A conversation with AC Racing's Brian Fry
-- Suzuki's redheaded step child.
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ATV Scene: How did you get started in ATV
racing?
Fry: I had a motocross background with bikes.
I later raced three-wheelers for a while, but they weren't very good for me.
I had a lot of blown motors and didn't have that much fun on them. A friend
of mine let me try out his brand new 4-wheeler, the 1985 Suzuki LT250R Quad
Racer. That's all it took, I was hooked. I sold the three wheeler and got a
quad of my own and started racing the Golden State Series and Trans-Cal Series.
ATV Scene: You were big into the Speedway
scene weren't you?
Fry: A lot of people remember me for that
because it was always on television and got a lot of coverage. Don't get me
wrong it was a blast pitching it sideways at 60 mph, but my true love was and
still is motocross. I love the big jumps and rough terrain.
ATV Scene: How did you get the nickname
"Animal"?
Fry: Denton gave me that name. He was finessing
his way through a whoop section at Ascot one day. He was trying to bunny hop
and time the bumps. I came flying through there wide-open and passed him like
he was sitting still. He came over to me afterwards and said I was a complete
animal in the whoops. That Monday I called my sponsor AXO and told them to put
"Animal" on the ass of my leathers. I wanted to mess with his head
a little - (laughing).
ATV Scene: How did you get involved with
Suzuki?
Fry: I instantly did good on the Quad Racer
right from the start. I won a lot of races right from the get go. In only two
months of racing quads, I had almost twenty sponsors signed on with me, and
I didn't go after any of them. The aftermarket companies and manufacturers alike
were hungry for quad racers at the time. Most of the industry is in California,
so I was in the right place a the right time. I knew then the sport was really
going to take off big, and it did. Denton and I were the first two to get hooked
up with Suzuki in '86. We didn't get a full factory ride, but they gave us quads,
parts and traveling expenses.
I did it all, drove to the events, wrenched on my stuff and raced just about
every single weekend. I followed the AATVA Grand National Championship Series
with Barry Calperas and Greg Clark from Arizona had some bad luck at a couple
of the rounds that really hurt me in total points, but I still ended up 5th
overall for the year in the pro class.
ATV Scene: Not bad at all considering all
the talent. Earning fifth overall in a series with names like Denton, Hart,
Gentry, Banks, McCarty, Turk, Burman and many more is pretty darn successful.
Why were you not asked to be a part of the full on Suzuki team in '87?
Fry: They originally took three riders.
Denton was hands down their top guy, because he won the championship and showed
great results. To my shock, they picked Jim Putman and Jeff Watts over me. I
didn't understand the theory behind it, but I'm thinking it was a friendship
thing rather than a business choice. Chuck DeRan was in charge of a lot of R&D
at Suzuki. I know those guys did a lot of testing with him. Chuck happened to
be the guy that got put in charge of managing the new race team. My results
showed that I competed in more races and did better at the races than those
two, but like I said I think it was a friendship decision. I think they made
a really bad choice.
ATV Scene: Is that what made you switch
to Honda?
Fry: Absolutely. I figured if they were
going to make me race privateer, I was going to beat them on a different brand
bike than theirs. I rode an '87 R and an '87 Quad Racer 500 in the Open Pro
class, but it was tough without any help. I was a full time ATV racer but didn't
have rich parents footing the bills or anything. I ended up quitting racing
in 1988 and went to work finishing concrete with my dad. ATV racing was great
from '85 to '87. There was a ton of money in the sport and everything looked
so promising. Purses and contingencies made it possible to tackle the sport
as a career. In '86 I made $43,000 from racing a quad as a privateer. I was
still winning races in '88 and I had a 40-hour a week job to help, but I was
still in the hole and couldn't make any money at it. It was disappointing to
go from one extreme to the other. It's like having a great job, then all the
sudden the boss comes over and tells you that you can still work for them next
year but they're not going to pay you at all for all your hard work. Here I
was in what was probably my prime and had to quit.
ATV Scene: Is it true you're the guy who
invented nerf nets?
Fry: Yeah actually that is true. I was riding
for Graydon Proline, and GSM (who made some aluminum products as well as tie
downs). So the webbing and the tube bending was available. We showed up at Ascot
Park in '85. Ofcourse I heard all the comments like, "What are you doing?
Trying to get more air off the doubles", "Those nerd bars are dumb
looking, are you trying to make quads look stupid?" I didn't care. I didn't
want to get my leg caught in the nerf bar. I wasn't looking to launch a new
business from the idea. I only wanted to improve my racing program and give
some input to my sponsor Graydon Proline.
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| AC Racing went through 1.3 million pounds of aluminum last year alone! Brian Fry is a credit to much of the company's success. |
ATV Scene: How did you get involved with
AC Racing? Fry: I had crashed on a dirt
bike and ended up having surgery on both of my knees. My disability insurance
ran out while I was still in a wheelchair. I had to do something fast. Mike
Mead, the owner of AC hooked me up. I later worked my way to the Marketing Manager.
ATV Scene: Where do you see the sport of
ATV racing going in the future?
Fry: I think the new promoter's group is
great for the sport. It looks like finally people will know when a National
ATV race is coming to their hometown. I hear television is on the way too --
things look great for the sport. Entries are way higher than they have ever
been.
ATV Scene: Do you think we'll see factory
teams again?
Fry: Hard to say. The question is, what
is a stock quad going to do up against a $15 to $20,000 Laeger/LoneStar/Roll
aftermarket racer? I don't know if there is anything in it for them. I hope
I'm wrong, but I'm not sure they would dump a bunch of cash into a market that
they cant keep up with as it is. So I'm thinking it will be up to the promoters
and aftermarket companies to keep it going.
ATV Scene: Any parting words?
Fry: No hard feelings at all here. I had
a blast racing quads and now I'm having fun with my sons Kyle and Blake's quad
racing. I'm tricking out Kyle's LEM quad and getting him ready for the GNCs
when he turns 6 next year.
