Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Steve Morehead25th-an iversary celebration n FEA U T RE By Scott Rous seau LIMA, OH, JUNE 2i houg h the rain wo u ld eventually wash away wh at might have been the perfect end ing to a grea t show at the Allen Cou nty Fairgro unds (see "In . the Wind "), the sun did shi ne bri gh tly on one man at the beginning of it. Perennia l privateer Steve Morehead, 42, from just up the road in Findla y, Ohi o , form all y ce le b ra te d h is 25th Grand ati onal season with his closest friends, fan s, spo nsors and nearly 9000 fa ns a t the Allen County Fairgrounds during the opening ceremo nies for the Ohio National Championship Half Mile. "Tha t was really neat," Mo rehead , who also celebra ted his 20th-anniversary season with a spec ial ceremony at Lima, said a fterw ard . "Everyone that I ever raced for was stand ing out there guys lik e Dave Wo ods, who was m y Novice sponso r, and Delbert Bush and Gary Grainger." The front-straightaway party was a comp lete su rp rise, coo rdi na ted by several longtime Moreh ead s u p po r te rs, includ ing Dee Johnson of D's Leathers a nd Lima promo te r Da ve McCarthy. Mor ehead was be stowed two awards: the first, an elega nt marble statue with his likeness eng ra ved in it was .cou rtesy of Mor eh ead sponsor Doug Stewart of the Den ver Buffalo Compan y. The second reall y blew Morehead away, as he wa s pres en ted with a n incredi b le, wo od-carved dirt-tracker,which w as commissioned by Morehead sponso rs F&S Harl ey-Davidson and KK Mot orcycle Supply a nd fas h ioned by presenter Joe Od om. When Morehead saw the carv ing, he promptly fell ove r on the stage and then planted a big kiss firm ly on ad orn' s lips. "You don't und er s tand ," Mo rehead said . "T hat thing is unbeli e vable . He (ado rn) made o ne of ' em fo r D a n Ingra m once, and after I saw it, I've practically been begging for one ever since. When I saw it, I was in a state of shock." To top it a ll off, a p icku p tru ck arrived on the front staigh taway, carrying a 2- fo o t- wi d e, 8-fo o t- lo ng Steve Morehead 25th-a nnive rsary cake in its bed , co ur te s y o f De e Johnson a nd Mik e' s Harley -Davi dson owner Mi ke Adkins. A ft er the racing was ca lled, Mor ehead invited all the fans to come int o the pi ts a nd g rab a piece of the cake. Th e w ho le ce re mony was jus t desserts for Morehead, who began racing motor cycles at age 11 in 1966. Eight years later, Morehead was an AMA Gra nd Na tio nal rookie, scoring a season-best seve nt h-place fi ni s h a t th e Santa Fe Short Track in Hinsdale, Illi. nois. One year later, he was sixth at the same event. But those results belied the fact that, in rea lty , Mo re head was n't r ea ll y a s ho rt-t racker. Rather, he co ntinued to gain accla im as a hard- ridi ng half-miler who excelled on the cushion tracks - the rougher the better - like those fou nd in his na tive O hio. His abi lities on the big tracks fina lly showed in 1976, w hen he scored his firs t career po d iu m finish at the Co lu mb us Ha lf Mil e . He wo u ld ma ke thr ee mor e pod ium appeara nces in 1977, a nd th en in 1978, Morehead scored his first career Gran d Na tio nal victory at the Mead ow Lands, Pennsylvani a Half Mile on September 17. That w in , co mbine d w it h h is ability to run consistently on tracks of all types of size, sha pe and su rface, netted him his firs t top- 10 ranking. Since then , Morehead has enjoyed 16 T sea sons inside the AMA ' s Grand National top 10 and has has racked up 22 career Grand Na tiona l victo ries, his last comin g at the Lin coln, Neb raska, Half Mile on August 19, 1996. He has wo n four times on the big mile tracks . Th ro ugh it a ll, Mor ehea d said it stiII feels good every time he swings a leg over his motorcycle. "Sure it does," Morehead said. "1I's hard to believe that I've bee n doing this as long as I have." In that time, Morehead sa id that he has seen a lot of change in the sport. "The biggest change I've seen is that al though we're not really racing for any more money, more money has come into the spor t," Morehead said. "You can look at the big rigs tha t so me teams are d rivi ng, and the mot orh orn es, and see th at mo re peopl e are investing in this deal. I think tha t's goo,!. We'r e seeing more spo nsorship... Somebody must be doing so met hing righ t." Mor ehead a lso not ed that th e sport appea r.s to once aga in be rich with new talent, as evi denced by the current cro p of fast, yo ung riders such as Mike Hacker, Rook ies o f th e Year Johnn y Mu rphree and J.R. Schnabel, and Billy Martin. "This newest cro p of kids just keeps ge tting fas te r a nd fas te r," Mo rehead sa id . "See, th er e was a lull there for a whi le, and I think that a lot of it had to do wi th mom and da d doi ng everything for the kid - he doesn 't eve n help unload the truck - a nd th en h e d oesn' t lea rn anything. Bu t these new kids like Johnny Murp hree ... and th is Billy Ma rti n there's a kid who drives himself around the country and w o r ks o n h is ow n motorcycle, just like the old days." Morehead a lso sa id tha t part of his success over th e years has co me from running as many races as he possibly can. "There's no way yo u can survive on the Grand Nationals," Mo rehead said. "I ride all the little tracks to pay my way to the big tracks, so that I can take that bigtrack money to the bank. Plus, if you're rid in g a ll the tim e, you a lways lea rn so mething. " All those race tracks, and Morehead still says that Lima is his favo rite by far. "How often d o you get the cha nce to ra ce 30 m iles from yo u r homet own?" Morehead asked. "We ge t a lot of su pport there. But it' s fun ny, in this d eal, you wind u p making mor e close friends from outsid e of the st a te of Ohio th an you do in your hometown." And, Morehead says, all those friendships - 25 yea rs' worth - are th e o ne aspect of his career th at he wou ld n' t trade for anything. "1I' s that camara derie," Morehead sa id. " I'm prou d of what Scott Pa rk er h a s d on e, and what Rick y G ra h a m accomplished. I s till get excited wa tching guys like Will Davis and Rich King. I' m proud to be a professional motorcycle racer, and I'm prou d of this spo rt." It is a pride th at Morehead said he wiII maint ain a s he continu es to p romote his own races, su ch as his Eldora Ha lf Mile, and w orks in th e in dustry wh en i t is fin all y tim e to han g t he leathers up. In the meantime, will he see a 30th anniver sar y? "Man, I don 't kn ow ," Morehead said. "1hope no t." And th inking abo u t that a lit tle bit mo re , h e added with a la u gh , "T h en agai n, I'd hate to think that it too k me 25 years to get my act together, and now 1":\ I'm gonna quit?" (Above) Can you believe it? Steve Morehead has been rac ing Grand National dirt track for 25 years and, at 42, shows no sign of slowing down. (Above left) Morehead's formal celebration took place at the Lima Half Mile , where he was presented with several gifts, incl udi ng this Incredi ble wood carving that commemorates his 25 years In racing. (Below) Now tha t's a cake! ~ , I 25

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