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Pegram Won't Take 'No' for an Answer

Larry Pegram is returning to the premier class following a strong showing on the undercard, including last season's Formula Xtreme championship in which he took fourth place overall with three podium rides aboard a Ducati 848.

Pegram trailed only American Honda's Neil Hodgson this afternoon aboard his 1098R American Superbike despite the bike's early state of tune.

"It's a good bike," he said of his early impressions with the big twin. "Right now it's basically a street bike with a few race parts on it so right now we're just trying to get it tuned in. We've got some new crew guys and everything so we're just dialing the thing in and doing some testing on it."

The Ohioan remarked that while some of the lessons learned on the 1098R's little brother can be applied to the new machine, it's its own beast.

"Ducatis, a lot of them feel pretty similar, so it's close. A lot of the stuff transfers over but some of it doesn't. For sure there's a lot more power there and anytime you put more power to a bike it makes it not handle as well.

"But straight away I liked it. We haven't had any problems and we're starting to dial in the settings and work with little things like speed shifters and brakes. Everything is new on it.

"We'll actually get new bikes in January from Ducati Corse. Once we get those we'll do more testing. This is more of a hybrid street bike with some race parts on it."

While Pegram made his name as a factory Superbike pilot in the '90s, in more recent seasons he's shown a unique ability to consistently bring together professionally run private teams, succeeding where many have tried and failed.

Asked exactly what his secret was, Pegram explained, "I just don't give up. Never count me out. You might knock me down but when you turn around to walk away I'll get off the ground and jump on your back. I just don't take 'no' for an answer. I run a professional team and it shows. Most of the sponsors that I acquire never leave me. They appreciate what I do for them, and they know we do the best that we can do for the dollar amount that they give us. I really don't have any sponsors that I don't have now that I had when I started the team. Some of them have moved a title or moved down or up but I pretty much keep all of them. I appreciate what they do and they appreciate what I do.

"Ducati is continuing to do the same thing as my other sponsors: appreciating what I can do as a team owner and what I can do for the amount of money they have to spend. I can stretch the dollar more than anybody else and put on a good program for them and hopefully this year win races."

Does he view his program as a model for others in the emerging racing reality where rules are becoming more privateer friendly and the global economy is increasingly suffering?

"I don't know. I think this economic crisis shows the future of the sport can't be sustained by the manufacturers alone. Sales are down and everybody is hurting. If we can all come up with outside the industry sponsors -- yeah that gets hurt too when the economy goes down -- but we can survive. I think it shows that for this sport to sustain itself in the future we need to be economically priced on the motorcycles and what we can use on them and then be able to attain sponsorship that doesn't come straight from the manufacturers.

"For me, Ducati is my main sponsor. It's not like I'm doing it without one. But in the past I have ran teams with almost no manufacturer help. It's great when a manufacturer is willing to give you money but if they can't afford to do it because bike sales are down, we need to stay out here and keep racing, and I think the teams that survive the down times are the ones that are going to flourish when the economy comes back stronger."