Twenty Questions for the Champ

8. What is your opinion of the Supertrackers series and the AMA's plan for the future of dirt track? What would you like to see the AMA do?

Well, I think the Supertrackers is a fad, in a sense. I think it's a great idea. I think the displacement of motorcycle that they're talking about running is too big. I'd rather see them go smaller. Unless there's a direct correlation from the tires that we can run, the tires that they built for us aren't going to last 25 laps on a Supertracker, bikes that put out 120-plus horsepower. We're having a hard enough time now with 105-horsepower motorcycles keeping the rubber from shucking off the carcasses of the tires. So, I don't think that's the answer. To be honest with you, if we're going to continue to run the XR's, then we need to slow 'em down. We've got more horsepower than we've ever had, and we're not going any faster around the racetracks, with the exception of a few places, and that's Springfield when the conditions are ideal. But at any other racetrack, we're not going any faster.

Neither younger Cameron (1, shown here) nor Cale (3) had any problem posing for the camera.

What about the possibility that AMA dirt track may limit themselves to one brand of tire?

I think that's good and it's bad. It's good because if that puts some money in the pot for the guys, for the riders, then that's great. We've had one brand tire racing for many years. It's not a difficult thing to go back to. On the other hand, I also see having three different tires, like we've had in '99, as an advantage to those who are more experienced to be able to pick out what's best. I think some of my road racing experience - trying different compounds, going to a race and having seven different compounds and having to weed through them - helped me learn what was the best tire of the three in dirt track. I think that was an advantage that I had on the other guys. But, if a tire company comes in and buys the rights to a spec tire, that's good. I think, in a sense, that'll spread some more money out for the riders. It takes a few decisions away, it probably helps the younger riders more than it does the older riders.

Or maybe the lazier tuners?

Or maybe the lazier tuners. There are some out there, but the good tuners want to have all the options available to them that they can. If they feel like they can make their motorcycle go around because they have more tires to choose from, then great. I feel like the more experienced ones are going to have the advantage.

9. Mike Kidd appears to be putting together a dirt track program for PACE, although details of the formula are not clear as of yet. Would you consider racing in another series as well as the AMA if travel schedules and budget permitted?

We certainly would consider riding PACE events. PACE has proven over the years in all things that they touch that they know how to sell tickets. They're going to put us in front of a good crowd. The bigger crowd that you have, the more opportunity that you have to make money. The more people that are there, the bigger the purses are going to be. I kind of go against the grain of those people that think we only need 20 dirt track events a year. A lot of those are team owners who feel that way, which is understandable because they're spending a lot of money. But, looking at it from a rider's standpoint, I want more opportunities to make money. If we want our sport to grow, we don't want to put it in front of less people, we want to put it in front of more people. If PACE can get us to 10% of the level of what Supercross is, then they're doing a good job. They're certainly capable of making it much better. So I would certainly want to run some of their events, if not all of them.

10. You won Peoria again this year, now eleven times the Prince of Peoria. That place must be pretty special to you. What gives you such an edge there? Is it mental? Physical toughness? Confidence?

The Carr home is beautiful, nestled in a quiet Pennsylvania town. You can't see any of Pam's baskets from here, but they're in there.

Y'know, I don't know what it is. I think, in the beginning, my edge at Peoria was probably the sense that every time I go there, even now, I love riding the track. It's a challenge, and it's different. We go round and round and turn left and stay flat on the ground all year long, with the exception of some of our rough tracks (laughs). But Peoria, I think, is a thinking man's track. I've always tried to think my way through a lot of things when it comes to racing. A lot of times, I over-think instead of just doing it. But Peoria is the type of track where precision is very, very important in going fast there. And establishing a rhythm early in the race is very important. And I've been able to do that better than anybody else obviously, over the years. I enjoy the atmosphere of the event, the fact that it is club-run, which is similar to how I grew up racing. I grew up racing at the Lodi Cycle Bowl, with the Lodi Motorcycle Club. It kind of feels like going home. The combination of all those things rolled up in one has made me successful there. But I do think now, more than anything I have a mental edge on them because I've won there so much. Everybody focuses on me and that's fine.

Are you ready to do it again in 2000?

Oh yeah. I'm ready to do it all over again.

Who's going to challenge you this year?

The same guys. I think obviously with Scotty being gone, you've gotta take him out of the equation, but at the races that he's at, he'll be tough to beat simply because he's Scotty Parker.

Do you think he'll show up for Peoria in 2000?

Yeah, if they pay him the money to be there. He'll be there. I don't think he'll do it for nothing, just for grins, but he'll do it if they pay him.

It's only a matter of time before Cale asks Daddy to teach him to ride a real motorcycle, but Chris never pushes the boys. They are two of the happiest little tykes you'll ever see.

Parker seems to have improved there in the past few years. Do you think he's watching you?

I think Scotty is acting like a champion in that when he goes to an event that he really likes - and he'll admit that he really loves going to Peoria, and I think he's grown to love it more than anything - I think the fact that I had a lot of success there and he hadn't sparked a little interest in him. He has done at Peoria what all great champions have done in the past in that when they find an area where they're weak, they improve, they find a way to improve. And he has improved there a lot, since I went there for the first time in '85. He would be a mid-pack guy, I think, if I hadn't had the success that I've had. But he's pushed himself and pushed himself, and pushed himself, and ridden on the edge at times, and put himself on the ground at times. But you have to give the guy a lot of credit for being the champion that he is and trying to improve like he has.

11. You went through a pretty tough time personally when your friend and protégé Toby Jorgensen was injured at Dallas and eventually succumbed to complications. Without trying to stir up unpleasant memories of that time, tell us a little bit about how that affected you.

Well, I would say personally it affected me quite a bit. I had only dealt with one death in my immediate family, and that was my grandfather about three years ago. That was pretty tough on me, but to see a young boy that I had known since he was in diapers, especially being a member of my close racing family out in California, to see him succumb to the worst things that can happen in racing is tough to deal with, especially when you realize that he had so much more to live for - he had so much potential to be where I am now. For him not to be able to realize that, it's hard to handle. I think it could have been avoided one way or another. I'm not going to sit here and point fingers or place blame, it's just one of those unfortunate things that happened that shouldn't have happened. That's the hardest part of it, that it shouldn't have happened.

Tell us about how you helped Toby as he was growing up. Did you see something of yourself in him?

I wouldn't say as far as riding style or the way that he went about what he did that I saw any of me in him. I saw a lot of his father, Kim, in his riding style, and I saw a lot of his Uncle Alex. Probably more of his father. I've seen both of them race, probably more than just about anybody. Everybody associates Toby with Alex, but his father was a very accomplished local racer in Northern California, and a lot of Toby's style was from his dad. I didn't tutor Toby a lot. I think people associate me and him because we're from the same track, and they associate that I had a hand in it, and maybe I had a small hand in it. You use the word protégé, and it wasn't like I was the main force in him getting where he was at, the main force behind him being as good as he was was his father Kim. His drive and his push, as well as Toby's, put him in the position he was in before he passed away.