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/127672
:JNTERVlEW,: Scott Parker ..... - . , :.. -:-. ;.... ~ ": : :. By Donn Maeda ith 55 Nationa l wins and four AMA Grand National Champion s h ips under his be lt, one might wo nder what there is left for Scott Parker to accomplish. Sure, there's that fifth cha mp ionship to shoot for, but is another rec ord mo tiva tion enough to keep the popular Michigan rider going strong? Sure it is! As the all-time winninges t rid er in AMA d irt track history, Parker also holds the record for the most Na tional mile wins (36), and, wi th 17 half mile victories to his credit, is only two wins awa y from tying with Jay Springsteen as the winningest half-mile winner. At 17 years of age, Parker became the youngest Expert to ever win a National at the 1979 DuQuoin Mile, and at 32, Parker now finds himself in prime position to w in an unprecedented fifth G rand National Championship and break his tie with the legendary Carroll Resweber. In 1992, Parker watched help lessly as his factory Harley-Da vidson teammate, Chris Carr, stripped him of his title. Though he had won twice a s many races as Carr, a freak accident at the Oklahoma Ci!Y. Half Mile had caused Parker to sit out two races and lase valuable points while willg his injured knee to heal Parker vowed regain his crown ill 1993, but his bia for the title was cu short by the s~acular comeback of II rejuvenated R18cy Graham. After wi ning five, te seven , six and eigl it Nationals in ch of the previous fiVe seasons, Parka; enjoyed the sw e of victory only once in 1993 and ed the series third overiill. While ske tics were to write the four-time l'i mp 0 ,claiming that his knee injury and age would result in a lack of motivation, hard-core Parker fans knew better. In the off-season, Parker shaved off his familiar moustache, gave up' CR,ors Light, and began hitting the 'gym willi a wfound determination. On the track, P, e has returned to the head of the pack: winning tFii'ee of the five 750cc races pm. He sti finds himSelf chasing e.ver-eo ยท t Carr in the series p t .standings, u t feels better than ev bout reg . . his title. W Last year, you won "only" one race. After enjofir! up to 10 W1Jl5 ' per season in the vious yean, was that hard to deal With ? Well, not rea y. It wasn't that frustrat ing id onl y I was second and third a lot of times and it w a s close. A lo t o f people were putting a lot of pressure on me - asking, 'Hey, what's the matter?' But I just put tha t out of my mind. I was n't bothered with winning only one because I was in th e h unt. But you kno w people, they only remember the winner. What about your tuner, Bill Werner? How do you think he dealt with the suddenl y lim ited success? I think Bill was oka y with it. We we re both out there trying, an d we were only getting beat by a wheel length. It wasn' t like we we re getting murdered. Every one just has high expectations after seeing me win so many races in the past. It wasn't as bad as it looks on paper. Wh ich of the fou r ch a m pi o n s h i p s mean s the most? I thi nk the first one means the most. I tried for 10 years to win it. We ha d a big ca ke fig ht afterwards, then had a,bi g p art y back hom e. It was something I : . ha d wis hed for all my life, then I finally did it. It was a dream come tru e. Which was the hardest to win? ' I'd ha ve to say the first was the hard est. Until you tr y, you push week in and week out. Until you've done it, it's really hard . After I'd won the cham pionship, the next one was a little easier. I ha d bee n there and won, so there wasn't as mu ch p ressure on me to win. What has been your most memorable moment in racing, so far? I think that woul d ha ve to be my first National win at DuQuoin. I was only 17, and tha t was the yo u ngest anyone's ever been when they won a National. To be o nly a kid and go ou t and w in a Nati onal as a rookie was really special. Your riding style has changed quite a bit since those days. The ra ce tracks we go to no w h a ve turned into groove-type tra cks. When I grew up I was racing on cushion tracks, and I d idn't really know how to ride the groove. I was used to flicking it into the comers, getting the gas on, and coming out low . That's wha t helped me win my first National - the DuQuoin Mile used to b e a cu s hion. To wi n t he Grand Na tional Championship, you had to be a good groove-track rid e r. Wi th help and advi ce from other riders, I guess I've progressed into a p retty go od groove-track rider, too - if they're no t too slippery! What does a fifth Grand National CIwJi onship meaJrto you? To win the fifth titIe"would be great. I s sometHing that nobOayis ever done. It' s hard to put five championships together - heW'it's been tou for Bill and I to p ut four together. NoI:iody's ever d on e it before. That's whY'it would be coo U you win the chiinpionship this year, what couid you possibly set your sights, on? What would be left fo~ you to.aa:om lish? Well, there s a way s someffiliig that you can set you r sights on . Right now, the fifth title is my goal. Last year, Ricky Graham won 12 races, and I can shoot at that record now . Speaking of Ricky G raham, he dom:~i- ," __ _ nated the '93 series while you were fliiishing second and third . Were yo u impressed with his performances? I was reaIly happy about Ricky winning the championship ing him put his life back toge s great. He put his whole life b gether; he wasn't iinking. He:had a lot to prove, not only o the fans and the rest of the racers, but to himself He was in a fu ll-on race mode, and hen somebody's in that frame of mind, they're tough to beat. At the Spl'ingfleld Mile, you threw your arm into the air as you finished tht~ \'(Jmlel! Challenge. AfterwUds, admitted that you,were angry at Ricky for weaving down the front straight. Did he do many things like that? At Springfield, he didn't have to weave. He went down to the bottom, then back up to the top. He did a few things that he didn't have to do to ~in. I guess he had bumped into a few gu ys that day and I had all I could handle. It ticked me off. I wa s like, 'What'the heck, Ricky, you don't gotta d o stuff like that to win: He wo uld have beat us anyway. Are you and Ricky Graham on good terms? We go real far back . We 're real good frie nds. He probably has his u ps an d . downs with me, just like I have my ups and downs with him , but all in all, we're pretty good friends . What do you think about his abs ence, thus far, in the '94 season? I'm no t su re. I'veheard so many types of rumors tha t I can 't really say. But if he's got some problems an d doesn 't feel ou'll eve r see d irt tra ck ~die;JMjih;:Y: u can go to Springfield, Illi- nois, and there are 17,000 people in the stands, that 's pretty obvious. As long as there's fans and racers, there w ill be a promoter to p ut on a race. Mos t of all, track preparation needs to get better. Track preparation is what always seems to hold up a race, and that 's what needs to be attended to. Better track preparation wo uld provide better racing that's more exciting, and safer as well. After losing your title to Chris Carr in 1992, I remember seeing you shed a few tears at th e awa rds banquet. When I got a little teary-eyed , it wasn't really becau se I lost the title. I was just feeling really proud abo u t what I had accomplished. I said tha t if I never ever w on another title again, I would always be proud of the four I did. It wasn't losing th e championship that choked me up - when you're on top, you're always go ing to have to step d own. I wasn't sad, I was happ y - surely proud of what I did win.