 Scott Brelsford, younger brother to former Grand National Champion Mark Brelsford, seemed to always ride in the shadow of his big brother. He had a mediocre season as first-year Pro Novice in 1970, but then in 1971 he got hooked up with the potent TD2 Yamaha 250 twin of Ray Abrams' A&A Racing, and was so unbeatable at the tacky (that's "tacky" as in lots of traction, not "tacky" as in green Hawaiian shirts and plaid pants) Ascot half-mile that he was a runaway winner almost every Friday, as well as in the season championship. One night, another rider (me) went over to Scott to borrow a couple of tear-offs, and his reply was, "I'm always in front - I haven't used any all year." His success at Ascot, as well as on the hard slick groove tracks, led to a position on the factory Harley team for his junior year, 1972. I guess the fact that brother Mark had paved the way and was obviously "the" rider to beat at most tracks didn't hurt either, but Scott had trouble with the big heavy Harleys for much of the season. Eventually, after much trial-and-error (read: crashing), Scott figured it out and won several junior Nationals, including the San Jose Mile. His only Expert National win came at the much-debated Atlanta Mile, which was stopped due to appalling track conditions after just a handful of laps, with Scott in the lead. Then, after just a couple of years with his Expert ranking, Harley Davidson management canned both Scott as well as injured brother Mark, and Scott was left without a ride. Harley had had many teething problems with its XR750, and good reliable bikes were hard to come by. Scott wandered the pits, helmet bag in hand, for a while before being tapped to try super-tuner Erv Kanemoto's Champion-framed Kawasaki triple. Although the two-stroke was a handful to ride, Scott had something to prove, and won a non-National race on the extremely rought Stockton, California, Mile over national caliber talent. The AMA banned multi-cylinder bikes shortly after that, however, and Scott quietly left the scene. Click here to view Scott Brelsford's photos. |
