Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Daytona 200 came off. I did the whole race like that. Then I saw 'L6, +6 to [Carl] Fogarty' and back then I didn't have any real knowledge of how much plus 6 was. I just knew my bike was underpowered and if J didn't get a move on I was going to get third. I upped the pace, and crashed two corners after I saw the pit board. Kind of living a little bit in regret from that the whole time." In 1996, Gobert chunked a front tire while running at the front. "Came in, something happened with the front-wheel change, the brake pad went out. I went out and nearly ran into those barriers in the second horseshoe. Came in, fixed that, went out and then blew the engine." Gobert raced the 500cc GPs in 1997, but was back in 1998 on the [Q)AYiJOlNJA ~llj~[E~(~O~~ Florida Firsts The ultimate goal, of course, is to be able to hoist the Daytona 200 trophy over your head at the end of the day. It took Kevin Schwantz awhile to accomplish the feat, but he pulled off his lone 200 victory in 1988. 'Who's that f* **ing idiot leaVing oil everywhere?" So that's the first thing. The second thing was I crashed in the chicane and broke a bone in my arm. So one full day and I've gone from the only guy here with an '88 factory bike to 'Am I going to be able to race?' And then it just starts getting better." On the Thursday, Schwantz was on the pole and went on to win his heat race. The five-lap Camel Challenge got rained out, so they made the first five laps of the race the Challenge. Schwantz wisely went with a race tire, ceding the ChaUenge lucre to Fast by Ferracci Ducati's Doug Polen. "Polen beat me in the Challenge, but we won the race," Schwantz said. "It just goes to show you how from session to session you can be on top, on bottom, to things turning back around and getting better if you just keep your head in it. It's an easy place to come to and let little stuff tune you right 'out of the picture. You come here and look at the speed and ask 'How are we going to win?' But something strange always happens in the race, or the pace is a little slower, or the pace is a little different than what everybody was expecting it 22 FEBRUARY 27, 2002' eye to be, racewise. You've just got to stay on your game. The thing is, it's spread out over such a long period. It's easy to have a free day and just really get your head hung low. If you just keep your spirits up, typically you make the most out of Sunday." What helped Schwantz in 1988 was knowing that he was going Grand Prix racing, that he didn't have to race for points, that he could go for the win. "Raced here, cracked my arm on Wednesday, still won the race, then two weeks later won in Japan - Suzuka. Pretty good two weeks for me," he says. "It was like, things are going to be okay." Anthony Gobert has found ways to lose at Daytona every year, and on a variety of machines. "Where do you start?" he asks. "The first year, 1995 [on the Muzzy Kawasaki], on about the sixth lap, a spring broke and the header pipe I II! n II! _ S As this is written, Travis Pastrana has yet to win his first 250cc supercross, though he has come tantalizingly dose. At several rounds, the SoBe Suzuki rider has turned in the fastest lap time of the race, and he is often visibly qUicker than anyone else through portions of the track. It is obvious to pretty much everyone that it's only a matter of time before Pastrana pulls off his debut win, and most agree that the feat will come this season. The only question is, where? If Pastrana doesn't pull off a victory next week in Atlanta, one wouldn't be rash in positing that his premier victory will occur during Daytona Bike Week. Over the many years that supercross races have been held in the infield of Daytona Intemational Speedway, no fewer than seven riders have eamed their first 250cc wins there, including Pierre Karsmakers (1974); Tony DiStefano (1976); Rex Staten (1980); parrel Schuiz (1981); Rick Ryan (1987); Mike Kiedrowski (1993); and Ricky Carmichael (2000). And back in the days of big-bore supercross, two riders eamed their first 500cc SX wins in the facility. (One was Monte McCoy in 1976, and the first was none other than Pastrana's current boss, Roger DeCoster, who collected his sole "indoor" win in 1974.) So, what is it that makes Daytona such a friendly track for those working on a debut Victory? Actually, it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. First of all, there's the fact that Daytona has simply had a lot of opportunities, since it's been utilized as a supercross venue for longer than any other stadium. After all, when you host supercross for three decades, you're bound to get lucky on occasion. But there's more to it than that. Supercross tracks are not exactly natural environs. Even if one is accustomed to the extreme, man-made obstacles of which they're comprised, as most young racers are these days (many local motocross tracks have come to mimic the cirCUits of the supercross cirCUit), there is still the stadium itself to consider. No matter how open-minded or adaptable a youngster may be, it's still not easy coming to terms with such things as loud crowds, artificial light, booming -sound systems and the other ingredients that set super· cross apart from its old motocross ancestor. So, with its daytime main event and the elbowroom between the track and the stands, Daytona - if not.exactly a Washougal replica - is at least more of a transition between traditional motocross and full-disco super· cross. Just ask Pastrana himself, as the kid eamed his first-ever 125cc win at the facUity during his rookie season two years ago. There's also the fact that Daytona is so notoriously brutal, a truism that would initially not seem to favor 250cc neophytes. When one looks at it another way, however, one realizes that the long lap times and demanding conditions mean emphasis at Daytona is not so much on the flawless timing and calculated tactics that are developed primarily through stadium experience, but on simple physical conditioning - something that Pastrana possesses in spades. The most successful Daytona riders over the years have been training hounds like Jeff Stanton, Mike Kiedrowski and - more recently - Ricky Carmichael, and despite his newfangled freestyle flare, Pastrana shares with those heroes a dedication to fitness. If one requires more reasons that Pastrana could notch his debut win at Daytona, he could consider the fact that he's an east-coast boy who is comfortable in the Florida sand, or the notion that he has won every time he has raced in Daytona (the 2000 and 2001 125cc-dass mains). But the best reason to look for the number-199 Suzuki RM250 on the top step of the podium in Daytona is the simple fact that the kid is due. Come to think of it, that's also the best reason to think that the speedway won't host his first victory. After all, there's still one race to run before Daytona Bike Week, and as Bob Hannah, Marty Tripes, Chuck Sun, Jeff Stanton and Damon Huffman would be happy to tell you, Atlanta's Georgia Dome Will Travis Pastrana get his has also played host to a first 250cc SUpercross win at few first-time 250cc wins. Daytona? Chris Jonnum

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