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Brother, another Hayden
Ah, to be young. Chasing chicks, scoring beer, trying to get out of homework without suffering parental tyranny, fighting for national roadrac ing championships...
Huh? Okay, so these three polite young brothers-Tommy, Nicky and Roger Lee Hayden-have exhibited no indication of traipsing down the path to wickedness. Rather, they all have shown an unnaturally strong talent for racing motorcycles, and from a very early age.
Although their roots are in dirt-track, they’re quickly establishing themselves at the top level of AMA roadrace competition, each now with his own factory-supported Supersport ride.
Tommy, 21, led the way into the AMA roadracing scene with his fulltime debut in 1997. After two lacklus-
ter seasons with Muzzy Kawasaki, he’s coming into his own riding a factory Yamaha YZF-R6 in the 600cc and 750cc Supersport classes (he even
won a 750cc race this season on his 600). Nicky, 18, credits his older brother a great deal for helping to get him where he is today: a seat on an Erion Racing Honda CBR600F4 and Formula Xtreme CBR900RR, not to mention the occasional stint on an RC45 in preparation for next season’s Superbike assault with the factory Honda team. He also races a TCR Harley-Davidson XR750 at select Grand National dirt-tracks events.
Roger Fee joined his brothers in the AMA Pro roadracing ranks in June at Road Atlanta (he was waiting to turn 16 so he could get his license), where he finished fifth in his 750cc Supersport debut on a Cycle Gear Suzuki.
The Haydens’ on-track exploits are obvious, less so are the difficulties encountered in trying to sustain a racing career while so young. Nicky and Roger Fee are still in high school, for instance. While those troubles aren’t an issue for Tommy anymore, he sees how difficult it is for his younger brothers: Nicky, who’s heading into his senior year, and Roger Fee, who will be a junior this fall.
“It’s hard for Nicky and Rog,” Tommy says. “I think the teachers think they’re just out screwing around, kind of like a hobby, you know.”
Some hobby! Nicky, while still 17, spent the early part of the season leading the 600cc Supersport and Grand National Dirt Track series point standings-at the same time. “I’d go to bed at night and think, ‘Man, this is cool,’ ” he says.
Since then Tommy has been chasing
him down in the 600cc Supersport points race, their brother-vs.-brother scrap for the win at Mid-Ohio an epic elbow-basher. Nicky got that one.
How did these young men get so far so soon? Getting an early start helped. “Tommy’s first race was a week before he was 3 years old, with training wheels-a dirt-track,” father Earl says. “Nicky was about 3 V2 when he started and Roger Fee, he was actually about 5. He got a late start.”
Earl raced dirt-track for about 20 years and even roadraced a few times, so it would be natural to suspect that the Hayden kids got their talent from him. Not so, says Earl: “I didn’t have a lot of talent, wasn’t very good and did it just for fun. I never even thought about making a career out of it. But their mom, Rose, she raced dirt-track five years and only lost one race. And that was the last race she actually rode in-she fell down and hurt her back a bit.”
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Earl added with a smile: “You know, in Kentucky we have to breed those thoroughbreds and catch those bloodlines, and me not being real fast, I at least had to have a fast woman!”
While racing has long been a major focus in the Hayden home (they bred and raced horses, too), school has a big place as well. Nicky and Roger Lee are enrolled in a private high school-Earl and Rose think education and the experience with their peers is an important dose of normalcy in a very abnormal life.
Still, mom and dad find it hard to keep the kids on-track in school. Roger Lee even has a clause in his contract with Suzuki that says he has to maintain a 2.0 GPA! “They could be trying harder,” Earl says of Nicky and Roger Lee.
So, what's it like back home in Owensboro?
“When Em home, Em pretty much just normal,” says Nicky, the most animated of the three brothers. “Eve still got curfews and I argue with my parents: ‘What? Eve got to be home when?! Are you crazy?' You know, all the normal things. I always, well, I won’t say I always get in trouble at school, but when Em there Em not very focused, and Em goofing off and not doing work. I guess that’s bad, so the teachers are calling my parents. But my parents can’t really say, ‘Well, you’re not going to go to the races this weekend.’ They used to do that, but now... Well, I better not say that because my mom might try to do that again!”
With the points lead the two older Haydens have established in the 600cc Supersport series, they could almost afford to miss a round. Between them, they’ve taken eight wins in 11 rounds. Nicky’s five victories > have kept him in the driver’s seat, though with just one round to go, Tommy is only 14 points behind. Roger Lee, meanwhile, says he’s learning a lot, and that having two older brothers to help him is very valuable. “They already know everything, so that helps a lot,” he says. Yes, the immediate future looks bright for the three lads from Kentucky.
What do they think about the long term? Ask any one of them and the an swer is unequivocally the same: 500cc World Champion. Looks like they might have to fight each other for it. -Mark Hoyer
Davey Camlin, 1969-1999
Tragedy struck the tightly knit Grand National Dirt Track community with the passing of Davey Camlin in a multi-rider racing accident at the Du Quoin Mile in July. Camlin, national number 27, was one of six riders involved in a pile-up on the first lap of the second semiThe Rock Island, Illinois, resident’s greatest success in GNC racing had come on the miles, and Camlin was a two-time winner at the Du Quoin, Illinois, track; he also took back-toback wins at the Springfield Mile in 1996. Camlin was the Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series Champion in 1997.
final qualifier for Saturday evening’s main event. As the riders headed for start/finish, Shaun Russell’s engine failed while he was leading. An observer said Russell threw his hand immediately in the air to signal the other riders, but the pursuing pack, traveling well over 120 mph, had no time to react. Though Russell was tagged from behind, he remained upright and was not hurt. Unfortunatly, the rest of the riders involved-Camlin, Kevin Atherton, Johnny Murphree, Paul Lynch, Brett Landes and Gary Rogers-tumbled to the track. Several were airlifted to a local hospital with broken bones, though Camlin’s injuries were described as “obviously fatal.”
The Grand National was canceled, and a 10-lap exhibition was run in honor of the 29-year-old. Riders donated the purse money to Camlin’s family. “It was the first time I’d ever seen none of the riders want to race,” said an eyewitness who attends most GNC events. “They’re like a huge family, a tribe almost, and it really hit everybody hard.”
Camlin is survived by his wife, Melissa; father, Don Camlin; mother Randi Ramos; sister, Ashley Ramos; and brothers Wade Camlin and Aaron Ramos.
Oh, say can you see...aUSGP?
One of the great imponderables of modern-day roadracing is the fact that there is no United States Grand Prix. How is it that residents of a country that has consistently produced some of the world’s greatest riders must venture overseas to witness a GP firsthand? It’s just not right.
Oh, there have been USGPs before. Daytona hosted Mike Hailwood and company in 1964 and ’65, and Laguna
Seca tried on and off from 1988-94. But it was never a money-making venture. Even “King” Kenny Roberts lost his royal shorts in an attempt to play promoter. It comes as an enticing bit of gossip, then, that Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, is negotiating to host a USGP in the year 2000. We’ve been down this road before. In 1994, FIM officials inspected the circuit in anticipation of a ’95 USGP. And while that trip resulted in significant safety upgrades-most notably the installation of a gravel trap outside the previously Armco-lined Carousel corner-a proposed series of chicanes from the Kink to the Billy Mitchell Bridge was deemed too costly.
Having failed in an attempt to move the Billy Mitchell Bridge myself in 1995, I personally can attest to the limited runoff, the solidness of the concrete and the excellent care provided by the Valley View Medical Center in nearby Plymouth. Had I been going as fast as Mick Doohan et. al. would on their fire-breathing 500s, I probably would have busted more than my ass. Er, pelvis.
So it’s heartening to hear that following an August 11th meeting be-
tween Claude Danis and Franco Uncini of the FIM, Ron Barrick of the AMA, Dennis Noyes of GP series promoter Dorna, William Kautz of would-be USGP promoter Tag Sports Ftd. and track officials, that section of the course is no longer an issue. The group hatched a plan that would see motorcycle races run on a shorter, safer version of the existing circuit. As George Bruggenthies, Road America’s new general manager, explains, “We’ll still have our 4-mile circuit for car races, and using part of that we’ve tentatively laid out an addition that will be motorcycle-specific, with nothing but natural runoff. And because we won’t need all the debris fencing that we would for cars, it will be very spectator-friendly.
“It would have been difficult to accommodate the proposed chicanes in the back section,” Bruggenthies continues. “We don’t have the room, and we don’t want to mow down all the trees. Besides, it’s a section that is difficult to accommodate spectators.”
The proposed new section would connect the approach to Turn 5 with what is now Turn 8, at which point the riders would head “backwards” through Turns 7 and 6 toward 5. There, they would cross over to Turn 14 and head up the front straight to complete a lap. Total track length would be in the neighborhood of 3 miles.
The deal now hinges on the approval of Road America’s board of directors, and on how much of the bill the promoter is willing to foot. The principals were scheduled to meet again at the Czech Republic GP on August 20-22.
Should the plan get the green light, Road America would host two professional motorcycle roadraces next season, the traditional AMA national in June and the USGP in August.
Meanwhile, Laguna Seca officials are considering reducing the number of motorcycle races at their venue from two to one. Under pressure from its neighbors in uppity Monterey, California, the county-owned track is allowed just five “loud” events per year, thus it needs to maximize profits from each. And because the AMA national has been a perennial money-pit, there is now talk of dropping it from the schedule to make room for a more profitable car race.
All is not lost, however, as there is a strong possibility that the AMA and World Superbike events will be combined into one long, four-day weekend.
Says John Stornetta, general manager, “We have to put on events that are profitable, and the way to do that is to have one motorcycle race that’s a happening-a marquee motorcycle event. That way, we’ve made all the fans happy, and created a great opportunity for the manufacturers. It’s a win, win, win situation.”
Before that can happen, however, Laguna Seca officials will have to make the changes deemed necessary by the FIM inspectors, who visited the circuit on August 13th.
“We have to address rider safety,” adds Stornetta. “Laguna Seca has been one of the best tracks in terms of safety, but times change. The bikes are going faster, safety standards are changing, and if other tracks around the world are making changes, then you have to make those improvements.”
And while some of those improvements-moving the wall outside Turn 5 and lowering the curb inside Turn 9, for example-are no-brainers, there is one that could prove troublesome. Owing to Akira Yanagawa’s horrendous crash during the ’98 World Superbike race and a raft of crashes during this year’s event, the FIM has requested increased runoff at the entrance to the Corkscrew. Unfortunately, to make this possible, a large Cypress tree needs to be removed-or, more likely in these environmentally conscious times, moved elsewhere. But there’s another, more emotional issue: You see, the tree figures prominently in Laguna Seca’s logo, which adorns all of the track’s promotional materials.
“There’s 42 years of history there,” says Stornetta. “But we don’t want to make the tree an issue. We’ll probably make most of the changes this year, and then deal with the rest in the years to come. There may come a time, though, when the FIM won’t agree to run here unless we make the changes.”
Firewood, anyone? -Brian Catterson
Another “one” to Albertyn?
The 1999 AMA/Mazda 250cc National Motocross Championship Series has been one of the most competitive title fights the sport of motocross has ever seen. In the first nine rounds of the 12-race series, seven different names were listed at the top of the results sheet. To claim the title in such a highly skilled field requires a lot of talent and consistency.
That’s why it’s come as a big surprise that the man at the controls with just two races to go is South African Greg Albertyn. With a 35-point lead to protect in the last four motos of the series, the Suzuki-mounted Albertyn appears to have finally figured out American motocross. In the early ’90s, Albertyn dominated Grand Prix motocross in Europe, winning three world championships. Since emigrating to America in 1995, however, the 26-year-old has become better known for crashing than winning.
“My crashing and injuries ultimately caused more of the same,” describes Albertyn of his early struggles here. “With injuries comes a lack of results; with a lack of results comes a lack of motivation. With a lack of motivation comes less training. And with less training comes greater risk of injury. Pulling yourself out of that is extremely difficult.”
Yet Albertyn did just that this summer. After making it through the supercross season with his body intact, Albertyn went into the outdoor series set on finally proving to American motocross fans, as well as the longsuffering Suzuki team, that he has what it takes to win here, too.
“It took thinking, planning and experience,” says Albertyn of his turnaround. “I’ve spent an enormous amount of time on the bike this year, probably more than I have in a long time. I feel like I’m better prepared than I have been since I came over. But confidence is the most important factor of all, and I have found it again.”
If Albertyn holds on to win this series, he will become the first foreign rider to win an AMA Motocross Championship since the enigmatic French legend Jean-Michel Bayle did so in 1991. He will also become the first Suzuki rider to win a 250cc National title since Kent Howerton defeated Bob Hannah for the ’81 crown.
“This is the way I would’ve liked it to have happened at the beginning,” says Albertyn. “This is what my expectations were when I first arrived here. This is the way I know I can ride, the way I rode in Europe. For the first time in America, I feel like I’m riding the way I’m capable of riding.”
-Davey Coombs
