Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Have you always felt welcome at the races? Yes, '('ve always felt welcome. Especially at the Pro level, I always thought, "Oh, my gosh, they're not going to like this little girl racing." But everybody has been really cool. I noticed the bad stuff when I was racing as a kid. The guys didn't welcome me at all and I felt like I was in my own world, but it's different now. It's like the first Formula USA race that I raced in, it was like, "Oh, my gosh, Jay Springsteen is going to be here. What am I doing?" But it was fun, you know? Have they been helpful to you, as far as giving you advice on riding and such? They have been. But it's funny because you will talk to one guy and he'll say, "Oh, don't listen to him he's trying to tell you wrong." What makes the sport so appealing to you? I think being a girl they automatically pull for you more. They've always gone crazy for me. Like at Del Mar, in the Last Chance Qualifier, I had to start from the third row and I came back to finish third and transfer. They go crazy and interview me and do articles on me about how my personality totally overshadowed the winner, stuff like that. Does the extra attention mean extra pressure to perform? Not really. f just think with the Harley-Davidson team being so professional, it just makes me be able to be that much more professional. The fans and the publicity come with it. I don't really focus on it or think about it that much. The pressure to do well comes from myself. I wouldn't want it to come from someplace else. You're still in school, right? A Well, just to keep improving and hopefully win the Pro Singles Championship. Is there something specific you know you have to improve on to make it at the next level? Getting the bike set up from race to race. That and I really need to work on my starts. My starts are so bad, and I know I have to work on that. As far as the bike, with Bill [Werner] working on it, it's been good - so I don't have to worry about that. I would imagine that having Bill Werner around will take away a lot of the burden you've faced in the past, as far as worrying about the bike being right. Right. I can concentrate more on my part of it instead of thinking about every part of the setup" the gearing and every single thing. He [Werner] knows all that. Physically, is there a drawback to being a woman racer? Is there any area where you might be at a disadvantage? Probably with upper-body strength - arms and stuff. So I work out a lot to try and make them stronger. It shows, I think, on the rougher tracks and on the short tracks, because it's harder to push the other guys around. I imagine that you're pretty popular with the fans. And now that you're with the factory team, that popularity will likely increase. What's that going to be like? Yes, I do home schooling. I did' home school my freshman year and as a sophomore f went back to school. This year I went back to home school. There would be no way to do it the other way. We went to Milwaukee for a week to get this whole thing setup and I couldn't have done that while going to regular school. It's not that hard to keep up. I do pretty well, I think. What are your long-term goals? I guess it would be to get on a 750 and do well on that. My dream is to become Grand National Champion and so far my dreams have been coming true. Your name will shortly be added to the long list of names who have ridden for the Harley factory team. It's an impressive list. Is that aweinspiring? lt's weird because you can't really step back that far and look at it like that. If you did that, you wouldn't be able to focus. So far it's just been, "Okay, this is what I've got to do." I've just been focused on what I have to do instead of thinking, "Oh, Parker and all these guys." I just think about my racing and what I need to do. CN Q A Q When I started out, I just couldn't see myself doing anything else. I really like the atmosphere at the races. It's just awesome - in dirt track, especially. It's just like a tight family, I guess. Everybody knows everybody and that makes it nice. Who have your heroes been in dirt track racing? Scott Parker is my hero just because of the things we have in common. We both started racing when we were 11, and I started with the number 11 ... But I don't know him well enough to ask for help. When I started racing Pro, he wasn't there. Since you are obviously not going to jump straight on 'an XR750, what are you going to be doing this year? What races? On what bikes? I'm going to be doing the 600s in AMA, the short tracks and TIs, the Formula USA Series, and some testing on the 750. We haven't discussed specifics, but that's probably what we will be doing. You've ridden the 750 once - what did you think of it? I liked it. I think the power is awesome. Have you set any goals for the 2001 season? a U D •• n • _:IS • MARCH 14,2001 43

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