1985 was a watershed year in motorcycle road racing here in America, as well as for an American road racer competing on the world stage. It’s been 40 years—four decades—since a 23-year-old racing phenom from Shreveport, Louisiana, had what was no doubt his best-ever year out of what was a long and illustrious career that led to him being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and also being named an FIM Grand Prix Legend.
Frederick Burdette Spencer, better known as “Fast Freddie” Spencer, had a year in 1985 that no other motorcycle road racer had ever had before, and to this day, no one has ever equaled his incredible accomplishment.
For those of you who know about Spencer’s amazing racing career, you will immediately recall that Fast Freddie is the only motorcycle road racer on planet Earth who has ever won both a 250cc Grand Prix World Championship and a 500cc Grand Prix World Championship in the same year. He did it in 1985.
But, that was after Daytona. What he did in March of 1985 on the high banks before the Grand Prix World Championship season got underway was something also that no one had done before…or has since.
Beginning in 1977, ironically one year after Superbike racing was invented in America, the Daytona 200 was a Formula One motorcycle road race, in which fire-breathing, four-cylinder two-strokes ruled the “Great American Motorcycle Race.” It was an era in which Yamaha TZs and YZRs maintained the domination they had begun at Daytona in 1972 with Don Emde’s breakthrough victory on a 350cc two-stroke TR3. For 13 consecutive years, the tuning-fork folks hoisted the highly coveted Daytona 200 winner’s trophy.
And then, it all changed on Friday, March 8, 1985, because of Fast Freddie Spencer. In 1985, the designated race class for the Daytona 200 became Superbikes—four-stroke, four-cylinder 750cc machines—and aboard his #19 Honda VF750F Interceptor (RC15) Superbike, Spencer won the 1985 Daytona 200. But it wasn’t easy. In the early stages of the race, Spencer’s Honda inexplicably started to misfire and would only run on three of its four cylinders. He came in for a pit stop and his crew gave the bike a quick, but thorough, inspection but they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. By the time they sent Spencer back out, he had fallen all the way back to 49th place. Whatever engine problems Spencer experienced prior to the impromptu pit stop were thankfully gone, and Fast Freddie was able to concentrate on what he did best: going fast. He took the lead on lap 29 but it was short-lived because his frenetic sprint to the front left him with a badly worn rear tire. He came into the pits and surrendered the lead to fellow Honda rider Wes Cooley. After leaving the pits with a fresh rear tire, it took Spencer almost no time at all to chase down Cooley and re-take the lead. Spencer took the checkered flag for his one and only, but exceedingly memorable, Daytona 200 victory. Cooley ended up second, while Jeff Haney made it a Honda podium sweep when he brought his VF750F home in third.
Prior to the Daytona 200 that March, the Formula One race was relegated to a support-class event during Daytona Bike Week, and Spencer easily earned the pole position in qualifying, even though it was his very first time riding the 1985 NSR500 (NV0B). Incredibly, the bike wasn’t even finished being built until mid-February that year before it was immediately crated up and sent by air freight to Daytona. Spencer’s pole-setting lap time was more than four seconds faster than anyone else who qualified for the race. But, just like the Daytona 200, his Formula One race at Daytona was not easy. The NV0B developed a huge crack in the expansion chamber attached to the number-one cylinder on the left side of the bike. The heat from the exhaust gas leaking from the crack caused the lower fairing to melt, and the bike also suffered a serious drop in power. On the 18th lap of the 29-lap race, Fast Freddie slowed way down due to the damaged pipe. His lead, which had grown to as large as 24 seconds, was reduced to just 4.7 seconds by the time he took the checkered flag. Nonetheless, he won the race.
Spencer loved to race at Daytona, and the International Lightweight event was one of his favorites. He’d won the International Lightweight Novice race in 1979 on a Yamaha TZ250, which was his first AMA National victory. In 1985, however, he was a full-on factory Honda road racer both in the AMA and the FIM. Aboard his Honda RS250RW (NV1A), Spencer also won the International Lightweight Expert (Formula Two) race that was another support-class event held during Daytona Bike Week prior to the Daytona 200 that March.
Spencer’s 1985 Daytona Bike Week was absolutely unprecedented, and it contributed mightily to what was the single greatest year in motorcycle road racing for one rider. All told, he started the year by winning the first Daytona 200 run under Superbike rules, and he swept the Formula One and Formula Two events, which was, and still is, the only time a rider has ever won the three major races at Daytona in one event. Spencer then went on to win both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix World Championships, becoming the only rider in history to accomplish that feat, as well.
Fast Freddie Spencer was not only named the AMA’s Pro Athlete of the Year in 1985, he also earned a special citation from President Ronald Reagan.
On this 40th anniversary, we salute Fast Freddie Spencer.
He’ll be in the MotoAmerica paddock at select rounds this season as he’s been over the past couple of years. He’s now the man in charge of prepping and coaching the ladies who compete in Royal Enfield’s Build. Train. Race. Program.
Shake hands with him and congratulate him on his incredible life as a legendary, professional motorcycle racer. Just don’t remind him that 1985 was 40 years ago. It hardly seems possible.
To watch the 1985 Daytona 200 in its entirety, click on the “play” button below:
