CN
III ARCHIVES
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
F
ormer factory Harley-David-
son team racer Corky Keener
hasn't been in hiding since that
day on August 22, 1975, when
Kenny Roberts and the unholy
Yamaha TZ700 gave Keener
and Jay Springsteen the ultimate
haircut, buzzing past them to win
the Indy Mile. He's got nothing to
be ashamed of.
P90
CORKY KEENER:
UNCORKED
back in the early '70s, when he
started to make a heavy impact
as a local Pro in the flat track
hotbed that was the Great Lakes
region.
''A lot of racing happened
around this area, and I just got
on the fringe of it early," Keener
says. "I accidentally ran into a
guy who did a lot of it, and didn't
even know they did that sort of
thing. I was only 14 or 15 at the
time. It looked like it might be
something fun to do."
In fact, Keener wears the his-
toric moment as a badge of honor
rather than a badge of shame.
"I think it's cool that 30 years
later that race is still being talked
about," Keener, now 59 years
old, says. These days Keener
busies himself as an electrician
in his native Flint, Michigan, area.
That's exactly what he was doing
One of Corky
Keener's claims
to fame is
getting second
place, but don't
feel sorry for
him, he has
plenty of first
places under his
belt, too.
