Globetrotter Polen Is Staying Closer to Home

Doug Polen seems to have his motorcycle racing career all mixed up.

The pattern established by Kenny Roberts, and continued by Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Wayne Rainey, has been to win a national championship and then set sights on the world championship.

Polen has changed the pattern.

He won the world Superbike championship first, in 1991, and again last year. And now he is concentrating on winning his first national championship, starting with the opening round of the 11-race American Motorcyclist Assn. road racing series Feb. 14 at Phoenix International Raceway.

“I had over a million frequent flier miles in four years, flying back and forth between races,” Polen said. “My body clock was never on, so this year I decided to stick closer to home (Denton, Tex.) and win the one championship I’ve missed--the national Superbike.”

Polen’s wife, Dianne, also has earned more than a million frequent flier miles. Since the day her husband crashed during practice in February of 1990 at Willow Springs Raceway, 90 miles north of Los Angeles, and lost four toes on his left foot, Dianne has been at Doug’s side every time he has strapped on his helmet.

“She doesn’t want to be sitting home waiting for the phone to ring to know if I’m OK or hurt,” Polen said. “She’s a very special person and very supportive of my racing.”

Polen is nearly 33, an elder statesman in a young man’s sport who has been riding motorcycles since he was a teen-ager.

Suzuki persuaded Polen to ride in Japan in 1989 and he won the Japanese Formula One and Formula 3 championships, the first time a foreign rider had won and the first time anyone had won both in the same year.

Polen almost didn’t make it back to defend his championships. During the off-season, while testing at Willow Springs, his throttle stuck as he was descending a 10-degree grade.

“I was wide open, going over 100 m.p.h., when I dropped down off the hill and got ready to scrub off a little speed, brake, downshift and turn left--and the throttle never shut off. When I saw I was going to crash into a berm on an ATV track, I decided to get off (the bike), but my foot got caught between the chain and the rear sprocket and my toes--boot and all--got pinched off.”

Two months later, Polen was back in Japan, where he qualified on the pole and finished fourth in his first race. Then he flew home and went to a national event at Road Atlanta where he won, defeating Doug Chandler, who went on to become the national champion. Polen finished third in the Japanese series.

When Suzuki showed little interest in pursuing the world championship, Polen signed with Eraldo Ferracci to ride an Italian Ducati.

Polen was a runaway winner. In 24 World Superbike starts, he won 17, was second four times, fourth once, fifth once and only once failed to finish. Last year he won 10 of 26 races to repeat as champion.

National champion Scott Russell, who plans to ride for the world championship on a Kawasaki this season, will be at Phoenix and Daytona (March 7) to test Polen. So will Miguel DeHamel, the 1991 Daytona 200 winner who has switched from Honda to Kawasaki; and Thomas Stevens, the 1991 Superbike champion, who has Polen’s former seat on the Yoshimura Suzuki.

Motor Racing Notes

OFF ROAD--Rick Mears, whose success in off-road racing led to Indy cars and four Indianapolis 500 victories, will be the honored guest Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium for the opening event of the Mickey Thompson stadium racing series. Mears, who recently announced his retirement, won the main event in the inaugural stadium race at the Coliseum in 1979, only a few weeks after winning his first Indy 500. Four members of his family will be racing Saturday night: son Clint and nephew C.J. will drive new Mirage SuperLites, and brother Roger and nephew Roger Jr. will be in Grand National trucks.

INDY CARS--Four-time winner Al Unser and veteran Jim Crawford have been named to drive in the Indianapolis 500 by car owner Kenny Bernstein. They will join Bernstein’s regular driver, Roberto Guerrero, for one race. . . . Paul Tracy has been named to replace Rick Mears as Emerson Fittipaldi’s Marlboro Chevy teammate on the Roger Penske team. The announcement cut short rumors that former Formula One champion Ayrton Senna would join Penske.

SPORTS CARS--The 31st running of the 24-hour race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway will begin the International Motor Racing Assn. season. Favorites in the prestigious Camel GT class include series champion Juan Manuel Fangio II and P.J. Jones in Dan Gurney’s Toyota Eagles; and Hurley Haywood, a five-time Daytona winner, and Chip Robinson, 1991 series champion, in Joest Racing Porsches.

DRAG RACING--Drivers, crews and fans will preview the 1993 National Hot Rod Assn. season this weekend in the Budweiser Warm-up at Bakersfield Raceway. It will be the final opportunity to test and tune vehicles before the Chief Auto Parts Winternationals opens the season one week later at the Pomona Fairplex. Time trials at Bakersfield will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

SPRINT CARS--After winning 11 of 13 races in Australia, Steve Kinser flew to Phoenix in time to win the final Slick 50 World Series race last Sunday at Manzanita Speedway. Sammy Swindell, who won the Slick 50 series, announced that he was leaving the World of Outlaws to drive a stock car in the Busch Grand National series. . . . Lealand McSpadden will be honored for winning the 47th California Racing Assn. championship at an awards banquet Saturday night at the Buena Park Hotel.

STOCK CARS--Season openers are scheduled Saturday at Imperial Speedway, near El Centro, and Blythe Speedway.

MOTOCROSS--Two Golden State Nationals events postponed because of by rain from Jan. 16-17 at Barona Oaks in Ramona have been rescheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The original Jan. 30 date at Sunrise Valley Raceway in Adelanto has been advanced to Feb. 21.

NECROLOGY--Bob Summers, who drove the Summers Brothers Goldenrod streamliner to a world land-speed record for piston-driven vehicles of 409.277 m.p.h. in 1965, died while jogging near his home in Ontario. He was 55. . . . Cary Koegle, 48, former motor racing writer for the Pasadena Star-News, died last Thursday of a heart attack in Bellflower.