Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

mined to win. I wish I had that 250cc one (SXtitle), but.;.' As far as 1994, it was easy for Davis to p ick out his most satisfying accomplishment. ' " Bein g To p A me ri ca n a t th e Six . Day s. Even more so than last year (in Holland), All of ou r best riders and the world's best were there (Tu lsa ), we all had the same conditions, and the terrain had a lot of variet y. Th ere were tight trails, trees, a little bit of everything. All th ese great riders and I beat th em all (American s)." As far as being named as the Cycle News ride r of the yea r? "That means as much to me as winning the su percross ch am p ion shi p . Tha t' s an accom p lis h ment over the whol e year, not jus t one category . I mean, there are a lot of great "The n Ken (Wilkes, of ATK) asked me to race the Baja 500. We led most of the race until the last 20 minutes. Everything wa s great until we had a mix-up and missed our pits, ran out of gas, then the air filter plugged up . I had to stop to clean it a nd su re en ough here co mes Larry (Roeseler), We ende d up third , but Ke n was so impressed h e gave us ou r wi n bonus money a nywa y. Tha t was 1991. "Ken wanted me again for 1992, but I wan te d to rid e for Ka wasa k i. " was going to sig n with Kawa saki until Ken offe re d m e $5 0, 000 to race fo r h im. Needless to say I we nt with ATK. Unfortunate ly, that was the worst year of my racin g career." Injuries and bike-problems hampered Davis th a t yea r, affec ting no t on ly h is perfo rma nce o n th e tr a c k, but a lso putting a strain on Ty and Ken's bu siness relationship. "One tim e we we re tes tin g a ne w shock in the desert. I was movi ng along on the bike when I h it a lip of a road . No big deal, right? The next thing I knew I was flying through the air and I kn ocked myself dingy. I d idn ' t know w here [ was. It tu rn ed ou t th at the shock shaft ca me o u t of the b od y when I h it the roa d . I messed up my h ip and my eye. Later, on Ap ril 1, at the Glen Helen GP, [ dislocated my collarbone . When I called Ken, he tho ugh t it was an April Fool's joke. Unfortuna tely, it was n' t. Ken started ge tting a little mad after that. Then I rei njured m y kne e at Mam moth . Then ATK wouldn't pay me, and I had to get a lawyer. We soo n settled." Dav is did join Kawa saki at the end of 1992 , but only a s a s u p po rt rid er. Although he was getting goo d su p port from Team Green, much of his racin g effort came ou t of his own p.o cket. "I wa s barely making it from month to month . It really suc ked , and I was beginning to have my doubts abou t this off-road stuff - like ma ybe not doing it any more . One of my first races was a hare scrambles and I just wasn't in shap e for those long, three-hour races. I mean, at the e n d o f th e race, I was be at, thra shed, sick, and Larry (Roeseler), the 'old gu y: would be hangin ' ou t, talking with every one and having a good time afterw ards. We'd be dri vin g home and La r ry w ou ld be ju st lau ghing at me, while I'd be pa ssed out in the pa ssenger's sea t. I got tired of being sick and feeling like an idiot, so I started riding more, trained more and got in sh ape . That wa s p rob ab lyth e hardes t thing about getting used to off-road racing the conditioning." (Above) One of Ty's biggest accomplishments of the 1994 se aso n was winning at least one round in four different AMA National off-road events. He won at least one National Hare & Hound, Hare SCrambles, Enduro and Reliability Enduro event during the.course of the year. (Right) Ty lives with his father who built their family's two-story home. Davis improved his end u rance and wood s-riding techn ique by layin g ou t a tw o -m ile cross country co u rse in h is ba cky ard - r ight th rou gh t he ju ni pe r bushes. He even propped up a b ig log aga ins t a fence, so h e co uld p ra ctice d rag gin g his bike under the log. The trail a ls o includ e s m a n y p orti ons of his supercross track.. "It's a fu ll-on wo rkout:' he sa ys of the trail. He also has the luxury of being able to rid e in to the local mountains - rig ht ou t of his garage: "The trails out of my house are just awesome. You can ride forever." Davis also lives close to h is longtime seler, hero, Larry Roe "I first met Larry when I was a little kid . He came ov er to my hou se to see my d ad or so mething, and I w as like, -'Wow .' He was so nice and cool. That was the da ys he was riding Huskys and w a s n u mberone in th e d e sert. I' ve always looked u p to him; he always has a positive attitude." Littl e d id yo un g Ty know tha t one d ay h e w ould be groomed to fill th e boots of his hero. Roeseler has said that he is cutting back his motorcycle racing effo r t, and s te p p ing ' d own as Team Green's number-one rider . "Kaw asa ki is lookin g for someone to replace Larry, to carry th e torch. and I might be that guy. I'm the only guy out there wh o h as the versatility like Larry has, who can ride the d ifferent terr ain. Basically, I've got the ball now and I've go t to run with it. "I really d id n ' t know La rry w he n I joine d the team, bu t last yea r he really helped me out quite a bit. We pu sh each other in certai n areas. This year we rod e together a lot during the off-season, but d id our own th ing during the yea r. In 1995, I'll be the number-two gu y on the team next to Danny Ha mel." . Many top m ot ocr ossers other tha n Davis have recently' turned to off-roa d ra cin g, including suc h rid ers as Guy Cooper, Fred Andrews a n d Rodney Smith. Some career off-road ers have sa id they resent the fact that so me of the se ride rs have come in and have taken over the off-road spotlight, but Dav is ha sn 't experienced too many cold shoulde rs. "Basically, everyone has been real good to me, and a lot of people have helped me out I enjoy being a part of the off-road scene; they are a lot more down to earth." Davi s say s th a t wi nn ing th e 125cc Supercross Cha mpionship was perhaps the h ighlig ht of his caree r. This beco mes e vid en t wh en you look at h is garag e wa ll, and see an enlarged photoc op y of the 1990 West Coast Su pe rcross Series point standi ngs, where his nam e stan ds on top of the list. Right u nd er the wo rds Ty Dav is s its the na m e Je re m y McGrath. "That (winning the title) meant a lot to me. It wasn't given to me. I was just a , full-on privateer gu y beating the factories. I did it all onmy own, organized . everythi ng. Ju s t a Joe Schmoe d et e r- gu ys out there, and here I am, just a little guy trying to survive." Davis recently signed a one-year contra ct with Kawasaki Tea m Green and will b e tea ming u p with fo u r-ti me N ational Hare & H ou nd Cha m pion Danny Ha mel at all the SCORE off-roa d events - such as the Baja 1000. However, unlike 1994 , Da vis w ill be seek ing a National Championship title for '95. "I talked Kawasaki int o letting me go for the National Endu ro title in '95. The first two rounds are out here in my neck of the woods. If thin gs go well there, I'll ride the whole series and go for the title. It' s imp ortan t for me.to ge t a cha mpions hip, so right now it's my intention to d o the wh ole endu ro series. "I' ll still d o so me motocro ss stu ff. Those su percross gu ys have an atti tude . They think they're so hot. It's fun to go l~ ou t and wax them." 7

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