Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Speedw ay Racer Eric Carrillo ern Califo rnia and was insta ntly su cc e ssful, winning four mai n ev e nts befor e getting the boot int o firs t d ivis ion handica p ra c ing for a taste of th e b igt ime . "It wa s just kind of a learning t ime for us, and I le a rn e d a lot : Ca rrillo sa id . "I es pecia lly le a rned from Mike Far ia , things like how he e nte rs th e corne rs a nd how he d rifts off the c orners . Then one time I was lea d ing him in a handicap ra ce , and he ju s t c a m e up a nd bumped m e out of the wa y. That reall y kind of woke me up ." Others ha ve woken up to Carrillo, folks s uch as Northern Ca lifornia speedway team owner Ed Rose, well kno wn fo r putt ing imm a c ul a t e e q u ip m e nt underneath som e of the top Northern Ca liforn ia ta le nt bot h p a s t and present. Forme r Ro s e rid ers include Bobby He dd en , Bob Hicks and Lou is Kos su th. For 2000, Rose has seen fit to field motorc ycles for Carrillo . . But e ve n with th e first -class ride , the qu es tion is whethe r Carrill o , who m igh t possess th e talent to make th e qu an tu m le a p to the European sce ne, real ly sees s peedway as his gol den ticket. His views a re perhaps indicati ve of his age, but they are like ly to disappoint the speedway fa ithful who ar e looking for an American sav ior to fly th e USA fla g long after current American icons Billy Ha m ill 'a nd Greg Han cock a re be yond their heyday. "I really want to go road ra c ing ," Carrillo said. "I' ve talked about it with [form er AMA 250cc GP Ch ampion] Jimmy Filice before, and he has to ld me that if he ever gets a team together, I might be on the list for th at. I've got some dirt track exp e rience . I've play- ridden XR I OOs, and I'v e run in the Cow S TORY AND P HOT S By S COTT R OUSSEA U o rthe rn California s pe edwa y rac e r Eric Ca rrillo wants to do it fo r a living . Th e probl em is , he 's not sure wha t it is. Perh ap s th e 16 -year -o ld fi rst -y ea r p ro fro m Newark (nea r Frem ont ) , Cali forni a , is typi c al o f k ids h is a ge . All h e knows is th at he c a n ride a motorcycl e fa st a nd th a t he wants to do it m or e. Alas, his ultimate stumbling b lock ma y co m e not in the fa ct that he la c ks th e talent to get th e job d one , but ra ther th e re s olv e to p ick his s hot a nd go for it. Th e t a le nt part is n ot in qu e st ion. Carr illo , a na tio nal BMX champion at the tende r ag e of 10 , has always had a k n a c k for things two -whee led , although he did no t gravitate towa rd th e rip-roaring wo rld of speedway until he was 13 years old. "O ne tim e we wen t to Vallejo Speedwa y, a nd the Juniors came o ut an d rod e : Carrillo said. "I thou ght that it look ed pre tty ne at, so m y d ad a nd I decid ed to giv e it a try ." Carrill o c ut his te e th a bo ar d on e of thos e genera t ional hand-m e -d o wn Tr iumph Cub-pow ered s pecials that so many of th e more aged names in th e sport rode prior to th e ir ascension to more powerful machinery. He would .fo llow the same route , la nding aboard top-level 250cc Jawa equipment and taking it all the way to a ,U.S . Junior Nationa l Speedwa y title in 1999 . •• ? I· •• .. With th e 2000 season loom ing' befo re he could turn 16 and thus acquire a 'pro license, Carrillo e lected to ride rather than wa it it out, and it was then that he and h is fath er d evised a mach ine that would s erve as th e ult imate trainer fo r th e 500cc c lass. They built th e first 250cc la ydown m ach ine tha t th e N ~ 54 S EPTEM BER 13. ' 2 0 0 0 · ~ cue • e n e lAbove) Already displaying the talent of riders who have been racing speedway f o r f a r lo n g e r than he h as, Northern Californ ia rid e r Eric Carillo cou ld have a bright f u t u re a head of him. (Right) As a Jun ior, Carrillo won the U.S. National Championship i n 1999. He began his 2000 campaign aboard t h i s trick l ay d o w n Jawa 250 before making the switch to 500cc machinery as a pro. sport had seen. That sounds more radical than it is, as 50 0c c la ydowns ha ve already been on th e scene for years , but be ing un iqu e was ne ve r so m uch a pa rt of the pla n as wa s preparing Carrillo for the idiosy ncracies o f the la yd o wn riding style . Th e re were m ajor d iffere nces, som ething the kid lea rned righ t a way . "I rode it for a bo ut thr e e weeks , a nd I noticed th at it is rea lly d ifferent, " Ca rrillo sa id . "With an up right, you st e er it m ore with th e rear whe el, a nd with a lay down , you have to steer it more with th e front wheel because it dr ives more . With th e laydowns, you have to lay it down a littl e m or e wh en you go into the turns - at least that has be en m y st y le." Three we eks ma y not s ound like a lo ng tim e , but it was en ough to pr epar e the kid for the big sw itch as his 16th birthda y ar rived . He be ga n racing in th e se cond divisio n at Fast Frid a ys Speedway in North - .. s Pa lace before. They had a West Coast Modified XR class, a nd I won tha t. In road racing, yo u have to know how to slide those bikes into the corne rs , a nd I do have some of th at ex perience , even th ou gh it isn 't necessarily on a dirt track bike ." In s pee dway a t le ast, Ca rrillo is m a king the righ t mo ves with his sponsors, a s he ha s mana ge d to put togeth er a de cent program th a t in cludes help from the Jawa factory in Eastern Euro pe , Rose Rac ing .: Cod y Rac ing Produ cts , Mo th er' s Poli sh , Peterich Cycles , Arai Helmets and Offb e at Productions. He a p pe a rs to be moving forward " even if he 's not s ure of his destination . "I just know that I'm planning to make racing a c a ree r: Carrillo s a id . "I just want to keep g o ing CN ah ead , taking it on e step at a t ime."

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