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/127563
$2700.00 YAMAHA Contingency Posted For Walden Event from the warm-up lap and the only thing I'm thinking is ... smoke em'. You're known for getting off the line well. How did you develop that skill? I started racing motocross at· a very young age and I think that is why I get good starts. The years of practice starting motos helped me refine into getting better starts in road racing. I think I am one of the better starters in the series. It is the same thing like we were talking before, getting ou t front, making a break. You have to get out front with the fast crowd. You can't stick around and race with somebody who is your speed or slower. If you can't get out there and chase your qualifying time, and have clean corners and good lines then you aren't riding very well. Let's put it this way: If you're riding defensively, you're only going to slow down. You were linked to an Oscar Rumi Honda AMA National or World Championship .Superbike ride for 1993. What could he offer you that Martin Adams couldn't? Merlyn Plumlee. Merlyn is now with that team and he was very open and honest about what they were going to do. I probably would not have made the offer an option with anyone else. About the only thing that could tear me away from Commonwealth Racing is a World Superbike ride or a deal including a World Superbike Honda supported ride for 1994, with Merlyn overseeing the whole thing. That, at that time, could not be guaranteed. Knowing that, I would have been a fool to leave Martin (Adams) and Commcnwealth. The Commonwealth team, with the help of R.J. Reynolds, is going forward and is the premiere AMA Superbike team in the series. We're handicapped by the equipment right now but that is going to change. Larry Schwarzbach was a friend of yours. Has his tragic death affected the way you look at racing? Larry's death really- weighed heavily on me. He was a good friend to me and his generosity and good nature was good for our sport. If you never think about getting hurt or shaken up after a near high-side at a place like the banks of Charlotte, then you have no right being on the same race track as the rest of us. A person like that has no respect for his body or anyone else's for that matter. Yes, it's a job for me, but I would not be doing it unless I truly loved it. The hard work and dedication have done nothing but make me a better person. I believe what I do is good and I'm really happy that my father got me involved in racing when I was a kid. One way or another I'll be involved in racing untilI'm done. Is your father still a big part of your racing effort? Yeah, oh yeah. Maybe not so much in the same way that he once was. He doesn't get the same hands on involvement that he used to, like when he did some of my motor and chassis work on my Yamaha, although he may sometimes want to. The big guy has been involved in many different forms of racing for a long time and he has a real good understanding of some of the larger racing organizations. WISecO has been booming lately and he's probably too busy with all of that, but I'd like to see him get involved one way or another to help solve some of the problems in the road racing end of the AMA. He helps out in a different way now...He spends a lot of time watching me on the course, getting split times and watching my lines. He does help out in the pits as well sometimes. He helps me out on the c;lay to day stuff and even some of the larger decisions that have to do with my career. Whether or not he misses all of the frustration and hard work from the early days, I doubt it. I don't miss it too much. (N U e~ MX CHAtlPIOIiSHIP .. " " ", " .. !.'-Ec«1 rsuiiKt . . .... ....... ....... .................. • ~ •• > •• ~ •• ~ • "" • ' ~~ ~--...- ~9J.d.~ fUNBT~1 SPROCKETS COMETIC* CHELL::> 1993 RACE TRACK SCHEDULES BROOME TIOGA (607) 648-4997 April 4th April 10th April 25th May 16th July 5th TR August 8th August 27th** August 28th** October 9th* October loth* . October 31st TR HURRICANE illLLS (717) 222-9290 April10th* April 18th May 16th* May 22nd May 23rd June 5th June 6th TR June 19th July 3rd* July4th* August 1st August' 22nd* September 12th* October 10th =TUCKER ROCKY RACE POWERLINE PARK (908) 752-7305 March 14th March 28th TR April 10th April 18th May23rd May 31st June 20th July 10th August 1st August8th* September 4th September 19th* September 26th October 24th November 7th . . . 125/500 NATIONAL RACEWAY PARK (908) 446-6331 March 21st* April 4th April 25th* May 9th June 13th June 27th* July 23rd TR August 15th September 5th* October 2nd* October 3rd* October 17th WALDEN PLAYBOY (203) 227-4654 March 21st April 11th TR May 9th June 13th July 11th August 15th September 12th October 31st * '" TRACK SPECIAL EVENT 23