News Feed
Tuesday Conversation: Larry Pegram
March 9, 2010 by Jeff Feathers
Filed under Tuesday Conversation
When the 2010 AMA Pro season began at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend, Larry Pegram and his team lead the first two American Superbike practices sessions and qualified second on the grid for the double header. Like many teams in the paddock, the Foremost Ducati racing squad lost some financial support during the off-season, but the Ohio native is back on last year’s Ducati 1098Rs—a fact Pegram considers an advantage—and determined to improve on his ‘09 results.
Pegram was a factor at the front in Daytona, going 3-5 on AMA Pro's first 2010 event. • Photo by Riles/Nelson
RRX: How did those first two races play out from your perspective?
LP: It went okay, we had some problems with tires in the race and we just didn’t have the setup to do what we needed to do in the race. But you know, in practice we were the quickest guys the whole time. I feel confident for the rest of the season, but I couldn’t keep the tires under the thing on the banking. I was confident going into the races, but I knew we were going to have some tire problems. We all have to run the same tire, but we were just having a little issue with it. Other than that, I was really confident about everything.
I ended up finishing third in the first race and fifth in the second. In the first race I was running in second, third, first—back and forth—and with five laps to go I went back to the lead. The last two laps, I was back in third and coming off the last corner [and] I thought I was in a good spot. Jake Zemke’s bike was really fast; he won, and Tommy [Hayden] just pulled me home. There was definitely some dicing on that last lap going to the start-finish line. There was five guys within three-tenths of a second, so it was a pretty neat deal.
In the lead-up to this season, Ducati Corse pulled some resources.
Foremost is still the title sponsor for us again, and Ducati had to step back their stuff because of the way the economy is right now. Everybody is stepping back a little bit and I think it’s that way for every team. For a lot of the teams, budgets were cut and everybody’s still out there. [As team owner], I just approach it by looking at how much we have to spend and then making a budget according to what we can spend, and if it’s not enough to go racing, then we’ll take another look at it. Most of the time, we look at what we can spend and we go from there.
There was some speculation about the fate of your team when Ducati made their announcement. How did you handle that?
I’ve been doing this long enough that kind of stuff doesn’t bother me [laughs]. I knew we were going to be there whether or not other people thought we would. It doesn’t matter to me.
In addition to a full road race season, Pegram intends to contend the Springfield and Indianapolis flat track races on a Ducati. • Photo by Riles/Nelson
How’s preparation for this year’s flat track races coming?
Good, everything is going good and we’re going to do Springfield and Indy again. The Lloyd Brothers have their bike and they’re building another that Joe Kopp is going to race all year. I’m excited to ride it for sure. I got to ride the new flat track-specific frame at Indy but I fell off in the heat race, otherwise I would have made it right into the main. I think this year we have a really good chance to win the thing.
Back to road racing, how do you see the 2010 season going?
I think there are going to be a lot of battles like we had this past weekend. I mean, there were five or six guys going for the lead basically on the last lap both races, and I think you’re going to see a lot of that this year. I don’t know that every race will be like that—because Daytona has the draft and that made it a lot closer—but I think there’s going to be a lot of good racing.
I think the racing speaks for itself. Obviously there were a lot of moves that were made that weren’t the best, but I think you can’t ask for a more competitive Superbike class and a more competitive race in the last two races. Last year the races were ten times better than they were the year before, and this year they are going to be even better.
Does the fact that Mat Mladin’s gone change anything?
He wasn’t going to win this year anyway. From last season—about halfway—he was done. He could come back this year and get a paycheck, but he wasn’t going to win. He could say he wasn’t trying, but I watched him fall off in New Jersey and I don’t know many guys who fall off like that when they aren’t trying. For one thing, I don’t think he had the ambition that he had before, and secondly, we’d caught up to him. They changed the rules where he didn’t have some of the trick stuff, and we caught up to him. He can say whatever he wants to say on his end, but the racing speaks for itself. We caught up to him.
No matter what the economic climate, Pegram's known for being able to put on a good show. • Photo by Riles/Nelson
Who do you see as the biggest competition for the championship this season?
Well, I thought it was going to me and Josh Hayes, but we both were terrible in the last race [laughs]. I think everybody saw Aaron Yates, Tommy Hayden, Jake Zemke, all the guys from these first two races.
Last words?
I think we’re definitely more prepared than ever. Like I said, everybody’s budgets got cut back, but for us, we’re riding the same bikes we had last year basically and we have all the notes, whereas last year we were new at every track with a new bike. We’re coming into every race this year ready to go.
More Feature Articles
Umbrella Girls of the Week: Red Bull Indy GP
Andrew Northcott’s umbrella girl highlights from last weekend’s Red Bull Indianapolis GP.
Backmarker: Revisiting the Icarus myth. Really, that’s what this is about
On the news of Cycle News folding, Mark Gardiner examines the changing face of motorcycle journalism.
SLIDESHOW: Umbrella Girls of the Week, Red Bull Indy GP!
Andrew Northcott hones his talents Stateside with a grid-girls update from the past weekend’s Red Bull Indy GP.
Between the Races: Bill Savino
RRX checked in with American Honda’s Bill Savino in advance of Roger Hayden’s Moto2 adventure.
SLIDESHOW: The Red Bull Indy GP, by Andrew Northcott
Yesterday we featured EW’s artistic take on Indy, today it’s the high-speed, high-tech, nicotine-fueled magic of Andrew Northcott.
Moto Moments WALLPAPER: Ben Spies at the Red Bull Indy GP
With Ben Spies having scored the best MotoGP finish of his career at the Red Bull Indy GP, there was only one option for this week’s Moto Moments.
Read More Features
HAHAHA Mladin wasn’t going to win! lol Your a joke larry! Mat was killing everyone until the 09 GSXR1000 came out.. It is a completely new bike and it takes time to develop… That said your a 17 year AMA road racer with what 4 wins!! Watch out PEGRAM is on fire.. The other thing is if the rule change last year helped you out why is it that you where nowhere close to the podium??? Until the 09 GSXR came out, IDK maybe you forgot the first half of the season when you landed on your head in fontana.
OMG I thought Mat was an ego-filled narcicist……get real pegram
Pegram just went up a notch in my book. Now he’s at 0. Sure wouldve been nice too see Mladin race this year. He wouldve had the biggest target on his back in the history of the AMA.This year is starting to resemble the British Superbike series. Dramatic with a sly grin. Flame on fellas.
Mladin was done, he’s even admitted it! Larry said “Mladin wouldn’t win”. He didn’t say he’d win it all. Didn’t you see Hayes beat him? You can’t tell me Mat didn’t want to win his last race. There comes a time when every racer loses his edge. Mladin’s was half way through last year! We all saw it. It was written all over his face immediately following Road America, when Larry took it to him. He was a great racer and a great champion. The key word is “was”.
What a joke Pegram is! Catching up to Mat? Get out of here! Makes me sick, and I die inside when I think of the AMA and the fact that Pegram can say he even had first for a while. He’s so proud of getting on the podium of a sub par field. Can’t wait for a decent rider (Hayes) to win the championship and get the hell out of there and into a legit series. Hope Pegram enjoys his Duc tenure; he was washed up 7 years ago!
At least he has the guts to stand up to that bipolar wackjob Mladin. The guy one 8 championships in the U.S. but could care less about this country and the race fans who supported him here. I say good ridence to him. To Mladin , riding a superbike was his job, not his passion.To Pegram and the other superbike riders whose passion is racing and who put on a great show at Daytona, I salute you.
Wow, way to bash the racer who did more for Supberbike racing than anyone in recent memory… Mat Mladin did more for bike development and improving track standards and rider safety than ANYONE in the decade I’ve been following the sport! So he speaks his mind – GOOD FOR HIM! A lot of young riders could take a good lesson and follow suit. And to say that riding wasn’t his passion? Seriously? WTH sport were YOU watching “bigdaddy?” It sure as hell wasn’t AMA Superbike. Pegram has to trash him because he’s obviously got some inferiority complex – no surprise because he’s been a virtual nobody for years. Let Mladin retire in peace and spend time with his family. Who could blame ANY pro racer for losing faith last year after the DMG debacle? It sucked even from a fan’s perspective – imagine having to live under the ignorance that Roger Edmondson brought to the sport – much less having to put your ass on the line. Mladin, most fans miss you and what you brought to the sport. You were a true sportsman and a champion in every sense of the word.
I read mladins twitter updates all the time. Why can’t he just retire gracefully like schwantz or doohan or chandler and bayliss? I’ll tell you why because he has some deep seeded pyschological issues that drive him to make himself look like an ass. The guy has no class whatsoever. All those AMA championships don’t put him in the same class as the above mentioned champions. He’s just a freaking tool. He must have been ridiculed as a child in school. I was so happy when spies was here kicking his butt. But even spies was a true champion and didn’t have to talk crap about everyone. He just did his thing. Mladin if your reading this, please go away. Retire your mouth. Disapear into the auzzy outback and screw a kangaroo! You don’t deserve the same respect as a true champion. Because your personality doesn’t fit the match. Wanker…
Oh really pegram?! you guys caught up to Mat and most likely to Ben Spies too huh? I’m sure we will see pegram battling it out with Rossi and Casey stoner in the near future…maybe as soon as 2011… watch out world!
Where was pegram for the past 12 years? Nowhere!!! So now he won a couple races at Topeka in the absence of Mat and he convinced himself he is the greatest racer AMA has ever seen… in his head of course. remember pegram, in 2009 Mat won the championship with one round to spare after missing a whole race weekend. Watch this year.
Zemke, Tommy, Hayes, Bostrom, Blake will put him in his place – quickly!
Reality check:
Mat: 7 time American SBK champ with record # of winnings and poles, etc. Great racers like Ben and Nicky who battled Mat are now in MotoGP and are world champions.
pegram: 0 time SBK champion with one win 10 years ago before 2009.
Wow, we must be looking at our next world champ!!!
I think pegram got it figured out… if we keep on dumbing down the Superbikes……
Its safe to say that pegram doesnt quite have the capacity to grasp reality.
It’s pretty easy to say someone would not win when they are away, half way around the world. Pegram really knows what time it is. He needs to worry about winning this year. The question wasn’t do you think Mladin would win this year. It’s obvious that Mladin still gets under his skin and the fact that he can do that and not even be here speaks a lot of Pegram.
Mr. White, if you’re so sick of Mladin’s big mouth, as you put it, maybe you shouldn’t be reading his Tweets. Just a thought…
@ acrovixen
I actually didn’t say “I was sick and tired of his big mouth” as “you” put it…. I quite enjoy reading the drivel as it cements the setimemts I made above of him having no class.
Reading and comprehension weren’t your best skills in school were they?
It is very brave of Pegram to bash a guy after he is already gone. Mat lost motivation halfway through the season. He is not the sort of guy who just races for a paycheck. Pegram should thank Mat for all he has done for AMA racing and get on with his business.
Really Larry? He kept Spies honest right up until the guy left for WSBK….then MotoGP. I forget, who was winning championship after championship in the 10 YEARS between last season and the last time Pegram won anything worth talking about? Face it, Mat’s on a completely different level than anyone currently in the AMA paddock. Put Larry on a full factory Ducati as a wildcard this year at Miller, I’d bet my life savings that he doesn’t get in the top 20. Larry your age is catching up with you, you’re freakin’ dillusional dude! Go Hayes!!!!
Mladin Is not the sort of guy who races for a paycheck???? Are you effing serious?????
Why do you think he’s not racing this year? Because he wanted to retire???? Bullshxt! They couldn’t afford him and it was conviently put that he was going to retire. Every interview I’ve read from mladin is him bithcing about riders riding for free and not getting paid….
Check your facts before you run your mouth.
What exactly has mladin done “more for this sport on the last ten years than anyone else”?
His stellar personality towards the fans?
All those autograph sessions for the fans?
Oh maybe it was so he could buy himself a nice plane….
Or several homes and business in OZ.
Maybe what he did was become a great spokesperson for Roadracing in general and promote it well to the public???.
Or maybe he just rode a cheater bike got caught. And cried about it….
Or maybe the fight I saw him try to provoke with a fan at Ppir back in 2001ish because that big chip on his shoulder got tussled.
How did he get the nickname robocop? Because he was so approachable?
How bout all the times he’d block people on their hot qualifying laps…?
The only way he could he try to beat spies was to act like the most unsportsman person he could be and talk crap about spies and still spies spanked him.
Yes he’s done so much for this sport.
He’s a “taker” plane and simple. Giving is not in his vocabulary.
I swear you Internet clowns have the absolute worst long term memories.
In reply to Mr White
What exactly has mladin done “more for this sport on the last ten years than anyone else”?
A lot more for rider safety and salaries than Larry Pegram
His stellar personality towards the fans?
Met him many times and he was always gracious
All those autograph sessions for the fans?
oh yeah he missed one of the mandatory ones last year after a practice crash oops
Oh maybe it was so he could buy himself a nice plane….
Or several homes and business in OZ.
So he isn’t allowed to be successful or fly a plane….
Maybe what he did was become a great spokesperson for Roadracing in general and promote it well to the public???. At least he speaks his mind.
Or maybe he just rode a cheater bike got caught. And cried about it….
Yep same cheater bike that Tommy and Ben were riding…
Or maybe the fight I saw him try to provoke with a fan at Ppir back in 2001ish because that big chip on his shoulder got tussled.
sure if you say so
How did he get the nickname robocop? Because he was so approachable?
????
How bout all the times he’d block people on their hot qualifying laps…?
Were you out there getting blocked by him NOT!!!
The only way he could he try to beat spies was to act like the most unsportsman person he could be and talk crap about spies and still spies spanked him.
Actually Mat won more races than Ben when ben won the championships.
Yes he’s done so much for this sport.
GOAT of AMA Superbike
He’s a “taker” plane and simple. Giving is not in his vocabulary.
Has given countless dollars to many US charities just doesn’t advertise it.
I swear you Internet clowns have the absolute worst long term memories.
Or your just wrong…
Mr. White? Uh, you’re on the internet too. Just sayin’.
And as a member of a now discontinued factory team I have had the opportunity to meet Mat on a few occassions, and he’s a genuinely nice person. Racing is his business and he never pretended to be there to make friends. Let’s do an interview with people from the paddock (that actually know him…), from different teams, and see what they think of Mat. Very few will say he’s a bad person.
And as far as him “unsportsman-like” conduct with Spies….Roberts/Sheen, Rossi/Giberneau, Rossi/Lorenzo, Stewart/Reed, Pedrosa/Hayden, Earnhardt/Waltrip…..rivalry is part of racing and always will be. But not one of those names mentioned to be some great racer in the most shallow/talent-depleted paddock in the history of “professional” racing.
Why don’t you check your facts before you run your mouth Mr. White?
In reply to Eric
Well said!
There are obviously people here who worship Mladin and who can’t stand him. Each opinion possibly based on personal experience and probably most on hearsay. The that Mladin was a great rider is think is not disputable.His personality was definitely up and down.. That is in the past . He’s moved on and so should we.Let us try to support the racers we have now instead of tearing them down and comparing them to past champions.If we want superbike racing to succeed in this country in these tough times it will need all of our support.
Let’s be real. I’m not going to change your opinion of mm nor are you going to change mine.
One question though. You said he was on the same bike as Tommy and ben? How do you know that for fact? And if so Does that make it ok? And i don’t remember bens crank being deemed illegal? I’m pretty sure ben kept his points that weekend.
Mm: “Dumbdeedumbdumbdeedumb…everyone else is cheating so that makes it ok for me to as well.”
Have any “champions” of the past been caught blatantly cheating? Seriously I am asking because I can’t remember any?
I am not sure where Mr white is getting his facts from but I have to applaud Eric for his prompt response. I am surprised you called his bike a cheater bike. Since they both have the same bike, I guess Spies was also winning championships because of his cheater bike too? Please refer to Roger Edmundson’s interview/admission of error at roadracingworld.com on the whole inspection debacle.
And also in response to one of your comments…. to be more specific Mat won 33 races while Spies won 20 in their 3 year battle…
As for Pegram, he is just a disrespectful and delusional character not worth saying much about
Mr white, please read the factson the “cheater” crank isnpection … you will understand why Ben’s crank wasn’t checked…
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=37509
In response to Mr. White (though I’m not sure why I bother!):
“Reading and comprehension weren’t your best skills in school were they?”
Um, yeah dude, my “reading and comprehension skills” are spot on. How’s YOUR spellcheck working these days? Your last few comments have done nothing but highlight the depths of your ignorance, as so eloquently elucidated by my fellow posters. Bash Mladin all you want – the man has more class in his pinkie finger than you could aspire to achieve in your pathetic lifetime. And for the record, I’m not your “matie.” I tend to be a lot more selective about who I choose to associate with. YOU most certainly would NOT make the cut.
Enjoy your sad, bitter existence. And try a spelling and grammar check next time before you bash on someone’s reading and comprehension skills, eh?
“Retire your mouth. Disapear into the auzzy outback and screw a kangaroo! ”
no, it doesn’t sound like you’re tired of reading what mladin has to say :rolleyes:
I’m not trying to hate on anyone but I call a spade a spade. Larry Pegram talking trash about a rider of Mat Mladins caliber is just plain stupid and serves no porpuse unless he trying to lure Mat back to the AMA next year. I assume Larry is losing fans he needs desperately as a team owner by picking fights with the greatest rider to throw a leg over a AMA superbike. I watched at RoadAmerica last year as Mat put on a show passing Larry in just about every corner there tyhe entire race only to have Larry Blow by on the three long straights – so much for talent Larry… I think Mats Twitter page comments were right on – “Larry Pegram is a Dickhead”
Well said, Eric!
You just made my night, lol.
Eric, i’m sure Pegram feels the same about Mladin.There is no love lost there.
I wonder if Mladin owned his own team and supported his family and had people in his team that needed a paycheck to support their families if he would have jumped on Pegrams case last year about riding a unsafe track as he saw it? Or more accurately threatened to assault him.I’m pretty sure he overstated enough times that he was here to do a job ie.get paid. Some of you folks are getting all huffed up about some anonymous persons comments. Mat always played it as he saw it but that doesn’t mean he was always right. You can say what you want but I’m sure he wouldve done a few things differently had he the chance. And all you hacks should remember that anyone who has ever won 1 superbike race is a very very skilled motorcycle racer and said skills should be respected regardless of your personal opinion about the person.
RE: The Mat question: Really? Really! Larry, are you serious? Really? You’re not talking trash about Mladin? Really? You been racin’ for how many years and have how many Championships to show for it? How’s about just racing and leave the trash talk out? Until you have something, anything to back up your current self inflated ego, just get on your bike and ride and when you have 6 (7) Titles, then start your trash talkin’…… till then……… REALLY??? What a Dickhead.
Mr. White: You’re not a fan of Mat and your rants have become boring. Check your facts over your dislike and you will see, that many points you are just plain incorrect. Please, don’t reply….. as you’ve become very droll and your argument, very ineffective.
Eric et al: Well said and ’nuff said.
Adam, nobody is taking away pegram’s win he had 11 years ago or last year. What got most people worked up is his disrespectful attitude. Josh Hayes had 7 SBK wins last year and you don’t see him coming out Trash talking…. Pegram comes out talking like he is about to take over Stoner’s and Nicky’s jobs.
Pegram isn’t talkin trash bout setting the world on fire, and I bet even Hayes or even Eric Bostrom wouldve made some pretty harsh comments about Mladin if he was talked to they way Pegram was by Mladin. Too bad somebody like Fred Merkel isn’t around, he wouldve just whipped his ass. Better yet, just think if he wouldve lipped off to Gary Nixon back in the day. Just an opinion though. I actually think Mladin was right to be hard about the safety issue but talking to someone like that is a one way street and in no way constructive.
What a load of crock!! Larry BIG HEAD Pegram is such a loser. Cry Baby.
Mat Mladin is a professional on the track as well as off the track. The negative shit about Mladin comes from his adversaries such as Big HEad Ugly Pegram. I can understand why Mladin refused to “hang out” and be buddies to people like Pegram.
Larry “Douche-bag” Pegram in Mat Mladin words
SOOOOO true, if Mr Larry Douchebag Pegram is the new thing with 3 wins last year, what would be Josh Hayes with 7 ??
what a Dick-head (in Mat Maldin words well)
= )
pegram…..nope sorry dude,. you just opened your mouth and caught flys in it.
I laugh very hard when Pegram keeps insisting that it is the equipment that makes Mladin and Spies such fast racers. Same tires, bigger motor, more horsepower and Pegram still cannot dominate the superbike class! Larry needs to just shut his mouth a bit and realize he just does not have the talent. have you seen Pegram race? He goes through corners like a dirt tracker with bike down and body positioning up. Hmmmm..he needs to change that:)
Nothing personal. I mean I have never met Larry, but from the other AMA racers I have met in the paddock they all call him an ass (Pegram). I think these guys know more about him then the average motorycle racing fan so I will go with that conclusion.