Cal Rayborn III

CAL RAYBORN III

THE SON ALSO RACES

RACING LEGEND CAL RAYBORN HAD many fans, but his biggest admirer was-and still is-his own son, Cal Rayborn III.

“I talk about him all the time,” says Rayborn, now 33 years old and residing in Rupert, Idaho.

Cal III, an accomplished racer in his own right, has a collection of his father’s trophies, plaques and world-record certificates adorning a wall in his home.

More cherished are memories of childhood summers spent with his dad follow ing the AMA race circuit.

“It was great, I got to do things that no other kid got to do, traveling all around the United States,” remembers Cal.

Rayborn has endured a somewhat turbulent racing career of his own. lie rose through the club ranks to ride with Team Roberts in the 1987 AMA 250 GP championship, though his progress has been erratic since then, f inishing third in Japan’s prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race that same year with teammate John Kocinski marks the high point of Cal’s career thus far.

“That was the first time Team Lucky Strike got in the winner's circle, so we were kinda the heroes,” he recalls. “That was pretty neat, something 1 could put up on the wall with my dad’s speed records and everything else that I have collected from him.”

Rayborn reckons his father would have run a race team after retiring from racing, a la Kenny Roberts. “Either that or a shop, he talked a lot about running a shop.” says Cal.

Sadly, the elder Rayborn never got that chance. Cal III was 10 years old when his father was killed while practicing on a racebike half a world away. It’s a loss he still feels 23 years later as he struggles to rekindle his own racing career.

“You know, it would’ve been a little bit easier for me, having help from the old man,” Cal III says with emotion. “After all, that’s what dads are supposed to do....”

Don Canet