Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

yon to me. Yama ha started talkin g to me and came down to Lore tta Lynn's that August to watch me ride. I felt that they had the best program for me a t the time, so I signed on wi th them: ' Team Yama ha and their new recruit, Kevin Win dha m, used 1995 as a -learnin g yea r, and in an effor t to get t he oung rid er u p to speed and co nditioned to the hig h-jinks world of bigtime pro motocross, the team sent legend Bob Hannah ou t on the road to kee p an eye on the roo kie. "Yeah, Bob was there the very firs t time I ro de a supercross track," says Wind ham, fondly. "He helped me ou t a lot. He doesn't co me around so mu ch anymore, but w he n I firs t s tar ted, he really hel ped me, because I did n't know what was go ing on. Bob defi nite ly go t me on the right tra ck: ' All th ings con s id ered , Windham' s transition into th e profess io nal ra nks wen t w ell, and in 1996 he pulled down his first tit le, the AMA 125cc Western Region al Supercross Ch ampionship . Moreover, he w on the last four motos of the 1996 125 cc N ation al Motocross Championship Series, takin g the measu re of Am erica' s premier 125cc pilot, Steve Lamson, at the yea r's final ational at Steel City. With hi s hu g el y impressi ve 1996 results, man y insid ers and savvy enthusiasts prognosticated on the eve of the 1997 season that Windham was on th e verge o f takin g con tro l o f the sp o rt' s 12Scc division. When the 1997 AMA Supercross Series launched in January at the ancient, riot-scarred Los Angeles Coliseum, Windham was poised and ready to win every single West Regio n supercross event. However - and perhaps u n e xp ecte d ly - that lofty goal would not be as easy to achieve as a number of people initially thought. " It was a little tou gher than the year before," admits Windham, af ter a few mom ents of thoug ht. "However, my" main compe tition was mysel f. I'm a very com petit ive person and I really wa nt to wi n. 1 make side bets w ith peopie and eve ry thing. The entire class was fas t t his year. David Vuillemin was goin g very fast, as were a number of other g uy s from t he ° other r egio ns , lik e Rick y Here , Windham (right) shares the podium with teammate Ezra Lusk at Charlotte. Windham's w in at Charlotte was his first on a 250. outdoor se ries, and Windha m was n o t keen on the developme nt. To Windha m, Las Vegas wa s an opportunity to show the world who was pri nce of the 125cc division. "The track in Las Vegas was rea lly, rea lly dry . After the race , I thre w up a number of times, a nd all of these people claimed th at it was d ue to n e rv e s, but th at was n ' t rea ll y tru e. I rid e w it h m y mouth wide open an d run into problems with a lot' of dirt and dust going dow n m y th roat. When it happens, I end up ge tt ing sick - I mean, 1 threw up at five outdoor Nationals this y e a r. But despite what every o ne thinks, it w asn't nerves that mad e me throw up in Las Vegas . Before that showdown race , I was ne rvous, but I was much mo re anxious to get it going and over with. There was a Jot of hype about R.C. and I going head to head . When the race got going, I made a pass on Ricky, and the n he came back and ma de a very aggressive pass on me - I g uess he didn't want me in fro nt of him," Windham says, laughing. "However, 1eve ntually passed him back and wen t on to win. It was a g rea t feeling for me to win that race:' Although Ricky Ca r michael a nd Kevin Wi ndham have become se rio us adversaries, their rid ing sty les are drastica lly d iff e r e n t. W hile Windham 's moveme nts on th e b ike are fluid and calc u la ted, Carmi chael ri d es with a well-docu men ted wild (and w in ning) aba ndon. " I don 't th in k you ca n compare us ," says Windham upon being posed with this observation. "I have kn own Rick y a ve ry C~ r m i c h ae l long time and 0k an d Stephane i.[ we have raced Roncada. At U I) YO 1 a lot ag a ins t e a ch o the r . Ph oe n ix, Roncad a go t behi nd When ever I a m me, and I thou ght behind h im, I to m y self, 'M a yb e ali ° th ink he is going to go d own - h ard . Hi s he'll get tired : But he didn't and he hung in there h and s a re bl o win g off th e right behind. I could hea r his bike bars a nd his feet come off the pegs. braaap, braaap, braaap - the entire time: ' Like I sai d, I' ve k nown Ricky a lon g Despite a fe w ch allenging rac es time, and he is a grea t rid er, but if I rode like that , I k now I wou ld go d o wn which included a couple of un characteristic trips to the d irt - Windha m claimed hard : ' In regard to his mu ch-admired , flowhi s seco n d co nsec u tive A MA 125cc Reg ional Supercr oss Cha m pio ns hi p . in g riding s tyle, Windham is quick to Ho w eve r, while thi s is a n im p ressive poi nt ou t that it's not quite 'as easy as it achieveme n t by an y ga uge, ano ther seriappears. "It 's a lw ays been natural, althou gh ous cha lle nge lo om ed in th e e rra tic, wa y-ov er -the-top , neon-lit surrou ndi ngs my dad helped me work on it," Windof Las Veg as. The fin al round-of the ham says . "Whenever I raced as an amateur, I wo uld go out and find a jump, or 1 ;997 Supercross Se rie s includ ed the much -hyp ed - and God kn ows La s tum, to work and play on. I wouldn't go Vega s likes to h yp e th in g s - 125cc ou t and just rid e lap s. I liked to practice East /West shootou l. Promot ed lik e a on unique object s to get to know th e heavyweight title bout, it w ould be a mot orcycle and its movem ents. To this man -a ga in st-man, Texas-ca ge-m a tch d ay, I still go out and jump and pla yfigh t between Windham a nd his new rid e a lot. The onl y w eakness that I archrival, Rick y Carmicha el. By that think I ha ve is that I need to start the point in the se ason, Carmicha e l had races a bit quicker. In th e firs t on e or managed to take control of the 12Scc tw o laps, I need to be going faster. If I "I've known Rlocky (CarmlchaeI) a I ong ti me and h O t e ts a grea n°der, b t I de 1 e tha t, I know I wouId go down h d " lr w '" 8 -' a: ~ > '" o ::; :I: Q. start in third or fou rth , and he is in the lead, Carmichael seems to be able get away from me." On April 19, 1997, Kevin Windham made supercross history when he became the firs t full- time AMA 125cc stadium' rider to win an AMA 2S0cc Supercross. Before a massive crowd on a jump-filled, tech nical ,circuit e tc hed w ith in the infield of the Charlotte Mo tor Speedway, Win d ha m to o k o n ,th e world 's bes t supercross ra cers - a nd won convincingly. 'The weekend before, I p lace d sec ond to Ezra Lusk at Po nt iac and it all ca me to gether," describes Windham. "Something in my head jus t clicked and I kn ew I could pull another pod ium position at Charlotte. However, whil e I kn ew I 'co u ld get on the podium, I didn't think I could win. I wa s pulling th ose guys every lap at Charlotte and thought, This is kind of easy: How eve r, I knew th at I was n ' t o n mv 125, w h ich is lighter a nd a little easier to rid e. With five laps to go, I was starting to drag, but I had a big eno ugh lead and I started to think about the win. I kept ca lm a nd took the win. O nce it happened , I knew that it was a big mental ga me. It meant a who le lot to me, and I guess to ha ve it d on e as a record is a grea t th ing tha t I'll always be able to look back on;" As a res ul t of his dazz ling Ch arl ott e ride, Windham will be bumped u p into the 250 cc class fu ll ti m e in 1998 . It appea rs that it' s a challenge the talented young race r is very mu ch look in g forward to. "I can rid e the 250 as well as the 125. I feel that I rid e both motorcycles pretty well. However, I think it' s time to move up to the 250cc class. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm looking ahe ad to the new co m pe tition and chall en ges in the class. I think the podium is a legitimat e go al. I plan to put my head down and wo rk har d to get a littl e stro nger. I want to go in to the 1998 season with a lot o f confid en ce. I th ink it will be a wh ole new game and it will be tou gher. lf I get nervou s, or things get di fficult, I' ll tell my mechanic, Alley Semar, and · Keith McC arty to keep bring in g up Charlo tte." The time for Wi ndha m's ju m p into the 250cc division may be perfect. Afte r an up-and-d ow n year in 1997, w hich saw hi m expe rience a sig nificant a mou n t of bad luck, disappointmen t an d frustration - and u ltimately lose the 125cc National Champion ship - Win d ham head s int o the 1998 cam paign wi th a quiet confidence which has no doubt been "heat treated," strengthe ned and bols te re d through ex periencing - a nd overcoming - adversity. "Every bod y's caree r has had them ba d- lu ck seasons," la ments Windham . "I've now had mine. Du ring that time, I was rea l frustra ted and confused . Last year I missed a few races d ue to br eaking a collarbone, an d it was agg rava ting to watch.other guys ou t there racing. So afte r going out and do ing so well at the en d of last yea r, I was rea lly looking forward to the start of the ou tdoor season. All of the bad luck this year was a tou gh deal, because at the time, when you're 100 points down, it's hard to get motivated. I've really learn ed a lot of lessons this y ea r. Keith McCarty re cognizes that, and he's real happy with my efforts and felt that I learned a lot this yea r." The addition of recent ly ac q u ire d Yamaha satellite team com rade Jeremy McGrath also has Windh am thrilled about the approaching sea so n. "Well, he wasn't happy, and you have to make changes if you're not ha ppy. Jerem y is a good friend and we get along real well . I'll be looking forward to riding and racing with him. Jeremy just wasn't happy anymore at Suzuki, and Yamaha will be a good move for him. I'm excited about the who le th ing. Yamaha ha s brought me along real w ell. I'm rea l happy at Yamaha and feel that I'm a part of a great team: ' And with tha t, Kevin Windha m had to get back to packi ng his bags . Deep in th e th roes of p ulling his bel o ng in g s together before we interrupted, Wind ha m was preparin g to hit the roa d and ro ll out toward California . As he d oes eve ry a utumn, the "Ragin' Cajun" sets up shop in the Golden. State - where he s hares a hou se with All ey Semar - to clear the decks, batten down the hatches, and ultimately begin pra cticing, testing and training for the 1998 seas on . And while Windham certainly rem ai ns loyal to his Gulf Region roots, he certa in ly enjoys the unique and qu irky trappings of the Southern Californ ia lifestyle. "It's certainly a lot diffe rent tha n home," laughs Windham. "However, I like it a lot. I spend six months a yea r in Ca liforn ia . Durin g th e su m me r I st ay back in Louisiana, and in the wintertime I live in California. It's too d ry to ride in th e su m mer in Ca lifornia , bu t d u ri ng the winter mont hs , it's perfect. There are so many racers aro und the area I live in (per ca p ita, C orona , Cal ifo rnia is ar gu abl y the area most populated wi th p rofessi o na l m ot ocross racers in th e world ) that there is always so meone to rid e or han g ou t wi th:' While his somewh at calamitous 1997 seaso n may have tested the pa tience and d et erm in ation of Ke vin Windh am, it ma y ha ve also taught him so me va luabl e le ssons . In pro fes s ion al. ra cing , n othin g come s ea s il y, a n d a t times th in gs can reall y go wrong. However, it's the grea t ones that can sha ke off the di sappointments and m istakes, le arn fr om th em , a n d co me b a ck ev en strong er. And it ce r tai n ly ca n ' t b e d enied that Kevin Windham has the tale n t a n d d es ir e to be o ne of th e g rea t ones . Th e yea r 1998 may ver y well be fX w hen it all com es togeth er. 23

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