Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

sor or a ch a i n sp o nsor yo u ' re n ot gettin g th a t much , but over an ent ire sea son , it rea lly adds u p . I th in k th a t wh en ride rs do land a spo ns or , th ey shou ld reall y tr y to tak e care o f th e sp onsor, g ive th em th e best co verage they ca n, a nd p us h the prod uct tha t th ey'r e using and do n 't bad-m ou th it. We hear that yo u ' re organized not only at the track, bu t off the track when it comes to th e bookkeeping end of the sport. How much has that really helped you? It h elps m e at tax time a bi g b un ch . I have always been a real orga n ized person a nd I try to keep everyth in g in its pl ace . Like m y ga rage , I try to keep it cl ean a n d everyth i n g i n its pl ace so I kn ow wh ere everyth ing is. I guess i ts just th e kind o f person I am . I actua lly en joy doing m y bookwork and keep ing tra ck of all th at. I enjoy running speedway as m y bu sines s becau se th at' s all it is. If yo u reall y want to m ak e a true li ving a t i t you have to take a professional look at it and handl e it like a bu siness. You race full time and make a comfortable living doing it. Could you make a comfortable living racing in southern California without your sponsors? Can a rider make it good without a major sponsor? S i x m onths out of th e yea r h e co u ld . I even work during th e winter. I wouldn't have to , bu t I'd go cra zy if I didn't. A rider co u ld make it wi tho u t a m ajor sponsor if h e did it rig h t, but I wouldn't say h e co u ld do it for the whole yea r because speedway is only six m onths o u t o f th e year. I think while h e's raci ng , it co u ld be done. Preventative mainten an ce is a big part of sp eed way , also. Mak ing repairs on yo ur motorcycl e before thin gs br ea k ca n sav e yo u a lo t of money in th e long ru n ,like repl acing a ro d before the rod break s and bl ow s up yo u r whol e en gine . In 1980 you won the first 13 Scratch main events at Costa Mesa; that's a record that nobody is ever likely to top. How did you do it? It sta rts o u t wh en yo u win th e first one, th en th e second. After you win two in a row , you th ink, ' Well , let 's see if we ca n make i t three in a ro w.' After three it go es to four a nd th en you start to get real seriou s a bo u t it and it m eans mu ch m ore to yo u. When you go out th ere , th e onl y th ing you want to do th a t ni ght is win the main event. Th at 's all yo u have o n yo ur mind. How much more pressure did that stack on you? It is pressure but a t th e time I wa s seeing a hy pnotist, I was so mentall y involved . I found out th e o ld reco rd wa s six . My main thing wh en I got to Alan "Crazy" Christian th ree or lo u r wins was to break th a t record o f six. I wa nt ed to wi n seven . I worked rea ll y hard o n it - I work ed h a rd o n m y co nce n tra tio n , on getting th e gat es. Yo u kn o w , at Costa Mesa th e gates are every th ing. I can ' t rea lly exp lai n it no w, bu t I j ust wa nt ed it so bad. T he n I wo u ld win it and thi nk ' O h, boy, I can do it again .' I never tho ugh t it woul d go to 13 , b u t it ju st k e p t h ap p e n in g . I th ink I h a d a n adva n tage over th e oth er g u ys beca use it go t to th e po in t wh er e I wa s gett ing i n to th e m ain event s a nd they were al read y sett li ng for seco nd before th e gate even went up. I think th a t's an advantage that P enhall h ad w hen h e wa s ri di ng . Guys were getting u p a ga i nst Pen h all and th ey figured he a lready had th em beat, so th ey were a lready working on seco nd pl ace before th e gate even went up. When you did it, it was tough because the weekly competition co n sisted of such riders as Mike Bast, Lance King, Gene Woods, and Kelly Moran, who started the yea r here. Also Bruce Penhall and Bobby Schwartz made appearances here duro ing the st reak. And (Den n is) Siga los . So there is no denying that you did it against the best. I did it aga ins t a ll th e bes t. They a ll ca me back . Penhall ca me back a co u p le of times. Sigalos ca me back , I beat th em a ll. I was on my ga me th at year. It ' s just like som e time s yo u h av e g o od night s , yo u have good years. I think it 's a record that n obod y will ever even co me close to . That yea r you wer e the top rider by far. Then, as usual , your National luck struck. What happens to yo u at Nationals? ( L au g h i n g h ard ) Well , I do n ' t kn ow. I wish I kn ew th e a nswer to th at , ma ybe I would ha ve won a National by now. I don 't kn ow wh a t it co m es down to o n th at n ig ht, I j ust reall y don't know any more. I'v e tri ed so man y different a tti tu des. I think last year was my best - I just went th er e like it wa s a ny ot he r nigh t. I didn't m ak e a ny specia l thing o ut of it and I did well , but I had elec trical probl ems with m y bike. I'm really again st National number o ne co m ing down to on e night. I th in k i t sh ou ld be o n over all sea so n p oints. That 's m y p er son al goal, to be th e p o ints ch a m p io n a t th e end o f th e year. Your biggest rival had to have been Mike Bast. In 1980 the two of you actually got into it a couple of times, including that memorable fight on the track at San Bernardino. He quit over a year ago after a battle with Harry Oxley about not trying in Handicap racing. Do you miss the competition against Bast? No . For the past few years you only rode two nights a week . This year you are riding five and you have started going to Ventura again. Why? Well. th e main thing wa s the purse raise tha t I got th ro ugh th e AMA , it reall y h elped . Wh en yo u're ridin g three ni ghts a week an d two of the track s are pa ying more th an double th e purse of the third track i t just isn' t fea sibl e to rid e th e tra ck tha t doesn ' t pa y overage. Wh en yo u th ro w in two more tra cks th at don't pa y o verage a n d yo u get th at bonu s that I g ot from th e AMA for th e m ain event s, it th en mak es it feas ibl e to run a ll th e tra cks . Like I say, m y n u m ber o n e goa l thi s year is to be th e p oin ts cham p io n - I knew I had to ride a ll five tra cks in o rder to do th at. You also switch ed ov er to the Italianmade GM motors for 1985 . At th e start of the season you seemed to have a few problems getting adjusted, then all of th e sudden you started riding .... V .c o .... u o Christian goes inside Rob Pfetzing and Sam Ermolenko on his way to his second Speedway Magazine Cup win at IMS in 1985. like a man possessed. In reality you 've been the most consistent rider on the circuit since th e end of April. How much did the GM have to do with all of this? Well, I think the GM has helped m y en th us ias m fo r ra cin g . I lov e trying new things and a lot of guys sta y away from th em until th ey have been proven by someone el se - I'd rath er be a leader than a follower. That 's wh y I took on th e GM to beg i n with. I reall y lik e th e h o rs epow er, th e pow erband of it - i t's the best spee d wa y en gine I've ever co me across. As in any new engine - Faria had the sa me exac t problem with h is n ew J awa - It tak es a white to sort th ese things o ut. The cha rac teristics o f the ca m a n d ever yth ing are different. It tak es a whil e to sort th e gearing a nd ca m timin g wh en yo u swi tch ma chi nery. T here are a lo t of variabl es to lo ok a t. Befo re th e se a so n eve n s ta rted , I kn ew i t w ould tak e m e abou t six week s to rea lly ge t ro lli ng a n d t h a t 's ju st wh at h app en ed . Reall y, it went as pl anned as far as I was co ncern ed. Th e m ore I ride it (th e GM ) th e mo re enth used I am. I' m m or e en th use d about spe edway ra cing right now than I have been i n th e last two years. What's the major difference between the GM and other speedway bikes, including the Godden which you rode the past three years? T he maj or differen ce between the GM a nd th e G odden is that the GM pu ts out a li ttl e more low-end p ow er. I ca n co m e o ff th e line wi th less rpm a nd it 'll still pull o u t. Horsepower is probabl y one of th e biggest th ings i t just ha s a lot o f horsep ow er a nd th e w id est p ow erband of them all. A Wesl ak e has a lot of low-end but n o top-end. T he Jawa h as n o low-end a n d ha s top-end . Th e Godden was th e best of th e three a t th e ti me, but n ow th e GM h as come a long and i t ha s th e widest pow er band yet. The GM seemed to get you going a lot faster at the Long Beach American Final compared to your previous performances. How much of your improved performance was due to the GM? It's reall y hard to go to Long Beach beca u se m y weight really does gi ve up horsepow er at a big track. T h en these guys co m e back from England with th ese en g ines th at a re just lik e dy n a m i te; th ey're read y to bl ow up a ny tim e. T he en g ines have everyth ing lighten ed i n th em . Th ey a re just full h o rsepow er en g i nes. All I d id wa s fresh en u p m y GM for Long Beach. Know ing th at I had a faster bike helped in m y a tt itu de an d I just g ot o u t of th e g ate better and felt be tte r. U n fort un a tely, we don't get to run th e quarter miles very often . How come you never went to Europe? Well, I a l mos t went to Europe in 1981, ri ght after m y best yea r in 1980. I mad e high d e ma n ds because to move m y famil y there was a lo t harder than to just pack a sui tca se and m ove. I fin all y had one promoter that agreed to every th in g I wanted. Th en a co u p l e of we eks later h e backed o u t o f the wh ol e deal a nd I en d ed up n ot go i ng . Ri ght now I have tw o kids an d a wife. I'm very happy in so u th ern California , a nd I h a ve n o d esire w ha tsoeve r to g o th ere. What would happen if you qualified at the American Final to race in the Overseas Final in England? Would you go or give up your spot? I will cross th at bri dge wh en I co me to it. Compared to a lot of speedway riders you are a giant, at 6·feet tall and 175 pounds. Even though you're giving up as much as 50 pounds against your rivals, you are capable of beating them. Are yo u just that good? On th e sma lle r tr a ck s we h a ve more th an e n o u g h h orsepow er to use. My 'years o f ex perience h elp m e get m y bike working . I work on trying to get th e tracti on to th e ground. If yo u h ad more h orsepow er th an . a nyone else, it wouldn ' t do a n y good if yo u just sa t th er e and spun i t. I work rea II y h ard o n working my bike around trying to get tract ion. That 's why I ca n ge t a way with my size a nd weight on a sm a ller track . •••• Three-time U.S. Open Champion Gene Woods on racing against Alan Christian: " Ala n is about the only gu y I know tha t you ca n pull it down . o n top o f a n d you ca n have him rub wheels on yo u an d yo u can actually trust him. H e's not go in g to run yo u over like most o f th e guys. I would say he is one of th e three you hav e to co ns id er th at ca n beat yo u a t a ny time." •••• How has your size helped you? It seems that you are a lot more durable and seldom get hurt badly enough to miss races like some of the other guys. _ Aga in , I think not ge tti ng inj ur ed is just exp erience. I h ave go tte n to where I ca n look a h ead . I th i n k a lot o f guys i n H andi caps a re mesm eri zed b y th e g uys i n front of th em . All the y're looking at is th e g uy in front o f th em , th ey a ren ' t rea lly looking ah ead a t wha t's go ing on. I try looki ng for h o les wh er ev er I ca n fin d th em a nd I ca n u su all y see a cra sh co m i ng before it ha p p en s and I'm ready fo r it. I have a reputati on for 31

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