THE DEATH HEAD DERBY

The Motorcycle Race with the Human Head Trophy

The only race of its kind in the Northwest!

Many people have asked - What was this Death Head Derby event from long ago? We'll take a moment to tell you the myth and then the truths.

The legend goes like this: before 1937, the Olympia Motorcycle Club, an American Motorcycle Association (AMA) chartered club, started to build a very unusual/primitive race track south of Olympia, Washington, near the small town of Little Rock. The track was only used in 1938 & 39.

Over, then under! - As blue smoke fills the air, racers would ride up to the top of the ramp and wind their way down around and then under the ramp toward the dog leg, a corner similar to the bus stop found at Pacific Raceways today during motorcycle race events (see diagram below). Photo by Vic Ebutt

As the story goes, while they were digging the track they unearthed a human head. Upon examination of the grave, it was determined to be that of an early American female. After mounting her head to a block of wood and naming her Annabelle, she became the perpetual trophy of the Death Head Derby.

The truth is Annabelle was a dental lab educational and reference skull/set of teeth. When her teeth became damaged she was given to the trophy shop next door where she was mounted and put to good use as a motorcycle event trophy.  Unusual to be sure, she is the only known motorsports trophy in the form of a real human skull.
 
With the success of the races over those first two year, the event moved into Olympia proper and races were held in town for several years. During it's Olympia stay, spectators were treated to a bonus event - The Flaming Wall, during which rider Spyder Parker would pilot a motorcycle through a burning wall of wood doused in kerosene. "I'd wait 'til she was well-charred before making my run" Parker recalls.

After WWII the club secured property on the Hawks Prairie northeast of Olympia, near the current location of Northwest Harley-Davidson. Annabel soon was back in rotation amongst various winners.
 
The dirt TT style track was very unusual for its day. It featured a long straight-away, an easy-sweeping left, a short straight-away in the back field leading to an overhead ramp, where, at this point - many of the riders became airborne. A right loop under the ramp, then a right hand dog-leg, followed by a left-hand carousel turn to the start/finish line.

Many racers put their names upon the trophy over the years including local hero Red Farwell. He won the 1951 Death Head Derby.

Red Farwell poses with Annabelle following his August 5th, 1951 finish at the final location of the Olympia Motorcycle Clubs track on the Hawks Prairie. Photo courtesy of the AMA archive

The track layout at the final location on Hawks Prairie

Red raced nationally and in 1952 came in second at Daytona Beach. He would have won the race but he lost his goggles and was nearly blinded by the sand. He had to follow Dick Klamford who won his third Daytona Beach.

The Northwest was saddened in 1953 when Red Farwell returned again to Daytona Beach, he hit a spectator who was crossing the track during the race. Red later died from the injuries he sustained, as did the spectator.  This well-liked Puyallup, Washington resident was the first fatality at the Daytona Beach 200.
 
According to Evelyn Pugh of the Tacoma Motorcycle Club the Death Head had "a lot of falling down going on" through the turns and Larry "Poke" Poitras (owner Poke's Cycle in Seattle) remembers the racers as "faster than a mashed cat."
 
Almost 20-years after Annabelle showed up bringing the Death Head Derby to life, the race lost attendance to the Seafair Gold Cup hydro events, which were held on the same weekend each year. The last race was in 1956, after which the club sold the land.

Spyder Parker blasts through the Flaming Wall as half-time entertainment during the 1939 Death Head Derby. Photo courtesy of Spyder Parker
 
This story was researched extensively by PNWMoM Historian, Tom Samuelsen. The original version ran in a 1994 issue of  Evergreen Times, a now defunct publication of the Antique Motorcycle Club.

As part of the Pacific Northwest Museum of Motorcycling's traveling display we have a panel featuring the many photographs from our archives of the Death Head Derby. Look for it next time you see us.

If you're enjoying learning about the history of motorcycling in the Northwest, please take a moment to become a member of PNWMoM and support our efforts.