Harley mounted Ronnie Rall edged Art Barda and his BSA
In this week’s Throwback we turn back the clock 58 years to 1965 and the AMA Grand National held in June of that year at the half-mile Heidelberg Raceway in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania. This photo shows Mansfield, Ohio’s Ronnie Rall taking the high line on his Harley-Davidson as he makes a move on BSA rider Art Barda, who hailed from Lemont, Illinois. Neither Rall or Barda had the pace to win that day, in fact this clash was happening just inside the top 10, but for them it was a great personal battle all the way to the checkered flag where Rall made his high line work and held off Barda to take ninth in the national. Harley factory rider Bart Markel won that day.
The digitized versions of Cycle News begin in September of 1965, so while you won’t be able to read about this particular race, you can check out how the AMA Grand National season closed and much more by subscribing to the Cycle News Archives at: https://www.cyclenews.com/cycle-news-archives/
