Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTERVIEW The Roeder family ! (Left to right) The racing Roeder family: George II, George Sr. and Jess. By Donn Maeda Photos ~y Bert Shepard and Maeda n August of 1963, George Roeder Sr. thrust his fist into the air after winning the Springfield Mile. Roeder had battled with the best that the sport had to offer for a fast 50 miles, and stood atop the podium at a National for the first time in his career. And what was going through his head at the time? The ~hrill of victory? Definitely. The Grand National Championship? Probably. Getting married and having two sons who would follow in his footsteps? Hardly.' , "I never dreamed of having kids that would race," said Roeder Sr., now 55 years old and the father of five. Dream or no dream, two of Roeder's sons -, George II and Jess, have followed in their father's footsteps and spend their weekends sliding around high-speed dirt ovals across the • country. George II, or "Geo" as he's called, finished the 1991 Camel Pro Series in 17th place in the point standings, qualifying for six main events along the way. The high point of Geo's I season came when he stood on the third step of the winner's box at the Lima National Half Mile. At that race, Geo repeatedly swapped the lead with soonto-be four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker and series runner-up Chris Carr, proving that he has the speed to run with the sport's elite. Geo also set the track record at the 1991 Pomona Half Mile, and ran up front in the main until a slip off the groove sent the 24-year-old secondgeneration racer to the ground Thus far into 1992, Geo has qualified for five out of eight main events, and along the way turned in another third-place finish at Lima. Like Geo, 19 year-old Jess is drawn to the high speeds and close racing that dirt track competition offers. In 1990, he suffered multiple injuries in a crash at the Lima Half Mile Junior Invitational r.ace and spent the following nine months -recovering. Jess returned to the track in 1991, but it wasn't until this year that he regained his true form. At the season-opening Springfield Mile Junior National, Jess blitzed through the pack after a mediocre start and was declared the winner when a red flag cut the race short. One month later, Jess roosted the field in the Junior Invitational held in conjunction with the Lima Half Mile National. Like their father, Geo and Jess hope to one day have a shot at the Grand National 'Championship, perhaps to realize the dream'that their father came so very close to fulfilling. "When I look back on my career, the only thing missing was winning the championship," said George Sr., who twice finished the season in the number two spot - in 1963 to Dick Mann, and in 1967 to Gary Nixon. The '63 season saw him miss the #1 plate by just one point as Mann topped him, 114-113. Though he failed to garner I the Grand National Championship, George Sr. notched eight National dirt track wins between 1963 and 1967-. During those years, he piloted a factory KR750 as a member of Team HarleyDavidson, teamed with the likes of Roger Reiman, Joe Leonard, Brad Andres and Carroll Resweber. "Being on the factory team ba<;:k then was a lot different than it is now," said George Sr. "Basically, all you got was a couple of bikes, parts, and some expense money; no one was on a salary. The factory didn't build the bike for you, that was part of your job." That isn't all that has changed over the'years. "The bikes had about half of the horsepower as now. Back then a ,good motor put out 54 horsepower, but now they put out 94 or so," George Sr. said. "We used to race with rigid frames no shocks. I didn't think about it then, but it would really work your tail section. When Dick Mann showed up at a race' with shocks on his bike, we all thought he was crazy. Our safety equipment was different too. I remember when Gary Nixon showed up with the first full-face helmet. Boy, did we laugh at him." When asked to compare the level of competition then and now, Roeder paused, then replied, "It's much more competitive now. When I was racing, it was a lot easier. Everything was a lot more even, and the equipment, setup wasn't as critical. Everything wa~ basically catalog parts - everyone had the same thing. Even the factory team didn't really have an advantage. "Nowadays, there are so many little adjustments that make a difference. The added technology makes it harder to set up a bike." The eldest Roeder's fondest racing memory is his win at the '63 Springfield Mile. Besides being his first National victory, his win came at a time when the main event at a National Mile was twice as long as it is today. Unlike today's 25-lap contests at the facility, Roeder raced for 50 laps. "We could do it for 50 laps back then," said Roeder. "The bikes had less power, so running out of gas and wearing out your tire weren't big concerns. . "It didn't seem that long, though. Fifty miles went by fast when you were racing and you didn't really think about how long the race was." George's most humorous memory is of the 1963 Carpentersville (Illinois) Road Race. In that l50-mile Grand National Championship race, George Sr. led most of the way before running out of gas on the last lap. A disappointment indeed, but Roeder can now look back at that day and laugh about a scar that he. received during that race. "There was a section of the track called the La Monza Wall, a really high-banked turn that you rode nearly sideways on," said Roeder. "The force Pl1t on the bike would cause it to bottom out the whole way through the turn. Anyway, my tire wore through the rear fender, through the seat, and through my leathers! I still have a scar on my backside." Since the Grand National Championship 'Series no longer includes road races, neither Geo or Jess have had the opportunity to compete on pavement. But 33-year-old Will, the eldest son in the family, was an avid road racer and earned the AMA Battle of the Twins Championship in 1984. For now, though, Geo and Jess will concentrate on dirt track, and ultimately have their sights set on the Grand National Championship. Both were quite young when they first threw a leg over a motorcycle, and Geo even jokes that he "had no choice." Geo began riding when he was four, and entered his first race at the age of five. Not to be outdone, Jess jumped on a minibike two days before his third birthday and competed later that same year. Like ,many racers, both boys

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