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/128340
~ 28 SEPTEMBER 8 , 2004 • 'W hen you com e into the world, you have a ticket, and t hat ticket is alre ady punc hed when you co me in.' I've really thought abo ut th at a lot. 00 you get annoyed at all when you go on the fanatic websites after something like this happens and you see people screaming about safety, especially in light of the fact that this particular accident was all but unavoidable? You know what? The two tracks that the AMA put together - Rapid City and t he Sturgis Hot Shoe [where the C reamer accident occurred] - were the tw o smoothest tracks t hat we have had all year. and Ricky W insett and Gary Rogers both got hurt on o ne of the sm oothest tracks we've had all year, and Aaron C reame r got killed on one. As far as safe ty. there was no th ing at all t hat was wro ng. Rob Pearson's bike blew up. joe Kopp hit him, Aaro n C reamer went down and someone hit him. Th at was just racing. Ricky W inset t and Gary Rogers just tangl ed off t he sta rt . It had no th ing to do with hitting a wall or anything like that. When I was an amate ur, I was always on th e forum s and stu ff. but now all I do is check out my website and my emails, and that's about it. What do you think about when you hear the road racers harping a bo ut safety? I t hink that road racing is safer t han dirt t rack racing. You get off at 180 miles pe r hour, and you ' re most likely going to slide into a gravel pit. In dirt track, you 're fli pping and turning, sticking to the clay, and someone is bound to run over you . Since I have been around . I have neve r heard of a road racer getting run over and getting killed. but it see ms like in dirt track racing we lose two o r t hree people a year between the amateu rs and pr os. But I try not to think abou t t he dange r. You can't. If you knew that yo u wer e going to die that day, t hen you woul dn't get on your motorcycle . But you do n't know it. What I do know is that Aaron C rea mer love d the sport of dirt track enough to die for it. He always came to the racetrack with a great attitude . He may not have always done great, but he always told himse lf that he would win, and he always had a smile on his face. Those are the kind of pe op le that we need in this spo rt . I ca n't say e nough about him. S hifti ng gears, where doe s Jared Me e s go from here , starting with t o day, the d ay before t he Pe oria TT, a nd m ovi ng fo rward! I just want to be realistic. I'm not going to say that I' m going to go out tomorrow and win the Peor ia TT, but I am going to give it 100 percent and try to be in the top 10. It's hard to beat guys like Chris Carr, but our goals are to be in the top 10 and get some more money into our program for next year. Who is h e lpi ng you this year! Lancaste r Harley-Davidson and Saddl e men are our tw o mai n s po nso rs fo r t he big bikes, and I bro ugh t in Montgomeryville Cycles, a Honda dealer, to he lp with ou r litt le bikes. All of t hem have been a grea t help to us. We wo uld like to find some more money, and that will co me when the re sults com e. Do you see yo u r se lf having a future outside of d irt tra ck racing! jo hnny has said that he wo uld like to see me go road rac ing, but I'm really happ y with w hat I am doing right now, and I want to stay w ith it. I' m doi ng pre tty well financially, and I can pay all of my bills. For now I just wa nt to stay with johnny Goad and deve lo p a re lationship like Kenny Tolbert and C hris Carr have because wh at t hey have is magic. They just go to any rac etrack, and. boom, they've got it. That's what I want to have . eN -' : CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary