Tuesday Toolbox with .... Tommy Norton

by: Jason Weigandt
Tuesday April 8th, 2008

GNCC Racing prides itself on being the sport for the everyman, and never was that more clear than on June 17, 1990, when a completely unknown rider named Tommy Norton won the overall at America’s Toughest Race �“ The Blackwater 100 GNCC. The Cycle News report from that day, written by Davey Coombs, summed up the day like this: “Turning in a performance that will go down in the history books as one of the greatest upsets in off-road racing history, 27-year-old KTM rider Tommy Norton from Norfolk, Massachusetts, won the 16^th Blackwater 100 on a 125cc motorcycle.”  

Even after the event, when KTM promised to give Norton a $1000 check for the win, the company had to admit that they had never really heard of the rider.

            Norton wasn’t done making history after that race. He garnered an unlikely sponsorship from the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line and went racing as a privateer. Although he never put his 125 into victory lane again, he was a contender for several years and collected podium finishes, making him the most successful small-bore rider ever in GNCC Racing.

            As the XC2 Lites class continues to grow in GNCC Racing, we were reminded of Tommy’s amazing small-bore ride from all of those years ago. So we tracked Tommy down to see what it was like way back when.  

Tommy, how did that Blackwater win happen?

Blackwater, for me that was just a vacation. We made a week out of it. The first time we went in ’89, and we rented a motorhome and hung out with the crazies. I rode a KTM 350 and got 11^th. But then after breaking my leg twice on the thing, I realized it was too big for me. I always thought bigger was better. But after that I got a 125, and things started clicking!

When you were racing that day did you know what was going on?

I pulled #2, so I started on the front row. We all knew about the Blackwater racing in NETRA, reading about it in the magazines and stuff, so I knew what it was all about. I pulled the good start, and the first guy next to me was Larry Rosselaar. He was on a 250, so he pulled me down the road. We were battling on some of the roads, and we got into the valley, down the dirt roads where all the people are, and it was getting gnarly with rocks and stuff. He got on the brakes and downshifted. So I just grabbed a gear and went for it! I was like “See you later!” I never saw him again! Eventually (Scott) Summers caught me and (Eddie) Lojak caught me. Summers fell over in a river and drowned out. Me and Eddie collided. It was a good smash, too. It ripped off my front brake line and smashed his water pump. He was done a couple of laps later because of that.

It was. It always was. It was four hours and ten minutes when I won!

So you raced NETRA?

Yeah I did. I was working construction at the time, too.

So you went back to work after that?

Oh yeah. I went back to work on Tuesday.

Wow. You win America’s Toughest Race and then go back to work as a roofer! Then later, you got a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle Sponsorship, right?

Yeah. I got that by chance. KTM went bankrupt in ’91, and I was a support rider. A guy named Jerry Randall, who owns one of the biggest shops in Massachusetts, in North Hampton, heard about it. I didn’t know it, but the Turtles were based in North Hampton. He heard I had lost my ride since KTM was bankrupt, and it was November and it was too late to get anoth ride. So he called and said he had a private sponsor, and he wanted me to ride a green Honda. I told him I didn’t care what color it was, as long as it was a bike! So the next thing you know, I’m riding a Ninja Turtle Honda. The next year, we had good support from Kawasaki, because they had the Ninja street bike, so it tied in real well. They had road racing guys, and me and a few local motocross kids on dirt.

How did that go?

I raced all the GNCCs starting in ’91. I won the 200 A class in ’91, this was before there was a AA class, so you just raced the A class that fit your bike size. So I would never start on the front row. I would always ask Big Dave if I could start up front, but he would never let me�”and the AA class never came up until ’92. Coming from the second row is tough. Now there are so many riders in the XC1 row. I think someday someone will win from the second row in XC2, but it’s not an easy thing to do.

Did the Ninja Turtle thing go away?

They stayed with me until ’96. I raced the GNCC Series full time until then, and in ’93 I raced everything, all of the National Hare Scrambles and all of the GNCCs. I got third in the GNCCs and second in the Hare Scrambles.

But you did all of this on the 125?

I raced a 250 one time in California, because it was all hills. But otherwise, I would try a 250 and I would kill myself. I’m not a big bike guy. I was 143 pounds when I rode, so a 125 to me was plenty powerful. GNCCs, I haven’t done one since Unadilla a few years ago, but I know in general that you’re going to go down a few times, you’re going to get stuck, you’re going to have to get off of your bike and push at some point. And for me, pushing that extra 20 pounds in a mud hole, it was a big difference. For me I could push my 125 up a hill, and I couldn’t do it on a 250. I just had to set people up and pass them under braking. We had some epic battles. I remember battling with Plessinger and Andrews at Bowyers, we ran 1-2-3 all day the whole race, and the next year we did the exact same thing. That would have been ’94 and ’95. I was second both times. We were nose to tail the whole race, literally from start to finish. It’s doable on the small bike. Wattsy did it, he won a race on a 125.

You still race now?

I do every once in awhile, I’ll race NETRA. My friend puts on a Turkey Run, which is like an enduro but it’s not competitive, just have fun.

You still follow the series?

I do. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about racing again. It was excellent. I had a lot of fun and met a lot of people. We still joke about the Yankee versus the Southerners thing, as soon as I opened my mouth and they heard my accent, they started laughing.

Well, you made an impact. Your name still comes up.

Yeah, even up here, I’ll be in a store and someone will say, “Hey are you Tommy Norton? Didn’t you used to race dirt bikes?” It surprises you how many people follow dirt bike racing. I’ll still ride now, too. I had a KTM 450 and a KTM 200, but I just unloaded the 450. I just have fun and ride with my buddies.

And you still ride a 200�”a small bike.

Yeah, I debated riding a 125, but the 200 comes set up as an enduro bike, and here in New England you have to register your bike, because there’s no land left and you have to ride on roads.

So we actually do have a Pro Lites class now. Too bad for you, because you were the fast guy back then on that type of bike.

Yeah, because I won that 200 A class. 1992 was the first year of the AA. The start, I would have to play catch up. You know how it is, everyone would go deep into the first turn and smash into each other, and then the second turn, that was my first turn, I could pass half the field there. So I would go from last to maybe halfway down. I was aggressive, you had to be aggressive on those types of bikes.