Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

fI.I II Da 2: ~ g t It:"-0) ~ I.{) ~ ~ C ::l i ~ ~ ~ ~ Strike or ride: that's the basic question. As the weeks pass, fewer and fewer riders man the picket lines, Inside the stadiums, the racing is still . . .rac ing. A Break Ahead, or Will Everybody Lose? The Speedway Strike Slides on By Rex Reese W ith shouts an d signs a dvocating their cause, dissiden t speedwa y riders brought their strike to the gates of the O r ange Cou n ty Fairgroun ds in Costa Mesa on Friday night, May 13. It was 18 the second week of racing at Costa Mesa's basket-sized speedway track . The marquee out front advertized the likes of Mike Bast, Jim Fishback and Bruce Penhall who would be racing that night , but'incoming fans noticed another sign placed below the marquee which said simply, "RIDERS ON STRIKE. " Jerry Fairchild and others stood outside the main entrance holding strike placards and signs . At the gate, riders led by Sonny Nutter and Billy Gray stopped cars and passed out leaflets as they talked to fans. The question that the strikers asked most ofter: "Do you want to see half the show for the same dough?" With that , they asked fans to please turn around in support of the strike. To go or not to go has been a tough question for fans to answer ever since the beginning of the speedway season when the Speedway Racing Assn. (SRA ) membership and promoter Harry Oxley disagreed over a proposed 10% raise over the 30% ·of·gate·receipts that riders have been paid the last nine yea rs. Riders have demanded the raise in order to cover the rise in the cost of living over the years that speedway has been run in this country. They claim . that like the cost of living, the cost of racing has also gone up. A bike that cost $700 in 1970 now costs $2 ,000 . Then there's the cost of riding gear (helmet, leathers, boots, gloves , ot~er protective pieces, and the all important steel shoe), the cost of transportation, gas, food , lodging, and other things which add_up to an expensive bi ll at the end of the week. Technological improvements like four-valve heads, overhead cams, new engines and new bikes also run up the cost of being competitive. And, if something should break, well . .. But money and the cost of living make up only one facet of the dispute. The leaflets distributed by strikers to incoming spectators at Costa Mesa complained of what they called the "prom oters' monopoly. " Claims listed included: 1) "Promoters refuse to discuss rider request for increased share of the profitsl; 2) Rider cost to participate has skyrocketed; 3) Promoters have not increased riders purse in over eight years." The leaflet asked for fa ns to "Let the promoter know you want to see all the top riders on the program!" It concluded its appeal by saying "A small increase to the riders would not increase the cost to the public, as we are asking only a small increase of gate money. " . "Our business is racing," .said an SRA representative in reference to the demand . "And we're not interested in how much money Harry makes as long as we get our fair share. If we had been getting an honest count all this time, there wouldn't be any strike, because we would be fairly well off. After nine years of racing, Bill Cody, Mike Connelly, Sonny Nutter and Rick Woods would be financially a whole lot more secure than they , are now . They just don't really have a whole lot more now, compared to when they started. I am quite sure tha Harry Oxley has improved his financial situation a whole bundle in the last nine years . But all we want is our fair , rightful share of the gate. We donot want to put him out of business. We donot ·want to take his tracks away from him . We do not want to do any thing except help him make more mo ney, and get more people into the grandstands - and put on a better show , so we can make more money . That's what we're really interested in : racing and making money." " Dissenting riders have claimed that pressure has been put on them by Oxley in an attempt to stop their protest. Also, one SRA member alleges that Oxley has manipulated newspaper advertizing and news coverage to his own advantage in order to hide the strike from the pu blic . In a telephone interview with Oxley, his response to the charge of media manipulation was "a lie." Harry explained that "the problem there is.. .the newspapers have been printing us for nine years, and they print their information any way they want to ." As striking riders were making their cause known to incoming fans at Costa Mesa , there were complaints by the riders that, as they stopped cars in order to make their pitch to the occupants, program distributors (Mrs. Marylin Oxley and Mrs . Dennis Fink ) would butt in to pass out a program, and at ' the same time threaten riders that they 'd never ride again, Oxley denied that there were any threats , however. He said, "The people have been out front saying 'don't go in', Marylin decided that she had . had enough and that people should have a choice. So she went up to cars that were stopped and handed out programs. When an old-time exrider found that out, he said, 'Now that they know that the top guys are riding, now what are we going to do?' " O xley cont in ued to say in response 'to the threat allegations , "I ma ke the decisions about who rides at my tracks. " That Frida y night, when cars, trucks and vans stopped, riders made their a ppeal and asked people inside the vehicles to turn around . Some did. Others kept on rolling through .as security guards urged riders to not block traffic. Then , there were those dangerous few who didn't seem to give a damn about anything as they gassed their way through the strikers, causing several dissident riders and su pporters to get out of the way. Occasionally, a car load of foxy chicks would stop to see what was happening and Sonny Nutter would be called in to handle the case in his own personal manner. The appeal was the same - to turn around to support the strike, or to help the riders out by carrying a sign . Some of the girls smiled and went on . Some stayed. More strikers were stationed by the entrance to the fair grounds for a last minute act of persuasion as spectators went on to the track, bu t ap parently their effo rts did little good . The stands inside the speedway stadium were almost full , and more people kept on coming through the turnstiles. Apparently, it didn't seem to m atter much to them who was on the track as long as the action was there. "We know about the strike," said one pretty girl as she and a friend bought tickets, "but we came to see the races anyway. " The riders who participated th,h night at Costa Mesa saw things directly opposite from the views of their striking counterparts. Steve Lewotski, who's in the transition between Second and First Division riding, gave a rundown of what riders on the other side of the fence think : In April, the SRA held a meeting which has been a center of controversy for both sides since strike feelings were running very hign. A vote was taken on whether or not to strike. "Fourty-four were for riding, and 48 were against ," said Lewotski. "So we had a split association. The SRA fell apart that night. Some people say that it wasn 't a fair vote , but there were enough riders who wanted to ride that Harry said, 'OK we'll ride, and those that don't, sit on the fence ,' And that's what happened. " But one SRA member alleges that the SRA vote was. "instigated by Oxley" for his own purposes. "He brought people in to the meeting for the express purpose of just to vote at ' th at meeting," the member claimed. "(Oxley) paid their memberships so tha t they would be ab le to vote. In theory , they really shouldn't have been allowed to vote , but they did vote and there were about 10 of them. After the election, he stopped payment on their membership checks. In reality, they were only members for that one vote, and to try to influence that one vote in an unethical manner. If you take those 10 votes away , then the vote was really 48 to 34 ." "T he vast majority of riders came out to ride" , said Lewotski. " Only 15 or 20 - maybe 25 - are not riding: a very , very small percentage of riders. And we're putting on a good show. .There are First Division riders out here, There've been people who've been saying that there are no First Division riders riding - that's a crock," According to Lewotski , Oxley hasn't been using any scare tactics ' as alleged by strikers; " In fact , he's been ignoring them (the strikers), and he won't take any action against them . If they want to be there, they're there. They c::an strike. But he's not doing anything about them . He's been calling up the police if anything happens. Basically, nothing's ha ppened so far that I kn ow of; so everything's been cool. But their ranks are dwindling. There've been quite a few riders who have come over to start riding." , Strikers, on the other hand, claim that those currently riding have been " feeling pretty bad about riding while they know their friends are out striking." In other words, according to

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