After storied motorcycle racing career, Don Castro earns Hall of
Fame bid
When Don Castro traveled to England two years ago for the
reunion of the 1971 Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series
— an American-versus-British motorcycle event put on by Triumph
— he spoke with Craig Vetter, a Carmel resident better known in the
racing industry for his motorcycle designs.
After storied motorcycle racing career, Don Castro earns Hall of Fame bid
When Don Castro traveled to England two years ago for the reunion of the 1971 Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series — an American-versus-British motorcycle event put on by Triumph — he spoke with Craig Vetter, a Carmel resident better known in the racing industry for his motorcycle designs.
Vetter said he wanted to check out Castro’s bike shop in Tres Pinos some time, and when he showed up one day a couple of weeks ago with his wife, Castro was prepared to give him the full tour.
“When he got here, he took off his helmet and pulled out a camera, and said he had some news to tell me,” Castro recalled. “It wasn’t bad news, though. I thought he’d be investing in my company or something.”
Not exactly. Although when Vetter instead told Castro he was to be inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association’s Hall of Fame, the news may give Castro’s bike shop a bit of a financial boost, nonetheless.
“I was shocked,” said Castro, who owns Racer’s Edge in Tres Pinos. “You can’t get anything better than that. There is no bigger honor, except if someone wanted to give you a couple million dollars.
“We’ll have to try our luck down in (Las) Vegas.”
Castro, whose contributions in dirt track and road racing have been extensive within the motorcycle community, will be officially inducted on Nov. 19-21 in Las Vegas, where he expects the Hall of Fame announcement that Vetter laid on him a couple weeks ago to be fully realized.
“He thought we were gonna come up and have lunch,” said Vetter, who was inducted in 1999 and is also the chairman of the Design and Engineering committee of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
“He was shocked,” Vetter added. “It was the high point of my life to tell him that. It was great.
“It’s a real honor for the community of Hollister.”
Mike Vancil, who is the chairman of the Road Racing committee through the AMA and lives in Morgan Hill, was intending to break the news with Vetter but was forced to travel back east for a reunion.
“Don was an amazing competitor in his youth,” Vancil said. “He’s lately become a good tuner, but in his racing days, he was one of the better jockeys.”
Although the AMA has yet to officially announce Castro’s induction on its website — the organization will be announcing the 2010 class individually over the next several weeks — his contributions to the motorcycle industry are well known.
After graduating from a Honda 90cc to a Triumph 500cc when he was a teenager, Castro turned pro when he was 18 and, shortly thereafter, was ranked No. 1 in the state as a professional novice in indoor short-track racing, and was ranked No. 5 in the nation through the AMA.
Castro was then ranked No. 2 in the nation as a junior pro after winning seven of the 24 Grand Nationals in 1969, and later signed a full contract with Triumph that allowed him to take part in the Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series in England.
It wasn’t until 1973 that Castro enjoyed perhaps his best year atop the motorcycle. The Hollister native tied the highest professional ranking he ever had as a racer that year when he finished fifth for Team Yamaha.
Castro, who is expected to be inducted into the Dirt Track division, competed in AMA racing from 1966 to 1998, and will be one of eight inductees this year.
“It’s an honor to be there, especially since everyone that is there I’ve raced against and beaten at one time or another,” laughed Castro, who was said to have been nominated by Don Miller, owner MetroRacing.com, some three years ago.
“I’ll celebrate down in Vegas with all my friends, and then I’ll realize I’ve been inducted,” he added. “Right now, it’s all new to me. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do yet.”
