Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Twa-Day terror Fr k Sta By Tom Mueller No, it didn't come easy for Frank Stacy. Granted, in five Two-Day qualifiers he's taken three overalls and become the hottest thing going on the ISDEscene, but the full story on where he learned to put in rides like that started many years . . ' m.any ~iles . and many dlSa PPOI n tmen 15 be fore. 24 Through all his experiences as a basically mid-pack motocrosser Stacy came throug~ with m'echanical knowledge. physical MX abilities and an inner drive that kept him on the road with aD .verload of ambition. On Marek %1·%2 Stacy copped the OklahomaJo~ Zink Two·D~y for the second yea~ In a row. WhIle ma~y Two-Day nden scrap through theIr whole career looking for an overall. Stacy seems to rack them up with ease and has a simple answer as to why. "All through the years on the National MX circuit I did most of the work by myself. I never had a full time mechanic. so I learned a lot about maintaining a bike and keeping it going. My motocr0S6 experience helps out a lot with special tests, and that's what brings me up in the results. "When I was racing motocross I never got to fly to a race. I was always traveling and maintaining and Ieaming to live in that manner. That's what's to il." Things went well in '80, yet Stacy almost failed to appear on qualifier entry lists in '81. He didn't renew his pro MX license. had no sponsors of any son set up, and looked content to spend his time working at his new job as a tire tester for Dunlop. But when the Oklahoma event came around so did Stacy--sponsored by Suzuki on a PE250. "Last year at Six Days -I started talking to some people, mainly Suzuki, trying to get a ride. It looked like it was going to happen but then they did the big cutback on their budget a~d everything fell through. I played around with Kawasaki for awhile but that would have meant moving to Ohio, and I really didn't want to do thaI. "I didn't know when I was going to stan my Dunlop job. Then it came through. I found out a few weeks before the Tulsa (Oklahoma) event that Dunlop wanted me to represent them and ride the qualifiers. All I had to do was find a motorcycle to ride. "I called up John Morgan (Enduro/ISDE Team Manager) at Suzuki and asked if he could do anything. Within a week he had a practice bike at my door." Though Stacy has been at home on a din bike for over a decade, his MX know-how didn't carry him directly to success. A transition occured before he knew how to keep his act together during a Two-Day. "You don't go out there to ride over your head or ride real hard and break your bike. You have to realize the bike has to go a couple of days. Haying it handle well and not all bent up in the final test of the day is pretty imponant. You just don't go out mere and bounce off of every tree. Saving the machinery and making it count during the special test··that's what it's allaboul. "The bardest thing to learn was a trail pace. In motocross you have to go fast all the time, there's no slacking off. In qualifiers you ride hard, but you maintain a pace. After a while you know when you have to go fast and anticipate what's up ahead. The special tests, grass tracks, you let it all hang out while trying to stay up." Now that Stacy has been a pan of two types of racing, motocross and ISDE qualifiers, he took a moment to reflect on the people involved in each form. "Enduro and ISDE riders are a bigger group of guys that are easier going. They don't have the high life of the full factory ride. There's a lot of camping going on, a lot of sleeping in vans. They're not into the high class motels and restaurants. Like some of the motocrossers, I like to call them spoiled_ I never had it. so maybe I can't really say. "I usually get along with everybody, but the enduro guys seem to accept me better than the motocross guys do. In motocross there's that clique and if you're not in that you're a nobody. In enduros, you can be a nobody and. still be somebody." A gold medal and eighth place in the 250cc Inte~t class went to Stacy after he completed his first qualifier in Tennessee last year. Though an increasing interest prompted Frank to enter the event, he also felt it was somewhat of a rider's bargain. "It was something I'd been interested in the last couple years of my motocross career. I was riding for KTM last year and they were always _ into. endw-o and ISDE riding more than motocr0S6. "Then I figured what the heck. I'll try it. You see, I like to ride. In the qualifiers you get to ride I $0 to 150 miles a day. You're up early and to bed late, but the riding is the main thing that prompted me. Fony-five minute motos are nice, but I like to ride trails and I still get motocross out of it." A broken gearbox on Day Three of last year's ISDT in France put Stacy out of the running. He nursed the bike until he had only one gear left, yet kept riding until the bike seized. In his first ISDT, Stacy learned a new kind of challenge and motivation that his MX travels hadn't given him. "First off I was really pumped thal I made the Trophy Team. It was kind of the ultimate. I just wanted to get accepted to go, and here I was, one of the top six guys in the country. "Then I heard how fast the Italians and Czechs were and that all these guys over there are really quick, Geez, I'd seen them motocross and knew they were good, but they do get beat occasionallyl "On the trip over I was nervous, but we got to the KTM factory, got our bikes. staned riding and everything felt greal. When we got to the event we looked at the special tesl. It was totally natural and was one of the most, if not the most challenging course I'd ever seen. even in motocross. "The Italians and Czechs were there as whole tearns with picks and shovels, making benns and lines. Before they even ride I'm thinking 'Holy cow, these guys have their act together!' That's~hy they're so good. They have this team effon and the adrenaline is going the whole time. Then to see them ride you see the end result. comparing their special test scores to ours. "If you don't have a problem you can usually make the trail pace, but the special test is where it's at," .It all sounds pretty secure, doesn't it? Well, let it be known this kind of lifestyle is the exception instead of the rule for Stacy. It Slaned when Frank was 17, when he took his wife and daughter out on the National MX circuit. He's 27 now and recently separated, 'lnd took a moment to gather thoughts and reflect on that period. "Oh boy. it goes back a lot of years. It was tough on the road wilh a family. I had a motorhome, and that was great until gas prices got out of hand. and then I couldn't afford to pay for that. ..It took a couple of years of just making it before I got any kind of help. It was so difficult. In '72 and '1$ I rode a few events and in '74 I did all the Nationals... There were many high points through those MX years for Stacy, but best of all was when he got to mix it up with the Europeans. "In the I25cc USGP in '77 I got a one shot deal with Moto·X Fox. Pat Richter, a buddy of mine, was riding for Fox at the time and we had Pat's spare bike. An entry turned up in the race (International class). I was entered in the Support class. "They asked me if I wanted a ride and I said sure. I practiced on Saturday and on Sunday I had some good times." Good times, definitely. Stacy plugged into sixth in the final standings, third American. Moto-X Fox gave Stacy suppon through the next few seasons. "I look back at some of the other USGPs. Those were my favorite races, because you're up against European competition. Unadilla and Carlsbad were great. I finished 7th overall.at Carlsbad in '78, and I didn't thin): that was too bad against all the hotdogs. In '79 I was seventh in the 250cc USGP at Unadilla. You get to t~ose r.aces and

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