Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ crlLe fir$t lady of racing Tammy Kirk. with friend Mike Gowan. was all smiles after making history at the Knoxville National. By Gary Van Voorhis Photo by Bert Shepard Tammy Kirk made racing history ~n the night of June 25 at the Knoxville Half Mile round of the Camel Pro Series. Kirk, a 21year-old, blue-eyed blond with a ponytail, who hails from Dahon Georgia, became the first femal~ ·f f G race! to qua II y .or a. rar:t d National Championship dIrt 20 track final. Kirk then added another (jne to the record book by finishing 14th to become the first female to ever earn a Grand National Championship point. It wasquitea night for Tammy and those who had been watching her since she turned Expen at the beginning of the 1982 season, two years after the only other female LO hold Expert ranking for dirt track, Dianne Cox, retired from competition.. Many of those who had watched Kirk through her formative years predicted she had the skill and deterruination LO do well as an Expen_ Tammy hasn't let any of them down. Others, whodee;lined to mak.e aju?gement for or agamst females m racmg, not so secretly wished her well and felt it was only a matterof time before she and her equipment would click. History in the making can sometimes be overshadowed by the events at hand. At Rnoxville, Chat wasn't the case. The crowd, sensilJg Kirk was about LO place third in her heat and thus earn a spot in the National, began to cheer heron. They continued to acknowledge herfeat after she LOok the checkered flag. At the end of the cool-oH lap, she was mobbed in her pit area by well wishers. One of the first LO greet her was her father, Tommy, who instilled a love of two wheels in her almost from the day she was borr~. __ •• Out of the host of people who surrounded her and congratulated her that night, Tammy remembers Tex Peel the most. Tex prepares defending Grand National Champion Ricky Graham's equipment, and did the head and cylinder work on Tammy's Smitty's Harley-Davidson of Moundsville, West Virginia/SureFire/Carlisle/Lou's Leathers/KRWsupported Harley-Davidson XR750. "Tex came over and picked me up like I didn't weigh anything and gave me a big bear hug," said the 5-foot, S-inch, 115-pound racer a few days after the race. "He gave me a big smile and said he'd been waiting for me LO make a National and just wanted LO see the expression on my face once I had done it. He was pretty excited. " Kirk was then brought out onto the track in front of. the grandstand to acknowledge the cheering. With her hometown less than 100 miles away, there were a good number of very enthusiastic Kirk fans in attendance. "I was reall y thrilled," said Kirk. "It was the happiest moment in my life in a long time. I still can't believe were it..After . . . . . . . was . a.... and we,,, .. . . . . the race . . . over packing LO go home, tlie fans from Dalton mobbed our pit area to congratulate me. Those who didn't getto the race came by the h6~e or called over the next couple of days. It was rea II y grea t. " Kirk's weekend began the night before the National when she went to Smoky Mountain Raceway to do some promotional work for the following evening's National. "I went out at halftime during the stock car racing program and took a couple of hot laps to show the crowd the difference between cars and bikes," said Kirk. "r talked with the announcer about how' bikes run and handle and what our racing is like. It was intended to get some of the crowd back for the National and I think it worked. 1. enjoy doing promotional work." Did Tammy have a feeling before the start of her heat race that this might be her night? "I felt confident I had a good chance to finish in the top three if I goto£( the line good and had a bit of luck," said Kirk. "I like the Knoxville track because I:ve raced on ' banked tracks like.it before. I got oU the line in about fifth, but I passed two riders througb turns one and two to move into third. Jay Springsteen was in my heat and'behind me somewhere. When he went by me I knew) was fourth and would bave to makeJi move. I watched how Jay went by Rob Crabbe, who was the rider In front of me. Jay moved up about two feet higher than the line I was riding. to go around Crabbe, so I did the same and passed Rob like he was tied. LO a SLOne. I knew then that all I had to do was hang on and be consistent." One thing that many people don' know is that Tammy, by her 0 admission, hasn't been feeling 100percent since near the end of last yea/:. She has been having stomach problems which she says are basicaJly the same as have been plaguing Jay Springsteen for the past several years. "1 kept getting sick at the races," said Kirk. "I went to my doctor and she ran a number of'tests whic/;l showed my blood sugar levels were. way down. She explained that when I go to a race, and the adrenaline starts building up, my body makes so much acid that my system can't handle it and I get sick. ow, I'm on a special diet and I have some medication to try and get things back to normal. Knoxville was the first race in a long time where I felt IOO-per&nt. I didn't get sick and I even ate something before the race." Having had her confidence bolstered by her ride in the heat race Kirk was ready for the National. "~ felt good on the star~ing line and I was ready to race," said Kirk of her condition before the NationaJ started. ..Just after the start, the engine skipped a couple of beats and I thought I might have fouled a plug. The engine started running worse after the halfway pointand I began to slip back. Later, we found it was a problem with the condenser slippingoutof its bracket. I think ifthe engine had been running as strong as it did in the heat race I could have finished eighth." It would have been nice to sit back and savor the momen,t, but for Tammy and her family. the end of the race meant a quick drive homeanda 10LOf work on the bikes to get them ready for the next National. Kirk's week became even shorter'when the pro!Doters of tbe following Saturda'y night's Indy Mile called and asked her to come to Indianapolis a day early for some promotional work. The request was a direct result of her Knoxville sbowing. Tammy got in some track time on Friday at Indy and "looked good," according to Honda's rerry Poovey,

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