Mickey Fay
By Shawn McDonald
Background
Born: Seattle, Washington
Height: 5’8"
Racing weight: 155 lbs
Sister/Brother: Debbie/Daryl (deceased)
Championships: 1979 Houston AMA National, 1981 and 1983 Santa Fe Illinois AMA National, 1984 600cc National flat track championship
Major sponsors in your career: American Honda 1979-1983, Harley Davidson 1984, Burien Honda- Jack Anderson, Bel-Ray Oil, Maxima Oil, Bell helmets, Arai Helmets, Dick’s Suzuki of Spokane, Family Fitness Center-Fred Sessions
Mickey Fay reminds you of another Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle. Beside the first name they were both blonde hair youngsters who came into the big show and hit a few home runs. Every time Mickey came to the track his fellow racers started figuring out how much less money they could win that race day. He has been racing over 30 years now but still looks like the young 10 year old who started racing a Honda 90. Mickey was the leader of the 2nd wave of flattracking heroes from the northwest to make national headlines. Young, friendly, happy and competitive are all words that put together could describe Mickey. It is hard to imagine Mickey never having been involved with motorcycles. He loves motorcycles and racing so much. A champion in many phases of his life is the best description for Mickey.
Bench Racer: What got you started in motorcycles in the first place?
Mickey Fay: My dad and all his friends rode Triumphs and BSA’s in the 60’s. In 1967 at age eight I got a Briggs and Stratton powered Sears minibike that put two wheels with power underneath me. My first race bike was a street legal 1970 Honda SL90 that they only made for one year. I came home from school one day and my dad had put ¼" plywood number plates on the bike and put number "777" on it (editors note: 7-77 in the old west represented what lawmen put on dead outlaws bodies to tell them to bury them 7 feet long and 77 inches deep). My dad took off all the street equipment and clamped the end of my mom’s vacuum cleaner onto the pipe and I was ready for my first race.
BR: What role did your family have in supporting your early riding?
MF: My mom was the biggest support in my early riding. My dad and I are not very close. He is an alcoholic. If I didn’t win I got my ass beat most of the time. So I tried pretty hard to win because he was usually drunk. My mom worked two jobs to keep the family together and me on bikes. She wanted me to stay out of trouble so she supported me in something I was interested in. My mom was the biggest sponsor of my racing career.
BR: How long after you started riding did you start to race?
MF: I started riding in 1967 when my Uncle Bob would take me up to the power line trails in Federal Way. I actually started to race in late 1969 or early 1970.
BR: Were you successful when you first started?
MF: My very first race was at Jolly Rogers raceway in Kent. I crashed and bent the metal front fender on the SL90 down to the tire. I was a little guy and just barely 10 years old, I remember crying about bending the fender.
BR: What was your first race that made you stand out from the rest of the crowd?
MF: My sister was dating a guy named Randy Scism who was one of the fastest flat track racers from the NW in my eyes. He had a Honda 350 twin that was modified to the gills with trick hardware that let it redline to 15,500 rpm. It was just fast! In 1974 he let me borrow the bike. I won everything I rode on that bike. I won 21 straight main events at the Monroe short track. They put a bounty on my head for the first rider to beat me.
BR: What was your biggest disappointment?
MF: I remember it well. I was a 2nd year expert and racing a Triumph at the Castle Rock AMA TT National. That was the old track before the Mt St Helens eruption ruined the track. There were thousands of people from all forms of motorcycling watching the race. I was leading the main with an entire straightaway lead on 2nd placed Jay Springsteen. On the 23-½ lap of a 25-lap race I burned a valve on the Triumph. I rode the last lap and a half on one cylinder and got passed by four guys. I was 17 years old and racing my first national race so I was really disappointed.
BR: What was your biggest regret?
MF: I focused mostly on TT’s and short track races in my early career. In the late 70’s and early 80’s half of the national races were TT’s and short track races. In my mind that was the way it would always be. Nothing would change. Then the TT’s and short tracks became ½ and mile races and I didn’t have very much experience on them. When they did come I also didn’t have the good equipment to ride. I wished I had raced more of the bigger tracks when I was young.
BR: Do you think it hurt your racing career being from the northwest instead of California or Florida?
MF: No. I didn’t regret living in the northwest. We had so many good tracks and racers back then. The only thing that would get under my skin was that I was labeled a TT specialist by the rest of the country. That was all we had to race up here were TT’s and short tracks. I didn’t like being labeled just a TT racer.
BR: If you were in your racing prime and riding the same equipment as today’s racers, how do you think you would do?
MF: There are not as many fast guys today as there used to be. I was an expert, in what I think, at the most competitive time in flat track racing history in the early 80’s. The fastest of the fast came out of the early 80’s with Bubba Shobert, Ricky Graham, Ted Boody, Jay Springsteen, Randy Goss, Steve Ecklund, Scott Parker, Doug Chandler and many others. I had a factory sponsorship and won nationals against those riders. If I had the right equipment and was young and had the desire I would do OK in today’s racing. I’m just older and don’t have the desire anymore.
BR: What attributes make a championship racer?
MF: The right attitude. The confidence level has to be way up there. You have to eat, sleep and breathe motorcycles 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You need to dream to be a champion without anything else in your life. Total dedication is what I gave to racing in the late 70’s and early 80’s. You’ve got to be a little bit cocky to believe that you can win.
BR: Were you an arrogant racer?
MF: Some people you might talk to would say that. I don’t think that I was though. I had been around guys who were my idols and some of them had arrogant attitudes towards people because they thought they were really special. That really turned me off. I tried really hard to not be like that especially towards kids. Kenny Roberts was a snob. I guess if you have that much money and all those world titles you feel you are entitled to be that way. When I was a novice racer at Castle Rock in 1975 Kenny changed and threw away a face shield in the pits. My buddy Lars and I picked it up and asked Kenny to sign it and he didn’t have any time for a signature or us. I still go out of my way at the races to help kids and give them pointers on racing.
BR: Throughout your racing career who was your greatest rival?
MF: In the expert ranks everyone is your rival. Every one of the racers on the line could win that day. The group of racers then was just really, really FAST! I couldn’t just focus on one racer. I could only focus on my own riding and let the chips fall where they may.
BR: Who was your greatest NW racing rival?
MF: I guess it would be Randy Green. There were times when we would go out and brutalize each other on the short tracks. We were racing one time at a racetrack in Caldwell, Idaho where I was going down the front straight and pushing on his front number plate and he was kicking back at me. We weren’t kidding either. We wanted to beat each other badly.
BR: Who was the best racer you saw or raced against?
MF: I would have to say that Scott Parker was the coolest. Parker was still riding the H-D XR 750’s at the 1983 Houston TT. All the rest of the racers had switched to the single cylinder 4-stroke 500cc bikes. Steve Wise the ex-national caliber MX racer was there on a factory Honda 500CR 2-stroke set up for TT racing. Nobody expected any rider to take their hands off the handlebars back then unless you were going to crash. Wise came off the big jump and took one hand off and waved at the crowd. The crowd went nuts! Parker came around on his twin cylinder 350 lb XR 750 tank and took both hands off the handlebars and waved at the crowd. Wow!
BR: What do you think made you different from all the other racers and made you a champion?
MF: I had a lot of confidence and probably some arrogance. I was the right size and I was hungry. I wanted to win. Every racer has that fire to win inside them.
BR: If you were to start motorcycle racing today, what type of racing would you do?
MF: If I were a kid today and wanting to race I would definitely head to motocross. Motocross racing is the most recognizable form of motorcycle racing through TV, the stadiums and magazines. You can go and buy a motocross bike off the showroom floor and race it 20 minutes later. If I wanted to make a career from racing I would head to a motocross race.
BR: What was your favorite track?
MF: Sidewinder’s was my favorite track. It was a good track. There was no follow the leader racing at that track. The crowd was just a few feet away from the track. You could actually hear the crowd roaring when you were racing. Sidewinder’s was intense and fast.
BR: Do you still play ride today?
MF: Not too much anymore. My body is so broken up after all these years of racing that it is hard to ride without feeling a lot of pain.
BR: How do you still get it up to go racing after all these years?
MF: The last few years I’ve been able to pick and chose where I ride. If I knew that I could make a buck or two, I would race those tracks. I weigh the costs of the race vs. the potential prize money and if it doesn’t make sense I stay home and do something else.
BR: Define your riding style?
MF: My friends told me I was an ice skater because every time I got on a slippery track and everybody fell back I would motor ahead. I was smooth when it was necessary.
BR: Best party?
MF: The parties they used to have after the Peoria AMA National. Gardner Racing always hosted a party on a 60-foot yacht with a big long covered dock leading up to it. Barbecue and all sorts of food and drink were available. That was the best motorcycle party that I have been to.
BR: Most memorable moment as a racer?
MF: That’s an easy question to answer. Winning my first national AMA race in the Houston Astrodome in 1979. It was an overwhelming feeling. Even with the trophy, the trophy wreath and holding this huge check I still couldn’t believe that I had won the race. I was so excited when I came across the finish line. I had a big lead and when I came across the finish line I almost stood up on the seat and gave one of those boxer uppercut fist motions and screamed Yah hah through my helmet. There were some Japanese Honda executives there who didn’t understand what I was doing but were excited that I was doing it.
BR: How did American Honda treat you after that first win?
MF: They treated me real good. I signed with them the next year in 1980 and I got a decent salary for a 19-year-old kid. I also got a new 4-wheel drive Toyota truck all decked out with my name on it and a couple of practice bikes to throw in the back. I was living high on the hog back then.
BR: How was it to be a factory racer and not have to work for a living?
MF: It was real cool. I flew to all the races. I had a couple of Corvette’s and a speedboat and just messed around. The checks were rolling in every month from Honda and Charlie Strayer and I would cruise around Alki Point in the Corvette looking for fun in all the wrong places. I would go work out and then hop on a plane to the next race. The downfall of my career was probably spending too much money and too many women. I was running wild.
BR: What rider from another era do you wish you had a chance to race against in your top form?
MF: I would have loved to race in the early 70’s, the "On Any Sunday" period. It would have been great to race against Gene Romero, Dick Mann and Mert Lawill. Back then you could race a Triumph, BSA, Norton and not just a Harley Davidson. That was also a great time to race against great racers. You could race back then 3-4 times a week at club races and on the fairgrounds.
BR: What has kept you involved with motorcycles for over 30 years?
MF: The thing that keeps me going is just the love of motorcycles. I’ve seen where flat track racing is headed in the future, and I would like to be able to help change it. I started in promoting indoor scrambles for modern bikes. I talked to motocrossers who were tired of Arenacross and the big jumps and the big hurts. So it’s a tamed down Arenacross that the riders are loving without fearing. We have been getting around 250 to 300 riders at each event at the Oakwood Arena in Roy, Washington.
BR: You have seen friends who are racers die or become seriously injured in your career. Did this ever want to make you stop?
MF: No. In that it has happened to someone else, that’s the risk you take in racing motorcycles. It has never really bothered me. The last accident I had is what made me stop and look back and see what’s happening. I now have two kids and responsibilities and that has basically stopped me from racing. It isn’t from watching someone else get hurt. They know, I know, we all know that when we choose to go out and race that it can happen to you. Yet, we still get on them.
BR: What was your worst crash?
MF: The worst one was my last one at a invitational short track race in Pasco where I clipped a Monster Truck tire and the bike landed on me. I shattered my pelvis, ruptured my abdomen, broke 5 ribs, my collarbone and they couldn’t stop the bleeding inside. They told my wife that I wouldn’t make it through the night. I couldn’t walk for a long time and a year later I’m still in pain. I’ve had a lot of crashes, but that’s the worst one.
BR: How many bones have you broken racing?
MF: I broke my back and had surgery on that. I’ve had 5 knee surgeries. I’ve had hip surgery, wrist surgery and ankle surgery. I’ve broken ribs and collarbones like everybody else. I got a good concussion when my Harley Davidson stuck its throttle at the San Jose Mile race. The Harley and I went through the hay bales, a wooden plank fence, a cyclone fence and finally stopped under a 2nd cyclone fence. I broke my hip, dislocated my shoulder and hit my head so hard it actually busted my helmet down the side. My eyes were swelled close and I was out for a couple of days. The Harley was completely wasted with parts and engine lying about like a comet explosion.
BR: Which racers did you hang with in your career?
MF: My local buddies were Lars Trulson, Kyle Davis and Mike Sullivan. Sullivan is a character. When I went riding the nationals I hung out with Bubba Shobert quite a bit. Were all friends until the green flag dropped.
BR: Which northwest racers did you look up to?
MF: Randy Skiver. For such a big guy he was really fast. I used to watch him at Sidewinders coming down the hill with the primary cases dragging. He was so big he was forced to put his leg under the handlebar like a motocrosser when on the gas. Roger Stanley was a local racer who taught me a lot about throttle control and riding fast on a real narrow notch on the track.
BR: Do you race differently at national races vs. local races?
MF: There is definitely more pressure on you at a national race. I always tried to not let the pressure bother me. I changed my riding style at some nationals. I liked going into a corner and throwing it sideways hard where in a national you might be playing follow the leader on a narrow slippery line. If I rode like I did locally at a national I could see 4 racers pass me in a corner.
BR: Interesting stories on Pat Marinacci or Dick Wascher?
MF: Dick always amazed me because his riding style was always so wide open. Dick always told me when I was coming up that I told him he was a has been and to move over. Dick laughs about it now but I think he was mad at the time. I never said that about anybody though. Pat was little and loud. I think he was hard of hearing. He always had a nickname for his bikes like "Biscuit."
BR: What did the older riders think of you when you were a young racer?
MF: In an indoor concrete short track race in Canada when I was 15 years old I was racing against Randy Skiver. Randy was leading the main event until the last lap where he gave up a foot and I took it, bumped him and passed him for the win. Randy, who was big, was really mad at me and chased me around the track and if he caught me was going to beat my butt. Luckily he didn’t catch me. Randy was a great racer just a slow runner.
BR: In one word what would you say about your racing career?
MF: Wild!
Background
Born: Seattle, Washington
Height: 5’8"
Racing weight: 155 lbs
Sister/Brother: Debbie/Daryl (deceased)
Championships: 1979 Houston AMA National, 1981 and 1983 Santa Fe Illinois AMA National, 1984 600cc National flat track championship
Major sponsors in your career: American Honda 1979-1983, Harley Davidson 1984, Burien Honda- Jack Anderson, Bel-Ray Oil, Maxima Oil, Bell helmets, Arai Helmets, Dick’s Suzuki of Spokane, Family Fitness Center-Fred Sessions
Mickey Fay reminds you of another Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle. Beside the first name they were both blonde hair youngsters who came into the big show and hit a few home runs. Every time Mickey came to the track his fellow racers started figuring out how much less money they could win that race day. He has been racing over 30 years now but still looks like the young 10 year old who started racing a Honda 90. Mickey was the leader of the 2nd wave of flattracking heroes from the northwest to make national headlines. Young, friendly, happy and competitive are all words that put together could describe Mickey. It is hard to imagine Mickey never having been involved with motorcycles. He loves motorcycles and racing so much. A champion in many phases of his life is the best description for Mickey.
Bench Racer: What got you started in motorcycles in the first place?
Mickey Fay: My dad and all his friends rode Triumphs and BSA’s in the 60’s. In 1967 at age eight I got a Briggs and Stratton powered Sears minibike that put two wheels with power underneath me. My first race bike was a street legal 1970 Honda SL90 that they only made for one year. I came home from school one day and my dad had put ¼" plywood number plates on the bike and put number "777" on it (editors note: 7-77 in the old west represented what lawmen put on dead outlaws bodies to tell them to bury them 7 feet long and 77 inches deep). My dad took off all the street equipment and clamped the end of my mom’s vacuum cleaner onto the pipe and I was ready for my first race.
BR: What role did your family have in supporting your early riding?
MF: My mom was the biggest support in my early riding. My dad and I are not very close. He is an alcoholic. If I didn’t win I got my ass beat most of the time. So I tried pretty hard to win because he was usually drunk. My mom worked two jobs to keep the family together and me on bikes. She wanted me to stay out of trouble so she supported me in something I was interested in. My mom was the biggest sponsor of my racing career.
BR: How long after you started riding did you start to race?
MF: I started riding in 1967 when my Uncle Bob would take me up to the power line trails in Federal Way. I actually started to race in late 1969 or early 1970.
BR: Were you successful when you first started?
MF: My very first race was at Jolly Rogers raceway in Kent. I crashed and bent the metal front fender on the SL90 down to the tire. I was a little guy and just barely 10 years old, I remember crying about bending the fender.
BR: What was your first race that made you stand out from the rest of the crowd?
MF: My sister was dating a guy named Randy Scism who was one of the fastest flat track racers from the NW in my eyes. He had a Honda 350 twin that was modified to the gills with trick hardware that let it redline to 15,500 rpm. It was just fast! In 1974 he let me borrow the bike. I won everything I rode on that bike. I won 21 straight main events at the Monroe short track. They put a bounty on my head for the first rider to beat me.
BR: What was your biggest disappointment?
MF: I remember it well. I was a 2nd year expert and racing a Triumph at the Castle Rock AMA TT National. That was the old track before the Mt St Helens eruption ruined the track. There were thousands of people from all forms of motorcycling watching the race. I was leading the main with an entire straightaway lead on 2nd placed Jay Springsteen. On the 23-½ lap of a 25-lap race I burned a valve on the Triumph. I rode the last lap and a half on one cylinder and got passed by four guys. I was 17 years old and racing my first national race so I was really disappointed.
BR: What was your biggest regret?
MF: I focused mostly on TT’s and short track races in my early career. In the late 70’s and early 80’s half of the national races were TT’s and short track races. In my mind that was the way it would always be. Nothing would change. Then the TT’s and short tracks became ½ and mile races and I didn’t have very much experience on them. When they did come I also didn’t have the good equipment to ride. I wished I had raced more of the bigger tracks when I was young.
BR: Do you think it hurt your racing career being from the northwest instead of California or Florida?
MF: No. I didn’t regret living in the northwest. We had so many good tracks and racers back then. The only thing that would get under my skin was that I was labeled a TT specialist by the rest of the country. That was all we had to race up here were TT’s and short tracks. I didn’t like being labeled just a TT racer.
BR: If you were in your racing prime and riding the same equipment as today’s racers, how do you think you would do?
MF: There are not as many fast guys today as there used to be. I was an expert, in what I think, at the most competitive time in flat track racing history in the early 80’s. The fastest of the fast came out of the early 80’s with Bubba Shobert, Ricky Graham, Ted Boody, Jay Springsteen, Randy Goss, Steve Ecklund, Scott Parker, Doug Chandler and many others. I had a factory sponsorship and won nationals against those riders. If I had the right equipment and was young and had the desire I would do OK in today’s racing. I’m just older and don’t have the desire anymore.
BR: What attributes make a championship racer?
MF: The right attitude. The confidence level has to be way up there. You have to eat, sleep and breathe motorcycles 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. You need to dream to be a champion without anything else in your life. Total dedication is what I gave to racing in the late 70’s and early 80’s. You’ve got to be a little bit cocky to believe that you can win.
BR: Were you an arrogant racer?
MF: Some people you might talk to would say that. I don’t think that I was though. I had been around guys who were my idols and some of them had arrogant attitudes towards people because they thought they were really special. That really turned me off. I tried really hard to not be like that especially towards kids. Kenny Roberts was a snob. I guess if you have that much money and all those world titles you feel you are entitled to be that way. When I was a novice racer at Castle Rock in 1975 Kenny changed and threw away a face shield in the pits. My buddy Lars and I picked it up and asked Kenny to sign it and he didn’t have any time for a signature or us. I still go out of my way at the races to help kids and give them pointers on racing.
BR: Throughout your racing career who was your greatest rival?
MF: In the expert ranks everyone is your rival. Every one of the racers on the line could win that day. The group of racers then was just really, really FAST! I couldn’t just focus on one racer. I could only focus on my own riding and let the chips fall where they may.
BR: Who was your greatest NW racing rival?
MF: I guess it would be Randy Green. There were times when we would go out and brutalize each other on the short tracks. We were racing one time at a racetrack in Caldwell, Idaho where I was going down the front straight and pushing on his front number plate and he was kicking back at me. We weren’t kidding either. We wanted to beat each other badly.
BR: Who was the best racer you saw or raced against?
MF: I would have to say that Scott Parker was the coolest. Parker was still riding the H-D XR 750’s at the 1983 Houston TT. All the rest of the racers had switched to the single cylinder 4-stroke 500cc bikes. Steve Wise the ex-national caliber MX racer was there on a factory Honda 500CR 2-stroke set up for TT racing. Nobody expected any rider to take their hands off the handlebars back then unless you were going to crash. Wise came off the big jump and took one hand off and waved at the crowd. The crowd went nuts! Parker came around on his twin cylinder 350 lb XR 750 tank and took both hands off the handlebars and waved at the crowd. Wow!
BR: What do you think made you different from all the other racers and made you a champion?
MF: I had a lot of confidence and probably some arrogance. I was the right size and I was hungry. I wanted to win. Every racer has that fire to win inside them.
BR: If you were to start motorcycle racing today, what type of racing would you do?
MF: If I were a kid today and wanting to race I would definitely head to motocross. Motocross racing is the most recognizable form of motorcycle racing through TV, the stadiums and magazines. You can go and buy a motocross bike off the showroom floor and race it 20 minutes later. If I wanted to make a career from racing I would head to a motocross race.
BR: What was your favorite track?
MF: Sidewinder’s was my favorite track. It was a good track. There was no follow the leader racing at that track. The crowd was just a few feet away from the track. You could actually hear the crowd roaring when you were racing. Sidewinder’s was intense and fast.
BR: Do you still play ride today?
MF: Not too much anymore. My body is so broken up after all these years of racing that it is hard to ride without feeling a lot of pain.
BR: How do you still get it up to go racing after all these years?
MF: The last few years I’ve been able to pick and chose where I ride. If I knew that I could make a buck or two, I would race those tracks. I weigh the costs of the race vs. the potential prize money and if it doesn’t make sense I stay home and do something else.
BR: Define your riding style?
MF: My friends told me I was an ice skater because every time I got on a slippery track and everybody fell back I would motor ahead. I was smooth when it was necessary.
BR: Best party?
MF: The parties they used to have after the Peoria AMA National. Gardner Racing always hosted a party on a 60-foot yacht with a big long covered dock leading up to it. Barbecue and all sorts of food and drink were available. That was the best motorcycle party that I have been to.
BR: Most memorable moment as a racer?
MF: That’s an easy question to answer. Winning my first national AMA race in the Houston Astrodome in 1979. It was an overwhelming feeling. Even with the trophy, the trophy wreath and holding this huge check I still couldn’t believe that I had won the race. I was so excited when I came across the finish line. I had a big lead and when I came across the finish line I almost stood up on the seat and gave one of those boxer uppercut fist motions and screamed Yah hah through my helmet. There were some Japanese Honda executives there who didn’t understand what I was doing but were excited that I was doing it.
BR: How did American Honda treat you after that first win?
MF: They treated me real good. I signed with them the next year in 1980 and I got a decent salary for a 19-year-old kid. I also got a new 4-wheel drive Toyota truck all decked out with my name on it and a couple of practice bikes to throw in the back. I was living high on the hog back then.
BR: How was it to be a factory racer and not have to work for a living?
MF: It was real cool. I flew to all the races. I had a couple of Corvette’s and a speedboat and just messed around. The checks were rolling in every month from Honda and Charlie Strayer and I would cruise around Alki Point in the Corvette looking for fun in all the wrong places. I would go work out and then hop on a plane to the next race. The downfall of my career was probably spending too much money and too many women. I was running wild.
BR: What rider from another era do you wish you had a chance to race against in your top form?
MF: I would have loved to race in the early 70’s, the "On Any Sunday" period. It would have been great to race against Gene Romero, Dick Mann and Mert Lawill. Back then you could race a Triumph, BSA, Norton and not just a Harley Davidson. That was also a great time to race against great racers. You could race back then 3-4 times a week at club races and on the fairgrounds.
BR: What has kept you involved with motorcycles for over 30 years?
MF: The thing that keeps me going is just the love of motorcycles. I’ve seen where flat track racing is headed in the future, and I would like to be able to help change it. I started in promoting indoor scrambles for modern bikes. I talked to motocrossers who were tired of Arenacross and the big jumps and the big hurts. So it’s a tamed down Arenacross that the riders are loving without fearing. We have been getting around 250 to 300 riders at each event at the Oakwood Arena in Roy, Washington.
BR: You have seen friends who are racers die or become seriously injured in your career. Did this ever want to make you stop?
MF: No. In that it has happened to someone else, that’s the risk you take in racing motorcycles. It has never really bothered me. The last accident I had is what made me stop and look back and see what’s happening. I now have two kids and responsibilities and that has basically stopped me from racing. It isn’t from watching someone else get hurt. They know, I know, we all know that when we choose to go out and race that it can happen to you. Yet, we still get on them.
BR: What was your worst crash?
MF: The worst one was my last one at a invitational short track race in Pasco where I clipped a Monster Truck tire and the bike landed on me. I shattered my pelvis, ruptured my abdomen, broke 5 ribs, my collarbone and they couldn’t stop the bleeding inside. They told my wife that I wouldn’t make it through the night. I couldn’t walk for a long time and a year later I’m still in pain. I’ve had a lot of crashes, but that’s the worst one.
BR: How many bones have you broken racing?
MF: I broke my back and had surgery on that. I’ve had 5 knee surgeries. I’ve had hip surgery, wrist surgery and ankle surgery. I’ve broken ribs and collarbones like everybody else. I got a good concussion when my Harley Davidson stuck its throttle at the San Jose Mile race. The Harley and I went through the hay bales, a wooden plank fence, a cyclone fence and finally stopped under a 2nd cyclone fence. I broke my hip, dislocated my shoulder and hit my head so hard it actually busted my helmet down the side. My eyes were swelled close and I was out for a couple of days. The Harley was completely wasted with parts and engine lying about like a comet explosion.
BR: Which racers did you hang with in your career?
MF: My local buddies were Lars Trulson, Kyle Davis and Mike Sullivan. Sullivan is a character. When I went riding the nationals I hung out with Bubba Shobert quite a bit. Were all friends until the green flag dropped.
BR: Which northwest racers did you look up to?
MF: Randy Skiver. For such a big guy he was really fast. I used to watch him at Sidewinders coming down the hill with the primary cases dragging. He was so big he was forced to put his leg under the handlebar like a motocrosser when on the gas. Roger Stanley was a local racer who taught me a lot about throttle control and riding fast on a real narrow notch on the track.
BR: Do you race differently at national races vs. local races?
MF: There is definitely more pressure on you at a national race. I always tried to not let the pressure bother me. I changed my riding style at some nationals. I liked going into a corner and throwing it sideways hard where in a national you might be playing follow the leader on a narrow slippery line. If I rode like I did locally at a national I could see 4 racers pass me in a corner.
BR: Interesting stories on Pat Marinacci or Dick Wascher?
MF: Dick always amazed me because his riding style was always so wide open. Dick always told me when I was coming up that I told him he was a has been and to move over. Dick laughs about it now but I think he was mad at the time. I never said that about anybody though. Pat was little and loud. I think he was hard of hearing. He always had a nickname for his bikes like "Biscuit."
BR: What did the older riders think of you when you were a young racer?
MF: In an indoor concrete short track race in Canada when I was 15 years old I was racing against Randy Skiver. Randy was leading the main event until the last lap where he gave up a foot and I took it, bumped him and passed him for the win. Randy, who was big, was really mad at me and chased me around the track and if he caught me was going to beat my butt. Luckily he didn’t catch me. Randy was a great racer just a slow runner.
BR: In one word what would you say about your racing career?
MF: Wild!
