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INTERVIEW Dirt tracker Chris Carr
•
es IS
o come
By Do n n Maeda
sk T eam Harl ey-Davidson 's Ch ris
Carr wha t h is worst ra cing
memory is and he'll tell you about
the 1990 Springfield Mile when his
XR 750 suffered a cracked oil tank and
he was bla ck-flagged for spraying oil.
But ask him what h is best racing
memory is, and the quiet Californian
wi ll smi le and say, "That is still to
co me."
Forthe past three years the 23-yearold Californian has fin ished second to
teammate Scott Parker in 'the Grand
Nat ional Championship points chas e.
And each year, Cart has showed steady
signs of improvement.
"In '89, I was sh ut out of the chase
three or four races from the end of the
season," said Carr. " Bu t in '90 I missed
it by only 20 points - the sam e amount
that I lost a t Springfield with that
cracked case."
Last year, Carr ended the season tied
with Parker in points, but was edged
out of the cham p ionsh ip in a tiebreaker (most wins).
" I' ve im p roved every year since I
turned pro, and' guess a tie is as close
as you can possibl y get," mused Carr.
"So, if' can continue tha t trend, there's
only one thing left, right?"
Carr exudes confidence as he speaks
about the upcoming AMA Gra nd
National Championship/Cam el Pro
Series. While one might think that
co ming up short three years in a row
would be overwhelmingly discouraging, Carr is the fir st to disagree - at
least publ icly.
" I' ve never been down to the point
wh ere ' would never want to do it (race)
any more ," said Carr. " I can 't let myself
• dwell o n the mi sfortunes of th e pas t,
I'v e still go t a lot more coming my
way. I've learned som ething new each
year that mak es me a better racer. I'm
happy - I'm making a livin g as a
successfull motorcycle racer."
And that is so meth ing tha t Carr had
p lanned to do from an early age -.When
h e wa s just fi ve years o ld , Ca rr
rem emb er s watching th e Gra n d
Natio na ls held n ea r his n orth ern
Ca liforn ia hom e and knowi ng that
'racing in th em was what he wante d
to do with h is life.
'" rememb er th ink in g, 'I'm going
to do tha t, and ' want to be the Gran d
Natio nal Champion someday,' " Car r
said. "It's been a life-long dr eam for
me, and now I' m living it."
T he realizatio n of Carr's dreams
began in 1986 when he earned a
H arl ey-Davidson support ride. Carr
scored his first National win that year
at the Peoria TT, a nd was rewarded
with a full-factory rid e in 1987.
"T he win didn' t reall y come as a
sur p rise - I kn ew' was goi ng to be
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