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/141011
/ --- - - .J By John Bethea Wh en th e engines fire up Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, o ne so u nd will b e so me w hat o f a surp rise the mo t o r of t he Tom Rockwood T ri ump h . Last December, th e 19 7 1 Ascot Ha lf-Mile National winner was near death; t hree months later h e will be racing again. But y oung Rockwo od doesn 't ca ll it miraculous. "The doctor did n't d o anythin g sp ecial; he did , althoug h , t ell me to d o some spe cial exercis es. " Th en he ad d s with a smile, " But , I d idn ' t do U 'em . " U O n a windy Monday afternoon in mid-De cemb er , traveling east out of Bar st ow, Calif., Tom c ras hed at 100 mph w h ile testin g o u t a b rand of m o t o r o il fo r Kawasa k i, " Da ve Smith had left a lit tle b efore me and I was tr yi ng to catch up ," T om recalls, T hat, p lus th e fac t th at it was ge tting lat e a nd thc winds we re ra ther co ld, pro m p t ed th e pro racer to t urn th e gas on . " I was doing abo ut a hu nd red an, the w ind k inda p ushed me off in t o the san d sho u lder. " T he n e x t thing h e knew he was in a hospital. Betw een the two rec oll ectiun s, Ro ckwoo d was taken to the hospital, wh er e several vertebrae in his b ack wer e b ro k en, in te rnal inj ur ies were co m plicating mat tcra .u ud h is heart a nd bl o od pre ssure was almost undisc er nable . Two weeks la te r, th e b ody cas t came o ff a nd Tom was o n his ow n. "I ' ve been riding as mu ch as po ssible . Ridin g keep s yo u in shape , fo r sure. 8, '" .... Ol 0N :- ::; ~ w Z W >- t. Several weeks before Daytona, he stated, "I can go about ten minutes on my m in i now b efore I reall y ge t tired ," When as ked if th at fr ighten s hi m abo u t Daytona, since it 's no t just a I 0 mi nute race, h e replied, "Fo r sure it's a lo nger race, but you have time to rest. You get a ch anc e t o lay down on the tan k - that helps. I think I'll go all the wa y ." Ab out wi n ning h e wa sn't as p os it ive, b ut h is h opes st ill showe d as h e co n ti n ue d: " 1 t hi nk the crash really helped me . Lik e, I t hi nk it's go n na let me go a little fas te r. Really. I k now now what it's like to be near dea th: 1 know no w what it's like to get off at 100 . I t hi n k now t ha t I can go faster." . ._ Faster, perhaps, on-dirt tracks, b ut - - ------ -_.. -_. _----------- ~ of But t his year, Tom has lost a lot on a road racin g circuit? "For sure. Ro ad racing is wh ere I have to improve the m o st . If I ca n get t he right eq u ipme nt, I th in k I have a c hance b ut I've sti ll got a lo t to learn . " On d irt, it is a nother story , In 1970, Tom was just clinging o n to a top 20 p osition in the National Points race wh en th e fin al third o f th e season came abou t. Dropping the weekly Ascot gig , he p icked up th e ci rc u it and put o n a sp u rt th ird o nly to J im Rice and G en e Rome ro, p lacing him in the T op T en at t he final ta lly. Last year, wit h more intense di rt track competit ion, he st ill fared within th e top 15 wh ile win n in g his first and on ly . ' at io nal at Ascot. Tom Rockwood knows what it's like to be near death ground and not only by his accident last De cember, Triumph has dropped all but Rome ro from factory sp onsorship, putting him in th e ra n ks of th e privateers. " I really can't say what will happen this year," he explains . " First I've got to get a sponsor. Nothing for su re yet, but I've got a few things possible. I really d on 't kn ow about Atlanta yet , but aft er th at I'll foll ow the wh ole circu it. I wan t to win a dirt trac k back East , th at 's for su re, T hey have mu ch b ett er tracks b ack East ; th e West 's tracks are th e worst. That's my next goal. Then Nu mber One. " Like Rome ro , Tom h as o ther pl a ns . "Yeh, I wanna get into car racin g. Yo u 've got to be young to rac e mo torcvcles. There's a futu re in ca rs , but I d;'n 't wa n t to p ush it like Gen e is right now. Sure, if some thing co mes along, I tak e it , b u t I'm not going t o push it." Mo to rcycle racing for th e win ners like T o m Ro ckwo od - is 'pushing it', however: o n the track at least. Tom's personality doesn' t appear to b e th at of o ne who p ush es very hard, He's q uie t , so me w ha t shy at first meetin g. At age 2 1, tho ugh, that can be ex pec ted . But o n th e tra ck he is someth ing else. *, * '" R um ors ran rampan t last Decemb er : "Torn R o ckwo od 's dead . Go t k illed ro ad-tes tin' a Kawasa ki in the desert." Tom Ro ckw o od is alive and well , a nd will be raci n g in Daytona Bea ch, Flo rid a , on Sund ay fo r 530,000. After o n ly three month s. 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