Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127215
Interview: 125cc MX National Champi~n' Mike Kiedrowski Nice guy O nce agai n Kiedro wski man aged get some attention fro m the rig ht people, for H onda race team ma nager Da ve Arnold approached h im abo ut a ride at Ponca Ci ty in '88. Kiedro wski wa sn 't sure wha t to do a t firs t. " I kind of heard wha t I'd be getti ng from Ka wasaki , b u t nob od y sa id anything for sure," reca lls Kiedrowski. Arnold kept th e pressu re u p a nd made a proposa l Kied ro wski was happy with, but he had n ' t given u p on Kawasaki yet. "I 'ca lled and ta lked to everyone at Team Green," says Kied ro wsk i. "T hey didn 't kn ow what (Kawasa ki race team manager) Roy T u rne r was going to do, just that he was supposed to ge l a ho ld of me a nd never did. I to ld th em I had been tal king lO Honda to p ut so me pressure on ." A week went by a nd he sti ll hadn 't hea rd a nyt hi ng . One last ca ll wasn 't returned u nt il th e ni ght Kiedrowsk i signed. " Kawasa ki was grea t to me, they were just a li ttle bit slower a nd I had to do some thi ng." Kiedro wski felt th at sign ing with Honda was a turning point in h is raci ng career, even th o ugh it was on ly for a su pport deal. Kiedrowsk i received money fro m H onda a t th e beginn in g of th e season to pa y for ' his expenses a nd to pa y h is mech anic Sha ne Na lley. H e raced basically stock bikes at th e beginn in g o f the season until H onda began supplyi ng him with more works parts as th e season and hi s results p rogr essed. Wh en he sig ned with Honda he deci ded th at racing wa s wh at he rea lly wa nted to do. After fini sh ing high school, he stud ied a t a co mmuni ty co llege near hi s home, bu t to t'S been a dr eam seaso n for 125cc ' Na tional Ch ampion Mik e Kiedrowski. H e al ways dr eam ed o f win ning a Nationaland did just that at the open ing round a t Gainesville, Florida, in Mar ch . He thoug ht that making th e Moto cross des Nati ons team would be a drea m come tr ue. Not o n ly did th e drea m beco me reality whe n he was chosen for the Ameri can tea m as a last-m inute rep lacement, bu t he proved' that he was worthy o f th e positio n wi th a victor y in the l 25cc class. Mike Kiedro wski completed the drea m by win ning the l 25cc Nationa l Cha mpions hip for H onda in the final moto o f th e l 3-race series a t th e Una di lla Spo rts Cente r in New York. II was a n accompl ish ment Kied ro wsk i felt he would achieve a ll along, desp ite the fact that it was his ro ok ie seaso n o n th e Na tio na l circuit. "Througho ut the wh ol e series I felt th at I wo uld win, it was a lways in th e hack of m y head ," Kied row ski said. " I had a lot o f fa ith in m yself a fter Gainesvill e, I felt I had a cha nce. T ha t win b u ilt up m y con fidence .' , Now th a t he's won th e l 25cc National title and been a member o f th e World Championship team a t the Motocross des Nations in West Ge rma ny, many more people will no doub t get to kn ow th e 20-year-o ld H onda rider from Can yon Country, locat ed abo u t 50 mi les northeast o f Los An geles, California, as more than just the fast rid er with the lengthy last name. Although Kiedrowski established himself as an up- I 12 a nd-coming star thi s year, it hasn 't been easy for h im to reac h th e lim eligh t. It seems th a t he's a lways been in a no ther rider 's sha dow . " Whe n I was racing 80s, guys lik e Mike Heal ey, Bo b Moore, Mouse McCo y a nd Edd ie H icks were rac ing a nd th ere was a lot of com pe ti tio n in th e class," says Kiedro wsk i, " I never got noticed tha t much because a lthoug h I was always in the top 10, it was .fifth, sixt h, fourth; right in there. At that time H icks got a ll th e p ublicity and I was n' t noti ced. " Kawasak i paid eno ug h a ttention to gi ve Kiedrowski su pport as a n amateur, a nd a lt hough he wo n severa l major races, o nce again he d idn 't a tt ract a lot of attention. Kiedro wski was a lways battling with Team Green teammat e jeff Matiasevich, yet it was Matiasevich who got the g lory a nd even tua lly the facto ry ride with Kawasaki . Matiasevich a lso kept him out of the spo tlig h t by bea ting him for the 1988 125cc Western Region al Su percross ti tle. " He deserved it just as much as I d id, it just happened th at he got mor e firsts than I d id ," Kiedrowski sa id. " I didn 't get upset, I j ust kept doing what I had to do, " And he kept winning a t th e a mateur level, since his Kaw asaki T eam Green ride didn 't support him for the Nati onals. Kiedro wski won a Iew mor e titl es in '88 a nd raced in fou r l2 5cc National s on hi s o wn, "J us t so that when I did get a cha nce to go I wo u ld n' t be go ing into it wi th out any expe rie nce. It didn 't matter what place I go t, it was j us t to get used to it." qui t after a semes ter to devot e a ll his tim e to racing. The beginning of the year a lso prov ided a nother cruc ia l turning point, one which helped keep him in th e sha do w o f another rider. Kiedrowski brok e his thumb in a preseason race, and instead o f facing Mat iasevich in a rem at ch for the l25cc Western Regi onal Supercross Ch ampionsh ip, he was switch ed to th e later-starting Eas tern Regional series. And Da mon Brad sh aw was the rider ge tting a ll the attention there si nce he was the you ng rookie .who had bea t Rick j ohnson in a postseason supercross in j apan. It was in the Eas tern Regi on al Supercross Ser ies th at Kiedrowski struggled to esta blish him self , to get o ut of Brad sh a w's sha do w. He failed , by one poi III , to surpass rookiesensa tio n Brad sh aw . "Look bac k a t th e first race a nd I got fifth , a nd I never go t a fifth th e wh ole ti me a fter th at ," sa id Kiedrow sk i, " One po int, a ll I had to do was pass o ne rider a nd there it is. I learned a lot by that. " Bu t he d id show everyo ne that he co u ld run wi th, even beat, Bradshaw. T he ir battl es th roughout that series a lso establis hed a someti mes bitter ri val ry betw een th e two racers. " In a ny fo rm of rac ing you will a lways ha ve someone up there raci ng with you," Kiedro wski says. " We seem to a lways be up front battling, and he p rob abl y do esn 't lik e me a nd I don't lik e him because we race. Wh en we're o n th e track we'll tak e eac h o ther out, do wh a tever we have to do to win , th at 's o u r job." Although Kied rowsk i has been tak en o u t wh ile battling with Bradshaw on severa l occa sio ns, he still has some kind words for hi s nem esis. " O ff th e track he's not that bad M ike Kiedrowski (leading) and Damon Bradshaw had many close races throu ghout the season as t hey fought for the 125cc National title.