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/127251
~ BEIDND THE SCENES Comerworkers at Daytona e The show must go on By Tom R o m a n Photos by Steve H egg f you've ever been to the th eater for a pla y or concert, perhaps you've wondered about th e beh ind-th escen es goings -on. Curtains rising and fallin g, lights changing colors, scenery m ov in g to and fro - th e show cou ldn't go on w ithout th e stagehands. In th is respect , m ot or cycl e road racing is m uch th e same . Only the dedicated grou p of individ uals w ho make it all possible (and safer as well), go by a differen t name - corne rwork ers. We th ought it would be interestin g to tak e you to Daytona Internat ional Speedway for a behind-th e-scenes look at Cycle Week '89 f rom th e edge of th e track. The usu al daily ro u tine for th e corne rworkers was to meet next to th e tum o ne sco ring to wer a round 7:00 a. rn., wh ere we would consu me so me donu ts and coffee while reviewing the fla g gin g , rad io a nd bik e pi ck-up p roced ures . We'd a lso di scuss a ny inc idents [rom th e pr eviou s day if th ere was a q uesti on th at things cou ld have been handled bett er. Finally, we'd find o u t wh at tu rn we ' were to work th at day a nd head o u t to o ur sta tio ns. After th e o n-track ac tivities were o ver, we wo uld again meet a t th e sa me pl ace to turn in o u r radio s a nd £lag s, and pr oceed to swa p sto ries o f what happened th at day in o u r respecti ve turns. H ow ever, since I shared a mob ile home du rin g th e week with Roger . Lyle. presid ent o f th e Mid -Atlantic Roadracing Club (MAR RC), I was exposed to a nd was part of many duties th at took pl ace prior to 7:00 a. m. a nd after th e track closed at 6:30 p.m. T he da il y routine [or u s went some th ing lik e this: Up a t 5:30 a. rn.; I 26 breakfast at th e Steak & Sh ak e; sto p at Kri spy Krem e to bu y anywh ere from three- to eig h t-dozen donuts [or the workers; a nd fina ll y, show up at th e track [or th e 7:00 a. rn. meeting. Prepa ri ng a nd orga n izing th e safety crew req uired so much work behind th e scenes th at ac tua lly working a co rner during th e practice sessio ns a nd ra ces seemed Iike a break . Sin ce Daytona is on e o f th e biggest motorcycle even ts in the world, attractin g racers from all across th e nation a nd so me [rom overseas, co rne rwo rkers are drawn from many pans of th e co u n t ry a s well. Th e cr e w had members o f th e U.S. Marshals [rom th e • Ne w Engl and area, mem bers o f th e Mid-At lantic Road racin g Club safety crew [rom th e Wash in gton D.C. a rea, peop le who work races in Georgi a, North Ca ro lina a nd Florida, a nd a grou p of stude nts fro m Da ytona' s Ameri can Motorcycle Institu te (ma ny o f wh om had never worked as corne rworkers before, but now have the itch to locat e th eir loca l race track back ho me). The work force manning the 10 corn er sta tions ra nged [ro m 25 workers o n the mid-week da ys (when (he AMI