Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW Kevin Varn es By Scott Rousseau odem di rt track racing is for all int ents and purposes an olde r man' s game. Fo r ev ery Scott Parker, Steve Morehead or Jay Springsteen competing in the AMA Grand Nationa l Championship Series, it seems lik e there is a crop of yo u n g riders like Kevin Ath erton, Davey Carnlin, Larry Pegram or Brett Landes who stru ggle through the ranks in an attempt to establish themsel ves alongsid e dirt tra ck's veteran vanguard. Some make it, and some don't. But based upon his earl y performances in the 1995 Grand National Championship season, Kevin Varnes appears eager to add his name to the li st of Grand National Championship dirt track racing' s young lions . In just his third year as a GNC Expert, the soft-spoken 20-year-old from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has begun to make a dent in the sport. Starting with his performances during Camel Motorcycle Week in Daytona, Varnes p ulled off a big wi n during the Florida Fla t Track Series at the Thunder Valley Short Track in Satsuma, Florida, before moving on to the Dayto na Short Track. The re, "Revvin' Kevin" - as he has been nicknamed by h is peers - easily made the National and was running sixth M for Lancaster Harley-Da vid son on one of Randy Texte r' s Harl ey-Davidson s. W h a t was your first race on the Harley-Davidson ? I think it was after th e California series. I think it w as Syracu se, on th e mile. Then it w asn 't too long after that we wen t to Hager st own, and that was the first Grand National that I ever made. I was running seventh until there wer e about five laps to go, and then I fell off. Will Davis was ahead of me, and he blew soine oil. I hit that, and away I wen t. Th at (Texter ' s) bik e had a very old engine. It wasn't one of th e upd at ed ones. I had a lo t of b reaks, and I only finished about three races that yea r. Then i n '94 y ou hooked up with Babe DeM ay. No t right awa y. I started ou t riding for Texter, but Babe DeM ay was trying to get a bike read y for me. He was hav ing trouble gettin g a motor from HarleyDavidson, but then h e finall y got h is bike together . I rode Texter's Harley at Pomona, and then the next race after that was DuQu oin. That was my first race on Babe DeMa y's Harley. He got the thing ready like an hour before it was time to go down th ere. He really didn't h ave enough time, and I was kind of disappointed b ecau se the thing felt a little slow, but it got .better. But ' 94 was the first yem: that I went to all of the races . You were still gelling your feet wet then, but did you .feel like you were making any kin d o f pro g re ss t hat would indicate yo u were capable of the things you've sh own so far in '95? Oh yea h. I knew that it was going to be h ard getting used to working with Babe DeMay. Everything was new to me, riding a new bike and working with a new tuner. I never even talked to the guy until I met h im for the first tim e th ere at DtrQuoin. Bu t he w as pretty cool an d easy to ge t a long with . He kn ow s an aw fu l lo t about motorcycle ra cin g, but th e bike rea lly didn' t perform as well as I thought that it would until later in the season. Then it started rollin' pretty go od, and I w as gett ing used to the chassis and the way it handled an d st u ff like that. I wound up mi s s in g someth in g like six or seven N ationals by fini shing fou rt h in the semis . I missed them by just one (position) . Tha t was a little frustrating, but I used every race as a building block to keep learning and keep going. I think I made four Nationals in '94: Obviously you started ra cing long bef ore 1993. , I started racing in 1985 when I was 11. Dirt track is the on ly thing I' ve ever done. The Varnes name has a long line of dirt track racers in it. My dad raced, and I have several uncles who raced, and my brother Jim. It look ed fun, so I tried it. My family has alw ays been a big help in my career. When I was coming up, my dad always built my bikes, and there was no pres sure. He just said to go have fun. You've said that you like riding the 600s a lot mor e th an you li k e riding the 750s. Wh y is th at? ' I think th at they 're a lot easier to ride than a 750.. I really don 't have eno ugh time on the 750 yet, and its really like starting all over again now tha t I've gotten on the Honda. Sp e a k i ng of t h e Hond a, y o u are now on one of the best privateer teams in the country. How did th e USC Racin g deal come together? It all kind of started at the end of the '94 season. I got alo ng grea t wi th Babe ' DeMay, but I didn't think that we were go ing to go anywhere. I rod e for Johnny Goad in Myrtle Beach (Florida) back in May, and the y were having their problems with their team, so I just ki nd of hung in there. I just kept talking to him at the races, and I gave him a call after we go t back from California at the end of last yea r, and he told me he'd let me know. He gave me a call in Janu ary of this yea r to let me know wha t we were doing. Origina lly, it was going to be me and Ricky Graham, bu t unfortunatel y Ricky got hurt. Joh nny was looking for some mor e 30n • .-< l-< ~ 24 ahead of Jay Springsteen for much of the race before crashing out of con tention. More good luck came the youngster's way when he and Goad hooked up wi th Gerry Booher and veteran racer Terry Poovey to form the USC Racing stab le, undoub tedly one of the best-financed privateer teams in the series. In his first race aboard the USC Ho nda RS750, Varnes immediately produced results, marching his way into the National at the Pomona Ha lf Mile via a direct heat trans fer after a spirited dice with eventual winner Jay Springsteen . Desp ite falling back to 14th behind teammate Poovey in the 25-lap National, Varnes gave a good account of himself, and all of the necessary ingredient s now appear to be in place. When did you firs t begin riding in the G rand National Series? Well, 1993 was my first Expert year, bu t I d idn't s tart r iding a 750 ri gh t away. I rode a 600 for the first half of the season, and then I started riding a 750

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