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/912289
AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CEO MICHAEL LOCK: PART 1 P42 INTERVIEW which he returned to the USA to run Lamborghini USA—by then coincidentally Ducati's nominal owner within the VW-Audi group. In 2015 he joined NASCAR's motorcycle subsidiary AMA Pro Racing—but let's hear from him how that came about. Michael, how did a Brit end up heading the organization team for such a uniquely American branch of motor- cycle sport as flat track? he stays out of the public eye, but he's been every bit as much responsible for what NASCAR has become as anyone else in the France family. Additionally, though, he has a real passion for motorcycles, particularly Euro- pean ones. I'd met him when I attended the Daytona 200 after just arriving in the USA back in the mid-'90s to do the research prior to launching Triumph here, and he'd talked about the family essentially owns AMA Pro Racing, which is the body that sanctions all pro motorcycle rac- ing in the USA. They were then in the process of licensing road racing to Wayne Rainey's outfit, and they had a long term con- tract for Supercross with some- one else, so now they were looking at flat track, and this, in fact, is Jim's first love—indeed, he used to race himself, and I have his Bultaco in my office! He Three years ago in 2014 I'd just left Lamborghini USA, and was considering my options, as they say, when I got a phone call from Jim France. His father Bill France Senior was the founder of NASCAR, and Jim and his late elder brother, Bill Junior, were responsible for turning NASCAR from a regional sport into the na- tional powerhouse it's become. Jim is the smart silent type, so '60s Bonneville he had, about coming back from the Vietnam war and readjusting to being in America, and how riding his mo- torcycle had given him a sense of grounding. We had this long chat together and got on very well, and so we stayed in touch down the years. So in 2014 Jim France called me to say that he was reorganiz- ing flat track racing. The France was an amateur flat-tracker back in the '70s, and I think that like a lot of flat track racers, he'd got bitten by the bug for life. And so here he had direct control of his main interest in motorcycle rac- ing, and he was looking at why it wasn't working properly, what to do, what the possibilities were, where investment was needed, and so on. So he said, "Please, would you consult for me, and "I came here today to see the Harley XR750, and all I'm seeing is Honda CR singles in both classes. I feel robbed, I feel cheated." (Left) These Brad Baker fans might be future factory Indian racers. Many famous racers got their start racing flat track.