Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TIME R M M E E Natio alMX and Supercro E E BRD n ssChampion Mark Barnett When I firs t entered the 125cc ranks, I had the speed, bu t I was uneducated on how to be a winner. I learned all tha t stuff from Barnett. "In 1983, I felt that I was ready," continu ed an obviously reverent O'Mara . "He was falling off ju st a little bit and Wardy and I were catching up to him. " It was a lot like Ricky Carmichael this y ear in that I was completel dominant. , 28 1983 was a tough year. Th ere w ere so many gu ys in that class, and man, was it tough. It was pure mot ocross, and yo u had to ha VI' all the areas covered if you wanted to win. I was very hon ored to dethrone him in his environm ent. It was quite an accomplishment to beat him , and I feel that I beat the best guy." And what was O'M ara's take on Barn et t ' s brilliant r id e fr o m b eh ind a t Mount Morris in 19831 "If anyone could do tha t, it was Barnett ," the "O'S how" declar ed . "He loved Mount Mor ris, and it was very evident on that track that if yo u were faster than everybody, it really showed . He was three to four seconds a lap fast er than most everyone that day. He was such a 12Sec rider. He was one of the best, if not the best, l25cc riders that eve r lived . He had so much ra w speed a nd wen t so hard in to the corners. Also , his works Suzuki was just sick! It was just unreal how fast that bike w as." During th e 1983 o ff-s easo n , wo rd came down from Su zuki th at Barn ett was to compete exclusively in the 250cc class . Whil e it was obvious that Suzuki wa s confid ent in their cham pion's abili ties, it would ultimately spell the end of Barnett 's winning ways . "In 1984, I mov ed to the 250cc class full time," he said . "Suzuki decided they wanted to try me in the class. I never felt I was as good on a 250 ou tdoors. I liked the bike ligh ter and to be able to rev it a . lot. Our 250 jus t w asn't as good . I go t fru strated . I was rid ing and running and training and was in grea t sha pe, but it just wasn' t hap pening. Then they started to cha nge the bikes af ter w innin g for years wit h the same progra m. I finished third in supercross, which I thought was te rrible . It was t h e sa me th in g : The eq uipment wasn't as go od . After winning for so long, it's hard to accep t when things aren 't going right. "It's like th e cu rre n t sit uation wi th Jer emy McGra th ," he explained . "Fo r yea rs people have felt that Jer em y has walked on wa ter, but then four months later, th e sa me p eople a re s ayi ng, 'Wh at' s up with him?' Give him a break . Lighten u p. If you look at things lik e that, I' d still be wi nni ng. Glover, (Rick) Johnson, (leff) Stanton - all tho se guys eventually had to stop winning . "At first it was discouragi ng to not be win ning; then reality set in. Motocross is not a spo rt where yo u can get sixth or seve nth a nd s till get p a id - li ke in NASCAR. It' s such a short-lived sport. The factories only want you as lon g as you can win." Frustra ted and u p in arms wi th his fall from grace, Barnett felt tha t it was tim e to make some tweaks to his race p rogram. Th e tim e had co me to pu t a call in to his old friend and former Suzuki comrade Ken t Howerton, who had mad e a successful jump to Team Kawasaki. "In 1985, I thought that I needed a change," Barnett said. "Being with Suzuki that long, I wa nted to move on and saw t hat Ken t had adapted well at Kawasaki. It was pretty good there. They pu t me on the 125, and the bike wasn't all that grea t. The other guys were blowing me away. The 250 was okay and I won the Atlanta Su percross on it - and that was my last big win ." By the end of the 1985 campaign, Barnett began to reali ze tha t the war was over, and afte r d ev oting vi r tua lly his entire life to the sport, he dec ide d that it was time to close up shop and punch the clock for the last tim e. Sho rtly after the Atla nta round, Barn ett, tired and bu rn ed out from trav eli n g a n d s us ta in ing injuries, annou nced his retirement from the spo rt. "I didn't miss it at first," admi tted Barnett. "I was read y to get out of it. To eat, drink and sleep motocross gets tiring. At just like anybody else, it wasn't a good comeback- and it all go t old quick . I sho uld have stayed retired. There were then a lot of u ps and downs, and it didn't com e around until 1993." In 1993, Barnett, looking to find a way back into the sport he loved, crossed paths with the West Bro thers, w ho had become instrumen tal in promotin g the majority of the even ts o n t h e AMA Supercross Series . Barnett, who through creating and d esigning his ow n pr actice tracks had become quite skillful a t the co ntrols of a bulld ozer , joi ne d fo rces with the promoters as a track build er. It was a stroke of genius: Barn ett was able to meld the two worlds of being a for mer wo rld -cla ss ra cer a nd d eft ' d ozer pilot in order to build and creat e techni cal stadi um circuit s. "Bill a nd Jerry West aske d me to work on the tra cks for their su percross events and some of their mud-and-monster sh ows," exp la ined Barn ett . "T hey got me back in the spo rt by hooking me u p with Rich Winkler a t Dirt Werks. Rich was little hesitant at first. but once "1 liked being qui et ," admitted Barnett. "It didn't bother me that m uch that I didn't receive as much attention as some of the other guys. I have a big guest house with all of my stu ff, such as trophies and magazines, and when I go in ther e, I feel that 1 received a lo t of recognition over the years. As far as the publicity goes , I d idn't miss it as mu ch. My person ality is to be qu iet, and all I d id was wi n. Tha t was all I need ed . I have no regrets at all. It all wo rked ou t. I had a fanta stic career. I wis h I co ul d hav e rod e lon ger and I was bitter at first when I quit. I thou ght I was invin cible before I retired, and it was hard for me to adjus t to everyday life. You have to prepare yourself for wh en it' s over. I'm well-off financiall y a nd ev erything's paid for, bu t I had to ad jus t my lifesty le, as well. I'm very proud to be the all-time 125cc Nationa l wi nn er . It' s pro babl y a pretty safe record , but next year I'll have to start to worry abou t Ricky Carmichael br eaking it!" Tod ay, Barnett lives in cen tra l Florid a with his family and has lost none of the passion that first drew him to the sport as a kid . "I' m ma rri ed to And rea and have a d au ghter named Neeta and a son named Adam," said Barnett, after putting down an air filter he was cleaning to pr epar e " It didn't bother me that much that I didn't receive as much attention as some of the other guys. , , first it was great to go somewhere wi thou t a riding bag . I did nothing at first. I stayed in Alabama, bu t that got old and I went back to Chicago. I was doing a few small thin gs - like trade shows here and there - bu t nothing very exciting." Sad ly, like a numbe r of racers from his era, Barne tt struggled wi th life in the rea l wo rld . In recent years, a ho t topic amo ng man y sports journalists and psychologists is the struggle many professiona l at hle tes face w hen th e crowds, bright ligh ts and adulatio n dis appear . Aft er completely committing and d e votin g th emse lves to a ny given s po r t, it ha s b een proven th at for ma ny of them it' s ve ry difficu lt to just "flip off the swi tch" of being a professional competitor . For Barnett, th e u ltra determined motocross racer, the situation was a classic case study. "It was a very tou gh tra nsition for me," Barnett said. "After all the racing, you d on't know what to do. It wa s somewhat depres sing , and worki ng wasn' t so me th ing tha t I had to do. I tried to come back in 1989, -and I we nt bac k to Alabama to train and everything. But Barnell finis hed out his career in 1985 as a member of Team Kawasaki. he saw tha t I wasn ' t there to ge t in his way, it all wo rked out well. "We like to crea te something unique in each track - a type of 'creative section' - and I'm the one that d oes it. I also cu t th e w hoop sections a t each tra ck a nd that 's usually pretty tricky to d o, but it's no t that mu ch fun. When I wo rk on the w hoops , I n orm all y u s e a s kip lo a d e r, w hic h has w heels, as op posed to a bulldozer, which is hard er to finesse wi th . We're all ca pable of doin g th e crea tive and who op sections, but I usually end up doing it." Wh ile Mark Barne tt w a lked away from th e spo rt as a four-time AMA National Champion , there are many in s id e r s w ho be li ev e th a t he di d n ' t r ec e ive th e attention, p u blicity and acclaim that he truly deserved. Far less flashy and charismatic than ma ny American mo tocross hero es, the quiet Midwestern native never seemed to a ttrac t the same amoun t of hoopla. , ' I never felt I was as good on a 250 outdoors. , , for an aftern oon ride. "We live in Orlando, Florida, and we all love to ride. We race some, but it' s kind of ea rly right now to see. how serious I wa nt my kids to get with it. I don 't know - we'll keep d oin g it for fu n a nd if th ey're read y, we'll see what happens. It's a fun thin g for us right now and I wa nt to keep it that way." No one will deny that Barnett was one of the most d rive n and d etermined racers ever to grace th e race tracks of Ame rica . Wit h 25 12Scc Nationa l wi ns (a recor d that still s ta nds>. two 12Scc United S tates Gra nd P rix victo ries, three consecutive AMA 125cc Na tional Champio n sh ips, and a n AM A 2S0cc Su pe rcross Cha m pions hip, Barnett possesses o ne of th e m o st i m p ressive resumes in Ame rica n mot ocross. Howeve r, above and beyond all of that, Barne tt wi ll for ever be rem embered as a "ra ce r's ra cer " - a co m pe t ito r who would sho w up on a ny give n Saturday even ing or Sunday aft ernoon and strike fear in to the heart of anyone who had to co ntend with him. And w hile th at bu rni ng desire to win at any cost may ha ve smold er ed a bit in recen t yea rs, the image of him hu nched over an d charging still bu rns bri ghtl y. "I really enjoy being around the racing aga in," said an en thusiastic Barnett. "I' rn reall y h appy a nd everythi ng is going good . It wasn't for a whi le, but it's grea t now . I still love the spo rt and it's grea t to be aro und it again." A n d w ith tha t, Mark Barnett said goodbye. He was going riding. .~

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