Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

DB.ERDO .CaEESE s- ·f BY JODY WEISEL Three years ago a young rabble rouser who had worked in the parts warehouse of U.S. Suzuki for only two weeks submitted an application to be transferred to the race department. It was denied. He put in more ap plications. They were all denied . The 6 you ng Californian made a nuisance of himself in every office o f every dep ar t men t of the bureaucratic jungle of V. S. Suzuki. For one full year he tried like no one had ever tried to make it into the racing department as a mechanic, even volunteering to work for free . Finally in frustration he gave up when his last connection fell through . It was decided to work o ne mo re week at V.S. Suzuki in order to get the next paycheck before q uitting. Meanwhile in the racing department, where all the competition, testing, and product evaluation takes place, an opening became available d uring that week. But there was no o ne qualified to ( fill it, except that crazy kid in parts. So they hired the young troublemaker even though they said at the time, " We have a new guy, but he isn 't any good." Two years later 22 year old Keith McCarty is the bes t. He personal ly nursed, pampered and cajoled the oft worn equipment of Tony DiStefano to victories in the Florida Wmter-Series, th e Astrodome, West Texas 10 ,000,250 N a t io n a l C h a m p i onship series, Inter-AMA Champ ionsh ip seri es, the American Motocross fmals and first American in the Trans-AMA. McCarty is on e of a rare breed of men whose interest , in m otocross ra cing an d their riders leads them on vagabond tours that last fromJanuary to December. It's not that they can never co me home again, but rather that t here is always one more race, one more strange town, another motel bed, and one more mile to drive. For Keith 1975 has been a rewarding year. And more than anyone else he realizes it takes the fickled finger as well as the golde n wrench to take a person out of the maze of parts bins and on to the podium at the AMA awards banquet. When Keith accepted his award for Tuner of the Year for the 250 National Ch ampionship that Tony DiStefano and he won he said, " Many years ago Dizzy Dean, th e Hall of Fam e pitcher, was asked what he attributed his success to and he replied, 'A hard breaking curve, a dropping knuckleball and a fast outfield!' I suppose tha t my small success this year can be attributed to a metric hammer, an adjustable crescent wrench and a fast rider. " Being a mechanic on , the national m ot ocr oss circuit is a hard, tedious and often dull life, but it is the one that Keith McCarty picked for himself even before he walked into the Santa Fe Spri ngs Warehouse of Suzuki three years ago. As Keith prepared DiStefano's bike for an upcoming race he talked easily an d relaxed about his first uneventful meeting with Tony D. "I suppose the first time I met him was at Hangtown in 1974 when I was working as Mike .R un y ard 's mechanic. ', ' Th e other Team Suzuki m echanic, Jay Lewis, introduced m e to him. Tony was a privateer on a CZ and he didn't have a place to stay except for what he called th e Hotel Dodge, which we later found out was his van. He needed a place to stay so we let him stay in our room. " And what about Tony DiStefano? Wha t does he remember about his first impression of his new Team ' Suzuki mechanic. On the national tour a good working relationship is esse ntial between the rider and his mechanic. The Suzuki mechanics, McCarty an d Brian Lurmis, are often referred t o as t he mechanics mafia, but easy going and likeab le DiStefano fit righ t in . "In 1974 Suzuki was asking m e to ride fo r them. Th ey were looking for new riders because Mike Jlunyard finished second to Tony b. three consecu tive times in the Florida Series ." When Tony talks about himself he always describes himself as though Tony the motocross star wa s a separate entity from Tony DiStefano. DiStefano continued, "It cam e the end of the year and I jumped to Suzuki, signed the contract and went back home to Pennsylvania. A couple weeks later Yusaku Ishibashi called the D. and said I would be racing th e Florida Series and my m echanic would be 'Cheese McCarty.' I was familiar with the Suzuki racing department but I didn't know anyone named Cheese. I t tums out that Yus aku was saying 'Keese ' which was how he pronounced Keith with his Japanese accent." McCarty didn't like being called 'Cheese ' at first but DiStefano not o nly didn't sto p calling him t ha t but soon had everyone in Florida do ing it . So n ow Keith McCarty is Cheese. The Suzuki mechanic's Mafia has a name for everyone of the national circuit and DiStefano was loo king for t ro uble by picking on the wrencher's godfather. And thus Tony D. was soon to become 'Doctor DiStefano, the Endo Specialist. ' It came to pass before the end of their fIrst m onth toge ther that Cheese wo uld coin a new name fo r DiStefano. mechanics DiStefano, Grossi an d McCarty an d Lunnis had parties af ter almost every race in Florida an d developed a caderie of loyal pit to otsies who followed them from race to race. As Keith tells it "at St. Petersburg Tony missed a shif t and did this giant endo des troying the b ik e and breaking his finger. The girls didn't knou: w hat going over the handlebars was and since every bod y else had a name like 'Sugar Bear,' 'Cheese' and 'Mr. Brian' we told them that th at maneuver 'was a DiS tefano specialty and we called him 'Doctor Endo. ' Th e following week the girls sh owed up at the next race with T-shirts that said, DR. DiSTEFANO, TIlE ENDO SPECIAUST. " DiS tefano , isn't the only rider to fall to the name calling comedy that t he Suzuki mechanics partake in . Gaylon Mosier was always tying bandana's around his head as sweatbands and thus earned the name 'Cap tain Hook ' because he "looked lik e a pirate." Yamaha and now Husky privateer Jim Turner and his mechanic were called 'I ke and Tina' until the mechanic went back to school. Turner then earned the unlikely title of 'P rincess' because "He was alw ays wo rrying ab out his hair. " Steve Stackable filled out the royal flush by being named 'The Prince' because the Suzuki mechanics thought he was tall and gallant lo o king on his German mount. Some riders received their names b ase d on pe rformances. Weinert became 'Jaws' because he was always talking. Billy Grossi's mechanic, Brian Lunnis, had a little poem jokingly chanted about him that went "Whose that nu m ber one pervert, we ain't lying, we're talking about that Mr. Brian. " Flashy colored tennis shoes and clothes turned Texan Kent Howerton into the 'R hinestone Cowboy.' Bruce Baro n is called 'Rubber Man' be cause he cras he s so much an d always b ounces right b ac k up. Marty Smith an d tuner Steve Whitlock are called' Tarzan ' and 'Cheeta' because Smith is into body building and ,Whitelo ck has a wrap-aro und beard: '

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