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ALL EYES ON KING AT DAYTONA AMA PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE U.S. FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS OPENER

3 March 2000

     PICKERINGTON, Ohio --  When Scott Parker announced his retirement from

full-time racing last year, one of the biggest questions was who was going

to take his place on the highly-desirable factory Harley-Davidson

dirt-track team. The folks up in Milwaukee didn't keep racing fans in

suspense for long. Just a few weeks after the 1999 racing season concluded,

Harley-Davidson announced that its new rider would be Rick King, a

36-year-old rider from Dysart, Iowa. King will make his national racing

debut on the factory Harley at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)

Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships opener March 11 at

Daytona's Municipal Stadium.

     King is a 17-year veteran of the AMA Grand National Series and for the

past five years has been one of the top riders on the dirt track circuit.

Last season King finished runner-up to Chris Carr in the final series

standings. King -- already one of the favored riders to win the 2000 AMA

Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championship before getting the

Harley ride -- now may be the odds-on favorite to win the title. That's how

much weight the Harley-Davidson factory ride carries.

     Perhaps the biggest benefit of the factory ride is the fact that

legendary tuner Bill Werner comes as part of the package. Werner has been

the tuner behind 13 AMA national championships. His vast experience in

building, tuning and finding a perfect race setup is second to none. King

earns the honor of being the first new rider hired for the Harley-Davidson

flat track racing team in over 12 years, and as a result, there is a lot of

pressure on King to win early and often.

     In recent years King has knocked on the door, but hasn't quite been

able to win the championship he's been dreaming about for years. King began

his career on the AMA Grand National Series in 1981. In June of that year

he earned his very first career start in the series and finished 13th at

Santa Fe Speedway near Chicago.

     King raced only part-time in the series until 1995, when he hit the

circuit in earnest. That year he took his first national win ? at the

Denver Half-Mile - and finished runner-up to the legendary Scott Parker. In

all King has tallied ten national wins during his career.

     In the Daytona Beach series opener King hopes to take his first

victory at Municipal Stadium. Early in his career King was known primarily

as a short-track and TT (tourist trophy) racing specialist, so the

Municipal Stadium short-track should make a good place to make his debut as

a factory rider. He has made the final at every Daytona short-track race

since 1990 and has earned three podium finishes during that time.

     King's primary competition at Daytona should come from defending

series champion Chris Carr. Carr is a two-time Daytona short-track winner,

having won the event in 1992 and again in 1994. The Californian-turned-Pennsylvanian is one of the most versatile riders in the

AMA and will be shooting for his third national title. Will Davis is

another rider to watch at Daytona this year. The North Carolina racing

veteran is another two-time Daytona winner and defending champ of the

event.

     Municipal Stadium presents some of the most unique challenges on the

AMA Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships circuit. Its racing

surface is unlike any other in the series and passing is often a very

difficult proposition, giving the advantage to the more experienced and

sometimes more aggressive riders in the series.

     Tickets for Daytona 200 Week events are available online at

www.daytonaintlspeedway.com or by calling the Speedway Ticket Office at

(904) 253-7223.

     Content for this release provided courtesy of Daytona International

Speedway and Lawrence Media. 

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