Mike Bast has been elected to the Trailblazers Hall of Fame!
Bast, along with Dan Haaby, Bruce Ogilvie, Wayne Rainey, Steve Storz and Gil Vaillancourt, will be inducted into the Trailblazers Hall of Fame at the annual banquet on Saturday, April 23nd. The banquet—which is sold out—will include special presentations to Keith Mashburn, Susie Ellsworth and Tom Heininger.
As young boys, Mike Bast and his brother Steve watched their Uncle Harlan race off-road and flat track events. Mike, who was born in Los Angeles in 1953, started riding when he was nine and racing when he was 10.
Mike’s biggest hero was Dick Mann, whose career he hoped to emulate. Inspired to become a champion, Mike raced TTs and scrambles around Southern California. By the time he was a teenager, Mike was also becoming a top short track racer. His growing skills on the short tracks would soon have a profound effect on his career.
In 1968, Mike saw a poster advertising Speedway races at Whiteman Stadium in Pacoima. Dude Criswell was promoting the races, trying to revive the sport of Speedway in America. Mike was intrigued and before long he got an old JAP Speedway bike, which he shared with his brother Steve. Mike took to Speedway right away and became one of the top riders in the budding sport in the United States.
Mike witnessed an exhibition put on by Speedway world champions Ivan Mauger and Barry Briggs. Mike and other Americans were still riding their Speedway bikes like they did their short track bikes, leaning into the turns. Mauger and Briggs showed them the proper Speedway style. They put on a school for the Americans and Mike was one of their best students.
With Speedway racing popping up all across California, Mike, still in his teens, found himself starting to earn very good money. He was earning thousands of dollars per month riding the Speedway circuit five nights a week. It became his full-time career and he was living his dream as a professional motorcycle racer.
In addition to the American Speedway circuit, during the winter months he was one of six riders on the first American Speedway test team to ride in Australia and New Zealand. The tracks there were much larger and the speeds higher and it honed Mike’s skills as a rider. A student of the sport, Mike studied great riders like Ivan Mauger when he raced. He also learned the importance of proper bike set-up during his trips down under.
In 1971, Mike won his first American Speedway Championship in a runoff against Mike Konle at Orange County. He was 18 years old and as he crossed the line the emotional teenager had tears in his eyes. It was a dream come true.
It was just the first of many championships. Mike won the title again in 1973, but lost to his brother Steve in 1974. Then Mike went on his run of five consecutive U.S. championships, making him the undisputed king of Speedway racing in America. He established a record of seven American Speedway Championships, including an incredible streak of five consecutive titles from 1975 through 1979.
In addition to racing, he also worked as a movie stunt man for about 10 years in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Mike continued to race through 1985. By then he was a family man and he retired while he was still riding at his peak at age 32.
During his 18-year career Mike Bast won over 4,000 races including heats, semis and mains. In addition to his seven American championships, Mike also won six California state titles. He was one of the key riders who played a major role in Speedway’s rebirth in America, paving the way for American riders like Bruce Penhall, Sam Ermolenko, Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock, who went on to win World Speedway titles. Mike was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2000.
After retiring from racing, Mike co-founded a construction company and later moved to Northern California. He and his wife, Dee, had three children. He has stayed involved in Speedway by working with up-and-coming riders.
The Trailblazers proudly welcome Mike Bast into the 2016 Hall of Fame!
Dave Friedman photos / Don Emde Collection.
