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/126411
II III • ~ • E By Jack Mangus '1f.llor' "Dale," "Naw. This is Toot (Dale's youngeT brother) . " "Is Dale there, Toot'" "Naw. He went out to eat and the hogs ate himJ " Th4t - it reaU, h4ppened - UCeTpt of a phone uU to Dale Singleton's parents' horM in Dalton, GeorgitJ, is typical of the loose atmospheTe that SUf'f'OUnds the '79 Daytona 200 winner~ off-the-tf'(Jc1c activities. . On the tnu:1e, Well, as those ofyou who SIIW Singleton in action at Daytona lenow • that's a whole different ballpnw. . When asleedjust prior to ~uali.fying at Daytona how he was getting around, Dale SIIid, "Oh, OK, 1 guess. W.r. not reaUy letting it aU h4ng 01Il. We 're SIlting that for when the money:J on the line. " The following touches base with both sides of the personality and _y of life of the man they ull tile Pig Farmer: Dale Singleton. Edwin Dale Singleton was born on the 27th of August, 1955.. Now, at the age of 23 and a Daytona victory on his list of achievements, he stands ready to burst upon the scene as a genuine superstar. Dale's rise to ' the man, Taylor White . said , ' If you're stardom in motorcycle racing 10 dam~ good, I'll sponsor ,you. Here's took exactly a decade. The "i nmy b~lness card. Call me. I stuck. the .. h k card In my waller ., and I remember stant succ~ t at man~ see, thinking that I'd only met one more but few achl.eve: was Dales from almost the ~nnlng.. He started In sponsman din track. ra cing in 1969 and enjoyed the help that comes when your father owns a motorcycle shop. Y~t, as he puu it , "My dad has always been the one ~rson who has been hard C?n me when It comes to motorcycle racing. He pushed me all th~ time, and ~ost of the ti!De I didn't think he was fair , But lookmg back at i~ - ~ell , he was right most of the time. . At age 14, Dale qw~~ became the man to be r~koned WIth 10 area short track events 10 the l~Occ.c1ass. Just as he ~oes now" he maintained his own racing machinery, By 1972 he had won an AMA A.mateur Championship tit!e an~ blggc:r d~ams were occupytng his sleeping ume., "All I ever t~ught about ~ racing motorcycl~. I d .do all ~e things other guys do while gomg to hIgh school, but my thoughu always returned t~ racing. I w~t~ to be the Grand Nauonal Champion, In 1975, Dale made his first racing appearance at Daytona International Speedway, a winning ODe as he won the 100cc Amateur road race. Following the race he made the connection that through the following yean would prove to be the most imponant of his career. He found a sponsor. " People won't believe how I found my sponsor, Taylor White . After I'd won the lOOcc race - and that made me feel as good at the time as though I'd won the 200 . I was panying around that night at the Cardinal Motel down the beach. Most of the people who stayed at that motel were from th e Baltimore, Maryland. area. A couple of th em made fun of my nor th Georgia acce nt and one guy said . 'Boy, you sur e do talk funny .' I guess I was a littl e mad at him and I snapped back , ' I might talk funny. but I'm the best racer you'll ever talk to .' Well. 28 guy who was partying and was promising me the moon." Dale returned home to what his mother, June, calls " the prettiest area of America " and had another success. ful season ;acing sportsman dirt track. events in the Southeast . " I put Taylor's business card on my bureau in my bedroom, Every ni~ht before I'd go to bed and every mommg when I got up I'd look at that card. And when the summer was nearly over I tried to get myself to call him, but I was sure he'd just say. 'Dale who?' In August, the father of the girl I was dating at the time, Henry Gene Davis . well, he kept telling me to call Taylor. Finally, one evening he really pushed me and even said he'd pay for the phone call. To make a long story short. I called Taylor and he said , 'Hell, boy. I've been waiting for you to call . Your bike's here and ready for you.' I could have dropped dead. I'll never forget those few minutes." Dale's first ride on the Taylor White Construction Co . sponsored Yamaha 250 was a winning one . Dale won Daytona Cycle Week 's 250cc Amateur road race. " We ran that to get in some time on the bike prior to Friday's Novice race," recalls Dale . "We also ran my 100cc Suzuki aga in, but I had to settle for third in '74." The Daytona Novice road race in '74 saw Dale finish sixth . He followed that up with an "almost win" at Road Atlanta: losing the win to John Volkman by less than a bike length. "I looked over my shoulder and didn't see my friend John. If.I'd looked over my other shoulder I would have seen him . Live and learn, " was how Dale later described his Road Altanta "mental error ." A few weeks lat er he scored his first professional road race win at Loudon. "I know what it's like to finish second (referring to Roa d Atl ant a), an d now I know what it is like to win. Today, I had that winning feeling, " said Dale in Loudon's winner's circle. He finished out the season with a third at Laguna Seca and a runnerup finish at Ontario . He stopped competing in dirt track. events during the '74 season because his "flat track bike kept breaking down in the Regionals. " 1975 saw the Dale Singleton/Taylor White combo lay the. moncy on the line for a TZ700 Yamaha . Forced to start the Daytona Junior race from th e back of the grid after he couldn't find neutra l while sitting on the front row, Single ton turned in one of the most outstand ing races ever seen at Daytona . With ing one lap he moved from last to tent h and on th e sevent h lap he took over the lead. His pit stop was quick- too quick, as he took on an estimated two gallons of gas . a half gallon short of what he had pfl?gTam· med, Less than the latter amount cost him the race as his engine died com ing out of tum four on the last lap. Dale coasted to a heartbreaking second. The rest of his Junior year was one of wins . one of which came in the 750cc class of the Laguna Seca Super. bike Production race aboard a Triumph Trident and another the same day in the Junior race · and one of yet another disappointment. Whil e running awa y with the final Junior road race of the year at Ontario Motor Speedway in southern California . Dale "pitched her away. My tires had begu n to go away and I'd backed off a few laps ea rlier. I'm sure I could