Mickey Dunlap 10-18-03

by Bonnie Hamrick

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 Seattle, Washington, a local race track in the northwest, where I was racing motorcycles and some of the riders brought these strange looking 3-wheelers and tried to race them but it turned into being more of a survival of the fittest – If you know what I mean.Little did I know that 10 years later, I would be racing a 1981 185s Honda ATC.

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 Doug Richards promoter  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.

ATV Scene: Where exactly is Four Stroke Tech located?
Dunlap:We are in Hyndman, PA – otherwise referred to as Mayberry without the Sheriff!We are actually located in what I call south central PA, which is 15 miles south of Bedford, PA, home of the former Cannondale Motor Division.

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 2^nd 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.

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.

ATV Scene: What are your plans for the 2004 race team?
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 Canada to take care of Chad this year and the rest of the team.Wiseco Piston has not only been a long time sponsor of the GNCC races, but also have made it possible for me to build reliable motors with their quality pistons.Maier Plastic has also been a long time sponsor of mine for over 20 years and has continued their support in helping me create some of the wildest looking magazine article machines with their large selection of colored plastic.Houser Racing has been developing extremely strong and reliable suspension products for the last two years.AC Racing has been supplying us with bumpers and nerf bars, etc. which is extremely important in this kind of racing because of all the trees and other riders that we bang into in the course of a race.DuraBlue is another sponsor that has provided us with quality products and service through out the years. Cometic Gasket and Advanced Sleeve have helped me develop products to keep my engines running reliable.CEET Racing does all our graphics and non-slip seat covers.OMF supplies the team with seat latches and air scoops.Braking and Motion Pro take care of cables, tools, and mass quantities of brake pads and discs.Renthal supplies us with handlebars and grips and IMS with large capacity gas tanks and quick fills.Finally, Randy at GPR has built superior steering dampeners and greatly increased the rider’s ability to hang on for a two hour race by having an on-the-fly adjustable steering dampener on the handlebars The cost of putting a team like this together and maintaining it throughout a 13 race series is staggering.Without the support of my sponsors, through their products and their financial contributions, there would be no way to run a team of this size and caliber.

Tags:

Comments

comments