Mary Spies is a Guiding Force

GAMBLER · 08-24-2006, 05:48 AM

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...s.2ced1dd.html

Guiding force
Despite the danger- and the critics - Mary Spies is steering her son to the top of his sport

09:51 PM CDT on Saturday, August 19, 2006
By KI-MIN SUNG / The Dallas Morning News

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Mary Spies watches her son behind the concrete barricade before the race. Her hands twist his 1965 Houston Astros hat. She paces. She watches riders line up behind her son, Ben. The 22-year-old motorcycle racer from Longview is a phenomenon in the world of Superbike racing. He's a decade younger than most of his competitors but is charging toward the championship of his sport's most elite American level.

As his manager, Mary has done all she can to help him win this race. As his mother, she worries. He'll hit speeds of nearly 200 mph going around the twisting 4-mile paved track.

When the race starts, Ben leaps ahead early. Mary's eyes fixate on the flat-panel monitor as she stands alongside goateed mechanics in the paddock, motorcycle racing's equivalent of pit row. She concentrates on her son.

"Damn," she lets out. Another rider has nearly hit Ben on a straightaway. She is reminded of the accident that nearly killed Ben three years ago.

"Too close, too close," Mary says. "Spectators love it, the factories love it, real racers really love to see it become competitive. Don't even ask moms how they feel about that."

Mary, 54, has walked this line for many years. She's been called a tigress, fiercely protecting her cub. She's cut deals to place him with the best teams and sponsors.

She's also been called aggressive, meddlesome and worse. Her tactics have strained professional relationships and made her an easy target for Ben's competitors.

But she sees herself as doing what any mom would do, helping her son achieve his dreams. In her case, that means helping him become one of the best in his sport.

"I really won't take no for an answer when I want something for my son that I think is the best," Mary says. "I'm his mother, and for knowing him his whole life and all the dreams that he's had, his goals, and what he's done, and what he's given up to do this, he deserves what he asks for."

Finding her role

There are two sides to Mary and Ben's relationship. Between events, they smile, they joke, they talk about their four dogs. In the paddock, though, everything is focused on his riding. After a qualifying lap, she hands him sports drinks, his iPod and hat, then fades into the background as mechanics close in. It works well for Ben.

"If I didn't want my mom to be at the racetrack, I would say, 'Don't be at the racetrack,' " Ben says. "That will never be the case, and I know when it comes down to it, everything gets done the way it needs to be, and I've got no pressure on me."

Ben wasn't supposed to be born. Mary was declared infertile and started a family with her husband, Henry Spies (pronounced "speez"), in 1980 when they adopted their daughter, Lisa.

When Lisa was 3, she asked her mom for a baby brother. Mary explained that she couldn't oblige because her tummy was broken: Lisa had come from her heart. Lisa put her hands on her hips and said, "God loves me, and if I want a baby brother, I'm gonna get a baby brother."

Weeks later, Mary discovered she was pregnant.

Ben was born to ride. As a toddler, he asked his parents for race tickets. At 3, and again at 4, he asked a shopping mall Santa Claus for a motorcycle. Ben began racing when he was 8. He practiced every day after school.

Mary has no idea where his interest came from. Henry was in business, and she sells real estate. Many of today's successful racers come from dynasties, making Ben's success a rarity.

When Ben was 5, in 1989, Mary and Henry ended 16 years of marriage. Mary then began dating Keith Cherry, who took Ben out on rides, paid for some of his bikes and co-sponsored his early career. Mr. Cherry's relationship with Mary ended in 1999, but he remains a family friend and occasionally trains with Ben.

Convincing grown-ups of his passion was tough for young Ben. He was told to prepare for a real job. Teachers and extended family couldn't accept his love of motorcycles until recently. Although Mary's family is wealthy – her father was Bill Barrett, the well-known beer distributor and philanthropist who died last month – financial support for Ben was minimal, she says. Relatives were terrified by seeing Ben roar around a track at nearly 200 mph.

"It was kind of lonely because I had no one to talk to about it," Mary says. "It was all arched-eyebrow reception."

Mary says she never pushed him to race. But when she realized his obsession wasn't a phase, she threw herself into his career.

She crisscrossed the country to get to races, driving a double-wheeled truck hitched with a trailer. She braved windy mountain passes and drove through the night after race weekends to drop Ben off at school by morning.

She's been to all but one of Ben's races during the last 14 years.

As a single mom, Mary says, she was tortured by leaving Lisa behind with friends or her father.

"I sacrificed part of my life with my daughter. ... She did go to some of the races, but it was terribly hard."

Now 26 , Lisa is an artist in Los Angeles. Through her mother, Lisa declined to be interviewed. But Ben and other family members say she always has been supportive.

Ben knows his career made life hard for everyone.

"If I knew I wasn't going to succeed at it, I wouldn't have done it and I wouldn't have put everyone through hell to get me to the races," Ben says.

Managing a star

At Elkhart Lake, as she does at all his races, Mary holds a pink mesh bag for Ben's sunglasses, earplugs and extra protective knee pucks for his gravity-taunting turns. Ben hardly asks for what he needs because Mary already knows what to give him.

She wasn't trained as a manager. But as Ben's talent and prominence skyrocketed, she needed to manage his career to protect him. It's a role Ben's father didn't expect Mary to take.

"That wasn't her background," says Henry Spies, "but it's something that evolved through necessity, and she seems to handle it pretty well."

Kevin Schwantz, a revered world championship racer from Houston who retired in 1995, says Mary's presence was key to Ben's success. "Because Ben had somebody who supported him in his racing as he was growing up, he's been around the racetrack and he knows how to handle himself. He's not as susceptible to someone talking junk to him."

The stakes are high. Ben races for the Yoshimura Suzuki team. Factories are tight-lipped about finances, but insiders estimate that a racer at Ben's level could make $500,000 to $4 million a year.

Mary says that, in Ben's teen years, agents tried to manipulate her maternal instincts, suggesting that if she were out of the picture she could be a better mother to Lisa. People chip away at her by telling Ben to find a "real" manager.

"It's a tough business," says Doug Gonda, a longtime manager of racers, factories and tracks. "She's had to be pretty tough in a man's world to help her son get to where he is today."

Dealing with critics

John Ulrich, who sponsored Ben on his Valvoline EMGO Suzuki team when Ben was 15, calls Mary's dedication extraordinary but frustrating.

He says Mary constantly criticized his plans and demanded evidence to show that other riders weren't getting better equipment. He says she threatened to pull Ben from the team when he turned 18. All the while, Ben stayed quiet.

Mr. Ulrich compares Mary to Little League dads, stage moms and other activist parents.

"From being on the other side of the table from her, Mary Spies was hard to deal with," he says. "She knew what she wanted, and she was hell-bent on getting it."

They mutually parted ways when Ben was 17, and he says he has no ill will toward them.

"The kid is doing a really, really good job," he says. "So whatever she's done to get him there, it's a fantastic accomplishment."

But Ben and Mary face sleights from other racers. This month, before Ben beat six-time Superbike champ Mat Mladin in Ohio, Mr. Mladin lashed out at them in the Columbus Dispatch.

"He's 22 years old, I'm 34," Mr. Mladin said. "He still has his mom hanging around wiping his bum, and I haven't had that luxury since I've been a professional racer."

Laurel Allen, a senior editor at Road Racer X magazine, says women in the sport often are insulted, and Mary in particular. "They'll say she's a [expletive], or she's crazy, and I think that is a byproduct of being a tough woman in a man's world."

Mary says she's used to criticism and has tried to ignore it. But she doesn't forget.

She attributes some of the comments to the fact that she's single, female and a mother. She acknowledges being tough and says she has a good reason for being so.

"That I am savvy and willing to demand that my son have the best possible scenario for the talent he displays is purely business and in the best interest of my son," she says.

Mary also has an answer for the nonracing parents who disapproved when she let her son be in harm's way.

"If I could, I'd put both my kids in a crystal jar and not let them out," Mary says. "But that's not really love. As a parent, you're not there to control your children but guide them and help them live their dreams."

But a parent can't always protect her child.

Real danger

The near-collision at Elkhart Lake in June reminds Mary of the day Ben almost became a statistic in October 2003. As he was clocked at 186 mph, his rear tire blew out, launching him off his bike. Ben slid headfirst toward a wall. Mary screamed because she knew he would die if he stayed in that position. At the last second, he managed to turn his head away.

Mary ran onto the track before the crew and medics. She smelled the burn of her son's flesh that had melted into his protective leathers. The skin on his left elbow and shoulder now looks like crude wax.

"We don't like to talk about the accident," Mary says.

When Ben was 15, his close friend Ryan Smith crashed into a wall during a race and died. And fellow racer Vincent Haskovec was paralyzed last year in Sonoma, Calif. He lost control, slid into a wall and was crushed by his bike.

So how can Mary support her son in such an endeavor?

She says there's risk in any sport and supports her children because they're doing something positive with their lives.

"I'm very fortunate that I have two kids who really enjoy what they do and go after it, so why wouldn't I support them 100 percent?" Mary says.

Being a mom means everything to her, partly because of her own mother.

Mary's big brown eyes well up with tears at the mention of her. Margaret "Babe" Barrett was the nexus to her five children before she died of cancer in 1989. The disease worked through Mary's sister, who survived, but claimed their father in July.

"We've lost so many, so quickly, in so many short years," Mary said in June. "And then Ben lost his teammate. He gets it. Life's short, and you better not regret anything that you do."

Race to the top

At the Elkhart Lake race, Ben has the chance to set a record for the most consecutive American Motorcyclist Association Superbike wins. Ben has led for the first half of the race. But reigning champion Mladin passes him and survives a late charge by Ben to win by less than a sixth of a second.

In the winner's circle, teams shake hands in front of television cameras. Mary waits on the sidelines, holding Ben's belongings. She avoids greeting Ben, giving him space to do interviews and congratulate his team.

The top three racers spray the fans with champagne. After the crowd disperses, Mary puts a hand on Ben's shoulder, kisses his cheek and whispers in his ear.

Despite the loss, Ben is still in the lead to be this season's champion. "I've got plenty of years to set another record," Ben says.

This weekend in Virginia, Ben could break Mr. Mladin's record for most Superbike wins in one season. With the 19-race season coming to a close in October, Ben's place as the next champion seems assured to many fans.

Ben recently re-signed for two more years of racing in the United States with Yoshimura Suzuki. Mary expects that someday he'll race in Europe, where few Americans venture. The competition is stiffer, the rewards greater.

And if he goes, she will, too. Being on top is his destiny, Mary says.

"I guess now that he's finally gotten to that stature, they think, 'Well, the gal behind him, she must not be that bad,' " Mary says.

E-mail ksung@dallasnews.com

WHAT IS SUPERBIKE RACING?

Superbike is the top class of road racing in the American Motorcyclist Association. It takes place on a paved track.

The Superbike race is an opportunity for manufacturers to showcase their latest developments. Racers use heavily modified motorcycles with 1000cc engines.

Championships are determined by points accumulated throughout the season, which runs March through October.

www.benspies.com

ELBOWZ!

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