Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

For eight yea rs Jim Felt has been O'Mara's mechanic . and he's so important to O'Mara that he subsidizes half of Felt's yearly salary, skin off his face, arms a n d legs, Then a nother for cef u l b lo w was st ruck: David Bail ey was p a ral yzed from the chest down wh ile p ract icing a t a local race i n Cali fornia o n j anua ry II , 1987, . " Yo u ca n't imagine h ow m uch I mi ssed b ein g at .th e r a ces w ith David," said O ' Ma ra , " My li fe is different with out Da vid. We h ad such a great co mbina tio n o f train ing a nd riding together. Racing is still the sa me, bu t it will n ever be as much fun without him. lrniss the g uy like he was m y wife, We were su ch a team, That's the biggest drawback a bo u t motocr oss, is not ha ving Da vid. I know his h eart is a lways o ut there for m e, and I thin k abou t him a lo t, but until I'm done ra cing we won' t have m uc h time togeth er. " We both lo ve Nevada , u p n ear T ahoe, so we're both hoping to en d up the re. We'll talk a bou t the o ld times - th e fun times - things we ca n always share. A lo t o f peop le aren 't fortu nate enough to hav e the memories we d o. Right now I have to race, a nd David ca n ' t g ive u p . When I retire h e'll be o n h is fee t, and we'll be able to do so me m ore things a n d m ake m ore good times." Da vid Ba il ey has re ta in ed h is h opes of walking again, yet each da y offers restr ictions that tax h is will to succeed. The mental focus that took him to three Nationa l cham p io nsh ips is sti ll evident, but the ra tionale to p us h ahead is sometimes wea k. A co ndo i n Key Biscayne, Florida, is .currently " h o me" to Da vid, h is w ife G ina, a n d son Shau n . H e is curren tly u n dergoing re habilitation a t th e Miami I nstitu te, a high ly p ro g r essi ve cen te r fo r para l yzed ath letes a n d o ther u nique pa tients. Thoug h so me may co ns ider it the next closes t thing to hea ven, southern Florida h asn 't tota ll y impressed Bai ley. "Sure, it's great, but no t w he n I h a ve to sit i n th is chair a n d wa tch everyone else run, bi cycle a nd swim," ex p la ined David ov er dinner a t a local Ital ia n ea tery. True to Bailey form , h e insis ted we ' " ro ll " to the resta u ra nt; a four-b lock jaunt from h is co n do. T hough he's curren tly relegated to a wheelchair, Bail ey h as adapted to the fu ll est point possible. j ohnny O'Mara is o ne o f Bai ley's fa vorite subjects, as many o f his fon dest memori es c enter around h is years at H onda w hen O 'M ara was p resent. " We'd do anything to get in som e train ing, " said D a vid . " W h en we li ved in Simi (Va lle y, Califo rnia) there was a p ublic golf - co urse th ree miles from the house. We'd put a few clubs i n o ur ba gs, and run all the way the re! Wh en a guy mi ssed a p utt he was supposed , to do push-ups, b ut we a lways d id them toge ther a n yway. You n ever wan ted the other g u y to get too ' far a he ad. "The thing 'th a t reall y m atters a bout j ohnny is that h is perso nali ty has n ever ch a n ged. H e's a lways been th e sa me g uy, th rou gh h is entire career. H e m a y see m qu ie t a n d introverted , but there a re things that bo the r hi m . I remembe r when th e rad io a ds for Supercr oss weren 't in cl u d in g his name a nym ore. H e d id n 't say a nyth ing, but I kno w it hurt . " j o h n ny has had more problems than anyone even knows. In '88, he ' wa s ge tti ng in jections under h is kn ee so he co u ld rid e, a nd the pain was so bad he a lmos t got addicted to Va liu m. H e'll do wh a tever it ta kes to win. H e'd hem orrhage a nd d ie before h e'd give up, and th at's why life h as been so ro ugh o n h im th e past two years." Bailey understands th e odds a re still stacked agains t O 'M ara , a nd h e's realisti c about the o u tco me. " j o h n n y really had something to p rove when he wen t to Suzuki, but the bikes wer e clea rly inferior. Suzuki worked h ard to co me u p with com petit ive equipm ent, a nd I sti ll believe tha t johnny • is technically the fastest supercross ri der. Eve ry th ing n o w is based o n whether he ca n overcome tha t li ttle barrier o n the inside, the o ne that kee ps yo u fro m winning." R ace a fter race, th er e's a nother fac tor tha t p lays heavi ly on the . O' Mara p syche. j im Felt a nd O 'Mara have been a tuner I rider team fo r ei g h t yea rs - th e m ost en d uri ng rela tio n sh ip in the spo rt today, In ' fac t, O 'M a ra subsidizes half of Felt's yea r ly sa la ry, match ing the reported .$25,000 Suzu ki pays its mechanics . Felt, married and the fa ther of two , serv es as m ento r, tutor, and sometim es ba by-si tter to O' Mara's whacky a ntics. Asi de from th e lau gh s, th er e a re many somber moments. ' " joh n n y a nd I talk abou t Dav id a lot, a n d I know johnny doesn' t want to en d up like that," said Felt. " David's accident had a bi g effect o n j o h n n y, and he j ust doesn't sti ck his . neck o u t like he u sed to . David and j ohnny used to pull off some crazy stuf f w h en th e y pra ct iced , a n d johnny doesn 't do that anymore. T o be a ch a m pion , yo u h ave to take ch a n ces when yo u practi ce. Then, it bec o mes autom ati c in r a ce si tuations. "What's reallv li t the fir e under j ohnn y th is year is a ll the bad things peo p le have sa id ab out him . H e's tired o f he aring i t. j ohnny talks to Scott Molina (win ne r o f the 1988 Iron m a n Triathl on ) a lo t. H e knows Mol ina got burned out o n what pe o ple said a bo u t him, but he ca me back. j ohnny wants to be the nice g uy, and he wants everyone to l ike h im , b ut he doesn't wa nt to do th e interview stu ff. H e's recl us ive, a nd o n l y rea ds th e bad stu ff a nd lis tens to th e bad idea s people p la n t in his h ead," ex p la ine d Fel t. " I reall y beli eve I give a lot to the spectators," co u nt ered O ' Mara , "I stic k arou nd the races lo nger than a lo t o f r iders, an d I don ' t ca tc h th e first flig h t O U I of to wn . T ha t's w h y I have so ma ny fa n s, even thou g h I haven 't been wi n ni ng. Wh erever I go arou nd th e co u n try . I sti ll have a lo t o f fo ll owers. I make a bi g effor t for myself a n d for Suzu ki. T he PR department a t Suzuki makes it a lot easier. If I haw a n a p pea ra n ce, the dea ler p icks me u p at th e a irport o r hot el. " Publ ic re lat io ns .p r o j ec t s a re importa nt , but Felt is con fiden t a bout O'M a ra 's mechani ca l ed ge in 1989, " A big ch a nge is that fina ll y the eq u ip me nt is rea lly good, We ha ven ' t had a ny hel p , a nd d id a lo t of th e tes ti ng o n o ur o wn. We've bee n o ut a l most e very d a y si nce th e Natio na ls en ded last year. ' A 101 of what we've done has bee n o ur o wn id eas. Su zu ki h as given us the st u ff, bu t in mos t cases we' ve g iven 'em th e id ea s. j ohnny, Bob (Ha n n a h ) a nd m yself, we've all put in a little bit. We p us hed for Showa suspensio n, a nd Suzu ki d id n ' t want to g ive it to the team g uys a t fir st. Now R onnie (T ic he nor) is using it, and , h e's doin g great. "joh n ny has rea lly wa nted to wi n si nce h e left H onda , but everyth ing has been so wrong. His dad d ied , h is bicycl e accident, his best frie nd d ied , and o n top of a ll th at the bike wa s terrible. " O u r relations h ip is gett ing bener .. I' m rea lly hard o n j ohnny; a nd I kno w he doesn ' t li ke . it , but I want to win as much as he does. We're to ge th er everyday . Ev en if we 're fighting or a rgu ing o ver ra cing , we don't let it bo th er our rela tions h ip ." Each race is im porta nt, but th e bo ttom line is champio nsh ips, and a p otent ial d eal for 1990 . Felt 's opin io n? "It doesn ' t loo k good for ei th er one of us . H e h as i t in him , a nd if he won we 'd p robabl y have a dea l n ext year. It 's a strange feel in g. We both know it 's th e third year a nd we ha ve to prod uce. It's to ugh to beat th e people w ho ca n sna p th eir fin ger s and ge t the parts they need (i.e. Honda), but we 're close. If joh nny is going to beat R ick y, it has to be soon , before his morale drops." O n Suzu ki 's si de, t here are o p tions, but the requirements a re sti ff. "Heck vea h , if O 'Mara beats j o hnso n , we'll be In ter es ted in hi m ," 'said Pa t Alexa nder, tea m ma nager for Suzu ki. "Every rider 's m ission is to bea t R ick j ohnso n . T h e era of b ig co n tracts isn ' t over yet. If yo u ri de ' co ns isten t a nd win , you 'U be the top g uy a t Suzu ki." O ' Mara relucta n tly we n t o n th e record for th is intervi ew . H e was u nha p p y wit h a piece I h ad writt en for the AMA's Amer ica n Mo to rcycli st m agazin e, regard ing negati ve feelings ' to wa rds O 'Ma ra fro m his Suzu ki tea m ma tes. " It hu rts m e when a wr i ter m akes a co m ment I don 't really respect, a nd wh en I fee l th ey don 't h ave th e judgem ent to ma ke th eir s ta te m ents," sai d O ' Ma ra , "Th en abou t 'a hal f hou r later I turn it arou nd, a nd I remember th a t I'm in th is for m yself. I'm going to show ever ybody. I'm sti ll th e guy to do it. I' ve basica ll y gone th roug h hell for two years with a sw it ch to Su zuki , and a kn ee t ha t just d id n 't coopera te. Peop le don' t know w hat I had to do on a wee kly basis j ust to be a t th e ra ces. " I wasn't co mfortabl e o n Suzuk is. I'm n o t p u tt ing an yth ing against Suzu ki , but th ey hav e the ir th oughts o n ho w to make a bike, and I h ad to ch a n ge my sty Ie beca use o f it . I do believe tha t now the bik e is to the point I ca n ha n g it o u t that little ex tra bit to race with j o h n so n . I'm ge tti ng a ll my inj uries behind m e, a n d I ha ve my atti tude back whe re I wa nt to be the best. T he hard . ch a rgi n g j o h n n y 0 ' is back in me. I lov e ra ci ng a nd I'm ha vi ng ' fu n ' aga in "Fi~ancia lly ,~ I co u ld retire and live on in vestm ents, but I' m not sa tisfied. I still wan t to go o u t a winner. I know th a t I tr ain more tha n anyone out th ere, a nd I'm str o n ge r than I wa s at 21. I know I'm a better , rider tha n I eve r was. If I don't get hurt I ha ve another two years left in . m e. I' m still o ne o f th e few elite g uys who ca n bea t johnson. I have it in m y mind, I know wha t it tak es. My a tti tude is p ositi ve. I hav en 't led races in th ree years, but it's ' all co rn ing back to me. "I'm giving it everyth ing I have in '89 . I' m on ly worried a bo u t a co uple of guys - th e ones who ca n win, I'm going to have fun a n d stay , lo ose, 'a n d I'm going to be o n top. If I co n tin ue to rid e stro ng a ll yea r, I' ll ge t another factory r ide. P eo pl e know that j oh nn y 0' is sti ll in th e hu nt. " - David Bailey (right) and O'Mara are close friends. and sin ce Bai ley was paralyzed in a crash in 1987. racing hasn't been the sam e for O ~Mara.

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