Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ArmecI willi. _ ..... and the continued backing 01 Supel"lNpp, MIke Hacker is hoping to win ..... cincI b.-k inside the lop five In the 200S AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Series. Hacker has finished fifth in the series twice before. have the manpower to support a two-rider team. It was tough on me because I had too many people to please [sponsors] and too many things to keep going, and it was too much work. They did the best they could for me for two years, but I just felt like I needed to make a change. It's kind of weird, but after riding for johnny Goad... That time with johnny was the first time in my career that I ever felt like someone really cared about wanting to see me do good. 1guess you could say that I felt like that my first time with Pat [1995], those first few races before I got hurt. I know what that chemistry feels like, so maybe that's what I've been trying to find ever since. It seems like you and Pat have had a stormy relationship whenever you have been teamed up. I think that Pat and I have had a father/son relationship. Who's the father, and who's the son? [Laughs] I don't know. It's like I grew up with Pat. I was riding for him when I was I B, and whatever he says. I disagree with it and vice versa. I think that I take racing a little more seriously than he does, and I know that I can be really intense at times. Really, it had nothing to do with Pat, because I know that he did the best he could for me. But I needed a full-time mechanic up in New York working on my bikes at all times, and we couldn't find anybody who would move there. There was a lot there to deal with. [Pauses] If the truth be known, I should never have left johnny Goad. He brought me to another level in my career. I thought I was somebody, and I thought I could do it with anybody. I still do think I can do it, with somebody else. UNDERRCHIEVER? Mike Hacker thinks so, and now he's ready to turn it around By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG AND KINNEY JONES o look at his results in the AMA media guide, you could easily discern that 10year flat track veteran Mike Hacker has had a fairly solid career. After all, since joining the season full time in 1995, the Virginia native has landed himself in the top 10 twice and the top five twice in the series points standings. He has also earned three Grand National victories not a lot but nonetheless roughly as many as "classmates" such as johnny Murphree and Kenny Coolbeth. Hacker also knows the thrill of a championship, having earned the 1994 AMA Harley-Davidson 5portster Performance Series title by defeating none other than a living legend, jay Springsteen. Looks can be deceiving, however. Delving beyond the black and white reveals in Hacker a talented character that has struggled as he bounced around among several rides, experienced the physical and emotional pangs of serious injuries, torpedoed his own career sometimes and struggled with his own confidence often. The sum of these factors is a record that reveals flashes of bril- T 34 APRIL 20,2005 • CYCLE NEWS liance mixed with lackluster performances. But that's about to change, says Hacker, who at 29 years of age has left the camp of New York team owner Pat Moroney - thus ending their second time around together - and joined forces with championship-winning engine builder Carl Patrick to field what could be his strongest effort in years. For him, it's about getting his career back up to speed by showing the competition the skill and speed that he has shown in the past. Why do you think that you have bounced around among so many different rides throughout your career? I don't know, you know? I've thought about that a lot. My deal with Pat was that I felt that we just didn't Looking inward: Hacker's career has suHered through raw deals and bad injuries, but he is willing to admit responsibility for same of that. He hopes to accentuate the positive with his new team.

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