Probably one of the coolest scenes in the best motorcycle movie ever made, “On Any Sunday”, is when Malcom Smith roared back into town. He was alone, not one of the other 1499 bikes were in sight, it made the hair on your arm stand up. It is said over the 100 miles he raced, he lapped most of the riders three times. Incredible!

The Elsinore Grand Prix debuted in 1968. 1970 the year film maker, Bruce Brown, came to town there were 1500 riders on the line. About 50,000 spectators and locals lined a track that ran straight through the center of town and through surrounding foothills. There were only about 200 serious contenders, the rest were locals – pig farmers to businessmen, who only raced this event. Harvey Mushman, aka Steve McQueen was one of the 200, he was in the fourth 10 man row. Smith was in the second row. Smith won, McQueen came in 10th – not bad for a movie star.

“On Any Sunday’s” footage shows what a spectacular event the Elsinore GP was. Brown tapped into the very heart, soul, and joy of the event. Racers and spectators alike were electrified by the experience. Have rules and regulations taken this away from us? Maybe so. After the movie premiered Elsinore became known world wide. Its popularity drew more riders, larger crowds, and more criticism and complaints. By the mid ‘70s it was no more.

The Elsinore Grand Prix spirit came roaring back under the direction of Goat Breker in 1996. But after a few years history repeated and Goat left after complaints shut down racing through town and altered the course. 40 years later a modified version of the race continues at the Lake Elsinore MX Park.

The Elsinore story affirms that cool can’t last forever, but sure doesn’t hurt to try.