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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE R on Barrick started in pro racing over 30 years ago as a mechanic and team manager. Then came a long journey that saw him working as a factory AMA Superbike team technician and then AMA Pro Racing's Road Race Manager and 12-year mem- ber of the FIM Road Race Com- mission. Barrick was part of a team that guided AMA Superbike into a period of unprecedented growth and popularity. It was also on Barrick's watch that track safety began taking precedent for the first time, and road racing became vastly safer. Barrick then retired from the sport, but then an old friend and associate, Dale Quarterley, called and convinced him to come back to his first love—serving as crew chief for a road racing team and even get- ting back to wrenching on race bikes, something that long-time mechanics seem to relish, even after they've been away from it for a while. And so it was we caught up with Barrick at the MotoAmerica races in New Jersey. The Quar- terley Racing team had taken on an extra rider and Barrick was serving double duty, oversee- ing the team's operation and pitching in to work on the team's P136 BARRICK GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE "I've been kind of chilling and just doing some track days and whatnot, retired basically. Dale called and said, 'Hey, I got this kid [and] his dad has got a little bit of money and wants to put him on a superbike.' He was fair- ly new, but Dale thought he had a little talent that he could help develop. He didn't quite tell me exactly the whole story, because I asked, how big is he, how old is extra motorcycle. Riding for the team this year are Jamie Astudillo, Dallas Daniel and fill-in rider Renzo Ferreira, who the team decide to keep on board after he won at Utah in his first weekend with the squad. "Dale Quarterly called me and, of course, we'd worked together over the years on a few things," Barrick said. "He had partnered up with Randy Renfrow for the Suzuka 8 Hour in 1989. Randy and he were great competitors for a long time. I've known Dale for a long time. We worked well together. We'd done the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle thing back in '93. He was the last rider that I worked for before I went to work for the AMA. After 40 years in various positions in road racing, today Ron Barrick is back at his first love of running a racing team and working on race bikes. PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE