Track designer faces lewd charge
By KARI COBHAM
Staff Writer
Gary Bailey, veteran track designer for the Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway, is out of jail after being charged with exposing himself to customers, including a child, at an Ormond Beach Wendy’s restaurant.
Bailey, 62, was sitting at a booth just before 8 p.m. on Feb. 10 attempting to make eye contact with a 71-year-old female customer who was dining with her husband, police said.
She later saw him masturbating with his shorts unzipped after moving from her seat as she was leaving the restaurant, a police report said.
The Holly Hill woman confronted Bailey about his actions and had the restaurant manager contact police.
Bailey responded by tucking his exposed genitals into his pants and leaving the scene, the report said. He was later stopped by police in the 300 block of Clyde Morris Boulevard and arrested.
Police charged the long-time dirtbike course designer with a misdemeanor for lewd and lascivious conduct, and a felony for lewd and lascivious conduct in the presence of a 5-year old. He posted $10,000 bail and was released Sunday, according to an officer at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
Bailey, who lives in Axton, Va., has designed the Daytona Supercross course since 1971, making the annual trek for the event to the Speedway, where he stays in a recreational vehicle.
The race is considered one of the most prestigious and challenging ones in the AMA/EA Sports Supercross series featuring the top dirt bike riders in the country.
It has become notorious as the longest and toughest man-made course in the circuit.
As a pioneer in motocross racing, Bailey’s name is synonymous with the development of the sport. He was the first American motocross racer to beat the Europeans, later founding the Gary Bailey MX School in 1969 to train future riders.
According to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Web site, Bailey has worked with motocross greats such as his son David Bailey and Damon Bradshaw, Ron Tichenor, Sebastien Tortelli, Travis Pastrana and Ryan Hughes. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
Bailey could not be reached for comment on the incident. The Supercross is scheduled for March 10 this year.
