The privately owned Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club Race Track was located
just below Military Road and south of 216th in Kent, Washington. The Jollies’ race track was considered one of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Races happened most weekends, every evening in the summer and were well attended by riders all over the Puget Sound region.
The natural dirt track was entered by an almost hidden country dirt road with a friendly sign that simply said, “This way to the track”. At the end of the road was a swinging iron gate which opened to a 10 acre clearing of dips and bogs as wide and breathtaking as a mountain summit.
On a good day, races would draw 500 riders and their families, and the winners would be in the paper the next morning. Motorcycling was a big deal then; from Bellingham to Portland, clubs like the Barons, the Sidewinders and the Ducks held court in dusty palaces. The Jolly Rogers’ real trophy, however, was their hellacious hill climb. a 420-foot-high slalom that the most daring riders attempted to scale with mighty jolts of juice. The rise was considered formidable enough that the Jollies hosted a national hill-climb competition in 1964.
Visit the Home Movies page on the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club website to view home footage from 1970-1972
of races at the old Jolly Rogers Race Track. The videos feature life time member “the Great Seymour”, his son David and Ron Bennett Jr both longtime members of the club.
The History page on the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club website also features many early pictures from the race track as well as articles.
These guys rock!!!
I remember the old Jollies track well. Love the old home movies, keep em coming!