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/827115
P146 CN III CARRUTHERS SAYS BY PAUL CARRUTHERS A s the editor of Cycle News in what now seems like a previous life, I lived in a world where I couldn't play favorites. It was Journalism 101. But Nicky Hayden was my favorite. And I wasn't overly concerned about hiding it. He was my favorite not because of what he could do on two wheels. He was my favorite because of the person he was off them. He cared. And he didn't have a problem showing it. The thing you quickly realized about Nicky was that it was never really about Nicky. When you chatted with him, whether for five minutes or an hour, the conversation centered mostly around you. "How's MotoAmerica doing? How's the family? You still like the job?" That was the last conversa- tion I had with Nicky as we pedaled bicycles a few short months ago near his off-season home in California, along with his brother Roger and fellow racer and Kentuckian Jake Lewis. And it wasn't just me. It was everyone. He rode next to me for miles, asking me about me. Then I watched and listened as he pulled up next to Lewis and talked to him about his coming racing season, about his training, his program for 2017. It was always about the other person. That was Nicky. He also liked to have a little fun. But as much as he could dish it out, he could also take it. That same day at the Hayden's home, Lewis was pick- ing my brain as to who his competition would be in Superstock 1000 this year. Nicky overheard the conversation and then drawled, "Jake, I heard Casey Stoner might be doing a wild card at a few of the races." Later that day, on our bike ride, I jokingly told Nicky that if he played his cards right I might be able to get him a Superstock 600 ride in MotoAmerica in 2018. People gravitated toward Hayden because he had the sort of pull that's difficult to describe. If he was in the room, you wanted to talk to him. He had that zillion dollar smile that didn't just light up rooms, it lit up buildings, entire neighborhoods. And although he oozed star power, he didn't come off like a star. Ironically, in Nicky's case, the life of the party was the one who didn't party. I feel blessed to have been able to cover his career, to watch him grow from a teenager into a man. To see him grow from someone who had racing heroes to someone who was a hero to so many. I watched him grow from a young man whose lip often quivered from nerves in press MUCH MORE THAN A CHAMPION