AMA Road Racing: 20 Years Since Scott 'The Screaming' Chief' Russell Won His First Daytona 200

Scott Russell grabs a handful of brake heading into turn 5 during qualifying on the #22 Muzzy Kawasaki/Dunlop/SBS/NGK-sponsored Kawasaki ZXR-750 for the AMA Superbike Championship round at The Coca-Cola Super Cycle Classic in June 1991 at Road America.  In his second year riding for the Muzzy Kawasaki team, The Screaming Chief was on his way to winning his 2nd of three-in-a-row AMA 750 Supersport Championships, and would end the season winning all nine rounds in the 750 class aboard the team's ZXR-750.

Moving ahead to the '92 season, the man from North Georgia would put a big hurt to the rest of the AMA Superbike Championship series regulars by winning his first-of-five total wins at the Daytona 200 by Arai event in Daytona Beach, Florida in March of '92.  Russell, the only man to win five times at Daytona in the modern superbike class, just several years earlier had sat in the stands as a spectator watching Fast Freddie Spencer do the 'triple' in winning the Daytona 200, Superbike 100 and 250cc GP Championship round at the World Center of Speed.

Russell would head to Europe with the Muzzy team for the '93 season to campaign the World Superbike Championship, eventually giving Kawasaki it's only championship in WSBK at the end of his first-full season across the pond.  He also would win the Suzuka Eight Hours event in the '93 season with team mate Aaron Slight.

Biding his time in the AMA series, Russell made several trips back to U.S. soil to remind everyone that he hadn't really gone that far away, winning events over the course of the next couple of seasons at Loudon and Road Atlanta that didn't coincide with his WSBK duties.  Of course along the way, he would make his way back to the place that earned him the nickname 'Mr. Daytona' to take his other wins in '94-'95, '97-'98.  Amazingly, one of his best races at Daytona came in '93 when Eddie Lawson pipped him on the dash to the flag on the Vance & Hines Yamaha while riding as a fill-in for the injured Jamie James, Russell's team mate while riding for the Yoshimura Suzuki team in the late '80s.

Dabbling in the 500cc Grand Prix Championship while riding for Suzuki, Russell's mount wasn't up to par with the rest of the grid and he never achieved the success in the premier class that he was able to in superbikes.  He returned to WSBK and then eventually to race the AMA Superbike Championship full-time in the '99-'00 seasons riding for the struggling Harley-Davidson VR1000 superbike team.  After parting ways with the Milwaukee-based team, Russell was set to run Daytona again in March '01 for the HMC Ducati team out of Wisconsin when he was seriously injured in a starting-line crash, which effectively ended his pro career.  He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005.

Since the '09 season, he has been one of the regular announcers of SpeedTV's coverage of AMA Pro Road Racing, and has proved to be a great analyst to have in the booth and at the track, and also still makes appearances at other events and shows (we caught him at the Indy Dealer Expo in February 2012).


A special thanks to Dean Adams and www.SuperbikePlanet.com for making this great video of Scott Russell's first Daytona 200 win available at YouTube.  Although some of the video and audio is a little sketchy, for the most part it is a really great capture, even when in full-screen.  This was made in the good ole days of racing when TNN's crew of Brock Yates and Steve Evans were covering the AMA Superbike Championship series.


Sit back, kick your feet up, and get ready to watch some of the greatest history in AMA Pro Road Racing as The Screaming Chief romps the field in his first-of-five Daytona 200 by Arai wins in March 1992:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j362uwvBXb0

AMA Road Racing: Scott Russell Returns to Daytona....But Not on What You Would Expect

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Scott 'The Screamin' Chief' Russell rolls the throttle on the #4 Harley-Davidson Factory VR1000 during qualifying for the Coca-Cola Super Cycle Classic round of the AMA Superbike Championship Series at Road America in June of 2000. The '92 AMA Superbike Champion, '93 World Superbike Champion and 5-Time Daytona 200 winner spent two years riding on the Milwaukee-based superbike team trying to help up the ante for the team in what was then it's seventh season in the premier road racing series in the United States. However, even with The Chief's immense talent in the seat and on the track, the Wisconsin-born machines were never able to stand atop an AMA Superbike Championship Series podium. The factory quietly closed the doors on it's efforts after the end of the '01 season, ending it's long saga to savor victory and leaving behind a list of whose who riders that tried in vain to make their mark on the orange and black machines.
Russell, who was the first 5-time winner of the Daytona 200 (and ONLY in terms of having done so exclusively in the real days of superbikes being the weapon of choice for the over 56 lap endurance race) will be returning to the home of one of his best and most-memorable conquests in his over 20 year motorcycle road racing career. The man who also won the '93 Suzuka 8-Hours is entering the AMA Pro Road Racing/Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, a 'new' class of 'racing' that was brought into the fold last year at select AMA Road Racing rounds. Expanded to a full season schedule for the 2011 season, the 'iron-clad' class will feature some VERY popular names and sponsors for the upcoming season. Joining Russell in the class will be Steve Rapp, Michael Barnes and 2000 AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion Joe Kopp. Some of the series sponsors and team backers (besides V&H) include Anamosa, Iowa's J&P Cycles, Latus Racing (Kopp's long-time sponsor in AMA Flat Track racing) and Parts Unlimited.
Mr. Daytona will be on a HOG-sponsored XR1200 for the one-off deal, in what could bring tears to eyes of his many fans. Having suffered the nuances and 'lack' of technological forward-movement by the H-D factory some 11-12 seasons ago, it is somewhat ironic that after all these years he will be straddling another version of it's infamous V-twin designs.
But, no matter what Scott Russell races (whether it has been his time behind the wheel in the four-wheeled Grand-Am Series, or his attempts to rekindle glory on the failed Jamie James Yamaha SuperStock-based machine at Daytona from several years ago) THIS fan will be paying attention and shouting at the TV (or live timing and scoring on AMA Pro Racing.com) while he is on the track. And wishing him the best of luck, praying and hoping for another Chief victory (and safe voyage) on a two-wheeled platform for which we all know him best.
Go get 'em Chief!
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In what may have been met with a loud groan from his legions of fans throughout the world, Scott 'The Screamin Chief' Russell will be returning to what many consider his greatest triumphs when he will jump on a Harley Owners Group-sponsored H-D XR1200 for the season opening round of the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines/XR1200 Series at Daytona next month. When last seen on the grid in an AMA Pro Road Racing event, Russell had teamed up with '89 AMA Superbike Champion Jamie James to campaign a SuperStock-spec Yamaha R1 in the AMA Superbike Championship round at Daytona several years ago. The last couple of seasons have seen The Chief competing in the U.S.-based Grand-Am Rolex Road Racing Series while also getting to compete at Daytona, albeit in a four-wheel based machine. He has also helped with color commentary for the SpeedTV team's coverage of the AMA Road Racing Series the last couple of seasons.

Scott Russell is the only man to win the Daytona 200 five times on an AMA Superbike Championship-based machine, having done so in '92, '94-'95, '97-'98 while riding for Muzzy Kawasaki and the Yamaha Factory team. In '95, Russell crashed on the first lap and went on a furious rampage to regain the lead and eventually win the race after coming back from a 62nd place spot after low siding his Muzzy ZX-based machine. Probably one of his greatest non-wins at Daytona came in the '93 classic when Vance & Hines Yamaha-mounted (and fill in for injured at the time Jamie James) 4-time 500CC World Champion Eddie Lawson came out of the last turn onto the banking at the World Center of Speed to pin it and catch Russell at the line for what was one of the all-time great races in the history of the Daytona 200.

You can check out the official press release of Scott Russell's return to Daytona here thanks to the great folks at Motorcycle USA.com:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/790/9287/Motorcycle-Article/Scott-Russell-to-Race-XR1200-Series-in-Daytona.aspx
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Here's a link to some shots of the XR1200 class in action last year, again thanks to Motorcycle USA.com:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/59416/Motorcycle-Photo-Gallery-Photo/Vance---Hines-XR1200-AMA-Racing.aspx
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Here is the link to the schedule of events at Daytona that kicks off on March 10:

http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011105
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One of the greatest motorcycle road racers to ever bless this world, Scott Russell was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2005. Check out his page here and join me in remembering one of the greats of our sport, and one of the all-time iron men of AMA and World Superbike racing:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=370&lpos=-1025px&letter=R&txtFname=&rblFname=S&txtLname=&rblLname=S&discipline=0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scott Russell to Run WERA Endurance Race at Miller Utah

Scott 'The Screaming Chief/Mr. Daytona' Russell is scheduled to run the WERA Endurance race tomorrow at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for Team Zyvax Yamaha. The team is a Graves Motorsports-sponsored team that consists of Dane Westby and Clinton Sellers, both of whom currently compete in the AMA Daytona Sportbike series. The Chief will be assisting them in their assault against the standard field of highly competitive WERA regulars, as well as Eric Bostrom, who will be racing for the first time since the end of the 2008 AMA season, in a tune-up ride for Graves along with big brother Ben and Chris Clark, who are currently team mates in the AMA Superbike Series for Clark Motorsports out of Las Vegas. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that E-Boz would be returning to the AMA Superbike Series at the end of July on a Yosh/Cycle World/Attack Performance Suzuki. Both teams will be on Graves-prepped and/or sponsored R6's for this race.
You can read the official release from Graves courtesy of RoadRacingWorld.com below, but if you are in the area this is a must-see event. To see this level of competition added to the already strong WERA racing standards will be an event to cherish! Let alone seeing The Chief and Eric back on the track again. Where's my magic carpet when I need it?!
The shot above is of Mr. Daytona in '92-the year he won the AMA Superbike Championship and the year before he went to Europe and won the World Superbike Championship for Team Muzzy Kawasaki. This was during practice for the weekend's events and Scott is making the ZX-7 based machine sing for the crowd.

Stu's Shots wishes The Chief the very best and I can only say I wish I could be there to see him on the track again. After his horrifying accident on the Ducati on the Daytona start line in '01 I didn't ever think we'd see him in active competition again-or at least not on a road racer. It will be like old times, and I hope a camera crew is on hand to film some of it. Monumental! And again, if you are in the area, check it out! It should be well worth your while.......

Thanks again to RoadRacingWorld.com for the Graves Motorsports release on this super event:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=40541
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Scott Russell Knows a Little Bit About Speed (TV)...

And you can bet he knows a little something about speed ON the track as well.

It was announced on Thursday of this week that Scott 'Mr. Daytona/The Screaming Chief' Russell would be re-joining the SpeedTV team to help out on coverage of the AMA Pro Road Racing scene in the States. Although we have had to deal with 'delayed' coverage and 'same-day delayed' coverage of our wonderful AMA Superbike series now for some time, at least we are back to 'same-day' coverage. And at least we are getting SOME tv coverage. In that respect, it could be worse. If you've been around anytime at all like me, think BEFORE cable or satellite. So, it can always be worse, believe me.

But having Mr. Daytona back in the booth for SpeedTV's coverage of the AMA Road Racing scene will be big. Having been there and done that on the race track, The Chief will be on the spot to help bring the viewers the info they need and want to hear. And having come in last year after Freddie Spencer stepped aside, with almost a year under his belt, Mr. Daytona should be able to deliver the goods to the viewer just like he did for the race fans for years.

And deliver he did. As the story has it, Scott went to Daytona in '85 as a fan and a spectator. That was the year Freddie kicked everyone's butt in ALL the classes, winning the 250GP race, the Superbike race, and the Formula One-based (at the time) 200 as well. Scott saw this and thought 'man, I want to do this' and the rest was pretty much history.

Starting off in WERA, he won a bunch of races and worked his way to the AMA and then on to World Superbike. Along the way, The Chief won the '92 AMA Superbike Championship, the '90-'92 AMA 750 SuperSport Championships (this was the 'old' SuperStock class and he still holds the record for 23 race wins), the '93 World SuperBike Championship, oh, and those five Daytona 200 victories as well (and with due cred to Miguel Duhamel, Mr. Daytona won ALL of his when it was based on the fire-breathing Superbike class.)

So needless to say, Mr. Russell does know a little something about speed. And he should be able to bring that to the table, the cameras, and the race fans while he does analysis for SpeedTV. And it all starts with SpeedTV's coverage of the Daytona 200 on Friday, March 5th at 9 P.M. Eastern. Stay tuned, as this year is getting better every day.

The first time I saw Scott Russell in a professional AMA race was Road America in 1989, the year Russell was team mates with Jamie James on the Yosh Suzuki's and they got a little too excited racing and banging with one another for the win that they took each other out in turn 5 towards the end of the race they handed it to privateer Rich Arnaiz.

The first time I saw Scott race in what I would consider a ride of super-human feat was at the WERA/Formula USA finale at Road Atlanta in late Oct./early Nov. of '90. Russell was running one of Doug Chandler's '90 AMA Championship-winning Team Muzzy Kawasaki superbikes, and had to start the Sunday final on pitlane. This was the year Kenny Roberts put a team together for the F-USA series comprised of Rich Oliver and Robbie Petersen. Oliver was out injured, and Petersen was aboard one of Wayne Rainey's YZ500GP Team Marlboro machines. These bikes in the day were said to have cost over $1M each, and just reaked of exotica. And castor oil and pre-mix. Awesome. Like a chainsaw on acid AND Bolivian marching powder.

Well, having to start tail end to a shrieking 2-stroke GP machine didn't deter Mr. Russell as by lap 5 of the event he had broken the track record and was up to 5th place. He didn't win that day-Petersen won on the smokin' and wailing 500GP Yamaha-but it was Russell who had put on the show. Let alone the smiles on MY face! Truly one of the purest race rides I have ever seen in my life to the day. Needless to say I was a fan for life after this show force.

So to share with you today what I consider great news in getting Scott back into the race tv booth, I've got a few of the many shots I have taken of Scott over the years to get us all into the new week with Daytona practice set to start Wednesday morning March 3rd.

First up, when talking about The Chief and his race wins and championships, this shot of him at Road America in June of '92 felt good to start off with. This was shot just coming out from underneath the old Billy Mitchell Bridge, heading to turn 14 for the final run to the stripe up the hill, during the 750 SuperSport final. This was another race Scott had to start last in on his Team Muzzy Kawasaki-I can't remember why now-and was tearing through the field to try and catch eventual winner Jason Pridmore. He didn't win this one either, but got second to Jason, and later that year clinched his 3rd of 3 AMA 750 SS Championships. This after going 9 for 9 race wins in winning the championship the 2nd of 3 times the year prior.

A little later that summer of '92 we headed over to Mid Ohio and were lucky enough to chase Scott down in the paddock to get him to sign a few pics we had of him. Earlier in the year he had just started running his Troy Lee Designs new moniker, 'The Screaming Chief,' on his helmet AND on the back of his leathers. As Scott was signing for myself and my best bud John Lindley, a friend took the shot of the back of The Chief's leathers as he signed our shots that I had brought along and taken of him. I later got this shot signed as well by him to hang on the wall in the house.

Next up is a shot of Mr. Daytona back at Road Atlanta for the season-ending AMA round in '94. Other then maybe one other race that year, he had pretty much concentrated on trying to defend his '93 World Superbike Championship across the pond, so we didn't see him much Stateside that year. Except the last round, and was it big. Team Muzzy showed up with a ZX-7/750 for Scott and he was on it from the start of first practice. This shot was out of turn 7 which starts the run onto the long back stretch. Back in those days, the superbikes were trapping at about 175-180 there. Scott won the race, Troy Corser on a Fast By Ferracci Ducati won the '94 AMA Superbike Championship.

We then see a shot of Scott talking with Fast Freddie Spencer in the tech line at Road America in June of '91. Freddie's Two Brothers Racing Honda RC-30 superbike was up next as they were teching Scott's Muzzy Kawasaki under the awning that day. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that conversation......

And to wrap up our news coverage for today, we see Scott on his Team Muzzy Kaw at Mid Ohio during practice in the summer of '91. This was shot in an early practice session for the weekend between turns 9 and 1o during superbike practice.

Once again we remind you that 'live' racing at Daytona starts on Wednesday, March 3rd. And the 200 will be shown tape delayed next Friday on SpeedTV at 9 P.M. Eastern on a delayed basis.

Thanks for taking the time to drop in again, and between now and the first of the week we will be back to preview the Daytona Short Track events for AMA Flat Track. We hope to see you back and we'll look forward to it. And we hope you will too!
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Scott Russell to return to SpeedTV broadcast for 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing coverage. Thanks to John and his team at http://www.roadracingworld.com/ for the link to this great piece of news:

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39517

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Scott Russell AMA Hall of Fame biography info:

http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=370

Scott 'Screamin Chief' Russell, Team Muzzy Kaw, Road Atlanta 1994