Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) McCoy's best career Grand National finis h came in his home state, where he ran second at Oevil's Bowl In 1995. (Left) Although he has ridden for other teams, McCoy has a rather eccentric preference for his own 750s , which he builds himself. . (Below) Riding for OPC Racing, McCoy has won the last three 883 main even ts in a row. So then time is the biggest handicap that you faced when it came to working o n your stuff, what with your 4O-hour-a-week job. Un tii this yea r . I had a g rea t job fo r the las t 12 years, but I figu re d I'm 30 years old, not married and hav e no kids. It was tim e to go racing and give it 100 percent. That's why this season has been better than an y of my previous sea sons, and it can still be better yet. Q A What are your personal .highlights of th e season thus far? l' ve w on th e last three 883 m ain eve nts in a ro w, a nd I've mad e se veral Grand National main events, altho ug h I haven ' t run in th e top five w he re I'd like to yet. But th e season is still yo ung . We still have quite a few ra ces in ther e 'w here I could maybe move up and ge t into the top 20, an d wi n the Harley -Davidson Sportster Performance National Cha m pio ns hip. Q A a much emphasis are you placing on that 883 National Champion-ship? The series has been kind of knocked about in the sport, and its val ue has often been q uestioned. What is your honest feeling about it? I think th at the No vice /Junior / Expert pro gram that th e AMA had in the past w as probabl y the best w ay to d o th ings, bu t th at' s not aro und anymore, so I thi nk the 883 program is Hie best way for an u p-an d corning rider to get track tim e, rid e wi th the experts and ge t a lot of experience. I really like it. I th ink tha t it has helped m e ou t a lot this year. Th ere have been a lot of times, like at Oklahoma C it y , w here th e track h as changed a lot in one night. I wen t ou t and rode the 883 main event and found so me new lin es that ha ve helped me make it into a 750 ma in even t, and also in the 750 main eve nt. It ha s reall y helped ou t my Gr and Nation al program by getting me more track tim e. Q H OW A Q A Talk a li ttle bit about yo ur DPC program. Dan Caulkins owns the bikes, and Mike bu ild s the motors. Mik e's dad helps out a lot , and Royce Taylor he lps ou t a lot. Th ose guys have been greatto work with. They work their butts off, and I think that they d eserve to win this championship this year. Q What was it like to get you r firs t National w in on th at 883 this year? 00king at your race prog ram as it st ands, what is th e o ne th iqg that yo u wo uld improve if yo u cou ? Definitely more fina ncia l backing . I do a lot of th is . out of my own pocket. Ha rley-Davi dson of Dallas helps me out a lo t, and m y dad he lps me out a lot. Tucker-Rocky helps me ou t a lot. Shoei helps me out a lot , and also Kenny Tolbert does. I think that if I could ta ke som e of th e financia l burden off myself, I could focu s a little more. I also need to train more. I feel like I need to be putting in 150 percent to get better results ou t of it. 9l A s ame q uestion, but this time, with regard to the Grand N a ti on al D ir t Track Series in general. W a t' s th e o n e thi n g t hat you wo u ld like to see improve based upon your experience? Q a rea t s just A w aw fosr gmr eall.elfI y ex ci ted ys I! a nd fo r th e DPe cr e w , and it just m ade m e wan t to win even more. Now that I've won the last three in a row, th e cha lleng e is to s tay focused . It would be nice to win th e rest of th em and tak e the championship. D es cr ib e your riding style. thin k t h at .t"\.so metimes I" m a little too rel a xed . I th in k tha t I need to be more aggressive, p ick u p the p a ce a lit tl e soone r, and I th in k that th at' s starting to corne aroun d . Before, I was just kind of content with making th e main event. Now, it' s no longer like a cho ice, it is something that I have to do. I'm not happy unless I finish in the top 10, an d I haven't done that a whole lot this yea r, so I haven't been real hap py. But I think that w e're goi ng to d o better , and I hope to maybe wi n a Grand Nationa l this yea r. QI A- You've been close before. Your runner-up finish at Devil's Bowl in '95 proved that you could be a contender. D oes it grate on you tha t those results haven't been repeated ? it just ma kes me rea lize, and I keep telling myself, that I have beaten all of these guys befor-e - just not all at the same tim e (laughs). Th at Dallas rac e wa s pretty special to m e. It mad e me realize that if I w orked hard enough and wanted it bad enough, that I could d o it. I think that if I would have picked up the pace a little sooner in that race, then I wouldn't have been happy with second . I h adn't eve n fini sh ed fou rth or fif th before, so second wa s cool, but if I had picked up the pa ce sooner, then ma ybe I could have won it. I know I can do it. I just need to keep working harder at it, and I can win a (Grand National) race. Q A Th e need to be tte shape. Whe n I rod A at Patrac ks fro mbackbe in to itther ba les, favori tesmoothe rkersburg in '87, was my pla ce. You could ru n the pole it was and we cou ld put on a good ra ce the re . The las t few years it has been d ry , an d it has n't been the bes t or the safest race tracks . That jus t makes it ha rder for us to put on a good show for th e fans . I think if we could get the tracks in better shape , we could pu t on a better sho w. . SO, you've given up your full-time day job for a full-time racing career. Where does it go from here? I th ink that I' m a littl e old to cha ng e over to road ra cing, but I wou ld like to try it. My goals for this yea r were to finis h in the top 20 of the Grand Nati on al se ries and to win th e Harl ey-D avidso n Spo rtster Perform an ce Series. Nex t yea r, I would like to better my progra m wi th a littl e m ore financial backin g so that maybe I could hir e a driver who could also help me out at the tr ack. I"d like to defend th e HDSP title and win som e Grand N ati onals so that I can finish even higher u p in th e se ries . Q A Q It'S A I :Iii !!Ii lIii III "" Q ~ Q en en en ~ cO ~ hard to settl e for an ything less? Definitely . . eN 7

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