Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTERVIEW MotoaomJohnDowd ~ One pumped privateer 0') - By Nate Rauba Photo by Pierre Catellier t' s been more man a mon th since J ohn Dowd slithered through the mud to victory in the Hangtown 250cc Natio nal. It would be difficu lt to for get th e privateer 's ride on that rai ny March Sunday, especially since he passed two-tim e World Ch ampion J ean-M ichel Bayle for th e lead not once, but twice after falling, to earn the victory. Since that time four rounds of the Camel Supercross Series hav e been run , but it would be easy to forget Dowd since there has been no trace of the 25-year-old from Chicopee, Massachusetts. His name hasn 't even been mentioned, so it might be easy for the New Englander to slip into a mere memory. But when the 250cc National Ch ampionship MX Series resumes on May 26 in M t, Morris, Pennsylvania, Dowd will be back trying to knock off th e facto ry stars once again , dr iven by his o wn mem ory of Hangtown, I ***** 22 Now that you've had some time to mink about the Hangtown victory, how does it feel? I'm rea lly happy. The mud had a lot to do wi th the way things turned out, but it still gets me ps yched for th e rest of the seaso n. It gi ves me a good head start in me points . I'm just pumped up for the next five National s. I want to giv e it a shot and see wha t I can come u p with in the series. I'm tryin g to take ad vantage of it as much as I ' can . It 's not too often th at th is happens! Have you been able to take advantage of the win by gaining more support? Not really. All my sponsors a re really happy with me. I've got so me things in th e works. Who supports your effort? Park way Cycles in Everett, Massachusetts, wh ich is a pr ett y big sho p ' here in the New En gl and area . There's actually four shops run by the sa me famil y, a nd th ey deal with all four J apanese brands. There's also Dunlop, Answer, Si l ko le ne, Alu mi li te, I' m dealing wit h FMF th is year, Scott, Shoei, Acerbis, Factory Co nnection, Artco, wh o does my helmets, Sunsta r and RK Chai n. I just starte d ge tting su p port from DeVol Racing, a nd Boyesen helps me a lot. Has the Hangtown win psyched .yo u up enough to beat the factory riders again? Yes, it gives me co nf idence. I' m su re the mud had a lot to do wi th how well I d id. It j ust proves th at everybody out there is still human. I'm reall y looking forward to tryi ng to beat some more of those guys . At the opening National in Gainesville, Florida, you . battled with Bradshaw. Actually I was battling Larry Brooks through the whole first rnot o. I was behind him a nd just cou ld n 't get by him. We had a wicked dice for the second half of me race. With us two pushin g like that we ca ugh t up to Bradshaw . That was surp rising to me. In 1989 you finished third overall at Southwick as well , so you have proven mat you can run with me top riders. Are the factory riders that much better, out of reach of the privateers? What does it take to beat them? Factory ri ders a re paid to be in shape, ride an d practice all the tim e so tha t they 're a t m e top of their game. They get out there a nd j ust hammer most of th e ti me a nd do n 't slow down much. I work d uring the week at a co nstructio n com pany o wned by a frie nd. H e gives me me tim e off I need to go to faraway races. What do you do in your job? I drive the big dump tru cks , bulldozers, stuff like that. The guys o n tractors at me races building the tra cks, moving mud out of the way, that's what I do all week long. So you work five days'a week like most people. Us ua lly I work four days a week because I usually take Mondays off to relax, clean up all my gear and -go through my bikes. When do you have time to practice? I u su ally ride a fte r work. In the sum mer it 's not too bad. I'll work until abo ut five, and it doesn 't get dark until eigh t o r nine. I do mat about two or three tim es a week. I lik e ri di ng and do n't do m uch tra ining. Do you have your own track? We're not too bad here. There're about four or five different tra cks mat are close to home. The mud experience got you through Hangtown. Do you ride in the mud a lot in New England? Whenever it rains on the National tra cks, they immediately bring in the 'dozers to clean the mess out. When it rains in New England and there're puddles and big mud holes, they just stay there and we race through them, no matter wh at it comes out to be. Maybe mat's part of it. Whatever happens to the track, we just ride it. So that helped you get through the streams and mud at Hangtown. Yes. I don't know how me other guys feel, but it seemed like a lot of riders didn't want to ride in the mud. A lot wanted the event cancelled. The mud kills yo ur bike, which isn't good for me since I only have one Honda CR250 right now. As far as act ually riding in me mud it 's kind of nea t. . A lot of people didn't even fin ish at Hangtown, but my bike did. My mechanic Brian Berry, who lives in the ' -town next to me, kept the water from getting into the bike. Half the credit goes to him. A lot of those factory guys would've fin ished if their bikes hadn't died. I had so much to do when I got home. The chain and sprockets were . gone, both sets of brakes were gone, both fork seals were blown, me suspension linkage was full of junk and rusted. I was at the races here the next weekend and was still doing stuff to it that morning. How did you feel that day when the factory riders were trying to get the race cancelled- Did you want to ride or have the event cancelled? I had two different feelings. I wouldn 't have been too upset if they cancelled because I only have one bike and knew it would get thrashed. But then again, I travelled all the way out there for that one race , so I wanted to race. I didn 't want to have come for nothing. It worked out good. Do you drive to all the races? Yes, Brian and I do all the driving. We figure it's an opportunity to see the country. I wouldn 't see half the places we go if it wasn 't for racing. I kind of like it. Since you ride a Honda, did anybody from the factory team approach you afterwards? I was co ngratu la ted by Team Managers Dave Arnold and Roger DeCoster. That's was about it. It was really a lousy day since it was cold and raining, so nobody wanted to hang around after the race. I was parked all the way outside the pits and Arnold made his way out there after the race to congratulate me. You plan to compete in the National Championship 250cc MX Series. but how about the Camel Supercross Series? You got the big win, yet you haven't been to any of the supercrosses that followed. What are your plans? . I don 't seem to do as well at supercross. I like it , but mere's a lot of traveling involved. The deal I have with Parkwa y Cycl es commits me to the New England Championship. I'm trying to go out and do the 250cc Nationals for m yself, and at the same time I have to compete here and keep my sponsor happy. They have given me a bike. parts and stuff. But I ride best outdoors. Can you make more money racing in New England than you could as a privateer racing in the Camel Super. cross Series? If I have good day in New England, and a good day, for me, at a supercross, I can make as much or more in New England and I have far less traveling expenses. Plus I could be taking care of what could be a big parts bill with Parkway Cycles. I have to draw the line somewhere, and it ended up being supercross, Are you making money racing as a privateer. breaking even or losing money? I'm doing alright. At the moment it 's kind of tough because I haven't seen any contingency money from my wins in me Florida Winter-AMA Series, and I've got quite a bit built up. It 's the

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