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Catching Up With . . .
Kurt Henricksen, Motorbike
Racer
August 13,
1973
Posted: Tue July 21, 1998
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(James A. Sugar)
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At
age
five,
Kurt
Henricksen of Woodland Hills,
Calif., was already a national champ on the peewee minibike racing
circuit, which in 1973 SI branded "a form of Little
League for rugged individualists." Henricksen would
prove to be the most rugged of the bite-sized
bikers: He went on to win several more
age-group titles and by 18 was ranked at the top of the
professional motocross circuit, having worn down some 200
motorcycles in hot pursuit of his dreams. "Motocross
was more than a regular job," says Henricksen, now 31.
"It takes a lot of time to do it
right. I pretty much lived and breathed motorcycle
racing."
In 1986, however, his career screeched to a halt. Riding a
Kawasaki 125 during a practice lap at the Seattle Kingdome
Supercross, Henricksen hit a rut, which kicked up the back
end of his bike. He flipped over his
handlebars—or "endo'd," in track
parlance—in a high-speed spill that left him paralyzed from
the neck down for six weeks. Doctors rebuilt Henricksen's
fractured neck by using part of his right hip bone, and he
recovered fully. Though he has occasionally raced cycles
since then, he remains
reluctant to talk about the
fall.
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His career screeched
to a halt when a crash paralyzed him for six
weeks.
(George Tiedemann)
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These days Henricksen lives in Perris, Calif., and works
part time in the pit crew for one of his friends from the
motocross circuit, Indy Racing League driver Jeff Ward.
When the 37-year-old Ward finished 13th at the Indy 500 in
May, Henricksen handled
the pit board, informing Ward of what lap he was on, what
position he was in and who was behind him. "I've
always looked up to Jeff as a friend and a teacher,"
says Henricksen. "He's helping me now with auto
racing, and hopefully I can follow in his
footsteps." Indeed, under Ward's tutelage, Henricksen is
prepping to take the wheel of a F2000 series car; last year
he took a five-day course at the Skip Barber Racing School
and is eligible to compete in a Formula Dodge
race.
Despite his accident Henricksen has also kept his ties to
motocross, teaching classes at the Starwest Motocross Park
in Perris. He instructs peewee riders, hoping they'll get
as much out of racing as he did. "It's important for a
family to get a child
into a sport," he says. "Look at Tiger Woods. He
started when he was
four." —Jennifer
Zajac
Issue date: July 27, 1998
Past Editions of Catching Up With...
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