| Art Barda 1936 - 2007  This was forwarded to me earlier today. Art was a good friend and we go way back. I saw him at Springfield last year...and he still had that crazy laugh. GOD SPEED, my friend. You'll be missed. At 9.06 This am 1 /23 /07 Art Barda Formerly National # 96 lost a long bout with cancer ...He was in Billings Mont. and his Daughter and Sons by his side... They say a service will be held in Billings on the 1st of Feb. and are trying to put something together at Daytona this year.....Marcys Digger
Posted by
Marcy,
Thank you for your thoughts and support. Kevin will really enjoy the compliment! We will be honoring my father at The AHRMA Flat track banquet in Daytona March 6th. We welcome everyone to join us for dinner,drinks,stories & photos. Please spread the word. Anyone interested can contact me for further details. beyondbasil@earthlink.net Marcy Rod, thanks for the compliment, world class is a little optimistic but thanks anyway. I never caught the flat track bug but I still race motocross at the Vet Pro level. Thanks for all the words, it is good to know my dad was well liked as he is my hero. Hope you can make it out ot Daytona. Kevin Hey Digger, Can you tell us little more about Art? I've heard that name all my life but I don't really know much about him. Thanks, Nick I'm sad to hear that. Art was a great guy and I always loved listening to his stories. We all got Art Barda stories... That was one cool guy. At Daytona at the AMA Meeting for Pro Officials he made me a Referee for 600 Nationals and Regionals. When he did that the room was full of these AMA officials about 50-60 people at this luncheon. He looked at me and said do you have anything you would like to say? I said well its good to see one other person here that don't have WHITE HAIR and a BAD ATTITUDE! He cracked up and said yah I dye mine! The rest of the room did not think it was one bit funny but Barda. We laughed about that for years. Beckley
Two great racing stories that came to mind when I heard of his death had both of us as major players. The first was at a 1/2 mile in the middle of nowhere. As some of you may remember, a lot of the tracks in ILL., Ohio, etc. only had crashwalls on the front straights. We were in the first heat race of the night, and they had just watered the track. Art and I checked it out...and it was extra slick. We decided that it was gonna' be a race between the two of us...so whoever got the lead into turn one...the other would just follow for a couple of laps, then we'd race. Art got the lead with me in second, and hit the ground going into the corner. I had to lay my bike down. It was a pretty big crash. I yelled "Barda...you ok?" He said he was...then asked about me. "I landed on my head...so I'm fine". We stood up and checked out our arms and legs. Everything was in order...but our bikes were missing. We thought that the track crew had picked them up...but that wasn't the case. It took a few minutes before Art noticed a large mashed area in a corn field. My bike had hit his so hard that it stood both of them back up. They sailed over the 2' berm...and launched about 75 feet. It was quite a job getting them back thru all that corn to the track. We were both done for the day. The second was at Lincoln, ILL. the day of the big crash that ended Resweber's racing days...broke Dick Klamfoth's back and killed a great racer named Jack Gouldson (spelling??...I'm old and forgetful.) It was the 5 mile National on 9/16/62. I got a great start, and was leading the heat race by 1/2 a straight-a-way. With one lap to go I looked back and Art was in 2nd. Trying to be funny, I started waving my left arm...telling him to catch up. My humor backfired...and I overshot turn 3. There was a real skinny groove...but it was waaaay to my left. Art stayed on it and passed me about 10 feet from the checkered flag. We both had to meet with AMA's Jules Horky after the race. He wasn't very happy. He thought that I'd let Art win (for some unknown reason). We were there long after the other riders had been paid. We both made the National...but were told that if we ever pulled another stunt like that...we could expect to miss several races, as they would pull our licenses. We laughed about both of those events when we were talking at Springfield. I'm gonna' miss old #96 a lot. He was a fun guy and a good racer. It was pretty hard for us to stay out of trouble when we were together. Had I known that he was serious about almost being dead...I would have talked to him a lot more that day. Digger
Do you have any
idea how hard it is to
find good moonshine in Calif?
Wish I could
share in the celebration
Digger, have a great time. Man,
oh man...does my head ever
hurt. JG...thanks for all the help. We
gave Art a great send-off last night. I say great...but none of my
friends that were there are answering their phones today. They must all
feel as bad as I do. I got a great phone call from his family last
night, but was in no shape to return the call. To all of you who raised
a glass last night in memory of #96...THANKS. That main event at the
big dirt-track up above is getting bigger all the time. Cycle News January 29, 2007Former AMA Grand National dirt tracker Art Barda died on January 23 in Billings, Montana, from complications of prostate cancer. Barda had a long career in motorcycling, racing professional dirt track from the late 1950s until the mid 70s - racing with his national number 96 on his BSAs, Velocettes and Triumphs. Barda also became the Yamaha race team manager in the early 1970s, and helped usher in a then-rookie racer named Kenny Roberts. Barda continued to be involved in the sport, working as the professional dirt track manager for the AMA, and later with Kawasaki, Honda and Montesa. His riding talents also led him to some film work, including the B-movie classic, Deathsport. Later in his life, Barda continued to enjoy racing vintage motorcycles and he had signed up to race a restored Indian at this year’s event in March. Barda is survived by a daughter, Marcy Tatarka and granddaughter Jessica Tatarka; son Damon Barda and grandson Evan Barda; son Kevin Barda; and daughters Teri Cora and Kathie Favero, grandchildren Lonni, Shawn, Jordan, Blake and twin grandaughters. Funeral services for Barda are scheduled for February 1 at the Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary in Billings. A remembrance celebration is planned for Daytona Beach, during the first week of March. For more information, contact Marcy Tatarka at beyondbasil@earthlink.net. Donations in Barda’s name can be made to the charity of your choice or to the Big Sky Hospice, P.O. Box 35033, Billings, MT |
