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Museum of the Gulf Coast
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Port Arthur, TX 77640
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The Museum of the Gulf Coast is administered by the Port Arthur Historical Society

 
Carroll Resweber
(1936)

In 1955, Carroll Resweber, the first man to win four consecutive Grand National Motorcycle Championships, started his early track training in Port Arthur, Texas and worked his way up through the Novice ranks and into Amateur class before he was even able to get his own Harley-Davidson racing motorcycle. In the winter of 1955, Resweber advanced to the Expert class and moved to Milwaukee to form a riding partnership with Ralph Berndt, a skilled tuner of racing cycles. At this time he also married Delores Stabler, his high school sweetheart. Resweber established himself as one of the top young riders in the nation in 1957. He prepared for the nationals with a Memorial Day win at Cedarburg, then enjoyed an overwhelming victory at the 10-mile dirt-track National in Columbus, Ohio. When points were added up for the year, Resweber ranked fourth in the nation. In 1958, Resweber battled one of the veterans of motorcycle racing Joe Leonard to win his first national championship. The 1960 season represented a great triumph for the Cedarburg "flyer" as he was called. The struggle for the national crown again hinged on the results of a battle with Joe Leonard. Only two points behind Resweber, Leonard needed only to finish ahead of him to assure a tie for the title. Resweber took third place in one of the greatest races of his career, and won his third consecutive championship. On September 16, 1962, on the brink of becoming a five-in-a-row Grand National Champion, Resweber's career ended. During a practice at Lincoln, Illinois, Resweber went down with three other riders, Jack Gholson, a long-time racing friend who died in the accident, Dick Klamforth, and Babe Robertson. Resweber's injuries, a brain concussion, a broken neck, a broken chest bone, and six fractures of the right leg, left him in a body cast for nine months. It took several years for recuperation, and though many fans believed Resweber would return to racing, he never did. His dedication to the Harley-Davidson continued and he went to work for the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, machining special parts for racing machines.

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