Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

David Bailey, Part I th rough the se ries a nd wa s inju red , a nd I wa lked into the tit le. " He ad ing into the fina l round at Millville, Minne s ot a , on Aug ust 28 , Ba iley had a loc k on th e 250cc Na tion a l Ch ampi on ship . How ev er , th ere wa s on e title left to be won . Th at yea r, the AMA ha d jo ined hands with America n casua l wea r com pa ny Wra ng ler. In a n attempt to le ve ra ge the s po nso rs hi p for the Wra nqler brand, the marke ting pe opl e invo lve d wit h both o rga nizatio ns pu t the ir heads toget h e r a nd created th e "Wrangler Grand Natio nal Ch am pion ship ." T he new tit le com bined the p o ints of both the Supe rc ross a nd Nat ion a l series together to c rown one overa ll c ha m pio n. At Millville, Baile y also had a ve ry reali stic s hot at th at coveted blue -and- yellow num be r-one plate , th ough he needed a little "he lp ." With Hanna h out of the hunt, Team Ho nda went knocking on box -van doors. "I c linched the 250cc t itle in the o pe ning moto , and between m oto s , the t e a m - Da v e A rnold , -Ro g e r De C o s t e r , Jeff Spen ce r a n d the Ja p anese guys - came int o my bo x va n and said , 'Look, you can win this thing .' As soon as they were done , I lo o k e d o ut and saw t h e m wa lk ing over to Bo b 's truc k to tell him ju st wha t needed to happen . I fig ured it out. It was his first year at Honda , and he had had bad luck , but I think he was like , 'He ll with it. I'll he lp him .' I didn't want Bob to have to be in that p o siti on, so I got th e h oleshot and went the fa stest I've ever go ne . I led it for a while a nd pu lled a goo d lead , bu t then he started c a tc hi ng me . I was thi nk ing , ' I c a n 't go any faste r; how am I going to make it? ' He caught me a nd went by , but I stayed with him . Then at on e point, he s wung way wide and I went past. Howev er , he stayed a ll over me , an d I t ho ught , 'Ma ybe he 's s til l go ing to t ry a nd beat me!' How e ve r, in the la s t tu rn he hit th e be rm too ha rd and h ig h-sided and crashed . We had ridden so hard tha t we ha d a 43 -second lead at the finish . As soon as I got off the bike , I walked away a nd threw up. " It th en went down to the la st moto of t he day . If Ba rnett won, the t itle was h is ; if not, Ba iley was the Grand Na tion a l Champ ion . Up on stripp ing off his JT Ra ci ng gea r and hosing himself down , Ba ile y too k a s eat a nd wa tc hed th e fina l m oto of th e da y th e 125c c cla ss. "It wa s all up to Ba rnett," reflects Baile y. ':AIl he had to do was win his final 125cc moto . But a kid rid ing a Yamah a wit h the number 224 [Ron Lechi en ] won both motos , and I ended up winning th e title. It was a ll just in the cards for me that yea r." De s p ite a n epic afte rnoo n where everyt hing went his wa y, Bailey still had his gu a rd up . Fo r the third -consecutive year, he was c hosen to be a me mber of the America n effort for the Motocross a nd Tro phee des Nations, s lated to ru n in Be lgiu m and Sl ova k ia . Th e Ame rica ns pic ked to compete 'ha d to begin pre paring to le av e for Europ e that sa m e da y, s o th e Millv ille Holida y Inn be c am e a type o f ad -hoc sta ging area . "As so on a s th e ra c e was over, we went rig ht ba c k to the hotel where th e y we re s ortin g t h rou gh the race what gear I was going to start with. I got th e holeshot an d [Belgi an] Andre Vro mans was a ll o ve r m e . Tow ard s the end of th e m ot o it sta rte d raining, a nd I we nt to pu ll m y Roll-Offs a nd the e nt ire ro ll ripped out, a nd I had 20 fee t of film s t re a m ing b e h ind m e . That rea lly had to bother him!" Ba ile y s t ill rode o n t o win th e ju mped he adfirst into a serious riding , test ing a nd tra inin g regiment. Dete rm ined to be in to p ph ys ic al cond itio n, Bail ey e ntered the '8 4 season stro ng a nd co nfident. He had to be , bec ause Honda had de c ided to · d is patc h him a n d h is b ig -bi k e p row es s t o th e 500c c class . "Ninete e n e igh ty-fou r wa s a nother equipm e nt , which had to be se nt to E u ro p e fo r the Troph e e and Motoc ro s s d es Nat ions that nigh t. Meanwhil e , J o hnn y wa s up in h is hote l room th rowing up (O 'Ma ra had c linc h e d the 1983 AMA 12 5cc Nat iona l Champions h ip that same day and was still feeling the effec ts of fra yed nerv es and exhaustion) , and I was like all he- hu m with ev erything . I guess it ha dn 't su nk in. "J eff Wa rd , Broc Glove r, Mark Barnett and I we re picked fo r the time that year , a nd I kept thinking t o myself, ' How am I going to s it by Barnett on the a irpla ne? ' I had beat him by just a few points in bo th titles , and now I was going to Eu rope with him. " Th e Motocros s des Nati on s in Bel gium was a wind-whipped a ffa ir held o ut in a big , ro lling cow pasture th at , whi le lo o king se re ne an d pas to ra l e nou g h a t fir s t, soo n turn ed int o a rugged , whooped-out he ll ho le . In th e fi rst m oto , Ba il ey was ru nning am ongst the lead ers b e fo re h is b ig Honda sp it up a few gea rs , lea ving him wit h o nly th e first through th ird cogs to work with . Lap a ft e r lap he sc reamed down the s traights , but he h e ld on a n d sco re d p oints fo r t h e te a m . "In between motos th e y h ad t o switch e ng ines, and I e nded up with a four -speed," he says . "I was a littl e worried beca use I d idn 't e ve n kn ow moto , leading Team Am eri c a to thei r th ird- c onse cut ive Motoc r oss des Na tion s title . And aft er a big celebra tio n , th e Ame ri c a n contin gen t pa cked up the ir bikes , pa rts and perso na l b e lon g ing s and h e a d e d e a s t towa rd s th e c ountr y o f Sl ovaki a , de ep in th e mysterious Ea s te rn Bloc. After a peri lous j o u rney whi ch incl ud e d a ll- n ig ht border cross ings , Ma c hin e -gu n -ass ist ed passport c hec k s , b ri bes, propaga nda and god -a wful food , the Americans finally made it to the circu it in Pova zs ka Bystri c a . Wha t th e y saw there surpr ised all of them - especiall y Bai ley . "It wa s the coo le s t tra ck I had e ve r see n in m y life . When we pull ed in, I s a id to m ys elf, ' Wo w!' Th ere was a g ia nt downhill th at too k for e ver to get down . It wa s so ste ep tha t th e y c ou ldn' t even get a tractor near it. T he n o n ra c e d a y th ere were s o ma ny pe ople it wa s com p lete ly overwhel ming . In the first moto , I started in t he seco n d row a n d Bro c a nd Wa rd ju s t took o ff a nd disappeared. Th ey we re goi ng so fast, I was like , 'I'll be ba ck he re if you need me.' '' Glover a nd Ward we re the stars of t he da y , lead ing Team US A to yet another World Te am Championship. Up on arriving hom e , Bai ley took som e tim e off to re lax and refle ct on hi s incr e di b le y ear , b ut h e soo n Ba iley, clad in the O.P. shorts typical of the e ra, accepts the a wa rd for '83 Grand Na ti o na l Champion. Ba iley is t he o nly rider ever to ha ve won the award. 38 nellVs MAY 10, 200 0 ' cue • e s t ro ng y e a r," h e ex p la in s . "Ho n da wanted me to s witc h t o the 500cc class because Bob [Ha nnah ] wa nted to ride the 250 . I s a id, 'Fine, he'll beat my ass anywa y .' Bu t I was stoked to rid e the 500 and t a ke on Bro c G love r. At the opener a t Gai nesvi lle , I won both m o t o s a n d th ought , 'Tha t was s o easy I can't belie ve it.' That win gav e me so much co nfidenc e that in the races to come, I would le t Broc go by and le a d for fou r o r fi ve lap s, a n d then sa y to m yself , 'O ka y, I'll sta rt catching him now .'" Bailey wo uld win seve n c o nsec u t ive 500c nationa ls to win th e AMA Nati on a l Ch ampi on sh ip in a c ak e wal k . Meanwhile , in th e Supercross Seri e s , he won fou r ind ividua l e vents t o p la ce a stron g th ird beh ind hi s friend O 'Mara and Ya m a h a 's Rick Johnson. But it wa s not just the rac ing that came into sharp foc us th at season... "Tough times never last, but tough peopl e do. " -Bumper sticker Check out next w eek 's issue (or Part II.

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