Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

thing need s' cha nging, b ut I d on 't. I would rath er adapt my sty le to th e way the bi ke is th an tr y to make th e bi ke sui t 'm e a nd end u p worse o ff than when I started, Bu bba seems 10 be that way a lso. Jerry G riffith has bee n wor king with the engi nes lon ger th a n a nyone else so vo u would th ink he wo uld be a ble to p ut together so me really strong engi nes. What yo u hav e 10 look at is tha t T ed Boody's bike last yea r (a t Sprin g fiel d ) was j ust as fast as o u rs a nd hi s was a sto ck o u t-o f-the-cra te motor purch ased fro m H onda. T he engin es co me reall y strong to beg in with so it's possibl e for so meone wh o is tr ying 10 gain even m ore fro m o ne to end up goi ng i n th e o the r directi on a nd slo wi n g himself do wn . Ted Boo d y, Ted is going 10 hav e a good sea so n . What yo u have 10 d o with Ted a n d a number o f o ther riders is 10 look a t them in certa in areas . Boody is going 10 do well on the slip pe ry half miles and he'll be up th ere in th e mil es. The TT and sha n tracks are where he a n d o th ers co ul d be weak . There are a lot o f good mile a nd half mile racers, but th ere aren 't a lot o f m il e and half mile racers who ar e equall y as stro ng o n TT a n d sh an tr acks. Wi th th e co m peti tion as cl ose as i t is, yo u co u ld sa y th e TT a n d sh an track p o in ts ca n m ake or br eak a cham pionsh ip drive. T ed is go ing ro ad racing in Formula On e a n d th a t co u ld add to or take awa y from hi s p ro gram . T o m y kn o wledge, we are n' t go ing to do a ny ro ad 'raci n g a nd I don' t reall y want 10. T ha t's th e wa y I feel about it. I' m 26 and h av e been din tra cking since I was 12. I d on't feel co m fo na ble o n a road racer like I do on th e dirt. Scott Parker, Scotty is a talented ra cer a nd has th e pot ential 10 be right in th ere. The series h asn't ch a n ge d tha t much in th e last th ree yea rs. If yo u look at th e top 10 in the sta n d ings last year or three years ago yo u' re going to see m ostly the same n ames so wh at you have to do is find your weak points and strengthen th ose areas, Scotty is going 10 be working with Tex Peel and Tex builds stro ng bikes. If th ere's a d evelopment program , that co uld be anoth er factor. I feel Ra nd y would have been th e strongest rider to us e in a development program because of his know ledge abou t the bike. It's sort o f a shame not to see Ra nd y on a H a r ley for the sim p le reason that he put so much of his own time into his program to get the bike 10 run fas ter. N ow all that effo rt is basically down the road. I don 't say he shouldn 't have made the de al he did because a rider has to do what he has 10 do. This is a business and I d on 't blame him for jumpi ng o n a H onda , Do you see any problems with the Honda effort being trimmed back? No , I d on ' t see where a ny problems should come up. When I wen t in to have co ntract ta lk s wi th H on da (fo r 1984) I rol d them I wan ted tw o mech an ics a nd th at was mea nt 10 take a big lo ad o ff m y mai n mecha nic Spark y Edm on st on a t th e ra ces because he ca n ca rry the lo ad a t th e shop . The traveling a nd work at the t r a ck is m ad e easier wi t h two m ech an ics, but th is vea l' it 's d o wn to o ne eac h. ' I'm not a good one 10 talk a bo u t being a m ech an ic. When I first went to Michi gan 10 ride for Peel in 1980 I re mem ber working in his shop in the gara ge - washing p ans and doi ng other th in gs . I told P eel I liked doi ng i t and I did enjoy it , bu t w hat it really was was that I was so pum p ed up a bo u t having m y firs t reall y good ride that I didn 't m ind do in g a ny thing. That a ll changed a nd tw o yea rs lat er when he a nd I won Number One I wasn't wa shing parts to o o ften. If som eth ing need s to get done then I'll ge t in th er e a nd help if I ca n . I' ve tri ed to ge t into the m ech an ical end . When I ro de for R on Wo od in 1981 I used 10 spe n d a lot of time wa tchi ng h im wo rk buildin g e ngi nes, but nothing ever rea lly ca ug h t o n . I finall y decided that m y best bet was to worry a bou t th e racin g a nd let so meone else worry a bo ut th e eq u ipmen t. Who do you see as the toughest cornpetition for th e titl e this year? . Bubba has 10 be tipped as th e ro ughest rider o u t the re because he's hal. You o n ly hav e to lo ok at w ha t he d id in t he la st half o f last yea r to see wh at h e is ca pa ble of. ¥ a u never kn ow how things will g o th is yea r, but I kn ow Bubba wants Nu mber O n e reall y bad . Ther e' s a lot o f strength in th e riders who fini sh ed in the top six o r seven in last yea r's points. Doug a n d Randy wi ll be strong. Boody co u ld m ak e a run fo r it. P arker will be a u! to do all he can . T erry P oovey co u ld pl a y spo iler o n th e G ardner Racing bikes . In one wa y I'd like to see a six or eight rider battle for the titl e a nd in another way, I wouldn 't. Of co u rse, that other way is w ith me o u t front. What we'll probably see is about five or six riders in the hunt until midseason a n d then th e field will dwin- ' d ie to about three a s th e season winds down , A tight points battle a lwa ys adds to th e racing a nd brings the fans out. The beauty of th e Camel Pro Series is that there are so man y individual styles. Parker, for instance, is devastating on a cus h io n half mile, but you make it a slippery groove a nd Parker's no t a t hom e, ye t on thi s type of track' Boody shines a nd he isn 't as strong o n a cus h io n. Draftin g a n d m aking th e tr ack work for yo u o n a mi le is a no ther story. Talent is wha t it boi ls do wn 10 and tha t's w hy we see so many differe nt wi n ne rs , Do yo u ever think about what the outcome of last season might have been if Bubba hadn 't been suspended at one point last season? If he wo u ld n ' t hav e h ad 10 si t o u t th e races-given th e sa me fini sh es after he ret u rned- the n he m ost lik el y wo u ld have been Number One. But i t's reall y h ard 10 say , because I wou ld 've been in a d iff erent situa tion a lso . As it was, I wasn 't racin g th at hard a t th e en d o f th e season because I had what a p peared to be a co m forta ble p oints lead. If Bubba hadn ' t been suspe n ded the n th e road ra cin g m ight hav e been a lot m ore co ntro vers ia l. I ro de a co u p le o f races a nd th en H onda to ld me not to rid e an y while Chandler a n d Bubba co nt in ue d to ride th em. I co u ld hav e ridden th e fin a l road ra ce National , but since I hadn't been ridi ng I wasn 't go ing to stic k m y neck o ut. T here's a lso the thing a bo ut m y gelli ng h i t a n d kn ock ed down in th e fina l Nationa l. If th e o utcome o f th e race a nd th e cha m p io ns h ip had been d ifferent the n I wo u ld ha ve been ki ck in g up o ne heck o f a fu ss. G ary Sco tt said in a n a rti cle in Cycle News he was a ma zed th at I shook hands wit h Ted (Boody) af ter we hit a n d I cras hed. Wha t good would it ha ve served if I h ad gone o ver a n d sta r ted a fight? Wou ld it hav e so lved a ny th ing? H ey, you' re going to get hit in raci ng sometimes a n d what Ted did wasn 't intent io na l. H e was goi ng fo r i t. I wasn 't go i ng for it. I was being cool a n d givi ng every bo dy a lot o f room a nd tak in g the co rners real high so if so meone wa n ted to draft past m e th ey co u ld w ith out a ny problems. It was so easy th at da y a nd th at 's wh y I was up in th e front pack . I felt co m fo rt a ble with everyone a nd figured if I ga ve every o ne a lot o f room I couldn't ge t into trouble, I g uess I gave T ed so much ro om he didn't rea lize I was a round until it wa s too late. What d id yo u do in th e off season? Not ver y much. I went to the AMA Aw ards Banquet a nd spent nearly tw o weeks in th e L os Angeles a rea vis iting fri ends li ke R on Wood and other s. I visited Sparky on th e way back. I went out with a real estate agent one tim e to look at some property a nd th e rest of th e time I mostl y sp ent riding. I crash ed a few weeks aft er th e banquet a nd rashed up my hand th en a few 'w eeks after that is when I cra cked a bone in m y a n kle. Then I ra n into the truck a nd be tween a ll th e acci dents and problems I didn 't re a ll y have much time to get in shape. I was a lwa ys busy doing something - m ostl y so aking o n e p an o r 'a no ther of m y body in ice. On e good thi ng did co me out o f my problems. I got togethe r wi th Dean Miller, who was Brad Lack ey's train er , a nd h e came down to m y house to ou tli ne a fi tness progra m for me. A day or two lat er I ca lled him to tell h im I had sm acked a truck and th a t I need ed to get o n so me wo rko u t m achines so I co uld stay in shape. Int er estingl y, I reall y enjoy working up a swea t o n th e m achin es a nd I think I feel hea lt h ier now th an I ever h a ve. ' Have you done any planning for the future? Yes, Gary H ow ard is n ow m y m anager. T wo yea rs ago a t H ouston I ta lk ed with Kenn y R oberts about th e p ro gr am he has with H ow ard. I talked wit h Kenny aga in after th e season was ove r a bo u t i t a nd th en I beg an visi tin g a nd talkin g with Howard about m y plans and things. It was reall y neat talkin g with him because th er e was no pressure th ere a t a ll for m e 10 m ak e a decis ion. Als o, I co u ld understand every thi n g h e was talkin g a bo u t whi ch do esn 't a lways happe n when yo u 're ta lking to a lawyer o r acco u n ta n t. I wa nted to go with him a ltho ugh I had a lot of peop le wantin g 10 handl e m y a ffai rs . G a ry had a n ad ditiona l plu s in th at he' s inv olved with m ot orcycl es a nd kn o ws th e span . H e talks co m mon sense to yo u. I'll ca ll him up a nd tell him what 's going o n a n d h e'll m ak e a sugges tio n a bo u t th is or th at a nd g ive m e d ifferent ideas about thingsI ik e public re la tions, interviews a nd m eetin g the non -industr y press. H e's handling my m o ney a n d I ge t a n a llowa nce to liv e o n . H ow ever , th e m ain reaso n I wanted so meone to help m e was th at I hat e worrying a bo u t income taxes. G ary h as tax , peopl e, investm ent p eople a nd lawyers tha t help him a nd th at wa y everythin g is taken ca re o f. You came away from H ousto n with no Camel Pro Series points whi le those ri ders yo u 've mentioned earlier as title co ntenders a ll d id, How deep inthe hole does tha t put yo u? Actuall y it 's not as bad as it co u ld hav e been because th e riders who I feel will be in there when the season is winding d own didn 't ge t nearly as man y points as th ey could hav e. The rider who ' made th e most gain is Scotty a nd I think being in both Nati onal s and winning one, especi ally th e TT, sh ould really giv e him a boost a nd co u ld make him even tougher than he is. The problems R andy and Bubba h ad in the TT kept their point production down. I'm going to h av e to work hard to make up the d eficit, but at least I'm not down as far as I m ight have been if so me o f th e o thers didn't have some. bad luck also. It 's a long season . • In photos three and fou r. Shobert is struggling to save him self f r om crash ing and trying-unsuccessfully-to avoid hitting Graham,

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