Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:' IN R IE Kevin Schwantz TE V W By Dean Adams Photo by Brian Nelson -g, 0\ ...-i 0\'" ...-i ~ E u o 26 hen he began to make it big on the American racing scene, Kevin Schwantz did things that made people wonder just how long he would be in racing and, at times, in the world as we know it. His rear-wheel-loose riding style helped him pull out some miraculous feats on the race track, but it occasionally bit him, resulting in wheels-up dramatics and fueling the fire that Schwantz was a stick of dynamite fused real short. Well, he has endured plenty of , adversity in his racing career while proving many an arm-ehair team manager wrong, the same geniuses that said he would never win the big one. A World Championship and his rightful place as the rider the world looks to for leadership became Schwantz's property in 1993. But it came with some baggage, . and so many X-rays that he should, by all rights, glow . He has conquered the world. His world, anyway. When he looks out from the garage at a Grand Prix, past the sea of photographers, he now sees ir battlefield void of targets, void of fresh motivating factors, and only a world where a downward slide is possible if he doesn't play his cards right. If all goes to plan, Kevin Schwantz will retire from full-time racing after the 1995 season. Presently, he is preparing himself for one more run at the championship in 1996, and he would no doubt like to leave the GP arena as the highest placing American on the all-time Grand Prix winners list, just so former friend Eddie Lawson will be forced to live with that for eternity. Just before his perpetual Laguna Seca jinx bit Schwantz in the Corkscrew, sending him in for another set of X-rays, we sat down to dive into the subject of his retirement. The word is that you are seriously considering retirement after the 1995 season. What have you decided to do? At the end of next season my contracts with Lucky Strike and Suzuki are up. I reckon it is going to be pretty hard for me to get up the motivation it takes to race another season after that. I've been at this a long time, the schedule, the pace, the testing, all the work that has , transpired since I began racing GPs in 1988 really takes it out of you . You used to have two or 'th r ee months off throughout the winter where you kind of sat at home and wondered what the Japanese were doing w ith the bikes. And when you got back to riding the bike and tested a couple of times before the season started, you were really excited to get back on the bike. Now I see that thing so much I'm really excited to see my truck at home. It's just gotten to where I'm on those things so much, especially in doing the testing and all the things we have to do to keep up with everybody. It's not just us, but it's everybody out there. The testing all these factories do has you out there at risk so much that it's really hard to keep yourself motivated over a long ' period of time. It's gone from a ninemonth season with a little bit of rest to 11 and a half months with a Christmas and New Years rest. What will yo 0 if you don't race? Normal life is going to pale in comparison to this. I don't know. I'd like to think that I can still stay on at Suzuki in some sort of capacity, maybe as a consultant to them to try and help their racing efforts - just to look at it from the outside. My relationships with Suzuki and Lucky Strike have both been pretty good, so hopefully they're inclined to keep me involved with their racing effort in one way or another. If they don't, I'll probably go back to Texas and raise some cattle for a while and find something else to do. I'd kind of like to race cars of some sort. I think more than anything my ... If you were to ask me what kind of cars I would like to race, off the top of my head I'd say NASCAR is really something I'd like to try. It's such a great spectator sport and it is good close racing, there's contact and bumping and shoving, and everybody is still racing while that is going on. I went to the Brickyard 400 and met quite a few people there, so if the opportunity arises it is something I want to give a try. Really, how serious is all this retirement talk? Real serious. ~tead of talking about it to try and increase my value next season - that's by no means what I have plans of doing - I'm just going to do it. I feel like I'm burnt out. I feel I have enough in me to do a championship run next season, not just ou t there riding around to finish races, but a 100% charge at the title. I've got enough left to push myself to the level that I feel I'll need to and be a threat to win the championship. If I didn't feel like that...I would put an end to it now. What response have you received from Suzuki and Lucky Strike? They know, pretty much, through what they have read. Or are reading right now. (Laughs) Eddie Lawson is paying for his Indy Lights ride and Wayne Gardner bought his team to enable him to go car racing. Will you spend your own money to get your foot on a good pedal? A lot of it depends on what happens now and then. It's quite possible that I would be willing to throw in some of , my own money to get myself out there and show that I am cap able . I'll be the first to admit that if I get out there and do not do well that perhaps I shouldn't be doing it and should try something else. It's really just a thought in the back of my head right now. How much did Wayne Rainey's crash motivate you toward this decision of retiring? That is something that will always be in my mind. And it seems like every goddamned time I fall off this thing this season I end up standing on my head. Testing preseason in Barcelona and a couple of times during the season. A lot of it isn't thinking about Wayne's accident, but thinking about how long I have been doing this and the drive and desire needed to do this job, especially after winning a World Championship. There is not really a lot left out there. Of the time you spend racing ,how much of it do you truly enjoy? Pretty much all the time. That's another thing, if Suzuki wants me to come to all the races like I do now, and still be as involved as a team manager or whatever the position, and not get to ride the thing on Friday or Saturday, that's not what I want to do. I don't want to do the same amount of traveling and still not get to race, because that is the part I enjoy the most, obviously. Every time I'm on the bike I'm thinking to myself, 'man, this is great: It's peaceful, too. No Lucky Strike or Suzuki people asking me if I can come do this or make an appearance here. Just me and the bike - racing. Will you race in America again? Another Daytona win would be nice to see... I'd like to ride Daytona again. I think Daytona is a place you can go back ,to and ride a one-off race there and you don't have to be at the top of your game or extremely fit. It's a long race, but it's not real tough. I'd like to think that Suzuki is going to have a really hot superbike soon one that could maybe win a race there. There are still some events that I would like to race, and one of these is particularly the Suzuka 8Hour. I know that sounds a lot like what Eddie (Lawson) did, but I have actually spoken with Mr. Itoh at Suzuki before the 1994 8-Hour and expressed an interest in riding the race again. He said to wait and see what happens. Once retired, would Kevin Schwantz flick into full mercenary mode as lawson has done since retiring? I think there will always be a desire to get back on a bike, especially superbikes. I have always enjoyed riding superbikes, I think they are just a ton of fun to race. Daytona is a big race and it is important for Suzuki. I guess it all depends on Suzuki and if they are willing to put me under contract, once my GP career is over, to do certain events. I'll definitely have an open mind to stuff like tha t - of course I will. I really miss racing in America, especially after coming back to Laguna Seca. It gnaws on you - on the surface I think that riding back home in the , superbike championship would be a lot of fun. Going back to a flying out on Thursday . to the race and practice on Saturday and race on Sunday, and flying home Monday moming. That's also something that takes a lot out of you: all the overseas flying, back and forth, being away from home for as long as you have to be away from home. I have a lot of family and friends back in Texas that I don't get to spend enough time with - hopefully that will change. How about an American replacement for you on the team? Colin Edwards is out as he has signed a long-term contract again with Yamaha. I think he (Edwards) should be riding Suzukis, Maybe they are not the best superbike out there right now, but I definitely feel like they are one of the best GP bikes and that is the arena in which Colin should probably end up in. At the same time I don't see any vacancies in the Yamaha line. They have got (Norifume) Abe and (Kenny Roberts) Junior. As long as those guys are there you have to feel like Colin is going to get a little bit of second-hand treatment. Yamaha may prove me 100% wrong, but I know there is a big opportunity for Colin Edwards at Suzuki if he would go there. You believe he would make a nice successor to the throne? I really do think he would. And there would be nothing better than to ride with him for a year before I did quit racing. I think I could really help him a lot. Another idea Suzuki might have as far as keeping me on is that a lot of people at Suzuki can see that my career could have been significantly different if I had had somebody like Kenny Roberts there to give me advice, and to give me confidence when I needed it. I'm hoping that Suzuki will see that as a spot where I would be valuable to them as well. How many frequent-flier miles do you have? I just got a card from American Airlines saying that I have flown a million miles with them. I use American probably a third of the time. So now all I have to do anytime I fly anywhere .is give a call to their Advantage program and I'll have a free ticket anytime I want to go anywhere. Being as it is an expense, I pay for it and take the expense and it just adds to my miles. When I come home people ask what far off exotic destination I am jetting off to and I just point to the backyard at my house - I'm not going anywhere near an airport or a hotel. m

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