Cycle News

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o - .. - --- ~ I ~- -- - '" " ~--~--_/ ---~-- ---' - ...... ~~ - ---- but crashed o ut of the firs t leg of t he Unlimited Supe rbike class. He managed to sta rt th e second leg and end ed up 17th aft er having to start at the back of the grid because of his crash in race one . pated he will be in ICU for the next seven days and in the hospital for at least three weeks . G et -w ell note s can be sen t to Distlers@home.com. IFMA also issued a press release about D rake McElroy, who was injured on Ap ril 2 while part icipating in a C alifornia freestyle event. The No Fear rider overshot a 120-foot gap and landed on the face of the next dune, suff ering a co rnpre ssion fractu re to his T12 vertebrae , facial fractures and a brake of his left fibula and t ib ia. The ba c k inj u ry d id not require surgery, but his left leg didn't fare as well , In a succe ssful op erat ion performed at University M edical Center in Las Veg as, surgeons inserted 13 rods to repair t he broken t ibula/ fibula. To stabilize his leg and expedite his rec ove ry , fo ur external halos we re placed on his leg and are screwed into the rods McElroy's doctors said that with the surgery to his leg and the prope r physical therapy to both his leg and back, he can expect to ride again in five months . "That' s all fine and good and bette r than being told it woul d be a year, but I' m hoping to be back out there in less tim e than t hat , " M cElro y said . " Ho pefu ll y. I'll be back in th ree months and be able to squeeze in qualify. ing for the X Games." Anyone wis hing to send a get-well note can do so by emailing macracing53 1@msn.com . T rag edy marred roun d t wo o f G e ne Romero's E-moola.com West Co ast Flat Track Series at Bakersfie ld Speedway in Bakersfield . C alifornia. on Ap ril 21 . as Dan Hart. 25 . of Sa linas . Ca liforn ia. died from injuries suffe red in a crash duro ing the event. W itne sses said Hart. who was lead ing the series standings aft er w inning the opening round at Hanford . C alifo mia. was battling for the lead in a semi-feature when the accident occurred. He apparently lost co ntrol of his motorcycl e an d was s ub s eq uent ly st ruck by another rider. Hart was transport ed by ambulance from the scene, but died while en route to M emorial Hospital in Bakersfield. In the wake of the traqedy, the riders in the Open Pro main event elected to ride a 10-lap exhibition in Hart 's memory . donating all prize money to the family. As of press t ime, memo rial ar rang ement s were not yet known. LBZ freestyl e rider Robert Distler suffer ed crit ical injuries w hile riding at the Glamis Sand Dunes on April 14. Dist ler overshot a jump by about 40 feet. according to a pres s release from IFMA 's Dorina Gro ves . Upon landi ng, his nec k hit the cross bar. resulting in a severed trachea . tears in his esophagus. bruised lungs and a specu lated severed nerve of his voca l cord . Distler was t reat ed at Brawley. a hospital in the vicinity of Glamis. whe re an emergency tracheotomy was performed saving his life. He was then airlifted to the University of Califom ia. San Diego Trauma Center. Surgery WaS done immediately, and his severed trachea was successfully repaired . He is resting co mfortably and heavily medicated to reduce movement unt il t he swelli ng subsides in his neck, Though Distler is not completely out of the woods , as there is still the fear of infection from t he esophagu s inj ury. he made some movement on Sunday, and if his fever remains on a low grade, he will be t aken off th e res pirat or as soon as Monday. No questions have been asked or opinions given as to whether this will end Distler's riding career, but it is ant ler- A C o nnectic u t s tate ' s attorney w ho threatened to pro secute adults for allowing k i ds t o ride at a c lub-owned motocross track has issued a "clarification " to her previo us sta tement s, now indicating that letting a kid ride a dirt bike isn't a crime , according to the AMA. The M il fo rd Rider s M o to rcy cl e Club in Milford. Conn.. had put a stop to anyone under 16 riding at the club track af t e r re c ei ving a wa rn in g letter f rom State's Attomey Mary Galvin in J anuary, At that time, Galvin said she had received several comp laints about minors operating motorcycles and A TVs at the t rack. And she enclosed a copy of a state law th at app aren tly WaS pas se d to pu nish those who engage in child molesting and the selling of children. but also includes a c la use c o nc ern ing ris k of inj ury to a minor. "The felony crime of Risk of Injury occurs if there has been a wi llful creat ion 8 o o o o�� o�� o�� of a situation that places minors in risk of p hys ic al inj ury ," G alv in wrote . "Yo u should have yo ur attorn ey rev iew thi s statute because it co uld be applicable to people wh o allow minors to operate on your track . " The AMA publicized the cont rovers y in the M ay iss ue o f American M otorcyclist magazine. the jo urnal of the 270 ,OOO-member AMA. With in days after the issue reached AMA members . letters and e-mails were being sent to Galvin and ot her Connecticut officials oppos ing the hard -line sta nce against kid s o n bike s. The AMA wrote to Galvin's boss. Chief S tat e ' s Attorn ey J ohn Bail ey, aski ng whether parents statewide faced cri minal prosecution for lett ing their kids ride. The AMA also notified almost 80 news media outlets that cove r Con necticut, ranging fro m the Milford (Conn .) Mirror to t he New York Times. Soon afte r, Milford Ride rs Pr e sident Ra nd y S i mp s o n sa id , Galvin co ntacted him and t hey reached an agreement on th e iss ue. " The threat has passed . " Simp son said. " The only way she would prosecute wo uld be if a parent drops off a kid uns upervised or who isn't wearing proper gear." Simpson said the agreement requires no changes in the operation of the track, since that wo uld violate existi ng club rules . You can now place your bids online to play w it h t he likes of J eremy M cGrath and Travis Past rana in the second annual Glen Helen /Chaparral Charity Golf Tournament, scheduled for May 9 at the Shandin Hills Golf Co urse in San Bernard ino , C alifornia, t he W ed nesday prior to the openin g round of the A MA 125/250cc National M otocross round at Glen Helen. Proceeds fro m the to urna ment will benefit Emergency Trauma Care at Lama linda Univers ity Medi cal Ce nter, with some $30 ,000 raised for the center in last ye ar's tournamen t. Be sides just bidding on playing golf w it h th e riders. bidders Can also ma ke bid s o n oth er items that they have been donat ed, Curren t it ems inc lude Ric ky C arm ich ael, J eremy M c G rath and Travi s Past rana race-worn je rseys. For more information and to bid, visit www.glenhelen.com. SFX Motor Sports and t he Selec" tive Service System have partnered to help raise aware ness of an important ������ .���....���..��������� ���������.���.��������� ������������.���.���.������.������������........������������.���.......���������.���.......������������.. .....������������...........���������... ...������.���������������... .... .������.���.���....��� . : HIRED. Charlie Morris as in-house sales representative for Factory : : Effex. effec tive immediately . : MotorcycleIndustry Council. effective immediately. . : : o o�� . HIRED: Sheryl Condon as aftermarket program coordinator for the . : 6 : : B IKE N IGHT At S pec trum Motorsports in Lake Fo re st. California. on : : : : ��� : : ��� : : : ��� : : : : April 26 from 6 0 9 p.m. Arai helmets' Bruce Porter is scheduled to : appear and there will also be drawings for Ami helmets and Tvshirt s . For : more information. call 959/85g��3186. : ��� RESIGNED. Big Joe DeGano. as marketing manager of Bel-Ray Com- : pany Inc.. effective April 16. For more information. call 208/389-9907. : ��� CO RRECTI ON: In the Bikes of the Stars feature of Doug Blackwell's : VZ250 in Issue #15, we did not include Blackwell's brake sponsor, DP : Brakes. Blackwell has been sponsored by DP for several years. : ��� M OVED: American Dirt Bike Inc.. manufacturers of the American : Avenger brand, has been purchased by Keith Fearing, and moved to : 2693 Cherokee Place. Norco, CA 92860: the new phone number is : 909/283��5447. : BIKE NIGHT: PJ& Co. Restaurant in Reno. Nevada. is hostin bike g nights every Wednesday. featuring motorcycle racing on live television sets. For more information. call 775/ 323-6366 8 o o o o o�� o o AUTOGRAPH S IGNING. At Munroe Motors in San Francisco, Callforma. on Saturday. April 28 from 12 to 2 p.m.. HMC Ducati rider Steve Rapp, who is currently competing in the AMA Superbike Championship. is scheduled to appear. For more information. call 415/6 26��3496. CORRECTION, The Oberg Sports Handlebar Vibration-Dampening System featured in last week's Stuff section is only $49, not $169 as was indicated. CORRECTION, The phone number listed for the Invitational Rider Cup . : Golf Tournament in last wee k's issue was incorrect. The correct phone : : : : : number is 760/948��4012. MARRIED: O'Neal Racing's product development manager Chuck Kober. to his girlfriend of three years. Rosemary, in Agua Dulce. California,on April 14. : A UTO G RA PH S IGN IN G: At Desert Motorsports in Las V e gas , Nevada, on May 4 from 6:30 . 7:30 p.m. Team Suzuki 's Roger DeCoster. Travis Pastrana. Kevin Windham. Ben Riddle, Rodrig Thain and Danny Smith are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 702/7 95-2000. : : : : : . .............................................................................................���......���.���........ ...............������������.... 2 M AY 2, 2 0 0 1 ��� cue I e n e _ s Federal law that affects almost all men living in the U.S. The first 30 men who reg�� ist er with Select ive Service at round 14 of EA Spo rt s Supercross Present ed by Sp eed St ick will receive an official EA Sp orts Super cross jersey, donated by SFX M ot or Spo rts. A Select ive Se rvice booth will be sei up on the concourse at the even t t his Sat urday , Ap ril 21, at Texa s S tad iu m in Irv ing , Texas, fro m 12:30 p.m . to 7:30 p.m . Registration is als o ava ilab le on lin e at www.ss s.gov . Federa l law requires that virt ually every young man living in the U.S . register with Selective Service with in 30 days of his 18t h bi rthday , Failure to reg ister Can result in the loss of eligibility for student loans, federal job training and government emp loyment. as w ell as cit izenship fo r male i mmig rants seeki ng citize nshi p . "S elective Service is extremely pleased that SFX Motor Sports is helping ensure the fut ures of young men throughout the country by raising awareness of the law at t hese event s. " sa id Pat Sch uback, Public Affairs Specialist w it h Selec t ive Service. W ill the Isle of Man TT be canceled? Govemment ministers have been sensation ally gagged from reve aling th e outco me of a top -level IT crunch meeting, accord in g to reports on Isle o f Ma n Online. In a bizarre move , leading poli tici ans hav e bee n o rdered not to speak about whether the IT has been cancelled ��� or even if a dec ision has been made until Chief M inister Donald Gelling makes a statem ent to Tynwald t his week . t he website states . The ent ire saga has been hailed a public relations disaster as the Island's population and IT fans co ntinue to ask: "Is it on or off?" As hote liers, the farm ing indust ry and t he tho usands of people involved in the event cont inue to wo rry about their livelihoods the govern �� ment will only announce a decision just a mo nth befo re th e ev ent is due to go ahead, For more information, see iomo nline.com . Long -t im e South ern C ali forn ia desert racer, Lillie Sweetland , 40 , passed away, Tuesday , Ap ril 17, aft er a two-year bat tle w ith cancer. One of Sweetland's big gest rac ing ac co mplishment s was wh en sh e and he r partner Anna Cody became the first women's team to finish the Baja 1000 , in 1990 . Sweetland is survived by her husband, Doug Jelden. and her two children. Brandon Sweetland. 9, and Damon Sweetland, 7. Contributions in her memo ry can be sen t t o : Lill ie Sweet land Fund, c/o Sunset Canyon Elementary School, 272 7 E. Siesta. Phoenix, AZ. 85050 , att n: M indy, In just its first tw o months of ope ratio n. motorcyclists have used the new AMA Rap id Respons e Center t o send mo re tha n 12,400 e-mai l messages on important issues, according to the AMA. The AMA Rapid Respon se C enter is a special service of t he AMA's web site at www .A M A Direct link.com . The C en t er , wh ich WaS launched in mid- Feb ruary. allows motorcyclists to express their feel�� ings on issues imp ortan t to them. "The Rapid Response C enter is already proving to be a valuable tool in our efforts to protect moto rcycling's future, " said Edw ard Mo reland. AM A vice president of government relat io ns. " A nd as mo re peo ple - - - - - - - Continued on page 102

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