Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOLUME 59 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 23, 2022 P121 to close off a section of Farm-to- Market Road and I'd go down and ride that thing at top speed with the sheriff's radar gun on me. That's just the kind of guy he was and the kind of respect he had around his community." Brunson's new sponsor only wanted to go to tracks he liked. "Mr. Harper only wanted to do certain races," Brunson recalls. "He didn't want to do tracks like Loudon, Willow Springs, Pocono and places like that, so that meant I was never going to do a full season and run for the championship." And while most AMA 250 riders were on Yamaha TZs, or Honda RS GP bikes, Brunson spent nearly his entire pro career on the Armstrong, powered by a Rotax tandem, rotary valve two-stroke. It was heavy and dif- ficult to tune, but that was part of the attraction to Harper, trying to make this underdog machine into a winner. "Kocinski rode it once when I was injured," Brunson said. "Years later I saw him, and he told me he couldn't figure out how I even rode the thing, much less won on it." One benefit of having Harper as a sponsor was that he liked to stay in nice hotels and eat at nice restaurants, so in many ways Brunson's life at the races was first class all the way. Most of the time Brunson flew to the races, so in some ways he had the race routine of a factory rider. After his strong Daytona performance at the end of '81, Brunson spent most of '82 focus- ing on school and didn't hit the national circuit much at all. But in '83 Brunson found his way to the podium again at Brainerd and then ended the year with a head- turning victory in the October Daytona race. That victory served as a spring- board to the 1984 season when Brunson had his best year. "Going into '84 I had enough experience that I figured that was the year I needed to either make it or get out," Brunson recalls. "I didn't make all the rounds, but I talked Mr. Harper into hitting a few more than we had before." After opening the season with a sixth at Daytona, Brunson overcame a great battle with Dale Franklin on a windy day at Road America to win that race. "Dale was a great rider," Brunson said. "And I remember the wind really pushing us all around the track. It was almost impossible to hold your line. That was a big win for me, since Road America was one of the premier tracks, but even though I won it, I didn't feel I was really doing anything differ- ent from before. I think I was just building a lot of confidence." Brunson was then edged by Alan Labrosse at Brainerd in an epic battle, and also nipped by Sam McDonald by two feet at the line at Mid-Ohio. Later that season Brunson served up a bit of revenge on McDonald in the fall Daytona race by drafting past him on the last lap for the victory. But for a few 10ths on the final laps at Brainerd and Mid-Ohio, Brunson very well could have been a four- race winner in '84. As it stands, Brunson, Labrosse, McDonald and Wayne Rainey were the only Brunson won three AMA Nationals during his career, including this victory at Road America in 1984. That's Brunson in the middle with runner up Dale Franklin (left) and Donny Greene (right) who finished third.