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/78404
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE EMPTINESS AFTER VICTORY I n the excellent book "Wayne Rainey: His Own Story," Rainey reported to author Michael Scott the odd phenomenon of experiencing emptiness after winning his first of three straight 500cc Grand Prix World Championships in 1990. It was as if he'd worked his entire life to earn motorcycling's most prestigious title and once he'd accom- plished the feat, that emotional payoff never materialized. In Rainey's case he found win- ning the world title only caused him to want to win another and another, hoping to finally experience the euphoria he expected. I found Rainey's experience interesting when I Scott Russell said he didn't get the satisfaction he thought he would after wining the Daytona 200 for a fourth time. read his book, but after interviewing hundreds of racers I've found the phenomenon he experienced quite common. Scott Russell and John Ashmead both admitted having the "Is that all there is?" feel- ing after earning major victories. At the end of Jere- my McGrath's awe-inspiring Supercross career, he still somehow felt there was unfinished business. Ben Spies made a spectacular come-from-behind charge to win the 2009 World Superbike Champi- onship, but weeks afterwards said the idea of be- ing world champ never really sank in. "I don't know what I expected," Scott Russell joked after becoming the first four-time winner of the Daytona 200 in 1997, earning him the title of Mr. Daytona. "Maybe I guess I thought the sun would shine brighter or the grass would be greener, but everything was just the same. I was the first four- time winner, and while I was happy to be the first to accomplish that, it didn't give me the satisfaction I expected." Ashmead scored one of the biggest upset vic- tories in the history of American motorcycle racing when he took victory in the 1989 Daytona 200. After the podium celebration, the post-race press P92 conference and walking through the paddock receiving dozens of congratulatory handshakes, Ashmead drove back to his hotel room, sat on the balcony, alone, and ate a TV dinner. "I just sat there by myself thinking I should feel happy or satisfied or something," Ashmead said. "But I didn't. I really didn't feel any different than I had the night before. It was the weirdest thing because if anything I felt worse, because of how I was reacting to winning the biggest race of my life." At the beginning of 2003 I stood with Jeremy McGrath in the pits at Anaheim I. I had been in- terviewing McGrath, going over his entire career, and in the course of the interview he became PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE