Cook Neilson became one of Ducati’s racing myths when he won on the Daytona track in 1977, on his California Hot Rod, a Ducati 750 SS that his friend Phil Schilling prepared for him. This was the first time an Italian motorcycle won a production-based race in the United States, and it opened the public eye to the speed, style and overall potential of the Bolognese company to succeed on the American market.
Before Nielson's memorable victory, really the only Ducati in the USA was the Scrambler, an imported off road model that the Berliner brothers imported from Italy. Nielson was not only an expert rider, he was also a journalist for the specialised magazine, Cycle, and knew all about the history and characteristics of Ducati, having long been fascinated with the Bolognese company.  Cycle magazine had frequent articles comparing Italian and Japanese motorcycles, and each review was impartial and done with care. 

Even as a kid, Cook was always taken with the particular sound of the two cylinder engines; his fascination began with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, famous American two cylinders. In 1973, Cook was assigned to review the Ducati 750 GT and he fell in love with the character of the motorcycle and the sound of its engine. The similarities between the Ducati’s desmodromic distribution and the engines of the Harley-Davidsons (in those days, Harley-Davidson was building their custom production bikes as well as racing bikes) made it easy for Cook to get used to riding the Ducati.

Cook was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the Ducati on the track, especially considering it had less power than its competitors. In 1975, Cook entered the prestigious race on the Daytona track reserved for production-based motorcycles. This was a well known race in the USA and held on the spectacular Daytona track full of challenging curves. At Daytona, one simple error could make riders and the public go from great euphoria to panic.

Cook raced on a Ducati 750 SS, (nicknamed: California Hot Rod). The 750 SS was the motorcycle that Cycle readers had voted as the favourite for the final victory.  It was a risky endeavour; there is a big difference between the public’s favourite on a theoretical level and actually living out those expectations on the track. As Nielson said “you’ve got to hope that the ones who work hard are also the lucky ones.” Cook asked his friend Phil Schilling to prepare the motorcycle for the race. Schilling was another journalist and crazy about Italian motorcycles. The two of them prepared for the race during the day and dreamed about winning at night.  It was quite a challenge, seeing that they would be competing against many four-cylinder Japanese motorcycles, official BMWs receiving direct assistance from the German factory and other riders with much more experience than the American journalist.

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Cook Nielson and Fabio Taglioni at a Press Release.

Cook Nielson prepares for a race.