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/127743
·DIRT TRACK· Hanging out with Mike Hacker door open for a ride on one of the fastest Honda RS750s in the nation. When the time came to choose a fill-in for Graham, Goad selected Hacker, who attended about four or five ationaIs. But once again, a full-time ride on Team Undo failed to materialize, and there were questions over the youngsters commitment to excellence. "When he went on the road with me, he was just out of high school, and you know what that's like," Goad said. "You don't know which way you're gonna go. I think that he got homesick. That's; why he didn't come to California with me. But I like him. I think he can be a champion. He could ·be another Bubba Shobert as far as I'm concerned. He's headed in the right direction now." The right direction for Hacker was supplied when Spectro/Moroney's Harley-Davidson team boss Pat Moroney, whose ew York-based operation already induded promising young talent in both Jason Fletcher and Georgie Price IV, took Hacker under his wing. The ryvo struck a deal that would allow the teenager to campaign the entire 1995 AMA Grand National Series as well as the AMA 883 ational Series with Hacker's longtime friend and mechanic, Clayton Oliver, spinning the wrenches. The deci ion has paid off, as Hacker has emerged as one of the hottest of the hot By Scott Rousseau hen Mike Hacker graduated as part of Prince George High School's class of 1994, he shared the same ambition and dreams for success as any other of his classmates, but the young Virginian's aims were just a little different. Whereas his classmates talked of college, Hacker was eager to attend dirt track racing's school of hard knocks. While his pals were anxious for one last summer of fun before heading away to attend fall classes across the country, Hacker was already prepared to take part in one class in several different states. And on the very next day after graduation, when the Prince George High School class of 1994 gathered for one more fun day together, Hacker was not among them. "The day after graduation all my friends went to the beach together," Hacker said. '1 went to Johnny Goad's house and we went on the road." He's been there ever since, and maybe that's the way it should be, for racing is definitely in this 19-year-old's blood. Having .competed in dirt track since the ripe old age of 11 and attending several Amateur Nationals along the way to where he is today, Hacker will tell you that he always knew. what he wanted to do when he grew up, although there were times when he thought he might never get there. "I wasn't all that hot as an Amateur," Hacker said. '1 didn't start doing good until I got to be a Pro-Am. I had really good equipment then." And Hacker started going fast too. Fast enough to attract the attention of UJ ~ ./fnd~ ~w ~ :!/ea4,~ tfown,a ~ .. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers legendary tuner Skip Eaken, who put Hacker on one of his potent HarleyDavidson XRs as early as 1993, once Hacker had earned his Grand National license. '1 rode Sacramento and Pomona and a couple of regionals for Skip," Hacker said. "But I knew that it was never going to be a permanent position, because that was when Kevin Atherton (Eaken's primary rider) was hurt. But I think Skip did it to expose me to some of the other teams." Hacker did attract the attention of neighboring Virginian and veteran tuner Johnny Goad of Team Undo, the latter fresh off a wildly successful season that had culminated in the capture of a Grand National title with the rejuvenated Ricky Graham. But when Graham was a no-show in 1994, it left the young stars on the circuit, finishing in the top 10 at nearly every National this year - his best finish being a second-place run at the Oklahoma City Half Mile - and vaulting himself to 10th place in the current series standings. He has also proven to be very competent in the 883 class, where he _ currently sits second in the points behind Jay Springsteen. In light of his accomplishments, Hacker's rising-star status is all but assured, and he is wellspoken-of by dirt track's upper echelon like Team Harley-Davidson's Scott Parker and Chris Carr, as well as top privateers Will Davis and Ronnie Jones. But life on the road to Grand National glory is tough, possessing the uncan-