Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

relations between Rogers and Goad became strained as the season wore on. Rogers began to gain weight, and his performances began to suffer. - "Johnny and I just weren't comfor' tabfu together anymore. We would blame each other for everything that went wrong and argue a lot. MaYbe it was the amount of time we sPent together, especially since we drove to all the races in the same van," said Rogers. "lf I made a mistake at one race, t'd have to hear about it until we got to the next race.- I wasn't in the iight state of mind at the uack. I was nervous, and when I was nervous, I would eat." By mutual agreement, Rogers left the f'.I.G. team just before the Okla- homa City Half Mile. At that race, two- time Grand National Champion Ricky Graham made his debut Camel Pro Series ride on the F.I.G. Honda, but Rogers elected to sit out the rest of the Camel Pro Series and concentrate on the Motorcycle Asphalt Racing Series (MARS). Aboard his own machinery, R'ogers bested defending MARS ChamPion Will Davis for the series title, an$ earned the right to carry the numbei one plate in '92. Though a race is a race, the MARS ChampionshiP was of little consolation to Rogers. "It was great to win the title, but I really didn't want to run the number one on my bike," said Rogers. "When I look at number one, I look at Scott Parker. The asphalt races are great, though. It'r just like dirt, but without the dust and spray. I think that asphalt is in the future of our sport. More and more dirt tracks are getting closed dowir, and we're gonna have to find new places to race. "I learned a lot from the asPhalt, especially about how to set up suspen- sion. The races taught me about confidence - I would go to those races knowing that I could win and do well, and that later helped me at the Camel Pro races." When asked why he didn't scramble to find a ride for the remainder of the Camel Pro Series as he had done in the past, Rogers replied, "Sometimes you can look down the pits and see more good riders than there are good mechanics, and sometimes it's the other way around. "I didn't want to come back unless I had a good ride, and I won't beg nobody for nothing," Rogers said. "I figured that if anyone thinks I have the talent, they'll call me." That call came from Maryland's Phil Wickersham near the end of 1991. In the past, Wickersham had sPon' sored his Maryland neighbor Scott Saunders, and upon suggestion from his engine builder Carl Patrick, decided to call Rogers. In the off-season, Rogers trained harder than he ever had before, and arrived at the season-opening Daytona Short Track fit and ready to race. "I decided that this was gonna be the suongest season of my career," said Rogers. "I started to go to the gYm everyday, and pretty soon I began to see some results. I lost over 15 pounds before the start o[ the season. Up until the start of this year, I considered myself a part-time racer." Though Rogers was race-readY, his machines often weren't and mechan- ical woes hampered his early'season results. "It's just like with any new team," said Rogers. "We had to get a feel for each other. I like things set'up a lot different than Scott Saunders did." At the Sacramento Mile, the left shock broke and the exhaust pipes fell off Rogers' machine in the Camel Challenge, but he bounced back to finish sixth in the National. "I need my suspension set up pretty stiff, and Scott liked it soft, so I figure that's why we broke the shock," explained Rogers. At the next round, the Pomona Half Mile, Rogers rode his backup bike and finished llth. "We wanted to save our number one bike for an asphalt race, so we raced the backup machine," said Rogers. "It was completely stock, no motor work. It was one week later when things all came together for the team, and Rogers earned his first-ever National win at the Hagerstown HaIf Mile. Rogers rode up in the cushion like a man possessed while most of his competitors played it safe and stayed on the groove. Oddly enough, Rogers chose his high lines afier asking the advice of his former-sponsor, Goad. "I asked Johnny if he thought I could ride up there, and he gave me a look that said, 'If anyone can do it, Last year I was on a Honda aPd he was on a Harley. This year we both switched brands, and I say a HarleY is easier to ride but now he says the Honda is easier. We get along great." Such camaraderie is one of the things that Rogers loves most about the sport of dirt track. "I hear about motocrossers and how they're all spread apart and don't help each other," said Rogers. "We're just the opposite. Hell, when I crashed at Parkersburg and bent up my bike, @ L{ fr d E EJ E CN O) O) i c{ a br) lt was easy to ride, but it was just too slow." Rogers raced that same machine at the following San Jose Mile, but it proved too slow on a mile track and he failed to qualify for the main. Rogers returned at the Springfield Mile with the team's number one machine, but another breakdown thwarted their race effort. Rogers battled for the lead in his heat race, but his swingarm broke and sent him to the sidelines. "We figure that when the shock broke at Sacramento, it suessed the swingarm and that's why it broke," said Rogers. "Chris Carr lent me a swingarm to use in the semi, but then our chain came off because it got warped when the swingarm broke." Bad luck continued to haunt the rcam when the motor blew on the first day of the Syracuse Twin Miles, and Rogers sat on the sidelines for the rest of the weekend. Things began to turn around for Rogers at the Lima Half Mile, as he banzaied his way to a fifth-place finish. you can.' \{hen I left the team, it was a mutual thing and it was better for both of us. We're still good friends - Johnny is like an older brother. "Johnny and Sarah were two of the first people to congratulate me after I won, and I was one of the first people to congratulate them when Ricky Graham won at Syracuse. We didn't do it together, but we all got our first National wins in the same year. "I talk to Ricky a lot. You have to respect a guy like that. Here, I've struggled so much just to win a National, and he's won enough to be the champion twice," said Rogers. "At Springfield this year when I broke my swingarm, Ricky came up to me and said, 'I don't usually really watch the other heat races, but you were going through the corners really good.'That meant a lot to me, coming from him." Though Rogers and Graham get along well, Rogers considers Davis to be his closest friend in racing circles. "We both ride a'! of the MARS races, so we see a lot of each other," said Rogers. "We have a joke between us: Steve Morehead came over to me and said, 'There's my spare bike. If you need anything, it's yours.' In our sport people understand that their five' dollar part might help me make $1000, and they also know that I'd do the same for them." After his dirt track career is over, Rogers, like many racers, would like to trade in his two wheels for four. "I'd like to make a big name for myself dirt racking, and maybe even try road racing. After I'm done on motorcycles, though, I'd really like to race NASCAR," said Rogers. "I'm from the south, and that's four wheel counhy. I can't imagine what it's like to sit in a car in front of 100,000 screaming spectators. "I figure all I'll need is a big bumper," added Rogers with a laugh. "But for now, my sights are set on winning some more races on the dirt. I can see myself flat track racing until I'm into my 30s. Heck, maybe I'll even go as far as Steve Morehead, Terry *:i,ilrilu,taY.,S,Pringsteen' or lg mF@ ,-}; i r, :::'*1ir:1:rr::::: %*,d :d b

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