Throwback Thursday: Brad Hurst Leads at San Jose Short Track (1984)
Larry Lawrence | August 31, 2017
Photo by Mitch Friedman
AMA Grand National Short Track races were and have always been races where the action is intense all night. Such was the case at the San Jose Short Track National in 1984. That weekend San Jose hosted a Short Track National on Saturday night and then the famous San Jose Mile on Sunday.
In this shot, captured by longtime Cycle News contributor Mitch Friedman, it shows qualifying race action with Brad Hurst (20) leading the way over Mike Garrison (51), Randy Green (25) and Scott Pearson (95). Two other riders are obscured behind the leaders, so Friedman captured six riders in the frame from an inside-the-corner shot, something just about only possible in short track racing.
Pearson is the only rider in the shot to make the national that night.
Hurst is best remembered for his victory in the 1979 Castle Rock TT, where he crashed on the first lap of the national and came all the way back to take victory, in one of the all-time greatest come-from-behind victories.
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