Cycle News

VOL. 54 ISSUE 30 AUGUST 1, 2017 P135 got used to riding on that kind of racetrack and I liked it. "I always wanted to race on cushion tracks. If there were two races going on at the same time I'd drive 100 miles farther to race on a cushion track instead of racing on a car racetrack." Surprisingly, Roeder thinks it takes more disci- pline to race on a grooved track than a cushion. "On a car track when it would develop a groove, it got pretty technical and you had to have a little a better technique to go fast and make passes and things like that," he explained. "Where on a cushion it's less discipline and more about being hard on the throttle. You can be loose and fancy free." It became clear that the riding talent had moved down from his dad to him when he began win- ning big novice and junior races as he progressed through the pro ranks. After turning expert, Roeder won a big Gene Romero West Coast race at Pomona. "It wasn't a Grand National, but all the big-name pros were there," Roeder said. "Then I won Del Mar twice, when it was a Formula USA National." Ironically the one AMA Grand National Roeder won came on a hard-packed clay track at I-96 Speedway up in Michigan, in 1998. "I remember going out that night setup to run around the bottom because I thought that was where the race was going to be," Roeder said. "Well in the main event I'm running around the bottom and guys are passing me on the outside. I thought I could go as good as they could running up high, so I went up there and started passing guys. "I went to the front and got behind [Scott] Parker. I was thinking to myself that this guy wasn't going to be easy to pass. I knew I was in for a challenge, and then I started getting oil on my face shield. Then I thought, 'This might be easier than I think!' He blew a shock. "I passed him and he got tangled up with another rider and they threw the red flag. I looked back on the restart and saw that Parker was only two or three spots behind me and I thought, 'Oh boy.' But I was able to hold him off in the last couple of laps." The national that Roeder should have won was his home national at Lima. On the cushion at Lima, Roeder was a master. He mentioned he was runner up three times and was third three times. Oh so close. And he always had the Lima fans rooting for him. "That was my home track and I could never quite pull it off there." The oft told story is when son finally beats dad in a game of ball to know he's on his way. I just had to ask if he ever got a chance to go up against his famous dad, who he was named after, in a head-to-head race. "We did a couple of races and it didn't turn out too well," Geo grins. "Once at Norwalk, me, Jess, and dad had a grudge match and then one time in Wellington, Ohio, dad and I were do- ing a race for the fans and dad ended up going through the fence!" Geo's brothers Jess (younger) and Will (older) were both notable racers as well, making it a family affair. Besides his dad, Geo points to Springsteen as one of the riders he looked up to as he was coming up. Geo said it was a real honor to finally get to race Springer when he turned pro. Oh, and by the way, Roeder was the winner of the Wauseon Showdown. It was wheel-to-wheel most of the race. As they came off the last turn, Springer caught his front wheel in a rut, slow- ing him just enough to allow Roeder to take the victory. It didn't matter as much who the winner was, as the fun of two old racing rivals and friends getting another chance to entertain a grandstand full of admiring fans. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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