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/126515
shon tracks at Santa Fe Speedway. It was a bit more serious -- enough so that I can still feel the effects of it at this time. I cracked my pelvis at the hip bone socket. Possibly I jammed my leg, I don't know. It took the doctors a day to find where the problem was on the x·rays. It can't be considered a major, bu t tha t was the last time I raced. How did you become a full-time racer? It was a coincidence more than anything else. In the beginning (1972) I had no long range plans, it was more of a race to race thing and I got to where I could do alright at the little races and I enjoyed that. At that time the National scene was the fanhest thing from my mind. I liked to go, but I never did any good at them. However, the more I rode the better I gOt until I was running near the front fairly often. I can tell you that at the Louisville National (1974) the night I won, I was sitting on the pole waiting for the stan and I was so scared I wasn't even sure I would be able to get the bike off t~e line. Once I got rolling it was alright. I remember walking to the starting line and they were announcing the riders and I didn't think my knees were going to hold me up long enough to get there. Winning my first National was an outstanding experience. I'm sure that .anyone else in that situation feels the same although I believe you have to experience it to realize just what it feels like. I had a pretty good year riding for Bart (Markel) and went on to win the half mile at Terre Haute and run 00 0') 00 ..... M p.. < "Hopefully, I can stay near the racing game and put my experience to use. Time will tell. " Cork, Keener Mr. Retired talks about Mr. Dirt and dirt track racing By Gary Van Voorhis 20 The Winston Pro Series lost one of its best ambassadors with the retirement of Corky Keener. He set a standard of representing the sport that few could or can match. Keener had the abl1ity to make winner's circle light up and if he wasn't there he could be found in the pits surrounded by fans of all ages. What was it that attracted fans to Keener during his seven (1974-80) AMA Grand National Championship seasons? It was probably a combination of things, but foremost was that he always had time for the fans -- time to autograph a program or pose for a picture orjust chat about bikes or racing. Keener had two nicknames -- Mr. Dirt, which he liked and The Grey Ghost, which he says grew on him. "I actually thrived on the kidding about my age, " says Keener. "It was sort of an incentive to let people know my grey hair had no connection with my throttle hand." Keener turned 3.5 on October 2. Keener won five Nationals during his career andfinished in the top tenfive ofthe seven seasons. The two times he didn't crack the top ten he was sidelined by injuries. He has been enjoying himself of late. "I'm taking a well deserved vacation, " said Corky. "[ spectated at Houston, visited some friends after that and then t09k my time heading down to Daytona. I've always worked and this is the first time I've really taken time offto do anything I want to. " Keener dropped by the Cycle News East office on the way back to his home in Golden, Colorado. Part of the time the tape recorder was switched on and we chatted about the past, present andfuture of Mr. Dirt. Why did you decide to retire? I guess my situation was unique in that I never had a factory ride until I was 29. In that sense I was staning at about the time most guys were thinking about quitting because motorcycle racing is not exactly a spon for ageing people. After seven years of racing it dawned on me it was about time to go to something else. Besides, my body hun everytime I fell down. I had a couple of, bad falls last year which were not my fault. You can't make excuses for that. it's just pan of racing. I was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The first incident was at Ascot (half mile) and it was a bad one because I was going pretty fast and landed very hard. I didn't break anything, just landed flat on my back and knocked myself silly. The second incident happened at one of the weekly Wednesday night near the from in. a few other Nationals. We had some bike problems, but I still finished seventh in the standings -- my first top ten finish. I was elated because that was more than I had ever dreamed or hoped for. At that time I was still working as an electrician for Fisher Body (General Motors) in Flint (Michigan). I had been an electrician [or about six years there. It got to where I was taking a lot of time off to go racing and actually I was making more money racing a couple of days a week than worlUng five or six. Finally, it came time to make a decision on what to do. Hell, I had a whole lot more fun going to races than I did punching in at the shop. How did you get the HarleyDavicbon ride? In 1974 I got an order blank for leathers from Bates with a note saying they had already been paid for. It turned out that Harley had paid for them. That year Harley was trying to help out some privateer riders -- call it B grade suppon, if you will -- as well as their factory riders. So the H-D factory (style) leathers came back from Bates and I put them on and they fit. I figured "Hell, this can't be all bad." That was the first year Gary Scott rode for the factory. At a few races Gary and I dueled it out. I beat him some and he beat me some. With the success I had, it opened Dick O'Brien's eyes a little bit. Still, he didn't offer me a complete deal. He offered me some money to go ahead and ride for Ban in 1975, Again, things were going better than I had ever hoped for. However, Bart and I had some