Background
In order for a sport to succeed, there needs to be dedicated
people who devote their lives for the cause. Kasey Rogers
was one of
those people. From the age of 20,
Kasey was a professional actor and
motorcycle enthusiast.
In
1971, her son expressed an interest in
getting a motorcycle. "You want
WHAT?"
she said. She got him one and started
taking him to Indian Dunes on Friday
evenings. He won his first race.
Then, she started taking him on Sundays as
well. At this point, she was getting
the bug.
Kasey
bought her first bike, a Honda 500-4 street
bike. Those silly guys at the shop
where she bought it let her ride it home.
She couldn't turn it around in a cul-de-sac.
She made it though and for Christmas she got
her first 125cc dirt bike.
In
1972, she seriously began riding. She
also wrote a Powder Puff
column
for Modern Cycle Magazine and
did feature stories on the mini-cycle
nationals and other racing events.
1974
was a great year for women in the sport as
Kasey established the
PURR "Powder Puffs
Unlimited Riders and Racers"
association. This same year, the first
ever Powder Puff National was
held on July 6 & 7th at
Indian
Dunes Motorcycle under her guidance.
Sue Fish was the woman to beat during
this time. Kasey continued to promote
women's racing throughout the 70's which
proved to be a decade she wouldn't miss for anything.
Cycle News Cover: Volume XI : Number
27 : July 16, 197
In
1975, Kasey met the Superbowl of Motocross
promoter and persuaded him to allow 10 of the top women to compete
in a Women's
Invitational Trophy Dash at the
Los
Angeles Coliseum before 80,000
spectators. The night proved to be a
great success, one to go down in history.
Not
only did Kasey promote during the 70's, she
also competed when she could. Dubbed
"Wrong Way Rogers", Kasey raced
with the Dirt Diggers during their grand
prix events at well known Southern
California motorcycle parks.
In
1977, she stopped racing because her son
phased out of racing and with no one to
wrench on her bikes or go with her, she
phased out too.
Accomplishments
Kasey Rogers was not only a pioneer of women's motocross, she was well-known
for her role as Louise Tate
(Larry
Tate's wife) on "Bewitched".
Women supporters from all walks of life have contributed
throughout the years to women’s motocross. If it wasn't for
Kasey, the Powder Puff class of yesterday may not
have developed into what we know as
WMX Racing
today.
Thank You
Kasey, for paving the way for all of us who has
dared to climb on a motorcycle and do what most would not.
Sadly, Kasey passed away on July 6, 2006 in Los Angeles,
California and is deeply missed.
For more info, please visit
http://www.bewitched.net/eulogy.htm
and
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jul/13/local/me-rogers13.
For a printable version (pdf), please
click here.