Gene Romero

Gene Romero (May 22, 1947 – May 12, 2019) was an American professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship from 1966 to 1981 sponsored first by the Triumph factory racing team and then by the Yamaha factory racing team. Proficient on oval dirt tracks as well as paved road racing circuits, Romero won the 1970 A.M.A. Grand National Championship and was the winner of the 1975 Daytona 200. After retiring from competition, he became a successful racing team manager with Honda and helped the sport of dirt track racing by becoming a race promoter. He grew up in San Luis Obispo, California where, with the help of his father he began competing at an early age in kart racing and Quarter Midget racing, as well as motorcycle racing. In 1964, he used a forged birth certificate to race professionally at Ascot Park riding a Triumph Tiger Cub.

Triumph factory sponsorship Romero's successful results earned him an expert status for the 1966 Grand National Championship and in 1967, he was hired to race for the Triumph factory racing team. Romero had a serious accident in 1967 in which he fractured his femur so badly that leg amputation was considered. He started the season finishing second at the Daytona 200 but, Rice surged to the championship lead with 6 victories. Romero continued to post consistent results and, his first victory of the year at the Sedalia, Missouri Mile race catapulted him into second place behind Rice in the championship. The film was credited with helping to spark an explosive growth in American motorcycle sales numbers as the baby boomer generation came of age. He added his third national victory of the season the following week at the Gardena, California Half Mile race. He once again finished in second place at the Daytona 200 and won the San Jose Mile, the Oklahoma City Half Mile and the Nazareth One-Eighth Mile.

Move to Yamaha and Daytona 200 victory In 1974, Romero accepted an offer to race for the Yamaha factory racing team as a teammate to Kenny Roberts and Don Castro. The race was run in two 100 mile legs with Romero winning the first race after Agostini crashed and Roberts settled for third place after making a poor tire selection. Giacomo Agostini's 1974 Daytona victory had boosted the event's reputation to become one of the most prestigious motorcycle races in the world. Romero began the race riding conservatively as early leader Kenny Roberts retired with a mechanical failure. Despite his Daytona performance, he was released by Yamaha after the 1975 season as, the 1973 oil crisis precipitated a drop in sales of recreational vehicles, which forced motorcycle manufacturers to reduce their racing budgets. Yamaha chose to focus their support on Kenny Roberts. These were the final major victories in Romero's career. He competed in the Daytona 200 fourteen times, winning the event in 1975 and finishing second in 1970 and 1971. Romero was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Racing record

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Points 1978 PIR1 TRE1 MOS MIL1 TEX MIL2 OMS1 OMS2 TRE2 PIR214 57th 5