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/126801
Aggressive management and media exposure has made Doug Domokos King of Wheelies; he's one of the most recognizable people in the U.S. Pro_ WlaeeUe Ki~ to media 8tar: DougDomokos expose.d By Rex Reese ' Hi. Do you know me? I do wheelies. I hold the world's record for the world's highest wheelie and,the world's longest wheelie. I've whee/ied on the Empire State Building in New York, and I've been)o places wh~re they think I'm even 4 real king. And wherever I go, I always get royal treatment whenever I show this card. The commercial ends with a close-up of said famous green credit card, and with the chatter of a typewriter, D-O-U-G D-O-M-O-K-Q-S T-H-E W-H-E-E-L-I-E K-I-N-G appears in the lower left-hand corneLThis isn't a parking lot anymore, nota supercross. This is showbiz, the Big Time. 50 And whether or not Doug Domokos will do television commercials like this, and more, without Honda's backing remains to be seen. Butthere's one thing (or sure: Doug Domokos is passing through an evolutionary stage in his career that has taken him (rom being just one guy with a bike and a pickup truck to a corporate entity with managers, P.R. writers, photographers and agents. What was once a stunt show to pass the time between motos at a motocross back in Niles, Micl1igan, where Domokos first start· ed wheelieing is now an act, a perfor· mance, seen by hundreds of thou, sands of people in stadiums and on television. There are also the newspaper interviews, radio talk shows, and the personal appearances put in at motorcycle shops. But wait, there's more. Imagine, if you will, a Wheelie King toy, a Wheelie King cartoon show on Saturday mornings I.o.- the kids. Maybe even a Wheelie King lunch box and thermos bottle set. Sounds ambitious? Too far-fetched? Then you're obviously not familiarwith The Plan,.or Team Wheelie, or the driving forces which are propelling Domokos onward into the.media consciousness of America. They are happening; they are working at this very moment on how to best make use of what initially appears to be a bizarre, perhaps (dare it be said?) use· less, talent and turning it into a viable, money-making commodity that every rational human will take notice 0(. And if The Plan is rightand Team Wheelie has done its homework, then everything is humming along just fine. There will be a Wheelie King in your future. As for the past, forget it; that was something different. Doug Domokos is all for the future. "Everybody's written aboUt the past," he says. "What we're talking about now is enlertainmenl. ,. What Doug means is no idle talk. Over three years ago he signed on with Jeff Immediato, who was at the time was managing World Speedway Champion Bruce Penhall, and since then that relationship has led to hundreds of local and national tele- vision appearances, a like amount of newspaper and radio stories and interviews and an exposure rating that is not to be believed. This has led to backing from Adidas shoes, serious attention from television network casting vice presidents, and that most coveted treasure in Hollywood, a major contract with the William Morris talent agency. "Three years ago," said Domokos, "people were telling me that none of these things were going to happen. You can't be a one-man show and expect to get any bigger and make more money. You can't do it. That's what motivates me, when people tell .me that I can't do something." That kind of attitude by Domokos has taken his career farther than it has other motorcycle racing stars in this country. Before signing with Immediato about three years ago, Domokos' career was being helmed by a booking agent. Doug was taking his act to the races, his sponsorship (then [rom Kawasaki) was minimal, didn't have much in terms of fancy equipment or motorcycles, and when he wasn't staying at a friend's house he would be virtually living out o[ the back o[ his pickup on the road. Inking a deal with Immediato changed all o[ that. A long-range "game plan" was created, major high. dollar sponsorship would be secured, and Doug would be playing more than the regular superCToss and out· door races. With enough imagination, there would be no limit to Domokos' success, not as a stunt rider, but as a performer and a personality. "But back then," continued Domokos, "I didn't look at myself as some big entertainer, but. as the Wheelie King, some guy who could ride around a motocJ;oss track. But I knew then that I wanted to do. something with a toy company. I used to have all those weird ideas and now they're finally coming forth." One of the first things Doug wanted to do after signing with his new manager was to define what the Wheelie King was all about. For exam· pIe, one comparison that Doug has insisted 011 avoiding is any similarity between himself and what he does and the godfather of motorcycle stunts, Evel Knievel. "What he sells is life and death, and what I sell is a talent," said Domokos. "It's harder [or me to 'sell a talent because there are a lot of sadistic people out there who don't actually want to see you die, but thev wouldn't want to miss it." Compared to Knievel's jumping, Domokos' performance is described by his management as a "high impact visual." What it means is that Domokos goes out and does things