Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

King received the SWAPA Young Rider of the Year award. wh ile teammate Eric Gundersen (rig ht) was SWAPA Rider of the Year , a ra ce, a nd I'djust wa sh o ff m y speed way bikes then r ide th em agai n th e next ni ght. I need ed th e time to get m y bikes togeth er, so I dropped o u t of th e lo n g tr a ck. II was n o s p u r of th e m om ent decis io n - I discussed it w i th several peopl e w ho arc cl o se to m e a nd I trust. A nvwav , I wou ld've h ad to b uv a nother' tra ck bi ke , and I co u ld n' t ~fford it ; pl us. I wan ted to co nce ntra te o n gett ing read y for the World Fi nal in Sw eden . It was a n a wkward situation pullin g o u t a fter Bo bby (Sc h wa rt z) had g iven m e this spot . .. What is yo u r favorit e tra ck ? My h o rne tra ck, Cradl ey. I li ke Voj ens in Denm ark a n d San Be rd o o in Ca li fo rnia . Wh at are yo u g oa ls in speed way ? To become World C ham p io n - th a t's it. An d hopefu ll y, to wi n the Tea m C up next yea r in Lo n g Bea ch - that wou ld be good fo r s peed way a s a w hole. Wh a t do vo u see in th e future fo r sp eed way ?' Speedway is g etting bigger in Engla nd . II rook a dive for a w h ile , b u t n ow, i t' s c o m i n g ba ck , Clos i ng \Vem bley h urt, but g etting th e Wo rl d Fin al ba ck n ext year s ho u ld hel p . In Ca li forn ia , I don ' t kn o w, b ut it seems it sho u ld be big ger th an it is. Wha t are the best a n d worst things abou t speed wa y? II's go t to be th e po l it ics, tha t's th e wors t th ing. I th ou gh t I go t a wa y from a ll th at wh en I cam e 10 E nglan d , bu t it didn 't work out th a t way . It seem s the beuer I g et , th e worse 'i t gels. When I was starting o u t, I never h ad tro u bl e getting o n th e p ro grams. An d I never rode Third Divisi on at Cos ta M esa - so I was l ucky, I guess. Wha t I' m ta lki ng a bo u t is basica lly too muc h bu lls hit. T he best th ing a bo ut speedwa y is th e tra vel in g travelin g a n d m eeting n ice peop le a nd m ak in g friends a ll o ver th e world. I'v e been to a d ozen co u n tr ies a n d Swe den is th e best. I j ust li ke go ing fast a nd ge ll ing i t sideways. Whal are so me o f the t i rles vo u've won ? . T he Ca lifornia Sta te C hampionship in 1982: th e O versea 's Fi na l th is year a nd th e ;\Iarl bo ro ;\Iidl an ds R id ers Cha mpio ns h ip because it had a lmos t the same line up as th e Wo rl d Fina l. II's getting to be, th e bigger th e race, th e more nervou s I g et, a nd th e better I d o. WiII La n ce Kin g m ak e th e sw itc h to . four wh eels? Well I' ve a lwavs wan ted 10 be a Formul; One d river, that's mv u lti m a te goa l. I've a lways ha d a l o~ e for fou r wh eels. Do es Lance King rock ' n ' roll? Sure. I lik e roc k ' n ' ro ll, n ew wave a nd p un k. No hea vy m etal. Sponsors? STF, JT Ra ci ng , Scot! G og gl es, Weslak e, Ta lo n P rod uc ts a nd Si m pson H elm et s. .. , . • • • 19

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