Trail Rider Magazine

December 2025 29 Boiling Springs, Tennessee, Hungry Creek could be called a predecessor to the infamous Black- water 100, as it featured similar terrain, a four, twenty-five-mile-lap format, and a racted some of the fastest off-road riders in the United States. A win at Hungry Creek brought no ce that this kid from Ohio was a force to be reckoned with. 1975 brought with it two cri cal steps in Frank's compe on efforts. First, he graduated from high school and turned his a en on full- me toward racing. Second, Frank switched over to Penton/KTM, and with John Penton and the Penton/KTM headquarters close by in Amherst, Ohio, addi onal support was available to him. With his sights set on the ISDT (Interna onal Six-Day Trial – now Interna onal Six-Days En- duro) Qualifiers, and hopefully a spot on the U.S. team, Frank focused his training and racing on success in the ISDT's par cular format. Most notably, Frank saw that ul mate success in the Qualifiers, and the ISDT itself, depended in no small part on the special tests and the grass track motocross, success in each of which is cru- cial for top scores and/or the overall. With this in mind, Frank began a regimen that had him running eight to ten miles per day, plus regularly compe ng in Motocross. Between the years 1976 and 1981, Frank traveled South each off-season to compete in the Florida Winter (Motocross) Series. Addi onally, he lived in Georgia full- me in '77-'78 to train and race as o en as possible. His efforts were paying off, too, as Frank was winning or placing among the top in virtually ev- ery big off-road event in which he competed. He began pos ng class wins in the ISDT Qualifiers and went on to win pres gious na onal events, including the 1977 Blackwater 100. With his typ- ical modesty, Frank says that "most of the fast guys must have broken down." Included among the DNFs was Frank's good friend Kevin LaVoie, with whom Frank had hoped to finish the event side-by-side. Unfortunately, a er stopping to pull Frank out of a mud bog at one point, Kevin later punched a hole in his KTM's engine case and was out. Regardless of his compe tors' fate, Frank won that year with a 55-minute margin over second place! An incredible performance. All this culminated in the 1978 season, when Frank was arguably at his peak. He was training intensively, racing con nuously, and living out of a van. Frank focused at this me not only on off-road events, but con nued racing Motocross, compe ng in that year's 500 MX Na onals, finishing the season with top-twenty finishes in each race save for one when his bike broke – a tremendous accomplishment, especially considering that during that me the 500 series was considered the premier class. All the top pros and each of the factories put forth considerable efforts to win what was the ul mate championship in the U.S. Such was Frank's level of performance at this me that, in recent years, John Penton himself has de- clared that between the years 1977 through 1979, Frank Gallo was among the fastest off-road riders in the world. About the level of support he received during this me, Frank expresses great apprecia on for John Penton and the en re Penton family. Frank recalls, for example, that prior to his first ISDT, in 1976, John Penton reached out to Frank's father, Tom, and offered to cover all expenses for the elder Gallo to travel with his son and to see him compete. Tom Gallo's own story is quite amazing in itself, as he suffered from polio. Despite this, and rather than apply for disability, Mr. Gallo instead operated a busi- ness and supported his family, all while confined to a wheelchair. Sadly, Tom declined Mr. Penton's gener- ous offer and never did get to see his son compete in the ISDT. Frank noted that during his period of considerable success, many people believed that his KTMs bene- fited from trick parts and "factory tuning." None of it is true, however. Frank indicates that, for the most part, his bikes were stock, except at mes for a Carl Cranke-ported cylinder. Nope, Frank's tremendous speed was almost exclusively a result of the big man simply twis ng the thro le, that and his incredible physical training. Frank recalls, with some humor, training with Teddy Leimbach on the Penton farm and having to load trucks full of potatoes bound for McDonald's before they were permi ed to go riding. Such was the down-home nature of being a part of the Penton racing effort. By September of 1978, Frank had earned a spot once again on the American ISDT Trophy Team that year. This was it. Top er. Frank was in the company of the best off-road riders in the United States. His

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