Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

thought of him as a threat. Now I have to put him on a different stand and look at him as someone I have to race with along with Will Davis and Steve Morehead. I weigh them out, and I figure those are the teams that I've got to be concerned about. Chris (Carr) was like that. He really motivated me. Look at what happened at Oklahoma City in '95. Mike Hacker had that race won, and I was all set to take second. Then along comes Chris, and he pushed me to that next level. I think Kevin's going to be like that. He's got a lot of positive things going, but that won't make him win. He might beat me from time to time, but it's going to be a long year." The 1997 season should be an interesting year, and it may be one of Park. er's last. He has made it clear that he may hang up his leathers for good at the end of the 1998 season. "I think l'm getting more serious about the 'two -years' deal than when I said that three years ago," Parker said. "And a lot of that comes from when you go to the race tracks and they're not up to your expectations. ,When that happens you say to yourself, 'What am I doing here?' When the race tracks are really awesome, you say to yourself, 'Man, I want to keep doing this.' But The turning point at Oklahoma City in '96 - "It was a racing accident. If you look at the videotape you could see that Will Davis actua:Uy bobbled, and I was right there. You have to be right there to make a pass at Oklahoma City or you won't make it. He just started breaking his rear wheel loose. He just got it pitched sideways, and I was right there. It all happened so fast. I thought that I hit him, but when 1 saw it on film I was actually relieved." Nebraska's mystery fall - "We were starting to wind down the season, and I knew that it was time to start putting the -hammer down. I knew there was nobody there, but to this day I swear·it felt like someone thumped the rear end of the motorcycle. But after we reviewed it, there was nothing wrong with the motorcycle. I just feU off. It was one of them things, I guess." now we've got another baby on the way, and it's going to get tougher to carry the kids around to the race tracks week in and week out. It's just getting closer to the day, I guess." It is likely that he won't be remembered as the greatest when that day comes, but Parker said he would like to be remembered more in a manner that is as con.crete as the records he has set d UIing his career. "I just always have gone out there and done my job," Parker said. "To say that I've made the sport better... I don't know. I think that I've handled the PR part of it better than some guys. I've worked hard at that part, and I think we've got. a lot of guys who work hard at that part. We've got to. But I don't think I've made the sport better during the time that I've been fu there. I know where I stand..! know how I can ride a motorcycle, and how Bill can buiLd it. Harley-Davidson has paid me to win races, and I've just gone out there and done that to the best of my ability." Time will be the ultimate judge of . whether or not Scott Parker is ever considered the greatest dirt tracker who ever lived, but that's all right with him. Being the best will always be good enough. ('N 'Hey man, did you just get home from school? We're outJaying on th is boat, ha vin' a beer.' They were at some big lake up there, having a good time, and they called me just to rub it in a little." On heroes - "We were close to Springer, and I guess I didn't really look a.t him that way. We did things as friends. To be really honest with you, the only guy I ever followed - and this was before I ever really got into dirt bikes - was Kenny Roberts. He was in all the magazines. He was it when I was coming up. I raced him at Houston a couple times. I don't think I ever beat him." The weather - "The lakes are starting to freeze around here. I think that it won't be long before we'll be doing some ice racing. It's big back here in Michigan. It's pretty good practice. We ride at a bunch of different lakes around here. You'll show up at a School - "My parents told me, lake and there'll be like 35-40 'You aren't quitting school.' That guys riding. It's semi-organized was a sensitive area. So I just somebody comes out with a went there and did my thing plow, and we go from there. We semi-quietly, and got through it. get a lot of laps in all winter long, In hindsight, I wish I would have but I don't know if that helps me given it more effort, but I was. a bunch when we go to Daytona. racing and making more than my Therefore Daytona is Daytona." teachers. We'd go away on the weekends and make $8,000, and I You can't win 'em all - "I've was still in school. One time I never won Peoria, and I've never remember that I'd just flown back won Daytona. Have you ever from Castle Rock, because 1 had seen Daytona? r work all the way to be back in school, and Springer around that place. It's a full race and Corky Keener and Morehead track, and you go nowhere. 1 did ~ and a bunch. of the guys stayed win the 600cc National there 5' out there for the week. I just get once. I peaked a day early. But :g back from school, and the phone maybe I will win the big one one of these times." ~ rings, and they're on there sayin', Michigan is home - "I thought about liVing in Florida before, but this has always been home, and now that I've got kids, I've got to stay set." llte moneyain't like it used to be - "It's a little disappointing, but there's nothing you can do. It's the sport we're in. I can't help it if the big money ain't there. The only thing that makes me really want to quit is when they take us to shitty tracks. It sucks. I guess some of them have always been that way, but when you're a kid, you're just like, 'Let's go.' But now I'm in a different position, and it sucks when the tracks are bad. I guess money isn't the only thing. I'm still there to win, and Ricky Graham has a couple of records that I'd like to take over." The magic number is 82 - "'That was just my number. A lot of people were saying that I had to break 100. I say that it is 82, because that's what it would take to beat Springer's record by two times. To me, that's the number to beat. It's not 100. Whether it's 100 or 111 makes no difference." :I: "- o >- ~ => o <.:J '" 5 ~_. them. You're right there, and the bike flies right back in front of you. Not one guy, but four guys could be there. We had five guy.s go down off the start. If that ever happened in the comer once the race got going... It's a dangerous race track. We've got to give ourselves a 10,foot. buffer to give guys a chance to get off the race track when they crash. I don:t mean to take away from what Morehead is doing. He did an excellent job. But I don't feel comfortable. One mistake and you're in trouble, and so are a lot of the guys who are right behind you. The year before, George Roeder fell off in tum one, and I tried. to slow the bike down before I got there after I saw the red flag, and I couldn't slow it down ane! had to go above him b~tween the motorqrcle and the wall. Luckily nobody was there or I would have been collected too. It's a dangerous race track, and we've got to try to make it better Or don't go back." A funny thing happened after I won the championship - "A bunch of us decided to go to the beach after Del Mar. Kevin (Atherton) went with us, and after a while he disappeared, and we started looking for him. All of a sudden he came trottin' up. He had no clothes on at all. At least we had a limo parked right out in front that we could take off in right away." I meant what I said about Eldora - "Let's get this straight. Morehead did a great job promoting the race, and he did the best he could with the conditions. It wasn't that th.e track was really too rough, but we were J:Unn.i.ng two feet off the hay bales. Honestly, I was scared out there, and Then1!w kids - I notice them, I know he was scared. If one per- and I don't. I mean, you see that son makes one mistake, you're • they're out there, but until they into the hay bales or hitting start kicking you in the shins ~ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••" '" « Fatherhood hasn't changed Parker, much. It's something that he describes as tough some days and great others. The Parker clan is set to grow. The pair is expecting another .child, a boy, in April. week in and week out... I'm not racing them for the championship. I like Hacker, and Schnabel. Schnabel rides real good. I like Stanley - he just needs more time on the motorcycle. He hasn't raced with us long enough to understand what is right and wrong, but he's getting better week in and week out When I came up I was a hard-riding son of a bitch, and 1 threw it away my share. But when I did it I was on the outside, leaving nobody else at risk." Advice for aspiring Scott Parkers - "Take notes on your race setup. Know your air pressure, head angle, suspension, all your adjustments. Keep notes on what's going on, so that if you ever have to switch teams, you'll know where you were at before. I never did that. I wish I had." On being Ashley's dad - "She's awesome, and every day she does something different. Once this year we were in ahote! room, and Ashley was sitting there, chewing on something. Wanda saw her and said, 'Hey, what's she chewing on?' It was a toenail. Our friend Don had been in there before, cutting his toenails, and Wanda says, "She!s chewing on one of Dan's toenails!' I 'sald 'What if it ain't Don's? What if it's somebody else's?' Wanda's eyes got all big. It was pretty gross, but it was funny. Wanda and I actually were hoping for twins, but looking at it now we must have been crazy to think that. It's tough some days and really great oth- ers.". ••••••••••II••••••••...............l1li

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