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/127528
; INTERVIEW Dirt trackers Steve MoreheadandTerry Poovey e Between them , Steve Morehead (left) an d T erry Poo vey (below) ha ve over 30 years of Nat io nal racing under their helmets. Still slidin' strong By Donn Maeda ver the hill. Don 't say thos e three words aro und Steve Morehead or T erry Poo vey, they'll laugh in yo ur face, At th e " ripe ol d ages" of 36 and 33, respectively, Mor ehead and Poovey cont inue to slide around the flat tracks of Ameri ca jus t as fast, if not faster, than their younger co unterparts. Together, the two riders account for 26 National win s: Morehead 17, Poovey nine, and both feel th at their winni ng day s are far from over. " If I didn 't feel that I was still in th e hunt, I'd reti re," says Mor ehead , a noted hal f mile specialist. "The biggest payday of my life came when I was 35, so why should I qui t now?" At the Hagerstown H alf Mile in 1990, Morehead smoked to wins in both the mai n event and in the $17,500 Camel Challenge. Competing aboard his personal Harley-Davidson XR750 at the Mary land track , Morehead didn 't have to spli t his winnings and headed for th e bank in h is hometown of O 24 Findlay, Oh io, with o ver $20,000 $10,000 for th e Ch allenge win and $4000 for the main event victory, plus $5000 from Harl ey for the Nationa l win and additional fun ds from other contingency sponso rs. Poovey ha sn't won a Nat ional since 1985, but the Euless, T exas, resident feels that he is still one o r the fast est rid ers o n the track, particul arl y at mile and sho rt track events . " I grew up racing sho rt track, that was the big thi ng wh ere I lived. My big goa l whe n I started racing was to be a good short tracker," said Poovey. " I like the miles a lo t, too; you have a lot of tim e and th in gs happen real slow. You can rea lly thi nk about wha t yo u 're doing and set som eone up. " Whi le Moreh ead 's fond est racin g memory is hi s high-dollar day a t Hagerstown , Poo vey regards hi s 1983 win at the Houston Astrodome Short Track as the hig hligh t of his 16-year career. " I tried for so lon g to win tha t race , and I finally did it," the Texan said with a smile. " It was a hometown win, and at the time the Astro dome was th e race to win." Poovey's Astrodom e win came when he was a member of the first factory Hon da di rt track team. Oddly eno ugh , it would al so be his on ly Nat ional win as a mem ber of the team. " T he fir st Hondas weren't very competitive," said Poovey. " We had a lot of mech anical problems that held us back." Poo vey returned in 1984 on a privateer H a rl ey-D avidson , and pro ceeded to add two mor e National wins to his list of acco m p lishments over th e next two years before returnin g to a Honda RS750 in 1986. "The Hon das go t reall y compe titive after a seaso n or so," sai d Poovey. " Once I got back on one, I fell in love." In 1991, Poovey had a 10-race stint ab oard a Harley-Davidson, bu t after turning i n less-th a n -sp ectacular resu lts, jumped back o n hi s famili ar Ho nda, "T ha t killed this year for me," sai d Poovey. " I just cou ldn't readapt. Wh at is it they say - you can 't teach an old -log new tricks?"