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/985130
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE B ack in the mid-1990s it was a tough row to hoe for privateers in AMA Superbike racing. Factory and factory support teams were abun- dant and just to be able to crack the top 10 of an AMA Superbike Championship race was a major ac- complishment. Knowing that makes it even more impressive to learn that a low-budget privateer from Connecticut named Brett Metzger stunned road-racing fans when he not only finished inside the top-10, but actually earned a podium finish in the 1996 AMA Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. I would like to be able to tell you a storybook ending with Metzger's podium giving him new opportuni- ties and sometime later finding our gritty privateer enjoying the privi- leges of a factory ride, but it never happened. And perhaps that's what makes this story even more compel- ling. Metzger rose up to have this one colossally amazing result, but then fell right back into obscurity and was rarely heard from again after his amazing ride in the rain at Mid-Ohio in June of '96. Brett Metzger was a hard-work- ing, club racer who showed prom- ise by winning some CCS National titles in the early 1990s. By 1994 Metzger was doing well enough in club racing to give some AMA Pro events a shot. He raced a Honda CBR600 in 600 and even moved up a class to 750 Supersport on the little Honda. In his first pro outing in the 1994 Daytona 600 Supersport race, Metzger finished 28th—the first half of the field, not bad for a debut. Like many road racers, Laguna Seca was one race he had to experi- ence at least once, so a couple of months after his Daytona pro debut, he loaded up and drove cross country to race Laguna. He took 29th in the 750 Supersport class on his Honda. Nothing to write home about, but at least he'd scratched racing Laguna off the bucket list. Then came his home race at Loudon in June of '94, and Metzger had an encouraging outing, finish- ing in the top-10 (ninth) in both the 600 and 750 Supersport Nationals on his Honda in a very talented field of riders. Ahh, a small taste of glory! These kinds of finishes are the nectar that feed the dreams of young road racers. At Loudon, Metzger had bettered some nation- ally known racers and if he could do it once, he could do it again, right? So in '95 Metzger added a Suzuki GSX-R750 to his racing stable and, along with his trusty Honda, he loaded up his van and hit the pro circuit with visions of glory. Then the reality hit home of just how loaded AMA Pro races were—30th, 29th, 24th, 16th—those were his 750 Su- persport finishes on his new Suzuki. P132 METZGER'S SURPRISE SUPERBIKE PODIUM PHOTOGRAPHY BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS Brett Metzger (left) in one of the most surprising podium finishes in AMA Superbike history.