Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

th at - I know a ll th e pro m ot er s pretty well a nd I don 't think a ny of th em would reall y kee p a rider off just because he has a sti n k. I wa nted to be o n th e co nt ro l board becau se I'm 1I 0 t afra id to go to a ny of t h e p romoters , refe rees o r a nybod y else. I would go to bat for a n y rider w ho wou ld come to me - I rea lly want th e riders to kn o w that. I wish m ore riders wou ld come to me wi th a p roblem ; I want to try to hel p th em o ut w ith it because ther e rea lly is a big (co m m u n ica tio n) ga p . I think th e rid ers are rea lly intimida ted by th e promoters . I want to be th e middle man because I don ' t think the rider wo u ld be af rai d to co me to me. What have yo u acco mpli shed since being o n th e board? We needed a p urse raise, th e purse was n ' t raised fo r 16 yea rs. I went for that th is year and got th a t passed . I got it raised $50 0 - from a $ 1260 bas ic purse to a $ I 760 ba sic purse. T hat reall y helps going to tracks lik e Vent ura a nd Carlsb ad th at don ' t pa y a ny ove rage . You ca n ma ke a lo t m ore mo ney in th e main even ts. l-< V .0 o ..... u o •••• A lan Christian has been on t he southern Cal ifornia speedway circuit for 15 years. Interview: SReedwaJ's Alan Christian Dedicated to the sport By Scott Da lo isio 30 ALan "Crazy" Christian has been com pe ting on t he Calijornia speedw ay circu it f or 15 ye ars, Long er than any o t he r rider. H e is a d ed icat ed professio naL. Dedicated first to h is wife of 10 years. Vi ck y, and h is tw o ch ildren , R ichard and Robert. Second L h e is dedi cated to th e sp ort of speedw ay. y, Don't L k fo r Ch rist ian to show up at any of th e speedw ay parties. W hile oo o the r rid ers are out hav ing a go od tim e, you can usua ll y f in d Christi an in his g arage, prep aring for th e next race. Christ ian is a jull-time racer, and he tak es his racin g se ri o us Ly - ve ry se rio us Ly . And i t p ays of f; C h ris ti an is t h e most cons is ten t rid er on th e so u t he rn Ca Liforn ia ci rcu it, an d at th e ti m e of th is wr it i ng, L eads th e points stan dings in th e area. We caugh t u p w it h " T h e A ssassin" at th e O range Coun ty Fairg ro unds, in Cos ta M esa, Calijo rnia. H e too k the time to give us one of th e m ost ex ten sive interviews o n one of A m erica's all -time great est speedw ay racers. o u t sto p pi n g, even Bast has retired . In fact. h e ret ired o nce in 1980 wh en To every one in so u thern California I had m y winn in g streakgoi ng . th en who follows speedway racing, it seems h e ca me back . I do n' t know o f a ny like yo u ha ve been aro und th e sport body who has run th a t lo n g co ns ecu since its rebirth in the late 1960s. tivel y. Some peo p le say (Mike) C u Actua lly you are onl y 29 yea rs ol d. rosa has been aro und tha t lo n g, but H ow long have yo u been riding h er e he qu it fo r a bo u t th ree yea rs . i n so u ther n C alifornia a nd what At th e present tim e th ere is a defi ni te bro ugh t yo u do wn from th e north? difference in th e ca liber of rider fro m I ca me to so u the rn Ca lifornia in n orthern and sou thern Ca lifo rn ia . 1976. I first mo ved down h ere wh en I Wa s i t th e sam e way when yo u firs t receiv ed a lett er from H arry Ox ley ca me down here? invi ting me to be on the Cost a Mesa It was that wa y a t th a t time. too . In Eag les in team raci ng. I have been 1974, I wo n the cha m p io n sh i p u p h ere ever since. th ere and I rode up there in 1975, but Wh en did yo u r career start in n o rthit had gotten to th e point wh ere I was ern Californ ia? basically unbeatabl e a nd I kn ew tha t In 197 1 I started la te in th e seaso n if I wanted to excel in th e sport o f when I was actua lly o n ly 15 yea rs o ld , speed way I w ou ld h av e to m ov e bu t at tha t time i t was rea l ea sy to do wn h ere a nd ri de ag ain st the best. sig n up . Th ey d idn 't a sk for birth cert ifica tes or a ny th ing a nd there was Yo u h ave raced against a ll the g reats in sou thern Ca liforn ia since yo u no AMA in speed way at th at ti m e. Cou nti ng th a t year, th is will be my ca m e down h ere, inel uding th e Basts, Pen hall, Ferrell, the Mo rans , etc. 15th vear in a row . Nobod y else ca n co m e n ear t ha t H o w do es th e curre nt crop o f riders you are competing against compare strin g rig h t n ow. Nobody has ridden th at lo n g withto those from the o th er years ? ~ I th ink now th ere are mo re to p fast g uys than the re wer e before. Wh en I firs t came to so ut her n C a lifo r n ia the re wer e rea ll y o n ly a handfu l of g uys who co u ld wi n th e mai n s all th e time, li ke the Bast brothers a n d R ick Woods . Now th ere are a lot of g uys who don 't g et recog n i tio n aro u n d here tha t a re rea lly fas t an d are harder than h eck to pass in H andi ca p s. I u sed to do rea lly we ll in H andicaps, bu t any more you just keep up wi th th e pack . T her e is a fin e line between th e wors t guy i n a Fi rst D i visi o n Handicap a nd th e bes t g uy . It ta kes a pretty big mistake nowadays to get by. Wh y is tha t? Is the raci ng m o re professiona l? Do riders tak e i t more serio usly? Th ey pro ba b l y tak e it more serio us ly. H o w m u ch h as the sport ch an ged in the 15 yea rs you've been rid ing? It has go tten bigger a nd we h ave m o re tracks. The bikes are faster a n d p a rts are m ore readil y a va ila ble . T he re are a lot mo re top-caliber riders. The USA ha s really do ne a lo t in th e world - we ' ve run tw o Wo rl d Fin al s now. Befo re g u ys started going to England , this (so u th ern Cal ifornia ) was it. No w th at is someth ing to shoo t for. For so me g u ys that is a goa l. ( You 'v e tried to hel p th e sport of sp eedway in so u th ern Ca lifornia by becoming a membe r of the speedway co n tro l board . Wh y did yo u join? I was o n t h e co n tro l bo a rd o ne o ther ti me a nd I co u ld n ever get a n yth i ng done the n . Basically a lo t of th e riders are rea lly a fra id of the promoter s. Almos t every nigh t, so me bo dy wi ll co me up to me with a problem and they ' ll say , ' Why don ' t yo u go tell th e promoter? ' T hey don ' t want to tell th e promoter because they're a frai d they wo n ' t be o n th e prog ra m a ny m ore. I serious ly don ' t believe Promoter Harr y Oxley on Alan Christian: "Alan is pro ba bly th e ea siest rider we've ever h ad to dea l wi th a t Costa Mesa oth er th an Bru ce P en h all. N obod y is as eas y to get alo ng wi th as Bruce, so being seco nd 111 that k i nd of co m p a n y is ce rta i n ly n o sh am e. Ala n is tota ll y coopera ti ve in every wa y. If we ha ve so meth i ng specia l, Ala n is there to h elp o ut. Alan is a member o f the speedway co n tro l boa rd a nd dona tes a lot of h is ti me to ma ke sure th e ri ders ge t a fai r sha ke all th e way aro u nd as far as th e r u les, payoffs and t ha t so rt of th ing is co ncerned . I don 't th ink a lo t of peop le rea l i ze , si nce Al an is qu ie t a n d doesn 't too t his o wn h orn , h ow much h e does for the other g u y." •••• At th e m idway poin t of th e 1980 sea so n yo u p ic ked u p ST P as a spons or, whic h seem ed to set a n ew tren d in speedway. No longer was th e corner bar good enough to sponsor a rider; everyone started h i tt ing up the big com panies . Ho w d id you g e t in volved wi th STP ? I lucked out with STP . It is th e best th in g tha t ever ha ppened to me. I had a good frie nd at Bell H elmets, wh o is st ill the re , Ed Rothrock . H e broug h t Ri ck Sa lvino (t he so n o f STP Vice P resi de nt Ral p h Sal vino ) to th e races a nd th ey j ust li ked the way I rode and STP wanted to be in vo lved in speedwa y. T h ey a ctu al l y ca m e to m e through Bell H elme ts and wa nted to giv e me products fo r. ru nning th eir patch es. Th at 's h ow it started a nd o ur relationsh ip h as go tte n stronger a n d stronger. It tu rn ed to buy i ng leat h ers a n d j u st went o n a n d on : Now it' s reall y a big th ing for me, a nd a lot of other big spo nsors have j u m p ed into the sport n o w, too . Sponsorshipwise, I th i n k it 's reall y hel ped th e ri ders . Yo u als o have a number o f o ther sp o n sors an d it's a known fac t tha t . you ma rket yo u rself very well . ..... Every spon sor tha t I' ve gouen , I' ve a lways tri ed to stay beh in d . I try to stay wi th a ll o f m y sp o nsors every year becau se the relati onship gets stronger a nd stron ger. You ac tua lly get more product a nd more o u t of it if yo u stay with the m . I kn o w a lot of riders sell prod uct, o r th ey tak e a lot m or e p roduct th an th ey need. I just don 't bel ieve in tha t. I want to promote my sponsors' products th e best I ca n. I al so send ou t a month ly newsle tter to my sponsors to stay in touch a nd tell the m how I have been doing . I do n ' t tr y to tak e, take , ta ke and n ever g i ve . P ro d u c t sponso rs are rea lly good a n d really hel pful. A lo t of pe ople sa y th at with a ca ble spon -

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