Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

OFT PBONDA. ABOARD By Mike Yada Ground Control to Major To m Grou nd Control to Major To m Take your pro tein pills and pu t yo ur helm et on Grou nd Control to Major To m Commen cing cou ntdo wn engin es on Check ignition and may God 's love be with y ou . . . - D avid Bowie Preparation "I never even flew in an airp lan e," explains T ommv Croft, "until I signed with Honda and started' flyin g to all the Nation als." Even th ou gh the trim, fit 20-year-old from San I 'Diego has had his share of bad luck during the past year, Honda's high fly~ airship has h Iped to 'catap ult another one of ItS cre~ members to wards the top o f a hard and fast circle, com monlv known as the National Motocross ' Circuit - The " Big Wheels." Tom my, lik e m ost of his racmg compatr iots, (except fo r "Pepe" Pierre at 26 ) proudly stands . erec t w ithin the age bracket of 20·25. "I can't wa it another four or five y ears when"motocross will reach its next plateau ," says one of To mmy's closest admirers. " Right now these k ids are gaining the experience and are a s fast as most of the top [ " Europeans; just wait until these kids are the same age as they are." At the moment, Croft is prepping for wh atever is ahead of him . "1 shouldn't get int o m y prime for another y ear or two , but r ight now I feel that I'm in the right place for as long as I've been at it. " Tommy visions the red , white, and blue to carry a I hu ge chunk of the future, " T hree y ears ago that wo uld've been a real bi g thing (to see Brad Lackey o r Jim Pomeroy get sec o n d in a Gr and Prix) , now it see ms that everyone's expecting it . Ame r icans are getting pretty qui ck, they're gonna start winning." Cou ntdown Lik e most Southern California speedste rs , Tommy's foundation fo r his cu rrent ra cing career st arted with local race s. Hodaka confided in T ommy 's promising fu t ure by allo wing him to campaign th eir oran ge wo nder bikes. "They didn 't last too lo ng , but they were really good to m e, th ey sent m e on that first 125 World Cup r ace . We had p rob lems with the bikes, bu t everybody h elped me JUst enough to keep go ing so I wouldn 't quit. " T he Continen ta l Motosport Clu b receives heavy in -depth attention by factories or , s ~ops fo r prospective works riders. CMC h ead Kelvm Franks was instrumental in sparkin g a few gla nces towards Croft as well as a few other riders such as Dan ny La Po rte, Suzuk i's latest yo u ng talent. " I cou ldn' t re illy affo rd to keep racin g if it weren 'I fo~ Kelvin , t hat was the o n ly thing go ing fo rme at t he tune, and I thin k Kelvin help ed o ut every body because his bike s ar e so good. It seems lik e whoever r ides for him always doe s really good. He reall y encouraged yo u t,o do good on hi s bikes becau se he r ea lly go t bu m me d if you dian 'to" A fter ridin g the hand -craft ed Fra nks bikes fo r a year and a half, Tommy came close to netting a Yamah a ride. " Yam ah a called a nd I went u p there to talk to them. We talked fo r a little wh ile and Pet e Shick said that if I rode for Yamah a I would have to cut m y hair." It w as hairbreadth close. Honda di aled up the C r oft res idence a nd m ad e the co n nect io n immediately following Tommy 's tal k wit h Yamah a. r 32 • . • f .ft ._.i - " I was sit t ing at ho me when Ho nda called up. Dennis Blanton asked me what my plans wer e for next y ear and I told h im I didn 't have an y at all. T he n he just goes- " Wo uId yo u lik e to ri de for Honda ?' an d I said sure, and he said, 'Well, if yo u wa nt to co me up, we 'll talk abou t a co n tract.' So. I wen ~ up an~ everything seemed really good and signed TI ht on. g Lift-off "Two years ago I was still riding for Kelvin. I wanted to go on the Nationals and he was talking abo ut sending me on the Nationals if n othing else cam e up ... and then I got ,to go to all of, th~,:,." To uring the National scene with Honda wa s like icing on the cake. Tommy rode his first y ear traveling with Ma:ty Smith on the 12 5 circuit as both tra in and practice together during the week. The rac es often included a tremendous du el between the two ; almost iden tical to the public's eye - both on and off the track. Quiet and reserved, the pair provid e a perfect mold for other yo u ngst ers to follow. Neith er are loud, nor do ,,' they seize an opportunity to badmouth a ny on e . They make their ideas known in more subtle ways. .. Tommy and Marty out front gav e t he fans a picture of the old CMC d ays of Pen tons and Monarchs. Tommy 's bikes didn 't hold up nearly as we ll as h is teammate 's , but t he first year's exp erienc e was well worth the \ time, effort, and 'm o ney for both Tommy and his new emp loyer. "Even if it 's a local race, I totally try my hardest . That's just what I'v e learned from being . '. , w ith everybody on the Nationals. Every ," ti m e they rac e, they totally try their hardest. When y o u come to a local ra ce , you see some of the gu ys go five laps and give up, o r they get passed or fall down, then they get up and putt the res t of the ace. But racing with everybody else, when the gate dr ops, they just go - if they fa ll, they get up . and just go ; if so meth ing happens, o r if the y fall back farther, or get a flat , they ju st go, go until the end. Tha t 's o n e thing y ou gotta know, yo u jusf can 't st op you have to go for it, lor the whole race:' Perseve rance " Ho nda u rges everybo dy to fini sh schooL I' ve go ne this far , I can 't quit ow , yo u know. It 's a b ig thing to finish school because it 's su ch a bi g par t of your life : . . school (co llege, etc.) , I guess, is good for somebody who needs schoo l or something. I feel that I got eno ugh ou t of schoo L But, I fe el th at city schoo ls ar e sucked, teache rs are idiots, t h ey don't give a sh it ab o ut you, t hey do n 't even care ab out you . . . thev don ' t even care." " I' m just glad I' ve got a go o d Job an d don't need to go t o SChool t o get a goo d jo b." For the present , and the n ear fut u re, mo tocro ss is going to be Tommy Croft's life in one way o r another. "Fini shing scho ol shows signs of perseverance, " says Allen Greenwoo d o f Knobby Shop Inte rnational in La J oUa. " Part o f motocross is finishing two 40 minute motos whic h sho ws this same kind of perseverance. A lot o f k ids h ave th e drive, but qu it ." In the p ast, so me k ids have sign ed facto ry co nt rac t s by dropping o u t of schooL T ha t's ambiti o n , and drive, but not a finisher , "The fact that he ke p t going," add s Greenwood ab o ut T o m my's p erformance at the U.S, G. P., " desp it e his front wheel go ing to pieces, he kept go ing. With his ex perien ce, he wanted to fini sh. His me ntal condition wanted to finish the moto." Communications and support "M y dad is for motocross all the way . He thinks I'm doing o ne o f the best things I ca n do fo r a job, he's just pulling for m e all the way . That 's on e of t he reasons I stayed in - becau se my parents like it so much . .. I couldn 't go wit h so me o ne pushing me from be h ind ; t h ey 'd encourage m e. but ne ver push

• Cover