Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE:TAPES By.SCott Rou~u hough he might never admit it if you asked him directly, it's easy to get the impression that Mike Lynch robably has better things to do with his . e than run a Grand National Champinship motorcycle racing team. After ill, it's not like the' 40-year-old orrest Hill, Maryland, resident doesn't ave more than enough to keep him usy just in the day-to-day operations of is own company, Lynch Transportaion, whose fleet of 30 Peterbilt semiankers runs up and down the East oast, carrying gasoline, oil and liquid sphalt - among other petroleum prodcts - under contract with Shell Oil ompany and several other big-name orporations. Lynch has 60 full-time mployees on his payroll, and most of is rigs are on the road seven days a eek, 24 hours a day. It wasn't always that way for Lyn~h, ho has been in the trucking business ince he was 17 years old. The better art of 10 years was spent crisscrossing the country seven days a week and 24 ours a day, making long hauls for ther trucking outfits, until he came to the realization that it was time to make a ove and do the job for himself and his family. "In 1983 r decided tha t I wasn't going to ~tay on the road all my life," Lynch says. "So I mortgaged the house and bought my own truck. I had another driver who helped me. We ran it in two hifts, hauling fertilizer." Although it didn't come overnight, uccess did come rather quickly. Five onths down the road came another tractor, and then another. Thirty tractors, countless trailers, a huge office and four-bay workshop, and 13 years later, . e Lynch no longer has to go on the road. And yet he is still there, traveling better than 50,000 miles a year for another reason entirely - his son, Paul. The younger Lynch is at the same time trying botlj" to grow up and to attail} his 25 YEARS AGO... SEPTEMBER 14, 1971 ycle News had the latest dirt track racer from Harley-Davidson on the cover. The 1972 alloy XR 750cc production racer came stock with allalloy barrels, forged flywheels and crankpin, Mikuni carbs, and low-dome pistons. The bike replaced the hand ~_...L grenade Iron XR ... Yvon DuHamel devasta ted the competition by riding his three cylinder Kawasaki to victory at the second annual Talladega 200Mile National ..~"';'1_ \+'- ·~!"'.b· Championship • ""!:.~:~1·::;; fZ;· Road Race. ·.,d~~t~:~~:'~ ~,~. . BSA rid ers Dick Mann and Don Emde took ond and third, respectively...The CalEXf'o Motocross held in Sacramento, California, drew nearly 15,000 spectaors:tnd Yamaha's Gary Jones was the mner in the 250cc expert class, followed by Tom Rapp and Bruce Baron. C --.;=::::::...----J own success as a professional dirt track racer on the AMA Grand· ational Championship circuit, a daunting if not impossible task. The parallel is somewhat ironic: Paul Lynch is getting his start in the business of professional motorcycle racing at 17 years old, the same age that his father was when he made the decision to drive a truck. Mike Lynch is behind Paul 100 percent, and has put together a first-class operation that rivals the best privateer teams on the circuit. Lynch has provided his son with a first-rate, C&J-framed Harley-Davidson XR750 - another is on the way - as well as an immaculately prepared Wood-Rotax for the two or three stops on the Grand National trail, as well as the various regionals and local expert events that call for such a machine. He has hired a cagey veteran of a mechanic in Mike Wheeler to make sure that the equipment stays fresh and well-maintained. Mike, wife Wanda; Paul, Wheeler and their helper/driver a man they call 'The Ra t" -hit the road in ooeclthecleanesHookingtrans~rt~ on the circuit, a 4D-foot, $100,000 Peterbilt rig that features full living quart~ as well as more than enough room in the rear section to store and haul five motorcycles if need be. Paul Lynch is not hurting for anything. Starting.in the middle of last year, Lynch Racing took to the road, heading to the various Grand ational stops, regionals and pickup races for the better part of six months with Paul's total Grand ational ~ints tally being a single point after he made just one Grand National, the Goshen Half Mile, and finished last. Dirt track racing at the Grand National level is anything but economical, and after spending $50,000 in operations expenses alone for the raee team last year, it would have been easy for Mike Lynch to look at the numbers and call the venture a failure. Because when the chips are down, and money goes out 15 YEARS AGO... SEPTEMBER 9, 1981 ; H cno t~ and T err y P0 0 v e y squeaked out wins at the Indy Mile double-header held at the Indiana State Faitgrounds. Scott was followed across the line Saturday by Ted Boody and brother Gary Scott, while Poovey was followed by Mike Kidd and Lance Jones Sunday...ltaly's Marco LucchinelIi clinched the SOOcc World Road Racing Championship for Suzuki with a sensible ninth place finish at the Swedish GP. Yamaha's Barry Sheene won the event, followed by Suzuki's Jack Middleburg and Kawasaki's Kork Ballington. American Randy Mamola was Lucchinelli's only threat for the title chase at the last round but finished a laV down in 13th place...Husqvarna's Terry Cunningham won the AMA-sanctioned Greylock ational Enduro held in Middlefield, Massachusetts. Seven-time National Champion (at the time) Dick and doesn't come in, as it so often can on the Grand National circuit, even the most well-off teams .often are forced to question th'eir commitment to a professional motors~rt which pays relatively smaIl purses, has no major series s~n sor and no major television coverage. It becomes a matter of dollars, and "sense," and Lynch comes off as anything but an extravagant man who takes pleasure in blowing huge sums of money on an expensive hobby. It would have been easy to quit, but it didn't happen. . It isn't that Lynch is one of those little League dads who believes that his son can do no wrong. What Mike Lynch has recognized is that he loves dirt track racing, and hll loves his son, and the fact that he can be involved with both at the same time makes this racing program that much more special to him. It has been that way since he started fielding racing motorcycles for Paul when the boy was 7 years old. And maybe, just maybe, he sees the same chance for greatness for Paul, albeit in a different 'arena, that he achieved in the trucking business. Nobody thus far has questioned the youngsters dedication to his chosen profession - especially considering that Paul, like so many other potential Grand ational stars of tomorrow, has engaged in a man's game without so much as graduating from high school yet. And Paul is trying to learn as much as he can about the game. After each race he can be found with Wheeler, jotting down notes pertinen t to every aspect of his motorcycle's setup, the track and weather conditions, finish positions and even the money he won. On the track, he is as fierce a competitor as there is on the circuit today, and you can bet that he feels the same shame, anger, disap~intment - call it whatever you want - that Steve Morehead or Scott Parker felt whenever they got their a ses kicked by the Grand National veterans of their younger days. Mike Lynch understands all of this, and he has kept his racing team on the road in the hope that one day the dedication his son displays will combine with the experience that he currently lacks to produce a solid championship contender. It won't come .overnight, but Lynch believes that it will cOIIlf· "lie's coming along," Lynch says of Paul. "He plateaus for a long time, and then it seems like he steps up another level." How gratifying then that at the recently held Cornhusker Motorcycle Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska, Paul Lynch made his fathers words ring true by doing just that - stepping up in a big, big way. Lynch started off in typical fashion, running'fourth in his heat race and failing to grab a direct transfer to the main event by a single position. But from there, things just seemed to take off as Lynch gunned his XR750 away from his competition to win the first semi by a country mile and earn a s~t in the feature. He returned to the track aboard his 600 and not only made that main, but tenaciously took control of the IS-lapper in the closing stages of the race to score a close victory over fellow young lion J.R. Schnabel and thus garner the first major professional victory of his career. It wasn't all roses, though. Lynch was in the process of putting together a solid run in the Grand ational final when carburetor problems dropped him to 13th after all was said and done. But it migh t as weI! ha ve been a victory, judging by the team's reaction. Paul Lynch had once again shown that he has what it takes. That's good enough for Mike Lynch to keep gOing, for he knows that it is his son who still has better things to do. And even ~f another night like LincoIn doesn't happen again this year, for Mike Lynch, the haul has already paid off. ~ Burleson finished second to his teammate, and Can-Am-mounted John Martin finished third. points of points leader and Harley-Davidson teammate Chris Carr by winning the Springfield Mile. Ronnie Jones finished second on a 5YEARS AGO... Honda and Carr got SEPTEMBER 11, 1991 third...Kawasaki's Jeff Ward efending Grand ational won the 500cc class at the AMA . Champ Scott Parker 125/500cc ational held in moved to within three Washougal, Washington. Honda's JeanMichel Bayle and Jeff Stanton took second and third, respectively. Suzuki's Larry Ward won the 12Sec class, followed by Brian Swink on a Honda and Suzuki's Guy Coo·per. Yamaha's Defending 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey inched closer to another championship with a win at the Czech GP, his sixth -of the year. America the beautiful: During the 1989 World Championship Honda's Michael season, road racing greats Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Doohan finished Eddie Lawson shared the 500cc podium an amazing nine times In 15 second and Yamarounds. Even better, one of the three took pole position 14 times. ha's John Kocinski got third. 0 Lawson went on to win the championship. Photo by Gold & Goose. D 83

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