Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

After qual ifying second for the 250cc race at Daytona, Edwards was confident of hi s cha nces of winning h is first ra ce as a professional. He has an air a nything. Well , I learned that a co u ple of my lines may be a little qu icker. O ur ti mes were about equal , so we must be doi ng close to the same th ing." Edwards isn't the only newcomer with a bright future. Kenny Rob erts, Jr. will also contest both th e AMA a nd WERA 250cc clas ses this year. Rob er ts qualified sixth and finish ed th ird a t Daytona. Comparisons between the two are sure to co me. " Ken n y' s a great guy," Ed wards said. " I met him for th e first time a t Daytona. We seem a lot a lik e. We're both enth usiastic about our racing. I last Nov ember, Ed war ds was nothi ng but impressive. Bu t he quickl y rea lized that racing at this level was a bit different fro m ra cing as a Novice. "My dad has always sai d th at I ride as fast as I have to rid e," Edwards said. " I had pole position for a long time a nd th en Chris (D'Alu isio) jumped up the re a nd (jim m y) Filice jumped up there. I ended up sixth in qualifying. After th a t I kn ew that it was quite po ssib le to do so me th ing good there in th e ra ce. "That tra ck is so identical to O ak Hill , the track I grew up on. It 's the bike is mo ving arou nd a nd ge tti ng ' sideways th at's whe re I'm com forta ble - that probably comes from m y motocross background." The man he looks up to most also knows how to p ush the lim its - Kevin Schwantz. And he was the last Texan to make a name for himself in AMA road ra cing before go ing on to a highly successfu l career in ' 500c Grand Prix ra cing. " I have abo u t 10 GP tapes that I watch co nsta n tly, but I look up to (Kevin ) Schwanu more than an ybody else," Ed wa rds sai d . "( Fr ed d i e) of confidence that can be mistaken for cockiness. Bu t, according to h is father: " He's not a cocky kid. He just has ' co nfidence in his abili ty, and he goes out and backs up everything he says on the race track." H e was n't shy in stating his p rerace p lan at Daytona. H e hoped to get t he h ol es hot, tak e his tea mma te D'Al uisio wi th him, a nd p ull a way fro m th e pack. And, j ust like his dad said, th at's exac tly what he di d. You 'd fu lly expect an IS-year-old kid to be a little awed by ra cing with veteran s su ch as Rich O li ver , the WERA F-USA Champ io n and Otsuka Electronics team leader, but th at's no t the case. The pair didn 't ge t to race a t Da ytona because Oliver crashed o n th e opening lap , but in p rac ti ce Edwards got a look at th e expe ri enced Californ ian. Was he o verwhelme d? Not in th e least. " I hooked up with h im (O li ver) for three la ps ," Edwards said. Did you lea rn a nything? " I ca n 't say I learned wo u ld n't say I feel sorry for him, but I wo uldn't wa nt to be in the position tha t he's in. I wouldn 't want my dad to be greatest G P rider of all time and then have to be compared to him. Bu t he's not taking it that way . H e's riding the way he wants to and that's good. H e doesn ' t seem to be pushed under th e pressu re o f having a dad like that. I th ink this will be a fun year. I'm sure a lo t of people will be comparing us." You th and ex uberance u su ally results in a few crashes for a young race r, especially one tha t' s been hyped as much as Edwards. But the Texan has on ly had two cras hes to speak of, a nd ne ither were his fa ult. A brake problem durin g an end urance race a t Mid-Ohio, and too much ai r pressure in th e tires o f h is H onda CBR600 a t Oak Hill Raceway resulted in his only 1991 tumbl es. " I haven 't crashed where it was my o w n fa ult - knoc k on wood," Edwar ds said. In his professional debu t at Miami bumpy, tight and technical. I went out with Fil ice and tried to follow him for awhile and actually decided that I couldn't go that fast. I passed him and he passed me back and he would pull me in every tum, coming out. We tore my bike down after and found that th e wristpin in the piston was in three pieces. I guess I wo uld have been lucky to get one more lap in . . " I learned a lot in that race. I had never had to ride that hard. I'd ridden hard, b u t I'd never ridden that hard. The front en d was push ing in every turn, and every thing was sliding. Everything was going on th at day. " Ah, th e front en d sli de. It 's the thing that separates those that have it from those that don't - being able to push the fro nt en d th rough corners with .confidence. " I rea lly don't know how it go t to be so co mfortable so fast," Edwards said. " Bu t wheneve r I'm out there a nd the bike is not pushi ng, a nd not doi ng anything - I feel awkward. Whenever Spencer was always my idol, but now I look up to Schwanu. It's not because he 's from Texas or anything, but it's th e way he made 'it. He raced club races for a long time and finally got a ride with Yoshimura. H e went straight up from there. I admire his efforts. " He (Sch wa ntz) actually . did a couple more yea rs of club racing than me. He struggled around th e club (level) for a lo ng time, but he didn't have the money to go anywhere. Bu t he finally got noticed and he too k off from th ere." When he's not at the race track, Edwards is your average high school senior. Well , your avera ge high school sen io r wi th a lo t o f abse nces. " I lot o f my friends think it's pretty cool tha t I'm racing," he sai d. " I would n ' t say they look up to me beca use th ey've kno wn me for so long. They just th in k it's grea t that th e opport u n ity has come a lo ng for me to do this." And what an opportunity it is. O'f point wh ere I ca n actually come in a nd tell them what 's going o n. I ca n tell Dave a littl e bit about the suspension and then he can translate that a nd fix it. "I'm beginning to learn a little bit. Chris can ask me things and when I think about it I realize what's happening. Right now, I just ride it how it is a nd then co me in and talk ab out it. " 25

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