Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Glacial Gasman: ICE World Champion Anthony Barlow wheelles after another of his many victories. In four years of contesting the ICE Series, he has won the championship three times. (Below) "I never thought I would ever make a living at this." Barlow, who once was all set to go Into the auto painting business, now makes his fair share of dough winning lee races. He Is very grateful to his sponsors for helping him live his dreams. Barlow was fairly successful at Stoke, but when the club went under, he was forced to make the move to Glasgow, Scotland, in order to continue his career. Life in the speedway leagues quickly became a tiring affair. "At the time, I was getting trained off this guy who was one of the top men, but it was just too much to take in," Barlow said. "It's like someone teaching you a computer or something. They can tell you and tell you until they're blue in the face, but you still have to pick it up." Still, Barlow somehow managed to land a gig with the Bradford Dukes in the British League by 1996. At the time, the team was plenty stout, with top-shelf English speedway aces such as Andy Smith, Joe Screen and former World Speedway Champion Gary Havelock on board. "I was out of my depth, but the opportunity came along, and I seized it," Barlow said and then added with a laugh, "I remember beating Billy Hamill once. I made the start, and two other riders came past me, but Billy was still behind me. After I crossed the finish line, I looked back, only to figure out that Billy had broken down." Barlow said that he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time racing in England, but his lucky break came the day that he received a phone call from International Championship Events promoter Gary Densford. "It was my auntie's birthday, and I'd had a few beers," Barlow recalled. "This guy called, and he asking me if I'd like to come to America, but I thought it was just a joke. I thought it was just one of me friends winding me up. So I was like, 'Oh yeah, whatever.' I told him that if he was serious, to call me the next day. Sure enough, the phone rings Sunday morning, and it's the Gary Densford wanting me to come to America and ride on the ice. It was like, 'Flippin' heck!'" Densford sent Barlow a contract and told him to get a plane ticket. "I signed it, sent it back and came over to America with myoid bike, and the first meeting I rode in, I finished fifth. Then I won the next three rounds," Barlow said. "I made money straight away. I came over with $200 in me pocket, and in just a few weeks, I had over two and a half thousand. I was so scared that I hid it in my shoes, because America to me was this big, wide-open place, and I had never been anywhere on my own and didn't trust anybody." Halfway through the 1998-99 season, Barlow was burning up the ICE circuit, amassing a 78point lead. "Yeah, the only problem was that I had to go home to England because I was supposed to get married," Barlow said. "So I actually did that, but I shouldn't have, because I'm getting divorced now. But after I did that, I came back and found out that I had to win every race in the final round in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in order to win the championship by one point." That's just what he did, earning the first of what is now three ICE World Championships in four years, but after that first season, Barlow learned a hard lesson about racing finance. '" let that championship go to me head, and I just waited around for someone to give me a big sponsorship from America," Barlow said. "It never happened, and when I came back the second year, I figured out that I had to hustle to make it work for me. It was kind of hand to mouth for a while. It took me two years before I was really able to get it the way that I have it now." Today, Barlow has what he feels is a solid program in any league, having received backing from Pro Grip, Luster Lace polishes, Maxima oils and SuperTrapp exhausts, among others. "I don't pay for anything for my program anymore, and I can make a pretty good living at it racing, thanks to all my sponsors," Barlow said. Barlow also attributes his success to the fact that the ICE series is still a growing entity, with the competition getting tougher each year. "This series used to be just a bunch of guys riding around on old bikes, but it's not like that anymore," Barlow said. "The level has gone way up, and it's getting more professional. When you get guys like Charlie Venegas and Randy DiFrancesco in there, it can be really tough." Barlow admits that the tougher it gets on the ice, the tougher he can be to deal with sometimes. "People call me cocky and arrogant, but I think that I'm just really focused, and I want to win at all costs," Barlow said. "When Nick Fafard took the championship off me last year, I hated him for it. I've learned to be a bit calmer and cooler about it now, but I really don't mix with the others much. And to be fair with Nick, even though we don't get on, I know that if I was broken down, he'd be the first one over to try and help me. I don't know if I would do the same, but that's just because I'm so heavily concentrating that 1 don't want to get anyone else's mess at the races." Which is not to suggest that Barlow doesn't care about the ICE series. Quite the contrary. "I feel like I have come over and given my best to Gary (Densford] for four years," Barlow said. "I get on television as much as I can, and I sometimes will visit three our four radio stations before each round. I'm popular because I've got the English accent, but I can talk. I'm doing a job for them, but I also am doing it for myself. I feel like 1 have definitely been a good ambassador for the series. I want it to grow because I want to make a bit of money out of it. I'd like to see it televised, and I'd like to see a big series sponsor come into it. In another three years, I'd love to have this conversation again and tell you that I'm making $ 100,000 per year." How big ICE Speedway can get is anyone's guess, Barlow said, but as long as he's there, he will pull out all the stops in order to stay on top. "It's like this," Barlow said. "Some people play computer games. I never play computer games because I can't win at them. But on the ice, I want to be the best, and I want to be a showman. At the end of the day, the fans are what pay your wages." eN cue I e n e _ os • DECEMBER 11, 2002 33

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