Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128245
AMA u.s. Flat Track Champion Chris Carr 11 Questions VII ii t h Q H O W w ou l d y ou onship run fro m ing one inst ance or a have set it apart fr om c h ara c teri ze t h i s cha mpi t he previous four , con siderseries of inst ances that may t he ot he rs? A By S COTT R OU SSE AU o sa y th at fiv e-t ime and reign in g AM A Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Tra ck Champ ion Chri s Ca rr is o n t op o f hi s game is abo ut the u lt im at e understatement. Any doubters should consider that Carr was once agai n not only the high-point man, but that he was also the wi nningest dirt-tracker on th e AMA circuit this season , adding five m ore wins to his victory tally (Car r now stands second on the all- tim e winners list , with 62 ) en route to hi s third AMA title in as many years . T his accom p lishment alone was enough to earn recog nition as the AMA Sp eed Athlete of the Year at the rece nt AMA Pro Raci ng awards banquet, but there's m ore to the Carr legacy th an that. It 's also wo rth notin g is that, since returning fo r wha t he ca lls his " second career" in dirt track, the T 28 JANUARY 7 , 2004' cue I e n e _ 3 6 -y ear-old Carr has not been w itho ut a numberone pl at e on his m ot orcycle . Furthermor e, it' s quite cl ear by hi s re-upping with Ford Mot or Company for 2004 th at Car r is abl e to sell his accompl ishments qu it e effecti vely . On e of dirt-track racing 's greatest advo cates and argu abl y its best spokesman , he 's also aware of the sp ort's climate, sees the pend ing changes on the hor izon and the em ergence of ot her influences that could positively or negatively affect the sport . So rath er tha n a lo ng disse rtation about th e season, we thought it wo uld be mo re efficient to simply ask Car r 10 qu estions regarding th e 2003 season , some of th e rum ors floating around in the sport , and whe re he sees himself positioned for th e future. As we have come to expect, Carr was direct and op inionated. But hey , when you're a fiv e-time AMA U.S. Flat Tra ck Champio n, you ca n afford to be . s I thou ght that we ha d a good year compared to yea rs past. I still th ink tha t my best pe rfo r mance was du ring '99 , Parker's last year, as far as week in and we ek out, staying focused and the whole bit. Th is yea r, however, we had started to bu ild a big lead, and t hen we had a problem there at Hales Corners, W isconsin, wi th four rou nds re maini ng , and it put a big den t in our lead. I was proud of the way tha t we ha nd led things from that po int on . We beat who we needed to beat in th e la st four races . I was proud of our team , th e wa y that they performed under pressure . Hales Corners w as on e of those bummer races . We w er e lead ing wh en w e brok e, and w e had a good race go ing with Rich King , wh o ultimately had a g o o d ra c e w i t h Johnn y Murphre e . It had the potentia l to be a real barn -burner of a race . It's a sham e that we broke down and the fan s didn 't get to see a three -ri der battle go down, if it wou ld have come to that. Th at w as disappointin g, bu t we to ok it in stride . We didn't get down about it , and we stuck to the t ask at hand from that po in t on. Q Y OU wer e one of the more vo cal opponents t o the AMA's proposed rule cha nges that would have man dat ed pro duct io n - based 4 50cc m otocros sers for use at singles events, especially wh en mo st of the ride rs in the pits now have those motorcycles. A I' II answer the seco nd pa rt of th at q ue st io n fi rst : A ll those guys th at have motocross bikes in th e pit area also have fla t-trackers , so it 's not like th ey sold one to buy the other. They bo ug ht them