The 1970 Daytona 200 featured an all-star lineup. Cal Rayborn debuted the new OHV Harley-Davidson XRTT V-twin, while BSA and Triumph showed up with a fleet of Rocket Three and Trident-based triples and a hero roster including nine-time world champion Mike Hailwood, David Aldana, Gary Nixon and Gene Romero. Honda fielded a quartet of its new CB750 Fours and Dick "Bugsy" Mann's was fastest, qualifying on the front row with an average speed around the 2.5-mile tri-oval of 152.82 mph. In the race, Mann got a perfect start and by the second lap opened a 50-yard lead. The race was grueling. There was no back-straight chicane then, so the bikes were at maximum rpm for a sustained period, and this eventually took a toll when the rubber cam-chain tensioner on Mann's bike disintegrated before the halfway mark. With 10 laps remaining, Mann's massive lead over Romero had withered to just 12 seconds-and he was losing a second per lap. But the 36-year-old veteran's cool, calm, collected attitude helped him keep the failing bike together. He limped across the line in first place, 3 seconds ahead of Romero, the Honda running on just three cylinders with less than a half-quart of oil left in its pan. Mann remains typically cool about that day: "Bob Hansen prepared the machine well and I rode it as best I could, just as I was contracted to do." Mann returned to Daytona the following year on a BSA and won again en route to his second AMA Grand National Championship.
But that's a story for another day.
