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MICKEY FAY SPEARHEADS HONDAASTRQDOMEAMBUSH.
AMA TT-Steeplechase
racing may never be the same.
It was a classic confrontation February 3 at the Houston
Astrodome. Youth against experience. Established factory
racing entries against the
genius of inspired privateer .
engineering. And it unraveled
in true Horatio Alger fashion,
with 19-year-old Mickey Fay
and his Honda XR500 special
winning handily. To make it
even sweet er, it was his first
National Championship win.
The same goes for his
XR500 engine. In AMA racing,
32
it's one-for-one. And unlike the
other engines snorting around
the 'Dome's bumps and grinds,
this one didn't have the benefit
of years of racing development.
Fay and crew chief Roger
Stanley got their new XR500
engine January 11. Aside from
a modified exhaust system and
piston, it was pure over-thecounter Honda, with pieces
from the Honda High Performance Options kit for the XR500.
There was just time
enough to get all the pieces ass embled in a Wasco racing
frame. Fay's development rid-
ing consisted of a quick lap
around the block back home in
Seattle. Jetting tests were run
in the Astrodome parking lot in
the rain. By the time Faybuckled up his red, white and blue
Hondaline'P helmet for the
start, he'd accumulated a
grand total of 15 minutes on
the 'Dome's TT layout.
And that proved to be
more than enough.
Fay served notice that
something unusual was about
to happen in the first heat.
Once he managed to fight his
way throu gh a jostling pack of
riders, he simply motored
away from any pursuit.
When the final came; he
proved his heat race was no
fluke. As 24,000 rabid fans
looked on in growing disbelie
Fay put himself out front thre
laps into the 25-lap showdo
And that's where he stayed,
again pulling steadily away
from a field that read like the
Who's Who of American racin
American Honda extend
its congratulations to Fay,
Stanley and all concerned.
Fay's bike wasn't the onl
Honda-powered machine on
