Rick Hemme

Edited Date/Time 1/27/2012 11:54am
Going through some old stuff today preparing to move. Came across this 8/12/82 newspaper clipping that brought the news of my friend Ricky's death.

The feeling from that day still lingers like a sucker punch. I remember riding out to Hemme's track a couple days later, partly expecting Ricky to show up eager and excited to pound out laps, go mess around on Quartz Hill mountain, or just chase rabbits. Ricky was gone though, and the place never was the same.

In life, Ricky was just a kid when he died. In local moto, he was the man.

Recently I saw someone is building houses on the land where the track was. I hope the new owners aren't worried by that faint little over-revving 2-stroke noise they hear late at night.

[img:fabf3]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/tehach/RickHemme.jpg[/img:fabf3]
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T-BOND
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3/5/2006 7:13pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:57pm
[quote="pelted":a78ae]Going through some old stuff today preparing to move. Came across this 8/12/82 newspaper clipping that brought the news of my friend Ricky's death.

The feeling from that day still lingers like a sucker punch. I remember riding out to Hemme's track a couple days later, partly expecting Ricky to show up eager and excited to pound out laps, go mess around on Quartz Hill mountain, or just chase rabbits. Ricky was gone though, and the place never was the same.

In life, Ricky was just a kid when he died. In local moto, he was the man.

Recently I saw someone is building houses on the land where the track was. I hope the new owners aren't worried by that faint little over-revving 2-stroke noise they hear late at night.

http://url.photobucket.com/albums/v482/ ... kHemme.jpg[/url][/quote:a78ae]
Nice post.
JPT
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3/5/2006 7:38pm
Yes!
ninety3
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3/5/2006 9:03pm
I remember, Jim Beltnic had a moment of silence during a riders meeting at SSM, after word got around about it, terrible tragedy.

Those kids were wicked fast.
3/7/2006 5:43pm
I remember.....Cool kid. He would have been in his late 30's by now. All those kids were good kids. They came from good families too.

It was a station wagon that they were in. A friend of theirs was driving(industry sponsor). No one was wearing seatbelts (was not required by law back then) They were headed directly into the sun . The train was hidden by the lumber yard next to the road. There were only warning lights and you could not see the lights when the sun was going down behind them. When the train passed behind the lumber yard it broke the sunlight crossing over the intersection. There were skid marks and they swerved. The train caught the front of the wagon and dragged it. A deep ditch was next to the tracks and the vehicle was rolled over and the kids were all ejected.
Was very tragic and I can still feel it today. The only one who lived was the driver after a 2 month coma and more than a year in the hospital and years of physical therapy.

I remember.......

The Shop

Ken202
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3/12/2006 6:49pm
Those kids were the fastest of the fast. That's the first time I've seen Bruce Bunch and Kyle Flemings's names mentioned in quite a while. Kyle Fleming was the #2 BMX rider in the country before switching to mx.

That was a sad day.
mxrose3
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3/13/2006 11:07am
I was a young teenager when i first heard of Hemme and Bunch. Its weird, but I always wondered what happened to them until recently when i read about there deaths on here. I guess the internet wasnt available back then - only magazines, and I missed that one. I almost wish I hadn't read this on here...
3/13/2006 5:40pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:57pm
[quote="Mini Elsinore":fb0f9]The pro record-books would look far different today but for that fateful day. Said a prayer for all three every time I crossed that track during my kid's Ponca days. Thanks for sharing.[/quote:fb0f9]

You are 100% correct about the pro record books.
3/13/2006 6:28pm
wow...very nice post as tbond sez...all we have are memories when we die...glad that was part of yours.
RandyS
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3/14/2006 2:33pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:57pm
[quote="project racer":fc1f9]Was'nt there another Hemme in the pee-wee ranks back in 95-96?
Ricky Hemme?[/quote:fc1f9]

His brother has a son who was racing within the last few years I think.

Kalos told me he was going to go with them but his grandpa wouldn't let him get in a car that Duke was driving.
3/14/2006 6:16pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:58pm
[quote="project racer":70b95]Was'nt there another Hemme in the pee-wee ranks back in 95-96?
Ricky Hemme?[/quote:70b95]

That Ricky is John Hemme's son. I suppose he named him in memory of his brother.
3/15/2006 3:18pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 5:58pm
[quote="RandyS":63e92]

His brother has a son who was racing within the last few years I think.

Kalos told me he was going to go with them but his grandpa wouldn't let him get in a car that Duke was driving.[/quote:63e92]

Yes.....Kalos...he was sponsored by Oakley too
Dirteater
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3/20/2006 3:00pm
Me and Tommy Dalton, Brad Sexton were still in the pits that afternoon looking for handlebars, plastics and things the factory camps had thrown away when we saw one of the Suzuki box vans come flying back down the road. Later our parents told us what happend and it was sickining! Larry Brooks was the only rider on the team that was'nt in the car I think. I was 11 yrs. old and was racing RM80's too and had been watching them all week. They were my new heroes and then that happend. That was a terrible day!

Godspeed #2 Rick Hemme
#8 Bruce Bunch
#54 Kyle Fleming
Dirteater
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3/20/2006 4:46pm
Yep! Do you know these parts Mini Elsinore?
krazee
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3/20/2006 7:19pm
Those guys were my heroes as a kid. I can remeber watching Bruce fly around Saddleback with lap times faster than the Pro's. He was so smooth and the sound of that RM80 WFO is something I will never forget...there was nothing like it. Everyone would line the track those days to watch the 80 expert class. I was so sad when I heard the news.
easywriter
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3/10/2011 9:04am
Yep, just looking thru some OG BMX stuff and saw the name Kyle Fleming, he moved over to moto and I remember all three of these kids passed away in the train accident. :-/ There should be some kind of memorial for them.
mxvet37
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3/15/2011 10:20pm
easywriter wrote:
Yep, just looking thru some OG BMX stuff and saw the name Kyle Fleming, he moved over to moto and I remember all three of these...
Yep, just looking thru some OG BMX stuff and saw the name Kyle Fleming, he moved over to moto and I remember all three of these kids passed away in the train accident. :-/ There should be some kind of memorial for them.
There use to be a memorial race that took place back in the '80's at a track in Blythe, CA. It was called "The Kyle Fleming Memorial Race" to honor Kyle Fleming, Bruce Bunch, and Rick Hemme. I raced it a few times to honor them. Kyle was an Arizona mini racer and a terrific kid. I lived and raced in AZ as well and got to know Kyle somewhat. I remember walking through the pits at a night race at Canyon, when I was practically blinded by a bright, beaming light. When the light went off, there was Kyle holding a huge flashlight, cracking up. I started to crack up as well. I still think about him.
easywriter
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3/16/2011 8:05pm
mxvet37, thats pretty cool you did that to honor those kids. They be my son's age now or close to it. Keep on truckin man, ride hard, race safe.
Dropbear
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4/14/2011 1:53pm
I put this on another post but it really belongs here.
5/5/2011 10:50pm
[quote="project racer":70b95]Was'nt there another Hemme in the pee-wee ranks back in 95-96? Ricky Hemme?[/quote:70b95] That Ricky is John Hemme's son. I suppose he named him in...
[quote="project racer":70b95]Was'nt there another Hemme in the pee-wee ranks back in 95-96?
Ricky Hemme?[/quote:70b95]

That Ricky is John Hemme's son. I suppose he named him in memory of his brother.
ricky hemme is my uncle that passed away in a train accident and my dad john hemme named my brother ricky hemme after his brother (: that is correct (:

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