The Story
Clarence "Pappy" Hoel formed the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club and staged the first Black Hills Motor Classic on August 14, 1938, on a half-mile dirt track at the Sturgis fairgrounds. Only 19 riders competed that first year, in an era when flat-track programs sometimes featured deliberate board-wall crashes and staged head-on collisions with automobiles as spectacle. That single meet is the direct ancestor of the modern rally — and the Jackpine Gypsies still own and operate the track, hill-climb, and field areas where the rally's racing events are centered today. The club was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1997.
Surprising Facts
→ The entire Sturgis Rally traces back to a single 1938 half-mile dirt-track race with just 19 riders.
→ Early programs featured intentionally staged crashes into board walls and even automobiles.
→ The Jackpine Gypsies club still owns and operates these racing grounds, nearly 90 years later.