Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

feel th at I've lost m y agg ressive a tt itude "or th e spa rk tha t mad e me win, People th ou ght I wa s ba ck a t Ga inesville (w h ere J ohn son won both 250cc Na tional mote s after close battl es with team ma te J eff Sta nton), but wh en I got h ur t at Daytona . .. I have a feelin g that a lot of peo p le were saying I cou ldn 't come back from two injuries like that, being out so lon g. I know I can. T he problem is more wit h m y wrist fro m last year than wi th the han d I brok e thi s yea r. T he wri st stiffene d up a lot when I wa s in a cast a nd to brea k it loose is a rea l trea t. So the wrist injury will nev er heal? T h is is a problem, handi cap, I'm going to have to deal with . It 's not goi ng to go awa y. R id in g is th e ha rdest th in g O i l i t. I ca n do e ve ry t h i n g e lse, a ltho ug h I'm not a wi z a t raq uetba ll or tenn is a n ymore. Mot ocross is ha rdes t on th e r ight wr ist becau se o f twisting th e th rottl e at a ll different a ng les, What makes yo u want to co me back? What keeps you motivated? You 've al read y won severa l ch am p ionsh ips and become the winningest superc ross rider. I ha ve to p rove to m yself that I'm not a quitter, I'm sti ll you ng . These a re so me weird th in gs that have ha ppened to me, hu t I still ha ve desi re inside to rare a n d w in . When I co us id er ed n-t ire-ment e-a r lie-r th is yea r I thoug h t then- was no wa y I'd be stro ng enoug h o r p hysi('a ll y a bl e 10 ride th e h ike to ib po u-nt ia l. Bu t wit h th e ma ch ines I'm usin g o n my hand to keep th e swd ling dow n , the pain ou t, d iffere nt medi c ines to k,'ep th e swd li ng down , I ca ll tra in a nd rid,' hard . That 's a ll I m-e-d. I o n ly m-ed m y o wn too ls, I d o n' t n eed a n y t hi n g b eu e r th an a uyo ue elsl'. it will be a boost becau se it's 45-min ute mot os. There's als o a ro u p leof 250cc Na tio na ls a fter th a t, so I co u ld ride th ose a nd it wou ld g ive me a lilli e more in cent ive racing wit h th ose g uys before the 500cc Na tional s start. What makes Unadilla so cha lle ng in g? T he di rt is so (lee I' a nd loa m y a nd unrl'al.lt's alm ostlike a d ream. You' ve got u ph ill s, down h ills, natural j u m ps, bu mps that arc so bi g th at it's lik e a sec tio n of stadiu m jum ps, a nd th ere's to ns of room . If yo u ca n' t pass a t Una d illa , yo u GIIl't pa ss an ywhere. T he lin es are a lways ch a ngin g. T he fa st lin e a lway s ge ts ro ugh , so it goes from ins ide 10 o u tside to far in side to sq ua ri ng o ff th e turns - a ll th is in o ne turn on the sa me da y! Tha t's wh y th e smarter g uys go fast ther e. You ca n' t just be cra zy. You 've go t to be a ble to use th e track 10 its fu llest to W 111. You've been named the new "King of Swim m ing, r id ing bi cycles a nd runni ng. I' ve been do ing weigh ts as much as possible, a lt hough I ca n 't do a lot with m y ha nd but it' s gelli ng to where I ca n do m or e an d more. I' m co m pe ting in a tr iathlon o n J u ne 24, I'm goi ng to do it even if I go out a nd p uk e a n d di e, (j ohnson co m p leted th e m in i-tria tha lo n in less th an two hou rs; th e w in ne r's tim e was I hour, 27 rni nutes.) I' ve been going to a lot o f ca r races. I met Mario Andretri's m anager , a n d R ick Mea rs' crew ch ief treated me well. I went to Montreal , Ca na da , for th e Fo rm u la On e ca r race. I've been a b le to spen d qu alit y t i m e w ith m y g ir lfr ie n d " n d have a been a ble to see m y p arents a Jo t. Th at ' s th e p o s i ti ve thin g s a bo u t bein g o u t. ' Other tha n that I' ve been going co m p letely l1lIl S. I won 't go to th e ra ces becau se I go crazy just wat ching . I 'H£ I walked away from motocross, I'd consider myself leaving (as) a loser." Plus I wa n t to he- th e first guy to go o ut a wi n ner, I don ' t wa n t to drag m v ca rl'er o u t to wlu-n- I loo k bad. TI" u 's wlu-n - I' m a t n ow. If I wa lked aw ay from mo tocross, I'd co nsider m yself leaving (as) a loser. I do n 't wa n t to do that, Wh y make a comeback at Unad illa , what makes it so special? It 's such a good track, I j ust want to race there. Even if it rains, it's still fu n. T he peo p le a re so cha rg ed bac k there, T he who le G P a un osphen-, yo u a lmost fed like you 're in Europe, It j ust sevm s like a na tu ral pro g ression. If I don 't fl'l'l stro ng I' m not goi ng to ride. My major goa l. mort' th an U ua d illa . is to w ill the :,O cc Nati o na l Cha mp ionsh ip. O Wh a t's your stra teg y for th e G P? W ill yo u go o u t 10 win , o r will yo u use th e 45-m in ute moros as a wa y to train for the 500cc Na tional s? It wo u ld be to wi n , I wou ld n 't use it IS tra in ing. EVI' II if I wa s to use th e race as trai ning , maybe o n ly I % o f the .pec ta to rs wou ld -kn ow that, I ca n say it in th e magazin es, o n th e P.A. system , hu t if I go o u t a nd rid e around in fifth i r sixth it look s rid iculous. I'm 1I0t o ing to do a race just to get stro n g. I'll do a local ra ce for train in g , but not one th e level o f U nad illa. T here's 0 0 much a t sta ke. I' ve got m y re puta rio n a nd the re p utatio n o f a ll m y .po nso rs, If I go o u t and lo ok bad , I a ke Honda , J T , Oakl ey, Dunlop he list goes on - look bad, hy not wait until the end of August or the 500cc USGP in California? f I'm stro ng enough to race U nad illa u p to it. If it do esn' t, I ma y ride for a whi le unti l it sta rts to hurt too bad then pull ou t. Any plans to retir e af ter yo ur contract with Honda is up at th e en d of the 1991 season? It dep ends . I' m talk in g wi th Honda right no w o n m y sched u le for next year. We'll ju st ha ve to see where I'm going to race. For su re yo u 'll see me a t t h e s ta rt i n g l i n e at Ana h e im, rega rdl ess. Are you saying there's a possibility you may not race here next year? ' Possibl y, I ca n ' t say a ny th ing yet. We br ought it u p , it 's somet h ing we had been talk in g abou t pri or to th is yea r, b ut th is yea r d idn ' t go as I p la n ne d it. Since yo u've been going to a lot of car races do you have plans to race them when you leave m ot ocr oss? If I do it will be in Euro pe , yo u n eed a sponsor here. Altho ugh it's th e sa me over there, th e to p Formu la 3000 ra cers ca n end u p with a Form u la One ride. It 's no t a lwa ys th a t wa y in th e Indy trai n in g g ro u n ds. , L ast yea r was a tough one with th e wris t inj u ry, Wh at did yo u go through and learn from th e experien ces? La st yea r sta rte d to ugh with th e kn ee inj ury at Kenny Robert s' house. Then I crashe d in the Go ld,'n Stat e Series a nd d ispl aced my pelvi s. Going into th e Ana heim Su percro ss I was rea lly wea k, but I tra in ed a nd go t strong. After w in ni ng every weekend I ma de th e stu p id sta tem ent o f sayi ng th is isn' t true, it's a story boo k. I th in k I sta rted to believe th a t a nd su re cno ug h the wa lls ca me tumbli n g down. W hen all the smo ke clea red, th e Iart tha t I was h u n andwou ld ha ve a rea l hard ti me co m ing ba ck to raci ng , I rea lized th a t racing is a gift. I th ink a lot o f peop le ta ke rac ing , espec ia lly winn in g , for gra n ted . Peo pl e ex pec t to w in a n d if they don 't they th row a fit. I' m gu ilt y of that. I'm a very bad loser. Bu t whe n r wa s hurt a nd it was n ' t ther e a ny more I realized th at raci ng wa s reall y specia l to me a nd I wa rn ed to co me hack a n d race a nd w in for me, not fo r the mo ney. Some times whe n you get the bi g co n trac ts a nd money it sta rts to cloud th e origi na l reaso n yo u began rac ing; beca use yo u lo ve it. Raci ng is the best wa y to ex p ress yo u rself in a ny wa y yo u w.uu . 'H'm a very bad loser.I! Unad illa" by Bob Hannah, Docs that add any pressure of performing for th e fans? Not rea lly. I've son o f goue n over t he num ber o ne phob ia , worryi ng tha t I' m going to lo se it o r so meth ing, It doesn 't mauer wh at yo u have o n yo ur bik e, th e fa stest g uy th a t da y is go ing to be p in -p o in ted . It doesn 't ma ile r if yo u have a number o ne pl a te, it rn au ers who's go ing fa st th a t da y a nd th at 's who ever yo ne wa nt s to beat. But when yo u sta rt a seaso n w it h num ber o ne tha t's wh en th e pr essure mounts. I've learned that it doesn't mailer what ha p pen ed la st week , last year, a n yth in g. It matter s wh a t yo u do today . What ha ve you been doing to keep in shape? wat ched the Charlo tte Su pe rcross o n wh en ! " last n ight a n d I was so mad It was ov er. L ast yea r yo u won at U nad ill a in a co meb ack ride. Wa s that the high point o f yo u r yea r, or was it winning th e first five su pe rcrosse s? Wh en I wo n th e supercrosses I feel I deserved so me of them . Mammo th a nd U nad ill a were d efi n it e ly t h e h igh po int o f last year. You're in the sa m e position again this yea r, What are the sim ila rities? It' s a simi lar situ a tio n since I'm go in g in to th era py wi tho u t rid ing, I th in k I'm goi n g to end u p rid in g sooner tha n I th o ug h t. I m ight even use Mammoth as a trai n ing race, maybe sta rt in th e back a nd pa ss gu ys, if m y hand feel s I learn ed I' m a rac er a t hea rt. I felt , ju st a fter th e inj u ry, th at I was a lillie hi t less of a person , But I lea rn ed it does n ' t mu u er abou t the racing , wh en it co mes dow n to it, it's your frien ds a nd fami ly that rea ll y co u nt. T here are o t hers w ho ' h a ve bee n a lo t less fortu n at e t h a n me, l i ke Dann y Cha nd ler a nd Da vid Ba iley, tha t do n ' t ha ve- a cha nce to co me bac k, a t least no t yet. T hey wer e cu t co ld tu rkey. I rea l ized I lo ve to ra ce h ut I' m no t a lesser perso n wit hout it. You co me 10 find o ut who yo u r fri ends a re, Phon e ge ts rea l q ui et whe n yo u 're no t racing a nd win n ing. To th e peo p le wh o 've wriuen me leuers a n d giv en me encou rage men t. wh ether they adm ire me for m y racin g ab il ity or m y C h rist ia n ity, I wa nt to say thank you . Wi n n in g you sha re wi th everybo dy. I lo ve to see so meo ne who likes to wat ch m e race get cha rged up when I w in . T hey win when I wi n. I' d al so li ke to th an k th e peopl e wh o have stuc k behind me . And for"those who have p us hed me as ide, tried to slide me u nd er th e ca rpe t, ge t ready, be• a use I' m go ing to p u ll th e ca rpet o ut Iro m u nd er the m . Cl'I

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