Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

........ ~ Q') .... Q.) ..D o ... u o Bubba Shobert 's performance on mile tracks is unbeatable. Racing on the mile is Shobert's strong point. 14 I go t to th inkin g about losin g it. " If I would ha ve lost it, I p robably wo u ld ha ve never gotte n it back. You neve r see a g uy lose a fact ory rid e . . . m aybe so me o ther factory would h ire ya , but in dirt tra ck raci ng th ere a re no o ther factories. It mad e me rea lize wh at I had a nd how lon g it took me to ge t it, I didn ' I want to lose it , so I kn ew th at no t to lose it, I would reall y hav e 10 do good . I gOI m y co n fide nce bu ill up and I did i t." Is it someth in g th at will soon be brus hed under the tabl e and forgouen ? " It comes up a lot , because it was a turn ing point in m y ca reer," he sa id . " I had won two National s for H onda before that happened, but th e rest of m y fini sh es a nd stuff were nothing . like' a fter it happened . Someth ing happened in m y head , a nd I kn ew I co u ld lose everyth ing I'd worked a ll m y life for. I knew it was so me thi ng that H onda d id n ' t rea lly apprecia te, and I j ust trie d 10 make u p for it as good as possible. I d idn 't ge t a lot of bad publ icit y over it: l th in k I handled it well as fa r as the A;\-IA goes. I d id n' t fight with the m over it: I j ust took it a nd d ealt with it, Wh en th e sus pe nsio n wa s over I ca me back a nd did m y besl. " I'd reall y fell bad if I' d never won th e Grand Nati on al Cham p ions hi p after on ly losin g last year by one po int, If I would ha ve never gotte n th e cha mp io ns h ip, I wo u ld ha ve been th inking a bo u t th at a ll m y life. But now since I've gal it , the n la st year was n't so bad." La st year ma y n ot have been bad, b ut th is season has been nearly p erfect for Shobert. H e co ntrolled th e point lead for most o f th e year before los ing it to Doug Chand ler in round 16 a t th e Santa Fe Short T rack. Fo llo wing th e La guna Seca Road Race, which Shobert elec ted to si t o u t, he trai led C ha nd ler by 10 po ints. But th ere was no sig n o f panic a nd th e . following wee k Sh obert wo n th e 13·1h mile o f hi s ca reer a nd never looked back. . " I' d sa w all th e mil es co mi ng up a nd I kn ew th e fa ctory program was go ing to be bett er for th e sch ed u le that was left ," Sh obert sai d. " I kn ew it would be tough for th ose g uys to hav e good bik es a t races lik e th e backto-back mi les a tlndy.1 kn ew I wou ld ha ve a fresh bike for every da y, so I kn ew th at would be a big advantage. The sched u le was reall y in m y favor co m ing down to th e end of th e yea r." Shobert has ow ned th e mile ova ls over th e p a st two yea rs so it wa s fi ttin g th at he wrapped up h is first title a t th e San J ose Mile. H e didn 't win , but still managed to cru ise in for a so lid th ird pl ace o n th e track th at ha s see n h im lake th e checke rs first o n th ree previous occasions . II's no wonder th e m ile s a re Shobert 's favo ri te, " I j ust lik e the miles because so much of th e half m il es we race o n these days, with the excep tion o f Ascot, are narrow grooves a nd th ere' s n ot much pa ssin g ," he sa id , " T he re's no t a whol e 101 of exciteme nt on th e half m iles." Although he excels a t m ile ra cing , no one co u ld acc use Shobert of being one-d ime nsiona l. A win in a h al f mil e n ext yea r w ill put h im wi th th e lik es of o n ly Kenny Roberts a nd Di ck Mann o n th e list o f Grand Slam w in ners, " I wo u ld hav e lik ed 10 have go tte n th a t th e o th er nigh t (a t Ascot ), but hopefully next year I ca n get it. " Shobert said . "The re 's six half miles a yea r so I've got a good cha nce to ge l it next year." Road racing is a n o the r form of th e sport th at Shobert enj oys . H e wa s a surpri se winner a t th e rain-soaked Mid-Ohio Ro ad Ra ce in 1984 a nd . a ltho ugh it doesn't co me as natural for him as pi tching hi s Honda sideways o n th e o va ls, it does present a challenge. With th e AMA sp littin g th e two cha m p io ns h ips in 1986, Sh ob ert will , more th an likel y, not see the pav ement. BUI ma ybe someday. "S ince th ey'r e switch ing it a ll up, m y co ntract wi th H onda will be for th e dirt , a nd in order to road race I woul d p robabl y ha ve to pu t so methi n g together o n m y o wn," Sho bert sa id . " I' d like to rid e a GP bik e, so so meday I'd lik e to do a 250 program o n my o wn if H onda wo u ld agree to so methi ng lik e th a t.Tt's (roa d raci ng) more difficult now in the situa tion th at I have to do it in . Lik e this year it was d ifficult beca use I had a point lead a nd it would be bad n ews to g et hurl ro ad racin g, It cou ld cost me th e cham pions hi p because of lack of experience. " I th ink I co u ld do better at it if I didn 't h ave to worry a bo u t falling down an d gell in g hurt, a nd not being a ble to d irt tra ck . If it was p art of th e w hole deal , I thi n k I would feel more co m fortable with it ." Sh ob ert admi ts th at he may not have been th e fastest guy o n the track a t Mid-Ohio , but a win 's a win . "I 'd seen g uys win ra ces th at I didn 't really think deserved to win," Sh obert said . " I didn 't think they were th e best ride r th ere, but th ey were in th e righ t pl a ce at th e right time and tha t's kinda th e way I felt a t th at ro ad ra ce. I was in th e righ t pl ace a t th e right tim e.' Shobert ru bbed el bows wi th th e 50Dec World Road Racin g Ch ampion as a 12-yea r-old, but Freddie Spencer need no t fear Shobert ta king off for Europe in p urs u it of th e World Championship. " I ra ced in the 125ccGP class wh en I was 12 a nd 13," he said. " In fac t, I race d wit h Spencer in a co up le of cl u b races in Dalla s. BUIeven th en . I wa s not a threa t to h im . I'd o n ly do it twi ce a yea r, so wh en I'd go to th e roa d races I'd forget everyth ing I'd learned from th e one before." Wh en did Shobert reali ze he wanted to be a professional motor cycle race r? " O f co urse wh en yo u 're a kid yo u wa nt to do every th ing you ca n ," he sai d. " It was more or less a dr eam to be a professional motorcycle racer. I wa nted to do it , but I really didn 't know h ow good I wa s. As a Novi ce I done good and I th ought I had a good ch a nce . My dad as ked me whil e I was a Novice if I wanted to co nt in ue . . . h e didn 't kn ow if I ma y have been tired of it , " He th ou gh I I ma y hav e been burn I OUI o n it and wanted to do something else. H e ga ve m e a cha nce to ge t into th e bu siness h e was in , which wa s th e wh o lesal e meal bu sin ess. I thought about it for abou t lWO minutes and sai d, 'Na w, I want to go raci ng ....

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