Daytona 200, Circa 1952

At Daytona in 1952 a team from Janesville, Wis., consisted of (left to right) R.L. Patterson, crew chief, John Haskell riding a BSA Gold Star, “Bud” Harder the local BSA and Triumph dealer and sponsor of the duo, and Fran Shackleford on a Triumph. John Haskell was probably one of the most colorful characters of the era. He was a self described motorcycle vagabond. He was originally from Lakeland, Fla., and in the late Forties a group of bikers from Janesville befriended him in Daytona, and suggested he move to Janesville and go to work at the local Fisher Body plant. He moved and over the years became a local icon. He raced the BSA, rode the wall of death on the carny circuit, sampled a little weed and did numerous other things that were unheard of in those days. He really was a one-of-a-kind character. — Jim Walter, Sandpoint, Idaho