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/126513
r own traits, but none that Dale doesn't think he can handle. "It won't be hard to get used to the Suzuki. It'll take a little time to get used to its characteristics, but it'll be worth it." Will American fans be able to get another dose of Singleton's style as they did last year when he showed up at the Winston Pro Series National in Pocono, Pennsylvania, and dominated the field? "I want to run as many of the Nationals as I can. My aftermarket" sponsors want me to come back and win some of them. I'm going to call Yamaha and some other people and see if I can't try to get some son of money together, some sort of PR program. Even if it's just a plane ticket. "I raced for eight years and didn't make a dime. I just smiled a lot. I even smi1~ so much my jaws hurt. Now I have to get more professional about things and make some money ... Money comes up frequently in any form of racing, and Singleton knows it. Most of his funds for his current program has been generated through Carl Bouckaert of Beaulieu of America, a carpet manufacturer, and Dale wants to make sure eVeryone knows it. "Carl's my major sponsor and funds my projects. Cycle racing is the second biggest sport in Europe and Carl has been an enthusiast for a long time. When he came to Dalton (from Beaulieu's parent company in Brussels, Belgium) he'd heard a lot about me and invited me over for dinner. He's 26-years-.old and has been working with his company since hewas 14. _ "Just as an example of what he's doing for me, he put in an extra $5.000 for expenses for Daytona. It costs so much to put things together. " Singleton has gone through his share of mechanics, due in part to his quest for penection. John Redding, the tuner behind Singleton's 1981 Daytona win, has received his share of praise from Singleton. Some of his other tuners haven't. ''I'm fed up with egotism. A lot of tuners get into that. Being a fine mechanic is God's gift. A good mechanic is willing to carry on a conversation and won't snub you. Johois a down to earth guy and gets the job done right. The amount of work it takes doesn't mauer. J-Ie builds a motorcycle right and everything e~ comes second. I guess he's sort of lilre meina way." Team Jesus stickers have appeared on Dale's bikes, and in Daytona's winner's circle this year Singleton gave credit to God for his win. Religion is a pan of Singleton's mental game plan. "I know there's God in heaven and he looks after everybody. Sometimes people ask me why I race and if I'm not afraid I'm going to get killed doing it. Wen, when God chooses for me to go and my time is up, it won't matter what I'm doing or where I am. "My mom was listening to the 200 on the radio and was praying for me through the final laps. When I came in and saw my tire was chunked up, my mother and I knew I had finished the 200 on a prayer. I've been brought up as a Christian and there is nothing ~ life without it. " Singleton's 200 win was far from uneventful. The biggest factor involved that could have caused his demise was the badly deteriorated front tire that carried Dale to the checkered flag. "Towards the end of the race I knew something was going on. I was braking 100 yards sooner into turn one and I was breaking the front end loose. [ steered into the slide just a bit and was actually impressing myself. I knew , Dale Singleton: The second time around By Tom Mueller "I feel real good!" said 1981 Daytona 200 winner DaJe Singleton from his home in Dalton, Georgia. "I woke up on Monday morning (in Daytona) and was pretty' mellowed out from the rush. I ot gb dressed and walked down to d b h t e restaurant. an oug ~ a newspaper, saYIng to myself Oh 10 yeah, I won the race yesterday, let's check it out.' I pumped a quaner into that baby and pulled out a full page color picture of me and Elmer in the Daytona Beach Morning Journal and it's fantastic." Singleton's been through it before. 1979 was his year when he won the ~t for the first time and in 1980 he made the trip to winner's circle again, taking second. Nevertheless, the thrill's still there. "I think it feels better this time. I never really thought about winning twice. I've learned not to really discredit myself like I ha~ been. It really pumps me for going to the GPs. "I still waRt to relate to when I turned rookie Expert here in America and used the bike I rode when I was a Junior. We just laid the sh~ks down on an old TZ700 and I tned to be competiti~ against the monoshocks.ยท' It doesn't happen easily, nor does it happen alone. Singleton offered credit and praise to his proficient crew. "The oldest one on the crew is Bill Salyer. He's a retired Navy man. When he first staned helping me he had access to a lot of machining gear and working with aluminum. He runs a shop called B&B Specialties. He's the best assistant I've ever had. "My younger brother Toot was back in there. He was the administrator of the pit crew as far as fueling goes. It was his third year. H.e knew what to do and the procedures to go through. "Next we've got Gary Satterfield. He's one of myoid sponsors who helped me back when I was riding I25s and 250s on dirt track. Larry Langford has always been helping me out at Daytona, and an old school friend of mine, Ricky Burkett, helped with refueling this year." Singleton doesn't have much time to reminisce. His program for European racing has come together and on March 23 he's on his way. "Going to Europe last year and trying to be competitive in the GP's on that Yamaha 500 like I did was a joke. Now Beaulieu of America has bought me a Suzuki Mach 6. It is the bike to have if you're going to be competiti~ in the Grand Prix. Now that Beaulieu has provided all of this I just want to apply myself 100 percent. ''I'm going to Europe this year to build me a reputation. Being a dark horse that's capable of winning. This is it. ''I'd like to rank in the top ten GP riders this year, and even better. I'm not going to set a goal and then ~ I break it think I'm doing better than I thought I would. I just want to do the best I can do. "It takes so much money to go to Europe. I can go through $200.000 a year over there, no problem. It all depends on what kind of economist you are. You can buy the best or you can economize a little bit and put some money in the bank. ''I'm planning on running three major 750 International rounds (in Italy, France and England) and then I'm going to put the 750 over to the side and concentrate full bore on the 500. I want to put all my emphasis and concentration on the 500 GPs... Singleton's new Suzuki will have its I)