Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TIME REMEMBERED (Above) Holl and was hammered by Injuri es. which ullimately led to the end of his career . Thi s photo wa s taken afte r he won 8 local supercross race . in 1985. He wo n the season-opening Gainesville, Florida, National. charging to third overall behind Ron Lechien an d his p ot en t and exotic factory Hond a , and team mate and perennial nemesis Kehoe. In a s tra nge twi st of fate, Holland an d Keh oe had some how managed to end up as teammates at Suzuki. Cu riously, and collectiv ely, both beg an chipping away at fam e a n d glo ry in th e 125cc class, following each other's d rafts up int o th e upper reaches of the 125cc National Championship points table. In 1986, Holland agai n pl aced third in the AMA 125cc Championsh ip Series, pulling off w ins a t Ga i nesv ille a n d Axton , Virginia, and finishing a scant three points beh ind Kehoe, a nd ju st a few moto wins adrift of new champion a nd Team H onda r ecruit Mick y Dym ond. Throu ghout th e spr ing and sum me r of 1987, George Holland firml yest abli sh ed himself as o ne of Ame rica' s : and th e w orld ' s - fa s tes t rid ers . Throu gh fin ish in g a close seco nd to Dymond in th e 125cc se ries; wi nn ing hi s th ird consecutive Gai nesville Na tio nal - a feat th at no othe r rid er has ' e ver acco m plished; a nd land i n g a hu gel y impressi ve fou rth-place p os ition behind Ward, Johnson and Leehi en in th e AMA 250cc Su percross Series r-, point standings, Holland was knoc king 0'\ on the door of greatness . 0'\ Th en Roger DeCoster came calling . r-.,' .Interested in retaining the services of the ,..... tal ented a n d consiste nt Californian, DeCoster and Honda were lookin g for a Q) rid er to replace defending class cha mpi...0 on Dym ond (w ho, as th e AMA rul es then d ictated , had to exit the class due Q) ..... to winning two consecutive 12Sec titles ). 0... Holland, wh o had run a sp irited second Q) sr: in the previous two title clashes, wa s the natu ral choice. However, it 'wasn' t that easy fo r George. There was ce rtainly .... ... E 22 Former 125cc National MX Champion George Holland some history and loyalt y between HoIland and longtime suppo rte r Am erican Suzuki. "I w as second a few tim es in the 125cc Na tio na l Cha m pio ns hip points," H olla nd said . " I w a s neve r healthy enough because every year something hap pened an d I ne ve r got to m y full potential. I really liked Suzuki and I wa s w ith th em si nce I w as 12 yea rs old . Some of the people there felt like fami ly to me . In 1987 I p ut a good ye ar in a t Suzu ki - I was seco nd i n the 125 cc Na tio na l p oi nt s and fourth in Supercross. At the end of the season, Micky Dym ond was leavi ng and Team Honda needed a rid er. Da ve Arnold and Roger DeCos ter signed me to a one-year contra ct. I was prett y h a p p y with that because motocr oss is al ways a year- toyea r-dea l thin g anyway. I was looking forward to sw itching over to Hond a." Backed bv the enorm ous wherewithal and momentum of th e "Honda Wa y," Hollan d finally po t it all toget her and gracefully w a lk ed o ff wi th the 1988 AMA 125c c National Championship. Staying consistent, Geo rge st arted the season in a conservative mode. He eve ntually caug ht fire once the series hit full stride, claiming impressive overall wins in the deep sand of Sou thwick, Massa chusetts, the hea t of San Antonio, Texas, the jump-fill ed, big "ha ng -ti me " a ir space of Troy, Ohi o, and the cool green s h a d e of Wa shougal , Wash ington . When th e Holland onslaught 'Was all over, Holland claimed the title over the late and great Donny Schmit, who came ho me ove r 70 poi nts ad rift. "T he 125cc C ha m p ions h ip was a goal of mi ne, " H olland said. "Wh en I s igned th e deal wi th Honda, I kn ew it w as my bes t cho ice - I had wa nted to ride fo r the m si nce I was o n the minis. I'd bee n close to winning th e cha m pionship befo r e a n d I w a s nerv ous right up to the very end when I wo n th e title and that was eve n w ith a 70 - poin t lead. It was a relief to win the title . Especi ally a fte r all the probl em s I had with injuries." As a s ubp lo t to H o lla nd 's 1988 champ ionship run, for the first time in th eir professi onal careers, Ho lland and Kehoe had to battle each o ther man to man fo r th e 125cc titl e th a t eac h so desperately wa nted. "We go t alon g real well a t the tr ack, bu t we w er e both very compe titive a nd ha d a lo t o f go od ba ttl es while r acin g the Nat ionals," explained Kehoe of his former tea mma teo "After the • 1987 season , Honda was talking to me at the same time they were talkin g to George, but I felt very loyal to Suzuki and wanted to stay. George took ad va ntage of Hon da, which was a g re a t team and a great bike, a nd he w on th e 125cc National Champi onship. "I never ha d any regrets about no t winning the atio nal Cha m pions hi p," Keh oe added after a few mo ments of thought. - I was lo yal to Suz uki a nd that's how it all wo rked out:' Then came th e 1989 ca mpa ign, and with it a num ber of ravaged and championsh ip -s tarved co m pe tito rs eager to s na tch th e number-on e pl at e off Hoi land 's blood-red facto ry Hon da . Eager to hold on to his hard-earned numbero ne p la te, Holl and wo u ld see it all go wron g as hi s problematic shou lde r injuries came back to trouble him - this time to sta y. "In 1989, it wo uld' ve been eas ier to wi n the title, but my shoulder wa s just a mess and it kept popping out," Holland said . "Also, abou t thi s time, I wa s sta rting to ge t bu rned out with it all . However, I think that was more from the injuries and the pain, because I just cou ldn't give it all I had . Mid wa y throu gh the 1989 season, I had the po ints lead - the n I s ta r ted to m iss races due to my shoulde r." As the se as o n entere d its twilight stages, so did H olland ' s fine ca r ee r . Tired , bu rned ou t and beaten up, HoIla nd , keen ly awa re of the ne w - a nd much less volatile - "harvest life" awai ting him back in Ker man, threw in the towel and called it quits. He was done. And with that. he d isappeared from the scene - entirely. "When I retired that afternoon, I had mixed emo tio ns ," Holland sa id . "I fell like I should' ve won more races and titles. I was happy, but still disappointed . Tha nks to my dad, I was set up pretty well when my racin g wa s o ver. But when it actually was over, I didn't want to go back a t a ll . I fell right into th e farming and didn't really want to pursue other roles in the sport. I missed it a little bit, but the longer I wa s gone, the less I m issed it. I d id mis s th e friendsh ips from over the years. Su zuki was like a big fam ily to me, especia lly guys li ke Ra y Tetherto n . Ho n da wa s a lso g rea t, wit h Da ve A rno ld, Rog er De -Co st er, a nd m y m e chan ic, Cliff Wh ite. I like d White a lot because he really worked a t everything and never got too excited; he was a lo t of hel p to me. I st ill stay in tou ch wi th him, an d Jeff Sta nto n . I also really m issed Bevo Fort e from Scott USA. "I s till kee p u p with the spo rt. I' m s ti ll a fan and wa tch it o n TV a ll th e time. I also kee p up with it throu gh my fr ie nds wh o a re big fa ns . All of th e farmers around the area know 1 was a racer and think it 's co o l. I''v e bee n watching these yo ung guys coming up and they're going real fast. The one I'v e been watching who has a lot of potential is Kevin Windham. He's so relaxed and fluid - he's effortl ess." Comfortable with the almond business he and his father set up during his racing years, Holland has fallen into a comfortable life that keeps him plen ty busy. "I was getting into the almond business before I qui t racin g," Holland said, "beca u se m y d a d h and led it as a n investment. We do cus tom harvestin g and a lo t of ou tside business. It keep s me busy and ge ts rea l crazy in Aug us t wh en w e have to get the tree sha kers ou t and begi n harvesting. "I've been married to my wife Dana for 10 years now and have tw o daugh ters," Holland beamed. "Hayley is 4 1/ 2 yea rs old and st arts kindergarten this ye ar, while Ta yl or is 2 yea rs ol d . My family keeps me rea l busy and I don't have a lot of free time, but I like to try to golf w hen I can. I'm also a big boxing fan and I watch all of the big fights . My alltime favori te figh ter was Marvin Hagler. "I also bought a Harley-Davidson. I a lw ays kin d of liked them and I just kept telling myself, 'I'm goi ng to get one of those: So eventua lly I d id . I like to r id e o nc e in a while w ith a group of friends: ' When George H olland retired, he seem ingly vanis hed fro m the chaotic scene that is the American professional motocross circuit. Qui et, det ermined , tal ented a nd , abo ve all, fast, Holland was, to many wh o knew him, a breath of fres h air in the deat hly seriou s and, at tim es, stifli ng a nd forebod ing professional atmosphere. Whil e most enthusi asts and insiders knew of him as a winner, there are also a great numb er that rem ember Holland as a great person. "George was a very nice boy, and he and his dad had a great relationship," Dickinson said. "He was a very nice, allAmerican kid , and I've always felt tha t th ose types of kids were be tter for racing. Th ey had their heads tog eth er and kep t it all in perspective: ' So now , wi th the s m ell of premix long gone, th e roar of the crowd nothing but a happy mem ory , and chronic pain no lon ger a part of his job description, how does Ge orge Holland fee l about being remembered as such a good, and just as importantly, nice person? "Nice? Everybody sai d tha t. I guess I was just bei ng myself." '"

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