Lifestyle Cycles Interviews Trailblazers Motorcycle Hall of Famer Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell

 Junior from Lifestyle Cycles, and I am here with Speedway racing legend Sean "Mad Dog" McConnell. Now, if you're unfamiliar with what a Speedway bike is, think about this picture: your old Schwinn bicycle with a 500cc motorcycle engine and no brakes. Yes, you heard it right, no brakes! So, I've got to tell you, Sean, you have been doing this forever. I—I—I've been one of your biggest fans since I was a kid. Um, tell me about this. How did you get started doing this?

Oh gosh, I was a little kid and used to go watch the races. You know, we all, as kids, we all rode the small bikes and went to Costa Mesa and watched the guys there. They were like superstars; the girls were throwing themselves at them. They were making tons of money. I mean, they were rich, they were like celebrities, and I'm like, "Well, that's what I want to do." So, you got into this because of the chicks?

Well, the money, you know, and then basically the fame. They were like Hollywood movie stars back then, and you wanted to be a Hollywood movie star too?

Yeah, the girls were kind of a bonus. I hadn't really seen any girls yet.

Oh man! So now, tell me, this thing looks scary. I don't know if I'd want to ride it. Is it really true these still have no brakes on them?

Yeah, no brakes, no gears. Let the clutch out and you go, wheels spinning the entire race. Once the wheels stop spinning, that's when it gets dangerous. That's when the bike wants to just shoot off and go where you don't want it.

So, how fast do these things go? Now, you're on a dirt oval, right?

Right, right. So, how fast are these things going?

Depends on the track, really. I mean, I've been on tracks going over 100. Costa Mesa is one of the smaller tracks, and if you get 50 mph at Costa Mesa, that's going really fast.

So now, you've got an anniversary coming up. That, to the best of my knowledge, there's only one other person who has this thing. What's this big deal coming up right around the corner for us?

I don't know if it's a big deal, but if, when I race this year, it'll have been 50 years of Speedway. Bobby Schwarz and I both started in '74, and he's—so, we're two guys, and I'm pretty sure that'll never be challenged.

So, Sean, this looks like a picture of you and Bobby Schwarz. You're both holding trophies. It looks like a glorious day. What's happening here?

That's at Brighton Bonanza. It's an interesting race. It's in the off-season in December in England, and there's no racing. It's snowing, and the track is probably a quarter of the size of Costa Mesa. It's a tiny little track. I did it—I think 11 years, and Bobby and I won, I think, four or five times. We won the Paris Championship doing that, and you know, winning that, I won it five times out of 11 years, so that's a pretty big deal.

So, that is a big deal, and this is the guy that's also going to have a 50th racing anniversary?

Yeah, we're the super old guys. But here's the cool part, so fast forward, okay, you're racing this bike, and I gotta tell you, this thing looks scary, this thing's primitive, okay? So, these things have evolved, right?

Not a lot. There's just been a few changes as far as Motorsports. Speedway bike, in the big picture, has made a couple small changes, and that's really it.

Okay, well, so I'm going to point over here to this bike. Okay, so let's walk over here. So, this is an upright. So now, compared to this bike that's, again, looks scary to me, you've got this and now this. This looks kind of high-tech.

It is high-tech. It's way more expensive. Like the uprights in those days, they didn't rev real high. This motor revs to the moon because of the lay-down configuration. The bike drives way harder. Everything costs more because the motors don't last as long. But the best thing out of all Speedway that ever happened to them was the front end.

Now, what's different about this front end? What makes it special?

It's a leading link. By having a leading link front end, it gives you suspension. Those are basically two springs—boing, boing, boing. You get the flex, everything. But once that came out, my ideal bike would be a, like, upright, newer version of this with that front end. I have one at home. Love it. So fun to ride.

So now, when you're getting ready, I've seen you at the track, you become a completely different person. Sean McConnell turns into Mad Dog. Okay, so, Sean, you're getting ready to start the race, the bike is running, what's going on in your mind?

A really big calm, if that makes any sense. Once I get to the point, I put my helmet on, sit on the bike. Everything goes away. I'm not thinking of anything. I'm just—everything's quiet. I go to the line. I'm not focusing on anything. I'm just looking to the start.

And like, it's a huge calm because I get to the point where I'll start yawning. Like, I'll go out for the main event, the biggest race of the whole night. And when I was in my prime, guys would see that, they go, "Oh, he's relaxed, we're screwed." And they would say that because before I put my helmet on, I'd have a big yawn and then put my helmet on, they knew, "He's relaxed and he's ready to go."

So no one else is there in your mind. You're getting up to the starting line. You're about to crack this thing open, open. Tire spinning, you're elbow to elbow, handlebars to handlebars, and to you in your mind, there's no one else there?

Yeah, it's a calm I can't explain. I don't know if anyone else has that theory. A lot of guys get nervous the whole time, and I don't. Once I'm there, it's game on.

Yeah, it's just you and the dirt and the fans, and you're just riding?

I can't hear the fans. They always talk about, "Oh, yeah, we're yelling for you." It's like, I can't hear anything. I'm concentrated on what I'm doing. I can hear you after the race.

Now let's talk a little bit. Let's go back in the time machine a little bit. Your dad has been a huge part of your racing career. When I was a little kid, I remember him push-starting you and getting you going. Was he your mechanic? What did he do? Because I know you guys are so tight.

He did everything. I mean, he's the reason I'm racing. You know, he raced when I was a little kid, little kid, and then he got hurt, hurt his knee.

So your dad raced also?

Yeah, not Speedway, but he was a good—I mean, he could have been pro. He was that close. He was ahead of a lot of national dirt trackers at that time, but he got hurt, and then it got to that age. You know, I was a few years old, like, "Okay, I got to pick. Am I going to make a living at this?" So he got a job, and that was it for his racing. And then when I was a kid, riding a little Minion Deruro, like little one, like that. So that's your start? The picture over here with you, and it looks like you're pulling a wheelie.

Well, no, I'm just going over a jump.

Okay, yeah, just a Trojan Speedway actually in Southgate. That was probably one of my first races.

You look like a little kid here. Look at this.

I'm such a little kid.

So I mean, everything there, I'm 15 or younger.

And was it working? Were the girls all over Mr. Mad Dog?

Once I started Speedway, you know, I mean, the regular racing, they didn't know who I was. I mean, there was no crowds, but once you went Speedway, there were thousands of, you know, thousands of girls, and they all wanted to hang out with the Speedway riders.

Now, one of the things I've noticed and one of the things I like the most about you is after the races, the pits are open. Everybody's going down. They're looking at your bikes. They're looking at your pit, and you sit there, and you have a line of fans. And the line of fans is not just kids; it's young people, old people. Everybody wants your autograph. And you will sit there till the very last fan gets to talk to you and take pictures with you.

Well, that's important. They're all there to watch the races and see people. And if they're there to see me and paid good money to get in and watch, the least I could do is acknowledge them, sign a program or hero card or whatever. I mean, that's—I mean, the only reason people like me is probably because I won a lot, but, you know, it's a big deal.