Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Medford Raceway and Sunny Valley Speedway reports One of the managers of the Medford Raceway , Dale Osborne , visited our track two weeks ago , and while there, complained to m y husband because I wasn 't sending any race coverage from his track in to Cycl e N ews this year. My husband explained that involvem ent in our own races made tim e very limited but we would try to attend their races and oblige them with a rt icles a nd results. (T h ey run every Fr iday night. ) On July I , we went to the speedway. When we got there, my husband asked about getting results of the evening's races and was told by the same man that they didn't want someone writing for them who had a " n eg a tive attitude." He said he ha d written a letter to Cycle N ews , complai ning about the lack of cove rage , and th at is the reason for this letter. Last year when we a ttended that track regula rly , I saw a variety of serious acci dents with injuries and on e of my articles conta ined words a bo ut the track conditions . About .the same time , a letter of protest against the track was circu lated , signed by many and printed in Cycle N ews. One of the track owners had wo rds for me for writing the article and " ba d" things about the track . After that time, they refused to give me the results. A young man named Larry Blunt was going to tak e ca re of it for them . Now , firs t they complain about lack of coverage, then when I offer , give me th e b it a bout a " nega tive attitude" and refu se to give me results. I had mixed feelings about the whole thing . The first was to forget it and let someone else worry about cove rage , but people ( b o t h who spectate and rid e) keep after me about articles. Then after thinking about it awhile, I began to get mad . So I took notes , wrote a story and typed results. I reall y don't need copies of track resu lts because 1 know most every rider in southern Oregon, the only thing I lacked was all the bike makes. 1 have always written about what I see. No gloss, no rumor, no fiction, only facts (a nd po ki ng fu n a t som e). And whe n I see a ca r trac k wit h its concrete wall, big scra p per tires set in cement , and a track surface th a t is rougher than a co b , with a groove wide enough for one bike only, well, that's exa ctly what 1 wri te a bout. In the June I , 1977 issue of Cycle News, I wrote an article a bo ut th e opening of the Sunny Valley Speed way under new management. O ne small paragraph made reference to the amount of riders on the track d uring practice, causing several downers . O ne young man got a broken finger . When that issue hit the stands, 1 got a phone call from head honcho Jim Miller, who chewed me up one side and down the oth er for criticizing their tra ck. Actually , the article was mild compared to what I could have written like ha ving to pay the $2 admission charge because any publicity they got "wasn' t worth it " for me to get in free , being cha rge $7 .50 for the privilege of taking pictures on the track , screwed up paperwork; ru le changes on the spur of the moment, etc. But I'm still hearing th ings that Miller is saying about my lousy writing and now I'm told I have a "negative attitude... _O .K. , so be it. I'm a ll for motorcycle racin g and do a ll I ca n to promote the sport , but - not at the expense of the rid ers! If I see something t hat endangers riders, as wit h the Possee grou nds last yea r , or Sunny Valley this year, then th at's exactly wh at 1 will put down on paper. I have always , and will continue to "write it like I see it. " An d if track owners don't like it , I'm sorry. Not for me , bu t for them . LY N N E DI LTZ Glend a le , OR Truth hurts . A favorite tactic of people displeased with the contents of an article is to say that the author "is a lousy writ er. " A n accurate report is a good report; a poor track is a poor track, and should be improved . . . Ed. AFM Sears Point dangers On july S, my son was entered in his second American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) road race at Sears Point. After turning extremely good lap times for Box Stock class in practice (2: 11) , he was naturally pumped about running his race. After waiting all day , he was flagged off in the last race of the day , without a warmup lap . Now, every other race had been given a warmup lap , to see what the track conditions were and to get a chance to wa rm up ti res, bikes and bodies. So what do the officials do to the Box Stockers, who almost by definition are the least ex perienced racers? They sent them off cold , and the almost inevitable ha ppened. ' My son, after passing several bikes on th e outside of turn one, arrived a t tu rn two on the inside of the turn going too fast , lowsided, and was immediately h it by another bike. He was transp orted to the hospita l, where he underwent emergency surgery for severe interna l inj uries that evening. As 1 write this , seven days have elapsed since this accident. My son spent four days in Intensive Care, has co m p letely lost the function in .one kidney, faces at least another week in the hospital , and as yet has not been co n t a cte d by AFM or anyone concerned with this so -called organization, to see how he might be getting along! The only thing I can conclude is that the AFM does not give a damn about the people who race, after they collect their entry fee . This accident, as 1 see it , was caused by three factors ; inexperience , overeagerness, and the lack of a warm up lap. If they had been given a wa rmup lap , and it sti ll happened , well , that's racing. You play the game, you pay the dealer. I would have attached no blame to the AFM , bu t 1 su re as hell do now, and one of th ese d ays, whe n I m eet th e gen tleman respon sibl e for this d ecision, I'll see how he feels about losing a kidney. As it stands now , the chances of my son racing again are p re tty sm all , a nd as a junior class motocrosser and cross country racer, this is a bitterly disappointing end to a young man's dreams . Anyone who races ha d better accept the fact that racing is d angerous, and th a t you can get hurt, sometimes seriously. Bu t you als o expect the sponsoring organization to minimize the danger as much as possible. This was not done. So, to anyone who is thinking about racing at an AFM event , the best advice I can give you is, don 't. Don't give them the chance to screw up your life with their sloppy, disorganized racing program . I raced formula cars for 10 years with Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) , and even in their worst moments, they were infinitely m or e org a n ized , more responsible , more caring about the racers than AFM . ANGUS MA CDONALDPet al u m a , CA Viewfinders protest O nJune 5 a friend of m ine ro de the Viewfinders Grand Pr ix a t Carlsbad R ac ewa y. When the resu lts were published he (#4 7) was listed as bei ng disqualified for cheating beca use he all egedly rode a bi ke larger than th e class allowed . (Contin ued on page 46) D-~7 IS NUMBER 1 " , ENDUROS - :/t INT'LMX6 DAY TRIALSCROSS COUNTRYRider or equipment , the ones who co me in first are the bes t, the expe rts. Do you want the best equipment available , the race pro ven handlebar? Join the tens of thousands of rider s using INTER-AM SOLID ALUM INUM COMPETITION HAND LEBARS . TRY ONE FROM THE EXPERTS send 25c for cataloq and deca l INTER-AM BIKE SUPPLIES, INC. 751 Monroe Way . 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