Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Continued f rom page 7) th em th ey fell o ff in front of ab out a thousand people. This guy ta lk s to animals and sa ys th ey talk to hi m - bu t n ob od y can p ro ve it eithe r wa y. But h is a bi lity to ma ke yo u th ink h e does h as gained him world wid e recogn it ion . I a m speaking, of course, abo ut Dale Singleto n , th e two tim e Dayton a 200 winner fro m beautiful downtown Da lton, G A, whi ch is locat ed . somewhere so uth o f Detroit and north o f Miami. Dal e recently an nou nce d that he 'wo u ld not be an ent ry this year for th e March 13 200-m iler. This com es aft er four straight years of either wi n ning or fini shi ng in the top five l H e has been fru stra ted th e past co u p le of seasons about getting full or partial factory support; a ny factory. He ha s ridden 800 solid m iles in th e last fo u r Daytona events on machinery that h e claims is not an ywhere n ea r as good, or as fast, as wh a t many o th er ride rs have. Yet h e h as th e best consecu tive four-year record of any ri der who has ever co m pe ted in th e Dayt ona 200, a t the spe edw ay or on the o ld beach co u rse! Da le and I first teamed up in '79, ea rly in the race week. H e wanted to int ro d uce me to a " frien d " of his, so he sai d. We went to his garage and he started talking loudly and clearly to nobody I could see. I then looked down and in a box was a baby pig th at was soon to beco me the famous "Elmer I." O n e thi n g led to another an d I convinced Dal e (p ro n o u nced " Dial" if yo u are from the Dalton area ) to bri ng Elmer on m y n igh tly radio show a t th e H aw ai ian Inn on th e beach. ' Singleton went even fu rt h er. He had a lso bro ugh t a very good look in g you n g la dy to Daytona th a t year as well. H e brought her into th e hot el all dressed up in an inflated " Miss Piggy" type cos tu me a nd paraded her around th e showro om before we ever got to Elmer. The first El mer was nervous. in fro n t of a bo u t 800 peop le bu t Dal e said not to worry, we onl y n eeded a small cocktail table for th e pig to stan d on wh ile we d id th e interv iew abo u t serious racing. H e pl an ted th e pi g on the ta ble a nd we were underw ay wi th a ritual th a t became a n a n nua l ni ght four year s runn ing a t th e show. Elm er stole th e sh ow , first watering down th e table and later letting go with a full load of frosting, if yo u know what I mean l T he cr ow d went n uts a nd ro ared so lo ud tha t we just q u it talki ng while El mer d id hi s th in g. T he hotel ma n ager was going out of h is min d, worrying about th e city health i nspectors dropping by. Word spread li ke fire through the p it area a t th e trac k the nex t day and a star was born. Either people wa nted to see th e rid er wh o had a baby pig , or they wanted to see the p ig that was wi th a somewha t u nknown rider. L ik e all good stories it h ad a grea t endi ng in '79. Da le went on to win th e 200 a nd Elmer tal ked to me on th e mi cro p hone in th e winner's circle, and then went and hi d in th e corner while Dal e drank champagne, got lots o f kisses a nd th e gang fro m Dalto n went wild. Ea ch yea r since that tim e Da le has brough t anothe r baby p ig to Daytona and each year bo th ha ve been stars. When Dale first went to Eu ro pe in '79 they wa nted hi m, but they also wanted Elmer. Da le h ad to go hill and dale in ' each coun try to fin d a pig a nd pass h im off as Elmer. Each yea r Da le has come to Daytona krio wing tha t he will no t be the fastest rid er o n th e track in practice or o n ra ce day. Sometim es h e q uali fies for the fron t ro w, so metim es he do esn ' t. ' Every yea r h e tells a ny body that wants to as k or listen th at h e does no t h ave a fast engine, can ' t get a ll th e good part s, a nd will be lu cky to finish. You see, Dal e, in spite of all that hoku m th at co mes o ff like a guy that j ust got off the turnip tr uck, is one smart person. H e kn ows pu blicity; u nderstands prom otion andputs on a grea t ac t for peop le. To think that Da le Singl eton is a q uart low is a gr oss error. H e will ta lk to anybod y, give a u to graphs to all wh o request one, give cred it to hi s fellow racers, a nd n ever forget wh o hi s sponsors ar e. Eac h year in the p ast four' Daytonas, Dale is usuall y nowhere aro u n d th e dozen or so early fro n t ru n ne rs. H e is usuall y buried deep in th e m id dl e o f th e 80-rider field. Then a lo ng a bo ut th e 100-m ile, or halfway, m ark the re is o ld number 30 ch ugging, plugging and gaining ground. H e has pulled it o ff twi ce and on two other occasio ns co me very close to m aking it four in a ro w. The en gine never mi sses a beat . Ma ybe a lo t of people just never too k h im to o seri ousl y. H e is n ot cut out of the usual motorcycle ra cer m old, wh at ever that is. But he has p ro ven th at he ca n beat th e best ro ad racers in the worl d on the fastest ro ad rac e co urse in exist ence. H e ha s p ro ven he can compe te wi th th e finest bikes th at fac tories can prepare. He has beaten wor ld, regional and backyard ch am ps. Dal e has p ro ven he ca n gra b a n audience and h old th em in h is h and for over an h our. H e can talk to a ny body about any th ing. And he co mes a bo ut as close to bein g a reporter's drea m in terv iew as one ca n fi nd. H e wrote the song about th e pi g a co u p le o f years ago, built a ba nd to p lay th e music and th ey a ll dressed like hillbill ies. The last line of th e son g we nt so me th i ng lik e th is, " Elmer, if yo u don 't co me through, yo ur ass is barbeque.' T h at line alone is better than any in th e top "40" on th e cha rts today. Now Singl eton is gi ving u p bikes for stock ca r racing. " Dial ," th e good ole bo y from Dalton , is now goin g to be one of many good o le bo ys on the NASCA R ci rcuit, so they say. I h ope he comes to ' Da ytona this year just to watch and to be on th e radio sh ow . H e's-th e kind of guy that does no t have to be a winner to be remembered for all the good a nd crazy th ings he has done bo th o n an d off the track . They ca ll him " T he Pig Farmer " bu t he probably has been no clos er to a p ig farm th an 30,000 feet wh en he passes over o ne in a p lane. But most people th ink he is a p ig fa rme r wh o also was one fine road racer. , Da le Sing leton will not go down in th e record books as a big win n er on th e tra ck. Yes, he did win a few other m ajor events in th e U. S. a nd Canada, but neve r really set the world on fire when it co mes to the numbers. H e did, h owever, ma ke h is mark wi th a lo t of us who follow ro ad rac ing and appreciate talent fou nd both on and off th e track. ' 1 wonder w hy some factory di d not m a ke an offer of some type to a p ro ven road racer, a proven Dayto na winner - and a n in dividua l who is worth a million dolla rs in publicit y and promotion for a week of racing that fin ds the motorcycling press from aro u nd the world all on h and. Good luck, Dale. T ha nks for a lo t of co,?pe ratio n an d t h e g o o d memon es. Roxy Rockwood ~ e '""t , c<") 00 0") .-4 ~ c-r ...c U $-0 ~ ~ That stack of Cycle News piled over In the corner could become an attractive addition to your living room or trophy shelf. All you need Is our new bright-red, top quality binder. Each one holds 25 Issues of America's Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper. They also provide a handy fliing system when you need to refer back a few Issues to an Informative article, and they're a positive statement about the sport you like best: Motorcycling. Just flll out the order blank below, mall It to Cycle News, and we'll ship you the Cycle News Product that's bound to please. •.................... PI.... s.nd in. b1nd.r(s).t $14.95 ••ch (Includ.s shlpplnK and postaK• •) • • I . 6% Ta_ leA I I Name • • • • • • re s. onlyi llos A ng ele s County 6111%) ~ Tho is s uor 01 tho cord Idon - • . ' out ho rizod t o poy t ho omount shown o. TOTAl tified on t hil it e m II I VISA- (together w it h a ny other charge. due thereon) lub· • I • ject t o end in accordance with the agreement govern· ing the UN of su ch card. Address Signeture City Explretion Oete Stete _ _ Zip__ Send to: Cycle News /West P.O. Box 498 Long Seech. CA 90S01 . • VI.. # MC # I • • • _ • • • •••• ~~~~:~..................27 "

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