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/127760
Jay Springsteen By Scott Rousseau Photos by Dan Mahony, Flat Trak Fotos and the Springsteen family t's all but impossible to determine the exact ingredient or combination thereof that determines the difference between what is a classic and what is a relic, between that which becomes legend or that which turns into the same worn-out story. Achieving such distinction in Grand ational dirt. track racing may be even more difficult as the sport is rife with heroes, and yet there is perhaps just one man who has risen up to be a hero among those heroes - a rider whose legend has transcended the modern era and has come to embody exactly what dirt track racing is. The rider is Jay Springsteen, and the legend is "Springer." There is a distinction between the two, to be sure. Like Superman and Oark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Batman, Jay Springsteen and the legend of "Springer" are one and the same, yet separate. Talk to Springsteen away from the race track, and you might get the impression that he was another human being no different from the rest - perhaps he wants it that way. But at the races, the legend still reigns supreme as evidenced by Springer's 41st Grand National Championship main event at the spring running of the Pomona Half Mile - some 25 years after he won his first main event, the Louisville Half Mile in 1975. From Rookie of the Year in 1975, through his incredible string of three consecutive championships from 1976 to '78 and the mysterious stomach ailment that saw him off the Harley-Davidson factory team, to the road back to the Pomona winner's circle, Springer's legend appears stronger than ever, and it bears repeating. But rather than guide him through his life with a myriad of ques.tions as journalists often do, we decided to let Springsteen guide us by having him tell his story in his words. The conversation ranged from the old and familiar to subjects that are perhaps new or less wellknown to all but the most hard-core Springsteen fans. Through it all, he recounted his life and his lifestyle not in an arrogant manner that might be afforded someone who has accomplished deeds worthy enough to earn the unofficial crown of "greatest dirt tracker of all time," but rather with Springsteen's quiet and reserved manner - that of a humble man, and a stark contrast to the larger-than-life hero who shows up and grinds it out with some of the nation's toughest motorcycle racers on the AMA Grand National Championship trail. That is what made this particular conversation so enlightening. And, just maybe, that's the missing ingredient. fN $: My . Iwroes were the tough guys. When I was real little yet, my dad took us to some races like the Detroit Mile and some other local places like that. I had no idea that I'd be racing like that someday. (liked the local guys like Bart Markel and Jack Warren. 1 remember seeing Bart when my dad bought that Harley CRS. Those guys were tough. Then '----~---.,....I there's my buddy (Gary) Nixon. We go back a long ways to some of the old indoor short tracks and pavement races and stuff like that. 1 remember when I lost my number one he called me a(ld said, "Springer, do you wanna run my number?" 1 told him, "Yeah. I was just going to call you about that." That's how I got my number nine. Nixon's a good friend . ' .- '. ." . " '.' .. '.