Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Team Cu p and tried to make a po in t by knocki ng you do wn. He di d n't knock me down. It was just first-turn bunching. We bo th came from the outside. Nielsen came from four and made a really good move and sq ueezed everybod y. It go t tigh t and I went down. It was n't his fault, he was just going for the win. The same four guys were in the last race, and Nielsen was on the pole . I just made the start on him and won it. . We're both racers. Off the track there's no problem. I meet up with him in airp lanes all the time. Basically, on the track we're big rivals and we go for each other, but we go for each other in a way that we d on 't endanger any body. He's never endangered me. You had to be satis fied with Team USA's repeat in the Wor ld Team Cup. I take a lot of prid e in the fact that we were a depleted tea m goi ng into the World team Cup. We did not have our best riders there. Ronni e (Correy) was on th e sidelines. My brother (Charles) was on the sidelines. I'm not saying he's any better than an y of the other guys on the team, but we've definitely had stronger teams. Without Ronnie it was that much harder. But we have some of the youngest talent on that team. I was cap tain, and I took a lo t of pleasu re in helping the boys win th is thing . They did a really good job. To me, it's encouraging for the fu t ure of America that these yo ung riders have tasted success so early. Thro ugh out your ca reer you 've b ee n a ma s ter o f consistency. How a re yo u do ing in the British league? I have b een leading the p oints since the be ginning of th e year. I'm curren tly carrying a n 11.39-poi n t a verage. Th e next hig hes t g uy is H a n s N ielse n a t 10.20. Twelve is perfect. T h e new Gran d Prix syste m, in wh ich a series of races will decide the World Ch amp ion ins tea d of the cu rrent s in g le- e vent fo rmat, should reward the most con s is tent rid e r. It won't be as crit ical if a rider has a bad heaL What are your thoughts about the new program? I think that the Grands Prix are going to be excellent as long as they ha ve the money involved like they say. That's what attracts me . One of the th ings abo ut the Grand Prix system is that it will be a tru e test. I'm not going to say how well I'm going to do because I don't like boosting myself and I do n't like sayin g tha t I' m go ing to do somethin g because it seems like every year I've told people I was going to win the championsh ip, I didn't do it. That's wh y I just pla yed it differently this year, and I just shut up and went and did my own thing . You rode your first World Final in 1985 at Coventry, England and finished third. Many people had you tabbed to win it all in 1986. Were you disappointed when you fell back in the standings? No . I've always said that your first appearance in a championship is probably one of your best chances of being a spoiler. Look at this year. Chris Louis was third in his first attempt. Last yea r Gary Havelock won the World Championship in his first a ttemp t. This yea r there were six riders making their debut. Did th e fact that your Ameri can fans had begun to doubt your ability to bring home a worl d tiUe weigh on you mentally? I do n't think so. I mean right in the middle of my career, I got hurt. The year off that I took gave me a cha nce to really think abo ut my future plans and get , my equi pment toget her. You' re 32 now. How much longer do you think yo u are going to ride? I'm retiring right aft er the U.S. Na tional (laughs). I probably could have retired at the end of this year, but there's no way I can afford to shut down what I've got going . It would take me a year to do tha t. I'm going to take advantage of the Gra nds Prix, bu t if there' s no mone y in it then I can't afford to do it anymore'. I'd like the opportunity to be able to slow down and pick and choose my meetings. But I think it' s going to be easi er for me to wi n championships now. I line up on the starting line and those gu ys are more worried about me than I am abo ut them. Since the World Final, ou t of about seven or eig ht meetings I've had five maximums. Greg (Hancock) has probably beat me the most. He knows how to get in my way (laughs). Since winning the World Championship, you 've said you want to be an ambassador for speedway. Compared to past World Champions, what do you think that in volves? I think one of the thin gs that's a factor is to be natural. I can give constructive views based upon what I know. I think its easy for som eone to stand up and be shiny and proud of himself. But this is a perfect opportunity to stand up and be heard. Do you want to see the AMA involved in Speedway again? I'm hoping that the AMA and speedway can corne to terms. I mean, what is this Na tion al that I'm racin g in? The AMA is the one that's recognized by the international sanctio ning body. I' m hoping that I a m the med ium that will bring the AMA an d the Speedway Racing Association toge ther . I go t really involved when they were trying to stage the American Final at Victorville. I actually got between the m and found ou t a lot about the politics. I think those things ca n be rectified and it can be a positive thing. They know what · they' ve got to do. I' m m issing two major meetings right no w to race the Na tional. The onl y wa y that I cou ld get out of those meetings was th at the AMA insisted I be released to come here as a favor to Harry (Oxley). But I personally wa n ted to come he re to a tt ract the med ia a ttention an d sho w off that shi ny new trophy. Now yo u' re tal ki ng politics. America is on to p in international speedway, but racing ove r here seems to be in decline. What can be done about that? I th ink Am er ican speedway is really lackin g newcomers. We need ju nio r p rogr am s, but I know that there's not a lot of money for that right now . Also, I think speed way needs to go on the road in the United States, and now that I've won the championship if I can get the med ia behind me to get it a little higher profile, I can use some idea s that in the pa st I never tho ught would hap pen. I don't wan t to put speed way in a category wi th professiona l wrestling where it's a bit staged. But I think tha t's the di rection it needs to go, where yo u can actu ally put on a show that can be sold on television and will give us the coverage that we need. Then you can bring in a big interna tional meeting, and it will be a successful pro motio n. I talked to Bruce (Penhall, the last America n rid er since Ermolenko to win the World Speedway Champions hip, in '81 and '82) on the phone about a week ago a nd he said th ere was hardly any th ing in the ne ws about me wi nning the World Championship. I d on ' t have an answer why. I think if Bruce wou ld have stayed around a little longer when he was in the perfect position to do something instead of retiring, then speed way would have a higher profile. But he just kind of walked away fr om it. It's only been Bruce's nam e tha t can attract attention to speed way because he's known in other areas now . I am going to do anything I can to help speedway here. So are we going to be seeing you on ·CHiPs" now? Is .that what you're saying? No. We're going to be on...what's that other one called? Baywatch? (Laughs) Yeah, that's iL Q 9

• Cover