Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·D TTR C Total Control Racing IR A K (Left · left to right) Hidden heroes : Mechanic Dave Watts , team owner Benson Ford Jr., and team manager Tom Cumm ings. (Below ) TeR Inherited a championship title with the signing of Davis, who Is the reigning AMAIMoto rcycle Aspha lt Racing Series Champ ion. t h ro ugh th eir firs t yea r in 1994 a nd failed to score a win, bu t the team was not deterred and wound u p fin ishi ng eig h th in the final standi ngs. The tw o pressed on and con tin ued to d evelop th e pro gram, and th e y we re m u ch stro nger in '95. Atherton pos ted a victory at the Ind y Mile as well as 11 top-five and six more top-10 finis hes to better his p re vio us ye ar ' s performance to fifth overall. While his seniority on the team migh t m ake it appear that he is the nu mbe rone rider, Atherto n claim s tha t's not the case. "It's hard to say that I'm the numberone rid er ," Atherton sa ys . "I' ve been there for three years, bu t I don't want to say tha t, because jus t as mu ch attention is go ing to Will , an d ju st as m u ch money. When we do things it's in twos whereas at the factory I was always the guinea pig. If we had a new part to try, we always put it in my bike first. Now, we ha ve Bre nt Ar m brus te r, who th e team he lp s ou t. H e' s ou r R&D ri der. Will and I don ' t have any ad vant ages over one anothe r." Like Davis, Atherton feels that this is his year to win the title. The youngster has found a home with TCR and claims to be more ready than ever to make an assa ult on the championship plate. "It took a few years to get th e ball rolling," Ath erton says . "I was with Al Stangler for so many yea rs , then I jumped ship with Skip, and then (Cum mings). That' s thr ee differ ent mechanics and three d ifferent opi nions in three yea rs. Now we're at that point where Tom knows what I like, and he can actually show me a few things on paper and I understand them better. If you look at it on paper, the TCR team shou ld win the championship. I want to be that guy wh o beats Scott Parker." Will Davis 6 While it may be tru e that every rider who contes ts the AMA Grand Na tional Championship Serie s has a shot at the titl e, Golds boro, North Car olina' s Will Davis has been looked upon for the past sev eral years as one privateer who is more than capab le of taking it. Dav is picked up his only victory of the year for the Craig Roger s-owned Team Saddlemen at the Sedalia Half Mile and was consisten t enough put together 13 topfive and four top-10 runs to land fourth in the final standings at the end of the '95 season. Davis made the move to TCR has been with Davis on that road for the past five years . Th e p air originall y ho oked up with one a n o th e r wh en Davis was still riding for Winchester HD team ow ner Eddie Adkins and then moved over to the H ond as of Craig Rogers for the past four seasons. When Dav is made the move to the TCR team, Town was ri gh t with him again. For Town's part, there ar e but tw o major differences between th e old team and the new one. "Parts and money," said Town, who - like most privateer m ech an ics -' was used to "scrounging" to keep his motorcycl es in the race. "Before, we didn't th row stuff away un til it was compl etely beyond rep air. Now, if anything is questionabl e we replac e it." Ironicall y for Town, the team concept has been th e most d ifficult ad jus tment to make, th ou gh it is one that he welcomes. "I wo rked alone for five yea rs," said Town, who now handles Davis' motorcycles along with Ran dy Bra dy . "Now it's different. You have to get used to it. Everyone has d ifferen t ways of d oing things. It 's no p roblem, because I'v e worked with peop le before. It's a lot easier. Before, if something was done it was becaus e I did it. No w I can spe nd a heck of a lot more time on other stu ff besides washing bikes or changing tires. We've go t a real go od dyno se tu p her e that allo ws you to try stu ff that yo u might ha ve had in the back of you r mind for three years. It's better, bu t tha t's nothing aga inst Craig Rogers. Ther e' s on ly so much money that we can spend. It's just tha t I don't have to worry about wh ere the pa rts are coming from." G Nixon ary for the '96 season, replacing the departed Dan Butler, and immed iately proved his worth with a victory at the season-opening Dayton a Short Track . The 32-yearold looks at th is yea r as hi s best-ever sho t at taking the number-one plate. " Everybod y th a t I'v e ri d den for in the pa st has been as good to me as they co u ld be, and e ve n better th an they could be a lot of the time," Davis says. "Wit h this deal, w e' ve g ot so many good peop le being inv olved, and it takes pe ople to do work . And with Ben son Ford being involve d, tha t speaks for itself." The rid e is a dream come tru e fo r Davis, who, as much as any other pri vateer on the circuit, knows how d ifficult it can be to tackle all the logistics of running the entire championship sched ule. "We never ha ve a problem with what we need to race now," Davis said. "All the time we ha ve exactly wh at we need to race . If we need new tires, th en we get them. If we need new parts, then we get them, too. The oth er thing is that I get to come hom e more, which means tha t I can stay in the gym longer, and I don 't have to come home from the races bu rned out after traveling up and dow n th e ro ad w orking on va ns all week . I think that has a lot to do with it. To me, this is just as good as a factory ride if not better ." As he alluded, Da vis' role has been more or less "reduced" to that of a rider o nly, w h ich sh ou ld all ow h im to be more focused in his run toward the title, but he still feels that he has the latitu de to m ake the necessary decisions that he feels w ill help his or the team's chances. " I fee l li ke somet h ing th at I've br ough t to the team is th e expe rie nce tha t I've got," Davis said. "I still make th e d ecision s as far as th e mot orcycle goes. If I w ant ed to put a knobb y wheel on the front, then they'd tell me to go for it. I guess th at' s p a rt of why they brou ght me on board. We just all work togeth er really good. If we don't win the champion sh ip, it won't be becau se we were lacking anything." Dennis Town Like Da v is, Dennis Town is no strange r to the hardsh ip that most privatee rs s uffe r o n the road to Grand National glory. The 53-year-old wrench Two -time Gra nd Natio nal Cha mpio n Gary Ni xon has been hir ed on as th e team assts ta n t, a task th at the g ritty Mary land er has taken on with the same fire a nd w ill to win tha t n etted his championships in 1967 and '68, and perhap s no one oth er than he is more qualified to assess the TCR racing program. "I was on the Trium ph team, Suzuki, Kawasaki, basically everythi ng except Honda," the 55-year-old Nixo n says. "I can tell you that this is the best team I've ever been on. I've been looking for a job like this for 18 years. Last year after I got hurt in England , Tom invited me to go on the Peoria -Rapid City-Denver trip. I couldn't help mu ch, but I got along with the team. " Nixon offere d h is services to Cum m ings and was part of th e bud get for the 1996 racing seaso n. 'T d been fightin g thi s depression stuff for six yea rs," Nixon sai d. "I felt hung over all the time . But the da y they hi red me it was like turning on a light sw itch . N ow I w alk in h er e a nd it ' s some thing new every day. We've got a nice budget, we look good, and we go fast. Ben son Ford is a sta ndard guy . He's given me a new life - a chance to go for number one again." From ou tside in and in sid e ou t, Tot al Control Racing appears to have the necessa ry brawn to w rest le th e covet ed Grand National titl e away from Scott Pa rker, altho ugh whether or not th ey will do so is anyone's guess. Dirt track's Lad y Luck is as fickle .as in any other form of motor racing, and she does not care how much money or how clean a team is wh en determining wh o will be the victor that day. The race to the title is a long haul, but TCR definitely appears to be in the sport for the long ha ul. And where there's a Will, and a Kevin, there just might be a way. (]\

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