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/127655
bike or a Supersport bike . I do n't know for sure yet on what - there's something in the works for a Ducati ride, but it's getting kinda late and I haven't heard anything for sure. The rest of t h e year seemed to b e a stru ggl e for you at the dirt track races. Wh at was th e most frustrating part? The most fru strating part was that my leg was so weak after breaking m y femur, hip and knee . It was pretty much unusable. It was frustrating to go into a comer half as fast as I wanted to go into it and know that I was going slower than crap. Bu t I knew that if I went an y faster the bike would push a little bit, then I'd have to put my foot do wn and end up on my head, in a lot worse shape than I alread y was . Was it frustrating for you to be barely making the Na tionals after w innin g two in the past? Yeah, becau se there was never even one race when I felt 70 percent. It was tough knowing tha t I could do it, but not being able to because of my injuries. How have yo u r i n ju ri es h ealed up since the end of the season? Do you still limp? Yeah, I still limp, but it's more out of ha bit than from weakness. I've worked my butt off since the first of December running every da y and wo rking out. I just got back from North Carolina where we did some testing, and I went riding every day with Will Davis on motocross bikes. How did the T ea m Und o ri d e come about? Johnny Goad had been talking at some races late in the season last year. There was some stuff going on and he had a feeling tha t he and Ricky wouldn't be together the followi ng season. I had ridden for him briefly in the past, and we had stayed good friends. Basically, when the slot opened up, we worked . out a dea l and here I am. . Are there any cha nges th a t you feel need to be made to the team? Obvious ly, they're a good operation, they w on the championship wi th races to spare . The on ly thing I think they need to cha nge is to have more of a family-type atmosphe re amongst the team ins tead of everybod y going their separate ways after the races. If there's tension in the team, then that's not gonna be good for the rider or the mechanic. A fa mily-ty pe atmosp he re wou ld keep everything ou t in the open. What are your feelings about getting back on Hondas? Last year you said that the Harleys were jus t as good when you first got on them. Were you bluffing? Uh, I wouldn't say that I was bluffing. I think that for different riders either bike can be good. You know - d i ffe r en t s tro kes for different folks . I feel like I can win more races on the Ho nda. The potential for me to win on a Harley was there, but I just had some problems adapting my riding style to the Harleys. The way the Hondas work, I feel that I have more potential to win races and a championship on one. How would you compare a Ho nd a an d a Harley-Davidson? There's no difference in overall top-end speed . It' s ju st that one powerband works better with a different riding style for getting the power to the ground. For my style, I think the Honda works better. Wha t do you feel that you are capable of th is year? I don't think there's gonna be any trouble with Johnny and me working together . If I can adapt to the new bikes quickly and get some good lu ck and so me good finishes early in the year, I think we can win the whole thing. Do you feel any pressure to perfonn, joining the team that won th e championship last year? . Th ey're not bothering me, telling me that I have to win the championship or anything, bu t there's defini tely gonna be some extra pressu re - especially when you see someone else win the championship on th e sa me bikes that you' re gonna be riding. I'm just gonna go out and do the best that I can do . Are the re go ing to be any changes in the team this year, appearance-wi se? Everything'S th e same. The only thing that changed is that Ricky Graham isn 't there. It wasn't Ricky' s te am, it w as Team Undo and Ricky.rod e for them. It was a team effort, not a tea m th at revolved around just one pe rson. a long time. He's done things that no one will ever repeal. I've seen him do things . that just make me say, "Wh oah," He can g o from si x th to first on one corner around the outside. I'm not gonna say that he can't do that anymore, but , well I don't know how to say this without getting him pissed but he doesn't ha ve it anymore, as far.as the will goes . I think he's more concerned that he's raced his whole career without ever really getting hurt. He doesn't really have any goals left - he 's accomplishe d them all. He wants to win some races, but he wants to win them in one piece. Once you start thinking like that, you've lost the edge. . What is it going to take for you to win the championship this year? Do yo u have any strategies? bike. That's when you screw up and get hurt - when you're do g tired. I like to use motocross rid ing to im p rov e my technique. How much does riding a motocross bike hel p out on th e ovals? I think on certain tracks it can help a lot, but on other tracks it does n't help a bit. On a real rough rac e track it helps. It definite ly he lps me w hen I g o to a motocross track and there's a big triple or something. If I finally do the triple, tha t helps out a lot with my confid ence as far as wha t I can do on a bike. Oh, yea h, and I can d o on e of thos e nick nack things, too. (The nac nac, an aerial trick that reigning Sup ercross Champion Jeremy McGrath h as th rilled the crowds with in the early races of '94.) Speaking of Ricky G raham, what d o you think 1994 holds in st ore fo r the new champ? I don't know exactly what his plans are, whether or not he'll d o the entire d irt tack series. But either way, I don 't see him having the same type of year tha t he had last season. The combination that he had, I think, was a one-time deal. I don't think that he could repeat his year even if he had stayed w ith Johnny. As a matter of fact, I don't think anyone can ever repeat what he d id . But w ith ou t Johnny and Team Undo, I d on ' t th ink he'll do nearly as go od as he woul d have done with them. I expect him to be there, and w in some races, but not like last year. What a b o u t t he res t? Who will be tough? Well Scotty Parker 's always tough, bu t if I had to single one gu y out as a competitor, it would be Chris Carr. If he's the favorite, I hope that I'm the guy d uking it out with him for the title. In dirt track, it seems that th e olde r com peti tors can continue to do well, whereas in motocross th e younger riders domi nate. Do you think that age has slowed Parker down? Scotty's been around dirt track racing for My only strategy is to go out and race as hard as I can for 25 laps at every race as hard as I can go. I'm gonna be in good enough shape to be able to go as hard as I can for 50 laps. That's it - 100 percent effort. In the end if I win, then that's great. What are your strengths and weaknesses? I d on't really know, I think I'm a pretty good all around rider. I do good on the miles, on the half miles, short tracks and TIs. I guess half miles are my specialty, and especially since I'll be on a Honda again, I think I'll go good on the sli ppery car tracks like Oklahoma City and Hagerstown. They've got a lot of them this year - there 's 14 half miles and a lot of them are stock car d irt ovals . I have a real good chance of winning on thos e. You said tha t you' ll be in top physical condition. How do you train? Oh, I run every d ay, I lift we ights and try to ride every day. We ' ve heard you' re a hot shot on an MX bike, is that true? Oh, yeah, I'm aweso me . (Lau g hs ) McGrath better watch ou t. If I go to a m oto cro ss track I tr y to r id e ha rd eno ug h to get myself tired, but I do n' t go out to get an extreme wo rkout on a Just ask Will Davis - I did one the other day in North Carolina! Since we're on the sub ject of s tyle, it seems that in comparison to many of the other d irt tracke rs, you seem quite fl ashy. You k now - the earri ng, the bleached hair, the Porsche... Flashy? (Laughs) Well, I don't know if I'm flashier , I think that I'm just younger than a lot of those gu ys. Most of the top 10 guys, w ith the exce p tio n of Kevin Atherton, are older, and that's wh y we stand out. If there were eight other guys our age , they'd all be the same. Do you still live with your parents? No, I moved out last year; all alone. All I need to do is find so me naked girl to take home with me. I'm a bachelor. One last questio n...will you fina lly get a new boot this year? Well, Team Undo ha s a deal with Fox Racing this year. We'll be wearing their ge ar at the TIs, and th e ir bo ot s and gloves at the other races . It's gonna be tou gh, bu t I gu ess I'll ha ve to give my old right boot up. I eve n re-did it and made it look not so bad, b ut, oh well. But if worse comes to wo rst and I can't feel my brake pedal, I'm definitely going to throw that thing back on. You can bet it'll be in my gear bag just wai ting ." a ยป