   |
The Story of Doc's Dragracing
Career
Steve "Doc" Hopkins was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on April
21,1951. He moved to Algoma, Wisconsin in 1958. Even at a very early
age he developed an interest in making things "go fast." As
a kid, he was constantly tinkering with building his own minibikes,
go-carts, snowmobiles, and even an airboat. In highschool he built a
V-8 360 Hemi-powered, push-button automatic go-cart. He was regularly
seen "sailing" his bicycle down the streets of Algoma (yes,
he put a sail on his bicycle). It didn't take long for his strong desire
to lead him to his first Harley, a 1939 ULH Flathead that he purchased
in pieces for $2. In about 1971, Doc & his best friend, "Big
Jack" pooled their money and purchased his very first gas Harley
dragbike & their common goal of "beating the import bikes"
became a reality. Big Jack believed in Doc's riding abilities and together
they raced every chance they got. A few years later, "Big Jack"
lost his life in a motorcycle accident. Doc was devastated at the loss
of his best friend, but vowed to continue his dragracing career. To
this day, Doc's dragbike still has Big Jack's name on it. In about 1978
Doc built his very first Nitro bike. Over the years he made hundreds
of passes on a progression of several different dragbikes. Dragracing
Harleys remained Doc's true passion and he sacrificed a lot for it.
One thing he never sacrificed was his reputation to be a fair, talented,
innovative, & ambitious competitor. Over the course of his dragracing
career Doc has held more than a few national championships & he
even held a world record for 3 full years. His world record was only
broken after a rule change allowed cubic inch size to be increased.
He also achieved his own personal goal of reaching 200 MPH+ and to be
in the 6 second bracket in the 1/4 mile. In 1995, his daughter Kersten
made history as the youngest licensed nitro Harley pilot in the world
at the age of 16. With over 30 years of Harley dragracing experience
behind him, Doc continues to race his Top Fuel bike at various events
across the nation. The Doc's Harley-Davidson raceteam continues to build
a legacy that is second to none.
To be continued....
|
