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/126614
Profile: Dan Conwaf Texas dynamite By Lisa Milcich "Dynamite Dan" Conway is Houston's native born Expert motocross rider who has ex ploded at the local events as well ~s making a name for himself through vanous Texas trac ks a n d a t man y National even ts. Just turning ~u years o ld , he now holds th e National MX num ber 92, a nd has Kaw asak i T eam G reen Pro su p port as well as bein g a ided by Bel-R a y Oil , Dun lop Ti re.s, JT Ra cin g and Pasad ena Ka wasaki. Eigh t year s of riding , training, winning an d losin g mak e up wh at Dan is toda y - ch amp ionsh ip bound! He sta rte d o re riding a Honda XR7 5 in h ar e scrambl es and cl aimed many victories. After hi s fath er . Ray , rode a motocross race Dan seemed inte rested in tr ying hi s hand a t it, He rode in th e Mini class for si x months, a lways br in ging u p th e rea r, till he broke h is leg a n d wa s forced to stay o u t for fou r months. Next came h is 125cc ca reer . which proved m ore rewarding. ~ e rod e a Suzuki in th e 125cc Novice cla ss for six months till in structor Bill La w (w ho was instrumental in Steve Wise's caree r) suggested he move up to th e Intermed ia te class, wh ere the rid ers were a little less ban zai . Bill trained Co n way a nd taugh t h im every th ing h e kn ows. Despite discoura gin g moments Bill managed to keep Dan movin g in th e right direction a nd ga ve h im the knowledge of wh at it tak es to become not j us t a local Expert rid er bu t a factory Pro . " I trai ned with Bill mostly a t Rio a nd h e'd tak e me out a n d we'd spe n d th e whole day going through every corner.He stressed training and th e corn ers -the ra ces a re won in th e corners. You dr ive in , gas aro u nd it an d exit fast, and yo u 've go t to be smoo th . Steve Wise helped me a lot a t th e local races. He sh owed me faster lines. I don 't worry about who is behind me , cause h e has to work harder to pass me, it 's th e gu y in front yo u worry about getting by." Dan admits it wasn 't easy to co me home from high school and a vo id parties and going out with the gang, yet th at 's just what he did in order to attain his major goal - to be th e best . He would train and keep mot ocr oss in h is m ind 24 hours a da y, while learn ing th e importance o f exercise, a proper di et , a good night 's sleep, a nd no alcohol or drugs. " Being a privateer is a full time job. You have to train, ea t right, get th e bike ready and find tim e to sleep . Not to mention the fin ancial strain. Making it to th e National s on th e road is rough. You know yo u have a long wa y to go yet yo u still have to pull over a n d run an d try and get so me decent food to ea t, It 's reall y ro ugh." Dan turned Pro at 15 a nd received hi s AMA licen se a t 16. At 17 he traveled th e U.S. for th e 1979 AMA I25cc National Motocross ser ies and placed 18th overa ll. In 1980 he had the 125cc Nation al number o f 68 a n d started rid in g Supercross even ts wh ere he would p lace betw een 15th a nd 20th in th e ma in . " Su percross is hard ph ysically but more so mentally , 'ca use it's so quick a nd yo u have to go a ll o u t, It 's tot al co nce ntra tio n. In Nati on al s you have more time to catch up. If you mess up in th e sta rt it's no big deal , yo u' ve got 45 minutes to ca tch up," He also rode th e a n n ua l Texas Series and finished first overall in the 250cc Expert class. 1981 was a depressing year a s he was p lague d with inj u ries wh ile riding Pro support fo r H onda. At th e Daytona Supercross he go t hit in th e back a n d b roke his righ t shou lder blade. The Houston Astrodom e didn 't go well beca use of hi s Daytona accident. From th ere he went o n to Hangtown and fini shed 10th overall. At Sadd lebac k h e was running 12th in th e m ain and h is ri ght arm gave out so he DNF in thefirst moto. Dan returned to T exas and rode th e Whitney track o n ly to hit a co u p le o f downed riders a nd reinjure hi s shou lder. H e felt it best to tak e tim e o re a nd get it back 100%, so he laid off for six months and took a job to save up for his ridin g a nd tra veli ng expe nses. H e kept in sha pe by running a nd working out with weights. Wh ile he wa s waitin g around for Honda to ca ll him about ren ewing hi s co nt rac t, Kawasaki ca lled and h e acce p ted th eir offer of two 250s a nd a parts a llowa nce. On h is mean green mount Conway sta rte d 1982 o ff reall y well , and from J anuary to th e beginning of April, he has ridden in 19 lo cal ra ces and tak en fir st in 17. H e has ridden four Supercr oss races so far and has future plans of a tte n di ng th e rem aining ones as well as pi cking u p o n the rest of th e 205cc Nationals. Dan won 't be trav elin g a lo ne because hi s fa th er hired him a mechanic, Ken Moren o. Ken worked with Conwa y for four months last year till Dan 's accide nts put him O U I. " He keeps me relaxed by talking to me and does most of the d riving whi ch rea lly h elps out. We have a really good relationship. H e rode Intermediate, so knows what it's like to be out th ere . He took over for my dad who wrenched for me for the majority of my racing. My dad has !Jelped and inspired m e from th e beginning, and he will always be th ere," On th e Saturday ' Do me race he holeshot his qu alifier over Bro c Glover and Kent Howerton and qualified fourth . moving into the main. There he finished 18th . " I feel I could have done better in th e main. I did so well in m y qualifiers, I needed to be more relaxed . I wanted to do so well th at I was just pushing too ha rd and made mistakes. Friday and Saturday I went down reall y hard but just had to get up and keep going. I want to smooth o u t mv riding. Some of the Pros try to psyche you out but I just laugh it o ff. Hannah 's ~n beat befor e and ca n be beat aga in . " Every time I go out I try my hardest. if a ny thi ng happens during th e race I kn ow I' ve giv en it my best . Everyone wants to win a nd if yo u don 't it's natural to get depressed. It is h ow bad yo u want to win and I kn o w I work harder tha n any body aro un d here to ge t a factory rid e," Nothing is stopping Dan Conway 's determination to win on and off th e co urse. Hi s lik eabl e person ality has wo n h im man y friends an d th e admira tio n of hi s peers a nd fell ow com pe titors. He plans on relocat ing ~o Ca liforn ia in 1983 for four to SI X m onths to ride th eir tra cks and get more recognition . So watch out, Californi a, 'ca use " Dyn a m ite" is coming. •