Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTERVIEW Motocrosser BrianSwiok !H ot ....----~ property ~ 1""""1 By Nate Rauba lot of people have been talking to Brian Swink lately, but they 're not ta lking about it. Th e l 8-year -ol d l 25cc Eastern Regiona l Supercross Ch amp ion has no doubt been a hot topic of conversation among the factory MX team managers, and for good reaso n. Swink do minated the 125cc Eastern Regiona l Supercross Series, winni ng five of the I I rounds aboa rd his Peak Antifreeze and Pro Circuit-backed Honda. He a lso wo n t he Mt. Mo rris l 25cc National and was in contention for the 125cc title until a string of poor finishes cos t him valuable points. He did a ll this in h is rookie season, making him on e of th e hottest prospects for the '92 seaso n. . " Most of the guys (teams) have been tal king to me," said Swink at the Wash ougal National. Reportedly, Team Suzuki did the sweetest talki ng , as wo rd has it that he 'll defend his St.percross ti tle and go aft er the 125cc National Championship aboard th e marque 's yellow and white bikes. But Swi nk won 't tal k about his future plans, and neither will Suzuki. Honda MX Team Manager Dave Arn old was th e only one wh o wou ld say anything on the mat ter as he lamented Honda 's fai lure to retain Swink, who he regards as a future star. Bein g a h o t prospect ca n be extreme ly flattering, but it al so has its drawbacks.- A '0 had a yearjust to think about what I reallywanted to doJ' '0 don't want to make the wrong decision and have a bad year ruin me." 20 "It's tough," says Swink. " I don't want to make th e wrong decision and have a bad year ruin me." . Swink has already endured one very bad year tha t wou ld ha ve di scouraged all but the toughest of co m pe ti tors . That year was 1988, wh en he broke hi s leg just aft er he moved up from a minicycle to l25cc machinery. Swink had en joy ed a highl ysuccessful run in the mini ranks , although in his first few races aboard a 60cc machine at such p laces ' as Brigh ton and Mu stan g Acres near his h o m eto wn of Fen to n , Mich ig an , Swink sai d, "I got smoked." Success didn 't come until h e moved up to a single-shoc k Yam ah a. Only th en , Swin k says, did he begin to finis h in th e top five at the local races. He ventured sou th to the AMA Amateur Nati onal Championships at "Loretta Lynn's Ran ch in T en nessee where, he says, " I fin ished around 20th ." But Swin k kept going back to Ten nessee, plus he was befri ended by a family in Florida and wo ul d stay wit h them to race through the winter. Wit h sup port from his paren ts (h is father works for General Motors and H e didn 't race aga in until the begi nning of 1990, and the time off was hard on the young racer. " I watched all the guys I grew u p with, and beat , start riding the Pro class and doing well ," Swink said. " I was getting pretty bummed, I wanted to race. " Two of th e rid ers Swink refers to' were Buddy Antunez, who spli t 85cc National Amateur titles with Swi nk in '88, and J eromy Bueh l. Bo th ended uP J with Suzuki factory support while Swink was injured. Buehl was one of l Swi nk 's teammates on the Peak/Pro Circuit Honda team this season, an d' Swin k ended up beating him for th 1991 125cc Eastern Regional Super) t cross Championship. T here were some positive sides to Swi n k's year-and-a-half lon g layoff. It gave him one las t cha nce to experience normal life as a teenager. It was ant ex perience he didn 't particu larl y seem to enjoy. " I just went o u t with friends ," says Swink. No t tha t he doesn ' t li ke bein g ' with hi s friends wh en he gets some tim e off, bu t he go t bored "going to I th e same p laces every nig ht. " Swi nk h a d watche d hi s older bro th er, wh om he says was a good local Expert class rider, lose interest in racin g after he broke a leg and became mor e interested in socializing wi th his fri ends than raci ng . h is mo th er is a waitress), Swi n k foll owed the amateur circuit and his fini shes improved each year until he earned support from Kawasaki Tea m Gr een . Swi nk rewarded Kawa saki with severa l titles from the AMA Amateur National Championships in T ennessee, the NMA Grand National Championshi ps in Oklahoma and Wor ld Mini G ra nd Prix in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as th e G NC Intern ation al Mo tocross Final s which are held each . sp ring in T exas. In 1988, Swink grew too large for th e min i bikes, but befor e he mo ved up he earned o ne more titl e and posted a runner-up fini sh at the AMA Amateur National Championships, plus a pair of class tit les' from the NMA Grand Nat io na l Championsh ips. With th e ama teur racing seaso n compl ete at the end of August, he began practicing o n a 125. " I rode for abo ut a month and brok e my leg," said Swink, wh o fractured his left femur, the thigh bone and th e lar gest bon e in the human bod y. " I was at a loca l race , h it a jump and it kicked me over the bar s." 'H watched all the guys I grew up with, and beat, start riding the Pro class and doing well." Swink underwen t surgery to hav e a sta inless steel rod inserted to su pport the heal ing bone, wh ich kep t h im out of action for six months. After ano ther opera tio n to remove the ro d, Swi nk says his doctor 'cleared him to begin rid in g again. But in his first race after tha t second surgery, di sast er stru ck aga in . " I just put my foot ou t go ing into a turn , started slidi ng and it broke aga in," Swink reca lls. T he layoff also gave him ti me to' . think about h is future. " I had a year ju st to think abo u r? wh at I reall y wa nte d to do," said Swink. " Motocross is not someth ing' you can do your wh ol e life, so you ei ther do it o r you don't. I was th inking th e whol e time a bo u t a career in motocross; I wanted to come back and be good." Fir st he had to overcome th e fear of breaking the leg a third tim e. " For a co up le of months I was a little shaky," admits Swin k. " I was scared to put it o ut go ing into corn ers. Bu t I started getting con fidence after I took a coup le of hard fall s and realiz ed it wasn 't going to break." Swink quit sch ool halfway thro ug h the l l th grade a t the beginning of his comeback in early 1990. " I figured I'd do it in mot ocross no w, I can always' go ba ck to 'schoo l. I can 't go back and be young again," he explained. • Once ag ai n, Sw ink to re up th e co m peti tio n a t th e major amateur events, o nly this time in th e 125 and 250cc A classes. He kept his am ateur status in order to build confidence and regain his physical condition ing, and scored more wins at the AMA Amateur National Championships before he Iel t he was read y to compete in the 125cc Nationa ls. Five-tim e 500cc Wor ld Cha mpio n Roger DeCoster, now a cons ulta nt to American Honda, seemed to feel that Swink was read y as well. The two talked at Loretta Lynn 's and laid th e groundwork wh ich saw Swink join th e Peak -backed Honda team for th e 1991 season. He didn' t disappoi nt anyo ne. and wo n th e 125cc Eastern Regional Supercr oss title, despite beginning the season wi th littl e su p erc ro ss experience. " I rod e a few amateur. supercross events and two supe rcross races in Eu rope during the winter, tha t was it," sa ys Swink. " I h ad no prob lems ada p ting to supercross; anybody wh o I

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