Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

This move to Northern California returns you to your roots, doesn't it? How did you get your start in speedway racing, anyway? I used to be a flat-tracker - I was District 36 number two for like three or four years in.a row. I was working at Cycle Gear in Richmond, a motorcycle parts and accessory store, and the owners of tl;tat used to go to speedway all the time. Tiley went to Napa and Cal Expo, and all the races up here. They said, "Hey, Mike, do you want to give speedway a try?" I didn't even know what the hell it was, but I told them that I'd ride anything on two wheels. I got into it, and I was on a 1937 JAP, and they said, "If you can make Division One on this, then we'll buy you a new two-valve (Jawa). This was in '75, and the two-valve was the hot motor. So I did it, and the next thing I knew, I was number one in Northern California for five years in a row ('76-81). ,. In 1982, I decided to spread my wings and move to Southern California. I spent 16 years down there, and I won the points championship 11 times. I also spen t t:wo years racing in Scotland in 1995 and '96, and in 1988 I raced for the (British League's) Belle Vue Aces. At the time, it probably seemed pretty cool to get. those European rides, but looking back on it now, doesn't it seem that when riders leave here, the American program suffers? It seems liKe before, riders used to go over for the ~oney and a shot at the World Championship. Now a lot of them seem to go oyer just for the money. Definitely it does hurt when you lose your top riders slicin' and dicin'. It's like in basketball, when you see Michael Jordan play against Karl Malone. You know that those guys have to be at their v~ry best. Tha t rider's gonna be on his game, and you'd better be on your game tdo. When everybody's gone, you can let your back down a little bit. Was the abundance of the top riders what you think made the sport so hot in Southern California during the late'70s and early-'80s? I believe it was, but you have to rememBer that they were paying all those hot riders, and a guy could make a decent living at it - putting his life out on the line, racing. When they took all the money, they took away all the good riders. They (the riders) just weren't enthused with it anymore. And that's why we don't have any new riders coming into the sport. , It's the same thing over in England. They're starting to cut the money back, so riders aren't going back over. Chris Manchester - he's not going back over there this year. If you don't have a good sponsor or backer over there, then you're going to struggle. Once you struggle, your confidence goes down and your enthusiasm goes down. That's why right now I've got a big lift going, because I've gotten back to my roots, and I've got people helping me before we've even started racing. I had people backing me in Southern California, but nothing like these people are backing me. . You had backing straight from the Jawa factory at one point in your career, didn't you? Yes. I rode the center-port dual-overhead cam Jawas for Bill Cody Racing, and he had one of their engine builders come over here, and I was a factory Jawa rider. They took care of me really well. I think I stayed with them for two or three years before I went to England in 1988. You were always a favorite to win the U.S. National Championship from way early in your career, but it sure seemed like it took a long time for you to finally get it in '90. How frustrating was it for you all those years? It WllS frustrating, you said it: You just had to bite your tongue and take it with a grain of salt and say that you'd get'em next year. But then you get tired of those years, so... I don't know .... Afterwards, you just went out and drank a lot of beer and drank your sorrows away (laughs).' . It wasn't the end of the world. I did win the points (those years), so it wasn't a total loss_ The majority of the time, I . was still on the podium. Then it happened in '90 and right away again in '91. How do you remember those? Well, I had backing from Russell Racing. Warren Russell had the big bucks, and he had me on the best equipment. We just put it all together. When you have the best equipment, and you know you're the best guy there, your confidence is just way higher. I didn't have to worry about anything. Last year, you had to have perfect heats all night and win what was basically a dash· to become National Champion. Did winning the title that way give you a greater sense of accomplishment than those back-to-back wins? Yes. Tha t (format) just all goes back to that non-AMA thing, but if you want to have a Grand Prix, then you've got to have more than one race. That was just the promoter I rider trying to do it all. I don't think he really even asked any riders if they would like that program. I don't know what he was thinking. Either way, you still had to be on top all night. It was going to take at least 12 . points to be in that A Final, or if you had 11 points, you had to wirl the B Final to make theA. It wasn't only that, but also the fact that we had the World Champions there. Billy (Harnill) had won the World Championship the year before, and Greg (Hancock) had won it this last year. Both of them were World Champs. We beat the best. Who would you characterize as your greatest rival on the race track over the years? Jeez, there's been a number of 'em, because I've been racing for 28 years (laughs). Yd say any of the top 10 riders (each year) were a threat to you. If Alan Christian or Steve Lucero or Bobby Schwartz was on top that year... You can't just pick one guy. Anybody in the top 10 could make the gate, and then you weren't gonna beat them. You have to look at them all the same. They were all a threat. So now you're home. What are your plans for the new season? Well, I want to go down for opening night at Costa Mesa, but then basically I want to concentrate on Northern California - Auburn is on Friday and Dixon is on Saturday. I'll do special events"in Southern California, and that will be about it. I've got some new people on board with me - Phil Reome Inc., Arai helmets, Offbeat Productions. Then I still have JRM, STP, Oilzall, NJK and Dr. Stine from Southern California. Frank Diaz will be my engine tuner. He helped me way back when I started racing. There are likely to be two National Championship races this next year. One will be AMA-sanctioned and will likely not be. What are your thoughts regarding whicli one will·take precedence, be the most important? They're both going to be big-money races, so now we've got two big races, which is what speedway really needs. They ought to put the three or four race tracks together and have a Grand Prix system, but it's the same old problem that we've seen the last 15 years. It's this .Mike Faria (9) peers out from behind the bars during the 1986 Spring Classic at the nowdefunct Inland Motorcycle' Speedway in San .Bernardino, California, and holds court from atop the victory podium at another event. Faria was far and away the winningest rider on the Southern California speedway circuit In 1986. "promoters fighting" shit. We need to work together. When you fight, one guy loses, the other guy wins. We need everybody to win. But I'd have' to go with the AMA. I've been with the AMA for over 25 years, so I'm going to stick with them. I think that they have been more loyal to me than anybody. They've taken me to the Overseas Final, they've taken me to Russia - they've paid my way. They've taken good 'care of me. They've kept their part. They haven't been that bad. I don't know ,-"hat the premoter's problems are with them. Finally, the inevitable question: After all, you're 41 years old now... Well... yeah... so? What's that got to do with the price of gold (laughs)? So how much longer are you going to go before you pull out the big "R" word? I don't know. I keep getting older and it keeps getting easier. I feel young, I feel spunky and I still got it. One day maybe I won't and then, bam, I'll just say, "That's it." It'll be a cold-turkey thing. Someday, when I do quit racing, I'd like to maybe promote a race track, because I think I can do it right and be fair with the riders, like they do it at Auburn. (Auburn promoter) Dave Joiner has gotten a sponsorship from Auburn Toyota, where they put up $200 into the mainevent purse, and he already puts in $500. Auburn's sponsor is putting money into the rider's pocket, and not Dave's pocket. I think that's the way it should go. I don't mind the promoters making. money, but I think that they should be fair about it. But I'll keep doing speedway because I do love it. Next to my wife, I love it. When you climb on a speedway bike, .you've got something exciting between your legs, pal. There's nothing like it. Feeling the power, sliding it through the corner, getting tha t checkered flag and .winning - it's still an awesome feeling. So you'll just keep going? Yep. Hey, I refuse to grow up anyhow. I."N ....... ..... l-< 0...

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