Kenny Pieper

Nickname: "King Kenny"
Rider Number: 11
Hometown: Denver, Colorado - USA
Place of Birth: Denver, Colorado - USA
Date of Birth: March 30, 1958
Occupation: Master Plumber
Wife: Sandy
Children: None
Relatives in Speedway: Brother Dave Pieper
E-mail:
Web Site or Facebook Page:
Date Started Speedway: 1980
Reason to Race Speedway: Stopped, went Flattrack. Back again!
Goals or Ambitions for Speedway: Ride.
Photos by: RC Jones and Clark Oden

Bike: Godden & Jawa

Tracks Ridden:
USA: Rainbow Falls, Woodland Park, Colorado - Possum Cove Speedway - IMI Motorsports - Champion Speedway, Owego NY - Perris Raceway - KCRP, Bakersfield - Most California Tracks - Lynchburg Speedway TN - Action Park East Speedway
Poland to include World Class Ice Racing Thru Europe.

Professional Achievements:
2022 - US Open Speedway Championships - Champion Speedway 09/04/2022
2021 - 60+ Vintage - Bakersfield 11/06/2021
2021 - 14th Place Overall US Open Championship - Champion Speedway 07/24/2021
2021 - 2nd Place D Final US Open Championship Round 2 - Action Park East 07/23/2021
2020 - US Open Championship - Action Park East Speedway 09/05/2020 and Champion Speedway 09/06/2020
2020 - Division 1 - Lynchburg TN 02/28/2020
2020 - Upright Main Event - Perris Raceway 01/11/2020
2019 - US Open Championship - Champion Speedway 09/01/19
2019 - 3rd Place D Main - Action Park East Speedway 08/31/19
2019 - 3 points - Champion Speedway 08/24/19
2019 - Colorado Speedway 05/25/19
2018 - Division 2 - Perris Raceway 12/08/18
2018 - 8 Points US Open Speedway Championship - Champion Speedway 09/02/18
2018 - 4th Place Scratch Main - Colorado Speedway 09/08/18
2018 - 5th Place Division 1 Main - Colorado Speedway 07/21/18
2018 - 1st Place Division 1 Main - Colorado Speedway 06/23/18
2018 - 3rd Place Division 1 Main - Colorado Speedway 06/16/18
2018 - Team Racing Final Round Huntington Beach Heathens - Perris Raceway 03/24/18
2017 - 4th Place Colorado State Championship 10/14/17
2017 - 4th Place Main Event - Colorado 09/30/17
2017 - US Open Championships - Champion Speedway 09/04/17
2017 - 2nd Place Handicap Main and 4th Place Scratch Main - Colorado Speedway July 8
2017 - 2nd Place Scratch Main - Colorado Speedway June 3
2017 - 1st Place Scratch Main - Colorado Speedway May 6
2000 - Colorado State Ice Racing Championships Jan 23
1998 - Speedway Events - IMI Motorsports, Colorado May 2, May 9, Jun 13, Jun 20, Jul 11, Jul 18, Sep 26, Oct 10 - Colorado State Championship
1997 - Speedway Events - IMI Motorsports, Erie CO Jun 28, Aug 30, Sep 13, Oct 4 Colorado State Championship
1997 - Possum Cove Lake Charles, Louisiana Oct 25

Perris Raceway December 8, 2018

Perris Raceway March 24, 2018
Clark & Jayne Oden Photography

It’s good to be King - The Kenny Pieper story

Born into a racing family Kenneth Pieper learned the craft that became his life’s devotion at a very early age. His dad Mairl Pieper was the 1957 Colorado Flat Track Champion and later he became an AMA Referee. Mom Mary Lou was a scorekeeper. The family that races together stays together was never more true as their daughter Cindy and sons Kenny, Dave, Jack and Rick all embraced their two-wheel lifestyle.

Kenny was the youngest but that was a good thing. He learned from his brothers and when they got new motorcycle, leathers, boots or whatever the old ones went to him. Soon Kenny was sliding. It was a wonderful childhood.

Age seven saw #196 Kenny Pieper in Youth Club Flattrack Racing. By age 14 he was an AMA Junior points winner and one year later with a new two-digit #19 AMA Expert number. Racing a 750 Yamaha Flattracker and winning, what could possibly go wrong.

What followed is one of those stories’ nightmares are made of. It was 1974 and the family was at the Berthed race track in Colorado. A full program of competition saw the brothers as well as younger sister Cindy race in different classes that day when suddenly the family’s world turned upside down.

During the B-Class, TT race with dad, Mairl the referee and all boys watching by the start finish line their oldest Rick Pieper crashed in front of them and died. It was gruesome, it was terrible, the tragedy changed their lives.
Grief stricken the fun was gone, and 16-year-old Kenny quit racing. It was terrible as racing was his love, and addiction. His friends were all racers. It was a dark time indeed.

But racing is a wicked mistress so ever so slowly the pendulum started to swing back to center. First as a spectator it took almost six years before Kenny would race professionally again.

What made that happen is a story in its self. Flattrack was out. Too much baggage Kenny wanted some other form of motorcycle competition. Seek and you shall receive. Fate would play a new hand when Kenny was introduced to Speedway Motorcycle racing at the Adams County Fairgrounds. A wonderful sport and purses paid $75. These races had Kenny’s name all over it.

Like a duck takes to water Kenny mastered the two-valve, no brakes world. In 1980 he and his brother Dave bought a couple of 2-valve Jawa’s and by 1981 they were both Division One racers. Competing at venues like the Denver, Stock Yards Arena. Kenny and Dave consistently beat their normal 42+ rider competitors on the small indoor rodeo arena track.

Then in 1983 the brothers were invited to race in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There they met Danny Moon Beam Fallon and Hank Bassett and a lifetime friendship was formed. They told the brothers about Speedway in New York. Liking what they were told it was immediately added to their race circuit.

1983 was also Kenny’s introduction to Speedway Ice racing. Using screws in their tires they would carve out a track on a frozen lake to make a track. It was exciting racing that attracted large crowds. KP really enjoyed those meets but the opportunity to race on Ice was very limited.

The following year Kenny Pieper earned his first major title by winning the 1984 Colorado State Speedway Championship. He would go on to carry the #1 plate for an addition 9 years.

Ice racing also returned to Kenny’s race schedule when the vision of promoters like Gary Densford and Herb Spivey to hold races in small Hockey arenas around the country made for more frequent meets along with higher purses. A natural on the frozen King Kenny went on to become a four-time Colorado Speedway Ice Racing Champion.

Pieper loved the Ice so he immediately said yes when Gary Densford invited Kenny to accompany him on a trip to Sweden in 1987. Once there others would teach him about Long Spike racing. It was an opportunity not to be missed.

Let me explain. In America, Speedway Ice racing is very similar to dirt racing. Although the competitors put numerous sheet metal screws in their front and rear tires for traction the machines can still be slid sideways. Long Spike however was totally different as there was absolutely no sliding. Instead, the bikes are laid over to where the racers knees and handlebar are almost touching the ice. Fast and dangerous this form of competition has never been allowed here in the States.

So off they went to Stockholm Sweden. Day one with the temperature 40 below freezing Pieper watched as riders competed at a local track near where they were staying. Excited and wanting more, the intense competition was a discipline Kenny wanted to experience.

The opportunity came soon enough as the next day World Ice Champion Posa Serenius put Kenny on one of his own Long Spike Jawa machines and showed him the ropes. When asked about the experience KP replied “What the Hell did I get into.”

The mark of a true racer Kenny loved the rush as for days he practiced on the borrowed machine. When the time came for goodbyes Kenny knew he wanted to continue racing the rocket so he bought the World Champions Jawa and shipped it home to Colorado.

Great, super, now what. Sure, Kenny had the kind but his was the only one in the country. No matter Ken practiced on the Long Spike machine every chance he could. Racing the beast on the small arena tracks was not possible so large frozen lakes were the only option. The negative was that it was a scary bucking bronco because the surface was always wavey instead of totally flat. The positive was it made him good.

In 1988 Kenny was invited to represent the United States in a ¼ Final for the World Championship in Finland. He came a month early and with help and guidance from Posa Serenius practiced on the Baltic Sea.
Kenny faced impossible odds. Only the world’s best 16 riders could compete in the qualifier. Those riders practiced daily. Some like the Russians were paid to race. Not being embarrassed would be a monumental achievement.

Talent or just luck Kenny Pieper did America proud. In his first ever completion against the world’s best he finished eleventh. A huge upset high fives and thumbs up were given by all. Everyone including Kenny was in awe over this spectacular finish. “You go Fast guy” commented three-time Speedway and two-time Long Track World Champion Eric Gundersen. Pieper’s points tally was one for the record books indeed.
For the next 10 years Kenny Pieper returned to race in Denmark, Germany, Russia, Norway, Finland, and Holland but he was never able to gather the momentum of that first race. When there he would stay with friend Tony Cery in Ireland. A good arrangement as both were hard core racers and gearheads. But after Tony died while competing in The Isle of Man, Kenny never raced in Europe again.

Other than when he was in Europe Kenny competed on the American circuit. From New York to California, he and brother Dave raced every hick town or city that hosted Speedway. Very popular with the fans everyone knows the Pieper Brothers and respects their commitment to racing. In 2021 both “King” Kenny Pieper and “The Cowboy”, Dave Pieper were inducted into the Hot Shoe in a special Las Vegas ceremony.

So, when did they stop racing? They didn’t. Both Kenny and Dave are still active and competitive racers. Colorado, California, New York, are still a part of their yearly Speedway circuit.

Long Spike Ice racing has also returned to Ken Pieper. when friend Phil Mosquera started importing the machines into the United States. Over a dozen have been sold here with the majority going to riders rather than collectors. The 2021/22 winter saw Long Spike Ice racing on the frozen Lake Michigan lakes for the first time in history when racers Phil Mosquera, Kenny Pieper, Redmond Bohannon, Mike Burnham, James Gillespie and Michael DeChamplain competed.

Kenny and the others want to promote Long Spike racing here in 2023 and have found a stadium where it could happen. Now all they need is money so spread the word to those with deep pockets and companies that might want to sponsor one of the most exciting form of racing on two wheels.

So, what ever happened to that original Jawa, Kenny Pieper bought from World Ice Champion Posa Serenius in 1988? Arguably the most famous Jawa Long Spike Ice Racer in America could it possibly still exist? Well, I’m proud to say it’s alive and well and on display in Pasadena California. In its original condition with every decal still in place from when Kenny raced it 24 years ago the machine is part of the RAZ/Zechner Motorsports collection.

Thanks for Listening, See you Where the Wheels go Round.
Howie Zechner March 30, 2023