Michael Scott | January 12, 2022
Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
Squearl: The End Of A Dynasty
Many fond thoughts will be expressed, and many words written, in tribute to Earl Hayden, recently deceased after a long and grueling battle with debilitating illness.
Out of long-standing respect, I hope CN readers will indulge me if I add several more. Earl’s death marks the end of an era that spanned not only different motorcycle racing disciplines but also different classes and continents, and achieved much success in all of them.
My personal contact with the Hayden family was mainly with the late Nicky, during his grand prix years, and it almost goes without saying that the 2006 MotoGP champion was a credit to himself and his family throughout.
Seeking personal validation from racing heroes was definitely not why I chose the role of grand prix journalist, but as an aside I can report that, of all the riders and champions I have dealt with, repeatedly and closely, over more than three decades, Nicky was one of only two riders who ever showed any personal interest in me, and in why I was involved in racing. (The other, by the way, was Wayne Rainey, another natural American gentleman, who also drew my attention to the Hayden dynasty long before the three brothers had hit their full racing stride.)
I never sought nor expected any such response. One reason I admire top racers is for their almost pathological ability to focus only on themselves. Achieving the drive and concentration required for a world championship seldom leaves much over for social graces, and that’s fine. But when they are present, it is all the more life-affirming.
Nicky, with his warm and open nature and cheerful enjoyment of racing life made a good impression on MotoGP from the start—a credit to his upbringing and personality. Earl followed along, and became a paddock character immediately.
His gruff voice would reel off strings of anecdotes that could leave you sometimes doubled up with laughter. Some were about racing, some about the colorful characters he’d met through his used car lot, 2nd Chance Autos, self-described as “a low-budget dealership—we do accept trade ins and buy junk cars.” Few of those characters can have been as colorful as the man his racing progeny called “Squearl,” as many of his other stories attested.
They took him through his own racing career and the early days of Team Earl, often a shoestring affair, but never less than focused and dedicated.
The Hayden dynasty would leave a lasting impression. There have been other dynasties that achieved great things.
The first to come to mind has lapsed into abeyance, after a string of achievements that likewise completely overshadowed humble beginnings. By no coincidence, the Roberts family is also American. The land of opportunity, indeed.
The Roberts clan’s driving force came from a rider of overwhelming talent and determination. Kenny Senior didn’t go racing to make friends, and in his early years in Europe that showed. But the force of his personality, and his own fertile line in sharp-edged humorous banter, changed that over the coming years, as he grew from rider to team manager to team owner to racing constructor—a vision and ambition that knew no bounds.
The dynasty was affirmed by his eldest son Kenny Junior, the first father-son champions in grand prix history.
The feat was equaled in 2021, when Remy Gardner’s Moto2 title followed father Wayne’s 1987 500cc crown, the first for an Australian rider.
Nothing else quite compares with either of the American dynasties, though there are plenty of father-son examples. Barry Sheene, for one, was brought into bike racing by his father Frank, a one-time rider and later noted racing tuner and patron, in an era before teams other than those of the major factories. Valentino Rossi is another whose GP-winner father Graziano steered his early racing career, though he’d have much rather his son had stuck with four wheels, his own career having been prematurely ended through injury.
Nowadays, the role of motocross dad has fallen into some disrepute, thanks to pushy pops making a nuisance of themselves and in some cases forcing reluctant sons to make efforts even if their own ambitions might lie elsewhere. Mentors are preferably drawn from outside the family, from a small group of professional coaches, often themselves ex-riders.
The Marquez family is a prime example. Father Julia was hugely involved in both of his sons’ years or racing infancy, but when Marc and subsequently also Alex showed exceptional levels of talents, he sensibly stepped aside, relinquishing control to former 125 champion and general grand prix Svengali Emilio Alzamora.
All of which merely lends distinction to Earl Hayden, the achievements of himself and his sons, and the legacy he leaves behind.
My condolences to the surviving members of his family, and my thanks for the memories. CN