Dot Bacon Remembered

By Jeannie and Randy Dalmas

Dot Bacon 1921 - 2002

Len and Dot Bacon have been involved in cornerworking, motorcycle racing and Summit Point long before MARRC began, and even before some racers were even born. But to meet them at the track, and watch them with others, you saw that both of them were there for more than just racing. In the words of those who knew them, “they are the Grandfather and Grandmother of everyone at Summit Point”. For the years of dedication that they have given to MARRC they were presented with the 1994 MARRC Cup. This is a reprint of an article originally published in the MARRC newsletter in 1996 from an interview with the Bacons on November 11, 1995 at MARRC’s Video Night.

Randy Dalmas: Tell us something about yourselves.

Dot Bacon: I'm originally from New Jersey. We live in Fairfax County, Virginia. I'm a home maker. Len and I met when we were in the service. I was going back to Washington, DC to Bolling Air Force Base and he was coming home on a pass. That started all of this stuff. We have been married for 51 years. Married on 5/21/44. We have 5 children: Roger, Gary, Carolyn, Ray, and Ken; 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Len Bacon: Retired. Ten years [from the] Telephone Company. I worked for them for 43 years.

RD: I guess the biggest question is how did you end up getting interested in motorcycles?

DB: Well, I used to ride on a motorcycle all the time, since I was 15 years old, but I never did drive one. After we got married he got a motorcycle and we traveled all over the place. We had a good time.

RD: How did you become involved in racing?

LB: My son [Roger] was President of Arlington Camera Club and some people asked him to take pictures of side car racing at Summit Point, and he said "Oh that sounds good". So he asked me if I wanted to go. We went to those first couple of races, and found out that we could find out more about Summit Point motorcycle racing at Crossroads Cycle, which is around the corner from us. We then would go to Crossroads Cycle every now and again and find out when they were going to have racing. So we went to most of the races at Summit Point. And then 10 to 15 years ago I started going to other WERA events here and there. We went to the GNF's each year. Still most of the time in those early days it was just photography.

RD: It was you that got Roger Bacon involved in racing and not the other way around?

LB: As far as the cornerworking and so forth is concerned, yes.

DB: They used to go off together and I stayed home. Then I got interested in going.

Jeannie Dalmas: When did Summit Point Raceway open?

LB: They started racing at Summit Point in 1973.

DB: Patty and Dr. Peter Frank were head of it. We got to be real close with them after we joined.

LB: We got to be friends with them when they were doing that early stuff, because Patty Frank did their newsletter for WERA. It was ERA at that point. I took pictures for her. Then whatever pictures she didn't want I just gave out to the racers. So that's how a whole lot of racers knew me. (He laughs) Later on I did the same thing for other people who took over for Peter and Patty, Evelyn Pritz (?) and so forth. Then they sold the newsletter operation, which was American Roadracing, and turned that over to John Ulrich. I did pictures for him for about a year, then they started doing theirs as a very commercial operation, and I didn't do anymore then. Then I started doing more cornerworking then picture taking.

JD: And how did you become involved with MARRC?

LB: When MARRC came into being and I heard about it, well then I joined up. I was still mostly taking pictures at that time around the corners and then I would work corners when they needed help. Then, maybe, 6 - 7 years ago I started doing the cornerworking regularly. She came with me all the time and then she started working.

DB: I did a lot of cornerworking.

LB: She also took to working the schools and did some time in the kitchen.

JD: And now?

LB: Now we still go at it full blast. I end up doing Road Rash most of the time now, the last couple of years.

JD: So what keeps you coming back year, after year, after year?

LB: The camaraderie. It's just a real fine group of people. It's like family.

DB: We get hugs and kisses all the time. (Laughing)

RD: Is that why you spent one of your anniversaries at the track?

DB: For my hugs and kisses. And the friendships have really grown. They feel like they're really relatives.

LB: We've known most of them for a long, long, time. We've known Roger Lyle ever since he was first starting.

RD: What do you do outside of racing and photography?

DB: Traveling.

LB: We have a couple of motor homes that we go traveling [in]. And of course we spend the winter in Florida.

DB: That's a hardship. (Laughing)

RD: Do you have a home down there?

DB: No we go in the motor home. We have the 33 foot. We park it there and then, we take the car with us on the car carrier, and we go off that way.

RD: Is the motor home your permanent address now?

LB: No. Just for Florida.

DB: And then we have the camper van, which we enjoy.

LB: That's our weekender.

DB: Has all the conveniences of home. (She laughs)

RD: And your house is still in Fairfax, Virginia?

DB: In Franconia. We have a beautiful house there. Big house, big yard.

JD: So do you miss photography, or do you still ....

LB: Oh I mess with it a little bit every now and again. Mostly I do just the MARRC cornerworking efforts. I help Roger Lyle at the CCS Finals at Daytona and Bike Week at Daytona. We do the registration.

DB: We usually do the registration every year.

JD: We missed you last year.

LB: We were in Arizona. It was kind of far to get from Arizona to Daytona in two days.

DB: We look forward to going on our trips. We have a nice home. My sister says, "Why are you going away you got such a beautiful home?" I said, "That's not the point. I want to go someplace." And you don't have to go overseas to Germany, or Belgium, or anything else to see the beauty of nature.

LB: There's a lot of good places.

RD: Which trips are your favorites, the ones to the tracks or the ones to the mid-west?

DB: Each have there own values.

LB: When you say mid-west then it's the tracks definitely. But, between traveling and going to the tracks it great either way. But we like the east coast, this side of the Mississippi best. We still have a long way to go to see it all.

JP: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

DB: We're happy. You can't take it with you so we're not going. (Laughter)

LB: This is one of the best organizations to be associated with.

DB: And the people at the [Summit Point] cafeteria, I love them. They are so friendly and precious. They are like sisters and brothers to me. All the years build up. We thank everybody for their interest.