A conversation with Four Stroke Tech's Mickey Dunlap
by Bonnie Hamrick
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Straight from a factory supported three wheeled ATV racing
career in the 80’s to running a thriving business, supplying four-wheeler junkies
all over with goodies to increase their speed - here is Mickey Dunlap, owner
of Four Stroke Tech...
ATV Scene: How long have
you been a part of ATV racing?
M. Dunlap:
I saw my first ATC race back in the early 70s when Honda introduced the
motorized beach ball otherwise known as the ATC 90. I was at Jolly Rogers in
ATV Scene:
Tell us about your own racing career.
Dunlap:As
I already started, I started racing motorcycles back in the early 70’s.
It took me a couple years to win my first trophy but once you win the
first one that sparks a fire inside of you that’s hard to quench. In the early
80’s promoter Doug Richards of Coyote Racing was working for Pace Management
which put on all the Supercrosses back then and he started having 3-wheeler
racing at intermission at all the major dome races.
Someone loaned me a 185s with no suspension and 18” lawnmower
tires on the rear and I went out and tried to negotiate the Supercross track
with some success finishing second behind Team Honda rider Curtis Sparks.
By 1983, I had a 200X and I started beating Team Honda which led to a
full contract ride with Honda in 1984. I
made the switch to Team Green in 1985 and then back to racing for Powroll in
1986 then switching to four-wheelers in 1987 on a Kawasaki Mojave. In 1988, I moved back east and opened Four Stroke
Tech while continuing to race in GNC motocross and flat track series and I ended
up #3, being beat out by Ronnie Fields, my teammate, and Curtis by two points.
I tried to go back racing with a Team Yamaha ride in 1990 and tried my
hand at GNCC racing. I struggled trying to race a Warrior competitively
against people who actually knew how to ride in the woods. With me being a motocrosser, it didn't ’t work
out so well. I went in to retirement
and started supporting younger, up and coming racers with my company, Four Stroke
Tech instead.
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| Honda built this $30,000 high tech, 200cc two-stroke ATC 200X for Mickey to do battle with in the 200cc pro class in 1984. |
ATV Scene:Where exactly
is Four Stroke Tech located?
Dunlap:
We are in
ATV Scene:
How did you introduce your product onto the ATV market?
Dunlap:
When I first moved back east, I was actually going to open a Powroll East Store,
but at the last minute, I decided to go out on my own, hoping to capitalize
on my name that I had in the industry already from racing. The first GNC race was at Glen Helen, CA in
1988. I had built 3 orange and white
four-wheelers for magazine articles and we headed to CA to meet with the editors
to get things started. We happened to
win the 4-Stroke Pro Class the first time out which was a big feather in my
cap. A few months later, all three magazine
articles hit the news stands and Four Stroke Tech was born. Winning races, doing magazine articles and running
ads has been a successful way of promoting my products, but when it comes down
to it, it’s really the product itself that sells itself by word of mouth.
ATV Scene: Who
are the racers that make up the Four Stroke Tech team?
Dunlap:
We have an 8-rider team this year. Chad
Duvall was our star rider in the Pro Production Class but we have decided to
go our separate ways for next year. Mike Benson is our veteran Pro Production rider
and Pit Coordinator taking care of business when I am not there. His brother Jeremy has had a successful last
couple seasons on a Polaris scrambler in the Unlimited Utility Class and has
now moved to the Sport Class. Tom Tokay,
former #1 champion from years ago, has come out of retirement to ride the Pro
Production Class this year as well. Brad
Macri has also joined the Pro Production Class after winning
the 4 Stroke A Class last year. Chad Wallace has moved up to 4 Stroke A Class after winning the Junior Class last year. Recently, Mike Shelley has moved into the Open
B Class on his V-force after running his 800 Praire
with a 2nd overall in the Utility Mod Class last year. Finally we have Shane Benson, an up and coming
rider also riding in the Open B Class, showing real promise as a young, determined
racer.
ATV Scene: Do you come
to any races yourself to watch the team?
Dunlap: I
usually make it to the opener in FL, but by then, I am backed up at the shop
from getting the team ready for the first race, so I am only able to make it
to the races where I can leave on a Friday night and be back on Sunday, so I
can keep up with the demands of the business.
ATV Scene:
Do you think a GasGas can win a Championship?
Dunlap: Yes,
the machine seems to be built very well and with the right rider on it, there
is no doubt the machine is capable. However,
there are several new machines coming out and we will be testing all of them.
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ATV Scene:What would you
change about ATV racing if you could?
Dunlap: I
am kind of torn between the factories coming back and having team riders and
the racing staying just the way it is with the after-market companies supporting
the riders. On one hand, I know it’s
a dream, as it was for me, to get a factory ride, but I'm not so sure it will
develop into multi-member teams with big salaries, semis, box vans and paid
mechanics like it was in the old days. Right
now the factories are supporting the GNCC motorcycle racers but I don’t think
they are willing to do the same for the ATV riders. Sometimes I get the feeling that the ATV riders
are looked down at by the motorcycle industry, which burns me a little bit because
if it wasn't’t for the ATV sales, a lot of dealerships wouldn't’t be open and
the motorcycle riders wouldn't’t be getting their big salaries, box vans and
motorcycles because the revenues comes from the ATV sales. From a business stand point, I am starting to
realize that ATV racing is doing just fine and is growing all the time and the
factories are selling every machine that they can build, so I would think they
might be thinking that there is no need to put any more money into race teams,
when they don’t have to. However, I have
been told by one of the manufacturers that racing is driven by product – now
that they have the product, maybe they will come back and us aftermarket guys
can work together with them.
ATV Scene:
What do you feel is the best thing about ATV racing?
Dunlap:
I think the best thing about ATV racing is that,
first of all, it is affordable to the majority of people. It’s one of the cheapest forms of motor-sports
racing and it remains grassroots and family-oriented. The other thing is that it’s very diversified
– you can race a stock sport machine right off the floor or you can spend as
little or as much as you want to modify it and pick from a number of classes
from Women’s to Senior to Pro’s. On top
of that, you have a growing number of utility riders running either a stock
machine or modified. The GNCC races seem
to offer a little of everything for everyone and I only see it continuing to
grow. I think we will have a great sport
for years to come.
ATV Scene: What is the
worst thing about our sport in your opinion?
Dunlap:
This year, I would have to say it’s the weather. Although we can race in any kind of environment
it sure takes a toll on the rider and the machine and the pocket book with all
the mud we have had this year. Other
than that, I don’t think there is anything negative about ATV racing.
ATV Scene:
What ATV events do you support?
Dunlap:
For my business, we race the GNCC series because it gives us a lot of
feedback regarding the performance of our products. My market is more of the average weekend rider
that wants more power out of his 4-stroke utility or sport ATV without sacrificing
reliability and longevity. This is also
true for the rest of the team sponsors who want feedback on their products as
well.
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| Mickey's Four Stroke Tech Racing Team is all about acting and looking professional. |
Dunlap: This will be the fourth year that
I have run my own race team at this level. I have found it takes up about 30%
of my day each day so I have decided to turn the day to day, race to race details
over to Mike Benson as he makes the transition from racer to Team Manager. We
may have a few new sponsors added to the team that I will announce later on.
Gas Gas would like to have us run one of their machines on our team. That's
one of the unique things about the Four Stroke Tech team - we don't run just
one brand; we run several different models to test different motors and other
sponsors' products. We will also be hiring a new Pro Production rider, Bryan
Cook. Bryan has just sewn up the 4-Stroke A Class and is currently running 12th
overall. He has done this from the 5th row for most of the
season which means he had about 100 riders in front of him and a key thing to
be able to do in the GNCC races is to pass quickly and efficiently and he apparently
has that down pretty good! With these changes, we are looking forward to a successful
2004 season for the FST/Maxxis/Douglas Wheel GNCC
Race Team.
ATV Scene: Thanks for talking
with us. Any parting words for our readers?
Dunlap: I
believe there is only one more thing to do, and that is to thank my sponsors.
Maxxis Tires has been with us the longest and has made it possible financially
to have a professional team as we do. Douglas
Wheel has actually been my sponsor for over 20 years and has been a great help
to the team as well. I believe their wheels are proven to be the
toughest and best looking wheel on the market today. White Brothers is my newest sponsor supplying
us with exhaust systems that work on our utility models, sport models and full
race machines. Elka
Suspension has been great in their quality product and their outstanding service.
These guys have flown down here from
