Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1051196
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE H ave you ever done a bad thing, even though you knew it was wrong at the time? You don't have to answer, because, if we're honest, we all know the answer. It's obvious that even good people make bad decisions on occasion. Norwegian philosopher Einar Overenget explained in a TED Talk that honorable human beings are capable of acting against their own principles by way of moral dissonance and he cites an example of finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk with no one around. Overenget points out that even the most honest in that moment can begin to rationalize keeping the bill, thus neutralizing their virtues. Owen Weichel is a prime example of this theory. A well-known motorcycle road racer from the 1990s and early 2000s, Weichel was by all accounts one of those good guys who hap- pened to make one bad decision and it cost him; and it cost him dearly. Not only was he sentenced to 38 months in federal prison for his transgression—but for the rest of his life, whenever you did a Google search on Owen Weichel, instead of exciting stories of his life in racing popping up, the first thing you'd see was a story about him being held liable for bank fraud. It was for this very reason I agonized over how to present a story on Owen Weichel. You see, Owen died from a heart attack in his sleep at his home in California a little over a month ago. He was just 50 years old. P116 I handle that in writing about Owen? Would I, as some suggested, ignore it altogether and just talk about his racing accomplishments? I wanted to talk with people who knew him. When I finally had that chance, the account I was given time and again of Owen was an image of the most fun-loving, crazy, loyal, stand- up, charismatic, flamboyant, faithful, passionate, enthusiastic and trusted friend you could ever hope to have. The dichotomy was perplexing. How could a person so universally loved, make a decision that landed him in prison? It led me to this telling. Firstly, I'd like to clear up some misinformation about Owen that unfortunately seems to be the stock in trade of social media these days. Owen never ripped off any individuals. He got recruited into a big scheme, devised by others, whereby a group of I was asked to write an obituary for Owen, but I wasn't able to since I was covering a cross-country motorcycle event at the time, mostly out of cell cov- erage and with no time to do anything but travel, write, sleep. I wanted to do right by Owen, an underdog privateer most of his racing career, who by sheer grit and determination, scored much better results than his equipment should have allowed. That meant I would need to interview at least a few of his friends and fellow competitors to get a feel for the man. Even though I attended dozens of races Owen participated in during the '90s, in my work as AMA Pro Racing's communications manager, our inter- actions were only in passing, at most perhaps asking him a question or two in a post-race press conference. And I'd read about his post-racing legal issues and jail time. How would A GOOD MAN, A BAD DECISION Owen Weichel leads fellow Canadians Miguel Duhamel (117) and Steve Crevier (4) in an AMA Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport race at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis in 1995. PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS