Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Southwick - a rea lly sandy, rough track . I think on the 250 I'll be able to go fast on tracks like tha t now. (Daytona is also sandy and rough). I'm .(go ing to be rid in g) a 125 ou tdoo rs. I kind of wish I was riding a 250, but Noleen decided they want ed me to ride a 125. It does n't matter to me either w ay; they 're both really co mpetit ive classes. I th ink I'd be happier to win a 250 outdoor championshi p than a 125, but any championship th at you w in , anyone would be happy with that. I've tested (the 125s) the last week and a half and I think we've got them going pretty good . I'm just going to get through (round one at) Gainesville and do the best I can , then worry about testing and getting ready for the ne xt (outdoor) race, beca use we 'll have a couple months. How did you r ri d e at Team Noleen come abo ut ? I was talking to Noleen for a while before the Damon (Bradshaw and his retirement from racing) thing happened. Mike Craig was talking to them and he'd say, "I think Larry Ward would be a good teammate for me. " At the time, they were just going to have two riders, a n d Larry Brooks had been good to them, so the y wanted Mike Craig and Larry Brooks. But my nam e kept corning up because Mike a nd I were goo d friends and we wanted to be teammates. Wh en Yama ha took Mike Craig to the facto ry tea m , t hen I was t heir next choice. I think th ey talked to a couple other gu ys, but I was pre tty mu ch their choice. Do you guys ge t free meals at Sizzler? No . How do you like wo rking ou t of the new fifth wheeler? I've onl y used it one weekend, but it's fine . It's big enough where you can go and get awa y from all the people, and eve n you r teammates if yo u want to. I think it 's good for the sport as far as advertisement goes. As for a rider 's standpoint, it's okay. It's not as personal and individual as a box van, bu t that kind of thing doesn't bother me too much. I show up at a race and I know what I've got to d o - it doe sn 't matter if there are 100 people ar ound. I mean, I win in Europe and I've got a milk cra te and a bike a nd th a t' s it - no tools, no no thing. Why do you do so well at the overseas supercrosses? H on est ly, I don' t know. The tracks in Europe are a little bit tigh ter and a little more tec h ni ca l, and they ' re no t so sp read out. I'm reall y smooth and fast on a tight track. I've had good success at Charlotte and that's one of the small er tracks on the circu it. The more obstacles, the better for me . Whe never I' m on a track like that, the only guy I feel that 's go t a cha nce at bea ting me is Jeremy (McGra th) . Other th an tha t, I pre tt y much k now in m y head I can beat everyone else. Would you ever consider going to race in Europe full -time? No, I don't th in k I wo uld . It 's go ne through my mind before, as far as fina ncially, but I'm happy rid ing the American s u percross series. Su re, I ha ven't wo n a cha mpionship yet, but I've been in the top five .and I've won a race, so I wan t to do that again. ' H ow many m ore ye ars d o you th in k you can race competitively at th e p rofessi onallevel ? Honestl y, I feel like I get fas ter eve ry da y. I think I'm a late bloomer like Jeff Ward, who nev er won anything until he was 24 or 25. I'm only 23, and I think I can race forever. I think the people who quit at 27 or 28 .quit because they're sick I' ' I . ,! . of the lifes tyle. There's other things in their lives that are mo re important. Physically, I feel like I could race forever. Do y o u ever ge t bu rn ed out? I th ink whenev er th in g s aren 't going ex actly right and yo u're no t winning, or you don't feel like you 're in as g ood sha pe as you should be, you start getting burned out, but right now I feel like I ha ve a new life. I think there's a spot open at facto ry Yamaha in th e future, and if not, I think I have a home with No leen for a while. It'sjust a new bike and a new team, and I'm really happy. I look forward to going to the races . Some people ha ve accused you of not training as hard as you shou ld ha ve in the pas t. Is tha t r eputation d eserv ed ? Honestly, I think there's certain times of the year where you slack off a little bit, but I think ev eryb ody d oes. I' ll adm it I' ve slacked off bef ore, but I'm stro ng . I'm in good sha pe and I always give 100% at eac h race; sometimes you're not comfortable an d things just don't go right. I th ink so metimes I just. d id n 't ha ve (eno ugh) know ledge of training and I would overtrain - rid e really ha rd Friday, a nd Sa turd ay just be pooped out and not able to give an ything. I've gotten a lo t smarter in that way. Also, a large pa rt of getting tired, I believe, is nerves, and the older I get , I deal with it a lot better and don't get as tire d. You get in the lead and you just naturally hang on tight er . If I get a 10th-place sta rt and work up to fifth, I d on't get tired at all, but if I get a holeshot and work back to fifth, I'm dead - it's nerves, that 's all it is. I've been wo rking on tha t, too. During practice I work on just relaxing - try in g to go through a corner the same speed, but maybe one time just take one hand off the handlebars, to show myself that I don 't have to han g on that tight. You've also gotten a repu tation fo r switching clothing ma nufacturers a lot. I had a problem one year. I had won the Seattle Kingd ome race, an d I was wearing Answer's stu ff at the time, that I'd just bought. I made some mistakes that year, but I'm in this for a very short time and I wanted to make as much money as I could. There were a couple things tha t people promised that didn't come th ro ugh and I had to make differen t decisions, bu t I've been loyal ever since the n. I wo re Taichi for two years and then IT, whi ch is all the same thing (IT used to import R.S. Taichi) , and I was completely happy with that. I've worn a Bell helme t my en tire life; Oakley goggles and Alpinesta rs boo ts fo r fou r or fiv e years now. It gives people so mething to bash me about, but I think it's been bl o wn way o ut o f proportio n . I learned a lesson from that, even thou gh I do n't believe it was all my fault. I was loyal to Suzu ki for fou r 'years, through thick and thin . I wou ld still wear IT (this year), bu t it was a thing whe re I had to wear Xtreme if I wa nt ed to be on th e team. What goa ls wmild you like to achieve before you retire? I'd definitely like to win a major champi onship - eithe r ou td oors or, the ultim ate go al w ould be th e s u percros s ch ampionship. I'd also like - (pa use s) no, I'm going to ha ve another chance at a factory rid e. I still think I ha ve something to offer. I'd like to get a ride with one of the other th ree besides Suzuki, and I'm not rip ping Suz u ki at all. They were great, b ut I think the other three jus t have a litt le more serio us look at winning the 250 championship. Now, if I was a youn g kid an d wanted to win a 125 champio nship, I'd want to be on a Suzuki. How did you end up living in South Caro lina? I grew up and we n t to high school in Monroe, Washington, near Seattl e, but I bo ught a house in Florence, South Caroli na . I ha d a coup le friends he re and m y m om and s tep-fa the r moved out here in 1989, to watch me ride. I was orig ina lly going to rid e East Co ast 125 s u perc r oss es for Ho nd a (in '89), b ut (team mate) Mike Kied rowski br oke his thu mb or something and we ended up switchin g. They (his parent s) ended up staying here and I start ed sta ying with th em a lot. I built my track, and after that , when I deci ded to buy a house, I bought it here. I stay abou t four months out of th e year in Californ ia , ge tting ready for the new year, but most of the time I'm at home. I hav e two great practice tracks, an d it's usually good weather here for training. How do American su percros ses compare to the European events? The tracks are definitely a lot smaller in Europe; they race in much smaller stadiums. The race is closer an d it doesn't seem to get as spread out. First place laps up to nin th or 10th every weeken d. As for the show, the American s u pe rcrosses ar e trying to copy some of th e fireworks and laser shows. Mos t of the races in Europe are in smaller sta di ums, and the roof is closer and the fire works and light displays are just unbelievable far su perior to anything they have here in the U'S, But the race here is tw ice as important, so everyone gets a little more nervous and you see more int ens e racing. I think there's better co mpetition here . The crowd s in the U.S. get excited wh en so m ething ha p pens, b ut the crowds in Europe are excited to even see us; they're going crazy the whole time. When you come through the checke red flag, you've got to be ca re ful. Th er e' s people ru nnin g out on the tr ack a nd throw ing stuff a t you - trying to tea r you r hel met off. A t one race they put us up on top of a big water tru ck to take us back to the pits; they gave us b ig , h ig h-power hoses to blow the people back. Which of your rivals do you respect t he most? I get alo ng with and r e sp ect Jerem y (M cG rath) si m p ly because he's winning and he' s fast yet he's still having fun when he's riding a motorcycle. Some of these guys don't seem like they're having fun. We're all just young guys, and if we don't sit down and think about it, we're going to be 35-year-old men and half of our life is going to be gone, and we 're not going to ha ve had any fun . Jeremy seem s to be able to stay loose and have fun. Racing is still the most important thing to him, but you always see his dad, mo m and sister (at the races) . I th ink that's the best part. Eve n if he wasn't winning, he couId still be having fun . When I go to Europe, Michael Craig and Jeremy are two of my good frien ds, and then Mike laRocco has been a great friend since when we both rode Yamahas in '87. We used to stay w ith them (the LaRocco famil y) in the motorhome sometimes. It' s hard to be too great of friends - but tho se thr ee are guys who I'll be friends with a long time after racing . Another guy tha t has just recen tly become a good fri end is one of the nicest guys on th e circu it; maybe too nice. That's Steve Lamson; he's a great :guy. What do you like to do for fun? I deer hunt a lot. I h unt in South Carolina for 'white-tailed deer. You're up in a tree s tand, a nd you call th e deer a nd sluff. My father has horses and mules, and I spend as mu ch time as I can with him up in the mountains, g oing deer and elk hun ting in Idaho and Washington sta te. We'll go for tw o weeks at a time and camp ou t in th e mo untains. I' ve d one that every year si nce I wa s abo ut 13 - good, quality time w ith my dad, plus it's great hu n ting . Also, I go wi th my mom and step-father to South Dakota - pheasant hunting. I also enjoy wa ter skiing. What would you li ke to d o after you retire? I have a couple ideas. My fathe r's moving to Mon tana, and I'm not su re wha t his plan s a re, b u t I think I' d li ke to s pend some tim e th ere w ith him. I' ve grown up around horses and mu les. We do trail riding up in the mo untains - it's called ou tfittin g. We tie be twe en 250 and 300 pou nd s on the back of a mule. It ' s li ke in the o ld en da ys, with the wagon trains , but wi tho ut the wago ns. ..q< I'd like to learn that , because it's a dying ~ art. It's an art to get 300 pounds on top ...-i of a horse or a mule. I'd like to spend a yea r or so jus t up in the hills like that. But after th at, honestl y, I'd like to put myself through college, an d ge t some sort of a degree where I couId hav e my o w n c li ni c - m a yb e be a den tis t, or something wh ere I could have my own office to go to every day. (]If

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