Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bom to race By Gary Van Voorhis Tammy Kirk has a way of making people sit up and take notice. ' The 19-year-old blonde from Dalton, Georgia, has been racing mainly dirt track since she was 10. The 1982 season will be the culmination of a dream for Kirk. She will be a rookie Expert on the Winston Pro Series circuit , 12 achieving a status in din track ranks that only one other female , Diane Cox, had before. Kirk earned it . T a m my ca me to the attention of many d uring 1980 when she fini shed th e year as the second ra n king Novice in th e AMA Eastern Region al Cham pionship Dirt T rack Seri es. She also was th e top ranking No vice in th e Ohio Hall of Fame Series .- no mean feat co nsideri ng th e a mo unt of ra cin g in Ohio. Along th e way there were event wins and grudging acceptance by mo st of her m ale co u nterparts. However , mo st th ou gh t th e five feet. five inch tall , 115 pound Kirk would be a t a handicap when switch ing fro m 250cc equipme nt to a 750cc HarleyDa vidson for her j u nior year. Pe rh a ps th e only person it didn't bot her was T ammy. She ada pt ed q uickl y, Her ride was sponso red by Smi tt y's H a rleyDavidson of Mou ndsville , West Virginia . and Sure -Fire Distrib uting , with p roduct hel p from Diamond Chain a nd Champ ion Spark Plugs. Also receiving cred it were Carl Patrick who bu ilt th e bike , Branch Flowrnctrics for th e head work a nd Edga r Fu hr for bu ild ing the t ransm ission . " I don't th ink I reall y had a good season:' sa ys Kirk in a soft drawl. " I didn't win a race , T he highest I finished was third , although I did qualify fastest at a few events , I guess you could say the season was O K - because I had a lot of rea llv ba d luck with m y equipment. " . Ta m my got her first taste of motor cycli ng at a n early age. a ver y ea rly " age. " W he n I was two weeks old m y daddy sat me on a p illow on the gas ta nk of his b ike and would ride me around the ho use u n til I'd go to slee p , You could say I was born on a mot or cycle . I started ridin g when I was three a nd a hal f on a cut -down minibi ke. Riding j ust ca me na tura l to me." It was a logical transit ion fro m ridi ng in the ba ckya rd to ha nging a rou nd th e motorcycle shop her fat her own ed . " Ever since I was big enoug h to walk I've bee n hanging out at m y id ad dy's shop a nd lea rning about ' bikes. My d addy used to sponsor a lot of rid er s. One was Roge r Crump and I used to go to all the ra ces. I would sne ak in th e pits and wat ch a nd listen and learn. ''I'~'r;n'tcd 'r a ci ng -whetT I -w;rs - ;rb aut · • ten in whatever was goi ng o n .. mostly sho rt track , but some mot ocross. I was th e AMA Eastern Regi onal Amateu r Champion in m y age group (l2 -over) in 1975 rid ing short track. " I beli eve 1 was pretty successfu l racin g motocross. I ra ced in the Wom en's Worl d Series in 1976 and finished fourth in the 100cc class . I was a b it out of shape for the ra ce and it was very. very hot so maybe I could hav e done better. However , I didn't reallv like motocross as mu ch as dirt track ing. Mot ocross is too rough on th e body. 1 reall y feel it takes a lot more skill to rid e dirt track ." On the track th e only giveaway that number 5C might not be of th e male gender is a long blond po nytail which has been Kirk 's tradem ark ever since her m ini ra cing d a ys. " I' ve been racing with boys all my life . 1 had to ra ce the bo ys because th er e just weren 't a ny girls raci ng . I' ve never had any trou bles. You kn ow , as a Novice th ey'd a lways sort o f la ug h a t me un til I won th e ra ce or beat them bad ly .. then it was a different sto ry. T his yea r evervone was the re to ra ce and that 's .wha i we did. " Kirk , like many othe r riders, co m bi ned schoo ling with ra cing. " I was lucky becau se schoo l' seemed to come easy to me. I gradu ated from Southeast High Sch ool in Dalton in 1980 as a n hon or st ude nt. My tea chers and th e princip al knew 1 ra ced and as long asthe schoo l work got don e th ere wer e no problems." The ed uca tion didn't stop there. T ammv enrolled in Dalton Corn rnunit y College taking the. required co urses like math and English while majoring in ind ust ria l arts .. welding to be precise. Now weld in g ma y see-m a bit st ra nge to some peopl e as an occ upa tio n for a female. but not to T amm y. "One thi ng most people- don't know is tha t if a woman get s int o weld ing and pots her heart int o it sheshould be better than a man because she 's not as nervo us o r jittery. Tbe men in th e weldi ng class d on 't like it one hi t because I'm be-tter th an most of t hem. It 's j ust like racin g , if a woman ge ts int o a man 's spo rt th ey don't like it at fi rst. but on ce they ge t to know yOll it's O K. Actuall y. I chose welding because I do it at the shop , My daddy ta ug h t me a nd it seemed natural to tak e som e " co urses to learn how to d o it bett e r: ' Int erest ingly, nei t he r T amm y's older sister nor her you nge r on e have become involved in racing . Tammy's father is her b iggest boo ster in the family. " My daddy has always been beh ind me in m y racing. My mo m doesn 't really like me to race. However, since Dadd y was always involved in .racing or helping out somebody in racing she can 't really say anythi ng. She just sort of goes along with things." So what does the future hold for Tammy? Sh e's got her mind set on becoming the first fema le rid er to get a National number . She also feels tha t with a bit of lu ck in findi ng a goo d spo nsor a nd som e solid wor king bikes she ca n mak e a Na tio na l fina l or two . " It will be a big cha nge next yea r beca use th e Harley is different to ride with out (i ntake) restrictor s. II' I've got a goo d b ike I feel I ca n be in a National fina l or two. I th ink m y best cha nce to ge t into a Nat ional fin a l will come on t he m iles. I rod e the Syra cuse a nd Sa n jose j un ior In vita tionals a nd was rea lly ge tt ing th e hang of things befor e bike prob lems messe-d thi ngs up. In any event , thi ngs are go ing to be tou gh . Maybe I'll even get a chance to try out a road racer, T hat would be fu n. " Tammy Kirk ha s. th e na tural talent a nd drive to be , a very good d irt tracker. II' det erminat ion is th e key. Tam my sho uld get her wish to be a National number holder in 1983 . •

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