1983. The team wore the No. 1 plate on their Kawasaki 1000cc-powered sidecar rig having won the 1982 AMA Sidecar Road Racing Championship.
There was a time when sidecar racing ran right alongside the rest of the AMA National Road Race classes and promoters loved them. The reason was fans found the sidecars a fun addition to the two-wheeled racing.
Northern Californian Essaff saw the sport from both sides. In 1978 he was AMA National champ as a passenger with driver Gary Gipe. In 1980 he came back to win as a driver, partnering with passenger Ken Harrold, then again the champ in ’82 with Cruegar.
The AMA National Championship folded after the 1984 season, but Essaff didn’t give up the sport. He went on to race on the GP circuit as a passenger and had some good success, scoring a podium (second) at the 1991 Italian GP at Misano.
Essaff continues racing sidecars and even tackled the Isle of Man last year.
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